First Position Read Online Free PDF Page B

this really happening ?   She needed to tell Mason for it to seem real.  She tried to call him, but he didn’t answer, then remembered he was lifting weights at the football training facility.  She raced across campus, with the wind at her back, running faster than she’d ever run before.  She didn’t want to waste a second to tell him.  She reached the facility and flew open the doors, rushing down the halls screaming his name.  She darted up a flight of stairs and burst into the weight room, all empty except for Mason.
    She ran to him, and leapt into his arms.  “I did it!  I did it!  I got in!”
    Mason placed her on the ground slowly.  “Wow.  That’s great,” he muttered.
    “I know!”  She hopped up and down, her face beaming brightly.  “I can’t believe it!”
    Mason looked down at the weights resting on the floor in front of him.  “What’s wrong?”
    “I didn’t think you’d be so happy to leave me.”
    “What?”  She reached for his hand.  “I’m not excited to leave you.  I’m excited I go t accepte d .”
    “Does that mean you have to accept?”
    Emory couldn’t believe what he was saying.  She’d dreamed about this opportunity her whole life, and thought Mason of all people would understand.  “No one turns this down.”  She grabbed his other hand.  “It’s like being drafted and refusing to play.”  She searched his beautiful eyes, but saw only sadness, and perhaps a touch of anger.  She felt light-headed, releasing one hand from his to hold her head.  She took a deep breath and sat down on an exercise bench.
    “Are you OK, Em?” he asked tenderly. 
    “Just a little dizzy, that’s all.  I’ll be fine.”
    Mason bent down to rub her back.  She wasn’t sure what had come over her, but assumed it was just a bad mixture of so many strong emotions at once, on the heels of her campus run.  She didn’t want to make a big deal of it and decided it was nothing.  Mason sat down next to her on the bench, hanging his head.
    “I know it’s going to be hard to be apart,” she said, “but there are weekends and holidays.  I can travel to where your games are.  We can make it work.  Maybe a New York team will draft you!”
    “What if I don’t want you to leave me?” he asked sadly.
    Why is this all about him ?   “I’m not leaving you, Mason!  I’m following my dream!”
    Mason rose from the bench and grabbed his weights from the floor.  “Your dream doesn’t seem to include me!”  He began to curl, veins bulging in his arms.
    “Aren’t you proud of me?  Can’t you be happy for me?  Support me?”  Emory waved her hands wildly in the air.  “Your girlfriend is one of the best ballerinas in the whole world.   Do you realize that?  This is the fucking Super Bowl for me!” 
    He dropped the weights, a loud clang echoing through the room.  “Suppor t you ? What about me?”
    Emory rose from the bench, her heart heavy and mind spinning.  These were the moments they’d talked and dreamed about together.  But Mason had turned it into a wrestling match over whose career was more important, and Emory didn’t understand why they both couldn’t have their careers and each other.  She tried to compose herself but couldn’t hide her anger any longer.  “Is that you or your mother talking?” 
    “Don’t bring my mother into this!” he barked.
    “How about this --  just defer football for a year and follow me to New York?”
    Mason stared at her.  “Don’t be ridiculous.  That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”
    “What’s stupid is you telling m e no t to go to New York.  I mean, you knew I was auditioning.  What did you think was going to happen?”  Mason lowered his head, then she realized what she never thought possible.  “Oh my God, you hoped I wouldn’t get it.”
    He brushed her off.  “I’m not discussing this anymore.  It’s time that you decide.  Is it me or ballet?” 
    “Mason, that’s