School had finished for the Christmas term. Mia had tried to keep a low profile in order to escape the school gossips as much as possible. Which was hard when you were embroiled in the current drama of the town. It had also come out about her mom and Bob, and people were now looking at her with a mixture of pity and confusion.
After she’d told Ryan she was moving, he had stayed away from her. Mia was both glad and sad. Part of her was pleased he wasn’t causing any scenes or trying to win her back, but she also couldn’t help feeling disappointed too. If he claimed to feel so strongly for her, wouldn’t he want to put up any kind of fight? Then she remembered how easily he’d given her up at the dance and she realised how silly she was. She was sure it wouldn’t be long before he found a new girl. After all. He was still Mr Popular.
“You okay, honey?”
Her mom’s voice jerked her out of her thoughts.
“Y
“How many boxes have you got left?”Mia looked round at the rest of the pile. “Probably about five or six maybe? After that it’s just the stuff I’ll need for the trip.”Carla nodded. “Okay good. Are you sure you still want to drive your truck on your own? I can always pay for it to be transported back. Then you can come in the car with me.”“Don’t be silly. That’s gonna cost loads. And anyway, you know I’ve already done the trip before. I’ll follow behind you. It’s going to be fine.”Carla frowned. “Well. Alright then. But we will be taking plenty of breaks, as well as a stop over. Got it?”“Got it.”Carla had hired movers to take most of their belongings to Philadelphia. That truck was going to be leaving soon, but they were sticking around a little longer so Mia could say goodbye to Tilly.“I’m just going to
For a long time, they just stared at each other in silence. Mia didn’t understand what was happening. What was he doing? Her vision flickered, and Ryan suddenly spoke up.“Just hear me out Mia, okay?” He pleaded, his eyes wide and shining.She thought about protesting. She thought about walking out. But instead, she found herself nodding.His shoulders seemed to relax.“Thank you. Listen, I know you’ve told me you’re going. And I know you’ve told me that we’re not going to be together anymore, but I can’t let you go, not without telling you everything. Not without telling you exactly how I feel about you.”Mia swallowed. His eyes were boring into hers, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t look away. It had felt such a long time since she’d allowed herself to be lost in them. She was hypnotised.“I know we had a bad start. A very bad start. And I know that
Mia stretched her arms high above her head, enjoying the feeling of the soft grass beneath her and warm sun above. She sighed happily and turned her head to smile at Ryan who was bopping his head with his eyes closed in time to the music emitting from his phone beside them. They had just finished their final exams, and all that lay before them now was a blissful summer together.She leant over to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.He opened his eyes and smiled. “Finally relaxed now?”“Definitely. I’m glad all that’s over now. I need a break before I start college. I feel like my head was going to explode trying to cram all that knowledge in.”Ryan laughed. “I’m not surprised. I’ve never seen someone study so much….it’s pretty nice to spend time with you while you don’t have a book in your hand.”Mia rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah. Well I had no cho
“If you think I’m doing what your idiot of-a-mum asked me to do, you’re more stupid than I thought.”Mia narrowed her eyes at her supposed new sister. “Trust me, I don’t expect anything from you.”Savannah flicked her golden hair off her shoulder in a well-practiced motion. “Good. Because I wouldn’t be seen dead with someone like you.”She went to leave but turned back again. “Oh, and just to let you know, your outfit is beyond tragic.”And with a final wrinkle of her nose, she took her leave, sashaying away in a pink mini-skirt.Mia sighed and looked up at the brick building that was her new high school. “Might as well get it over with,” she muttered to herself.BANG. The thick mathematics textbook crashed into the locker door. Today was not going well for Mia Fernwood.“Look at me like that again, and I’ll be throwing more t
“So, girls, how was the first day back at school?”Bob was just as cheery as Mia’s mom. She wondered if that’s why they married each other. Just so they could be sickeningly optimistic as each other.Mia gave much the same response as she had earlier, while pushing the spaghetti on her plate to separate each strand from its twisted counterpart. Bob shot a look to his own daughter, who he then realised wasn’t even listening.“Honey? What about you? Come on put the phone away and tell daddy how it went.”Savannah rolled her eyes and pocketed the device before looping some of her dinner around her fork.“It was great thanks, Daddy. We had our first practice today. We’re planning on tackling a new routine.”Bob grinned at his daughter. “That’s wonderful!” Turning to Mia he added, “did we tell you Savannah is head cheerleader?”“Only a bajillion
Mia tapped her foot against the thin carpet, noticing how plumes of dust emitted everytime. Gross. The woman sitting opposite her was still reading the print outs Mia had handed her. She scrutinized them through thick-rimmed glasses that made her look more like a mole than a woman. The floral pattern of her blouse was giving Mia a headache, but she couldn’t leave yet.Finally, the woman who’d introduced herself as ‘Mrs Parkinson’, looked up and gave Mia a faint smile. “Well Miss Fernwood. You appear to have good grades in all your subjects, although you should work on mathematics to level it up more.”Mia nodded. She’d expected that anyway.“However, I am concerned that aside from your academic accomplishments, your extra-curricular activities are rather lacking. Remember you should be writing about those too.”Mia frowned. “What do you mean?”“Well, colleges want to see well-r
The diner was all mustard yellow walls and red shabby booths. A couple of women with pony tails and petticoat aprons walked around taking orders and pouring out coffee from a glass jug with a plastic top. It was a pretty standard American diner.“How did the meeting with the college application person go today?”Mia’s mom had insisted on picking her up after school that day and taking her for ice cream. It had been something they’d done back in Philly. Mia could tell her mom was trying to mimic some of those memories. But how could it ever be the same?“Bad.”She’d responded without even thinking, and now she wanted to punch herself in the face. She should have lied and said it went fine, because any other response would insight the upcoming barrage of questions.Carla left the long silver spoon suspended in her strawberry split, and looked at her daughter with concern. Mia hated that look.“Wh
When they pulled up to their destination, it soon became clear why the kids that hung out here might not want their parents to know. This was the spot for the ‘cool kids’. A few cars and trucks were parked up already, and down by the water a handful of teenagers were sitting on battered deck chairs, cheap brown bottles and cigarettes swinging from their fingers. A few girls were perched on the edges of boys laps, throwing their heads back in an exaggerated motion as if the boy had said the funniest thing ever.Mia realised that without the invasion of high-schoolers, the place was actually beautiful. Clear water babbled over the rocks of the river bed, bordered by foliage and trees on either side. Hamlet would love it here. She decided she would have to find somewhere similar that hadn’t been taken over by jocks and cheerleaders.She reluctantly followed Ryan and Savannah to where the group were sitting, making sure to keep her head held high.