Ryan hadn’t planned on having this conversation. He’d hoped that his Mom just wouldn’t find out. Why did Savannah’s dad have to have such a big mouth?
“It wasn’t her fault, Mom.”
Angela laughed coolly. “So, she throws a tray at your head, and you’re telling me it wasn’t her fault? And what’s more, she hasn’t even contacted me to say sorry. I had to hear it from Bob Miller! Is she expecting to just walk in on Saturday like nothing has happened?”
Ryan placed his hands on the kitchen table, trying to ignore the stack of beer bottles in the corner of the room. He wondered briefly how many more would be sitting there by the end of the night.
“It’s complicated. Alright. I sort of deserved it.”
His mom narrowed her eyes at her son. “What do you mean? What did you do?”
Ryan scratched the back of his head and cast his eyes downward. “I re
Mia couldn’t quite believe the phone call had happened. What was even more shocking, was the fact that it sounded as if Ryan had been the one to convince his mom to keep her on. Why had he done that? He had been horrible to her this whole time. What was his end game here?However, now she knew she definitely still had a job, she wanted to check in with the college advisor again. If she explained that she’d secured employment, maybe the old cow wouldn’t insist on her joining an after-school club. She couldn’t bring herself to write that damn article if she didn’t have to. Mainly because she didn’t want to think about that crowd anymore than she already was.Mrs Parkinson was wearing another loud edition of a floral blouse. Mia wondered if she had all her clothes made from old curtains.“So, I was thinking, now I have the Saturday job at the hardware store, isn’t that enough with my grades for my applications?”
Mia knew she was grounded, but she wasn’t sure if being grounded meant she couldn’t have friends round either. She wasn’t going to ask, but was sure that if they were caught, her mom would be too overjoyed at the fact she actually had a friend.“I can’t believe I’m standing in Savannah Miller’s room.”Tilly was gaping at the room as if it belonged to the Queen of England. Mia just rolled her eyes.“Yeah well, start looking, because we won’t have much time until my mom or Bob gets home. And I can’t face another one of their lectures.Savannah’s room was everything Mia had expected. A space entirely covered by soft furnishings all in various shades of pink. She walked over to one wall where Savannah had pinned a thousand photographs. They were mostly of Savannah herself, posed in different positions designed to make her look as beautiful as possible. She caught sight of one of her and R
Mia and Tilly spent the next few days ‘watching’ the popular kids. Mia had decided she was going to use the diet pills incident, but she needed more than that for the article. She hoped a bit of observation would be sufficient as long as the she had Savannah’s secret in there.Tilly and Mia were half hiding in the trees a number of yards away from the football ground, books open in their laps to make it look like they were busy with homework.“Are we really going to be able to see anything from here?” Tilly was craning her neck round the trunk of a Scotch pine.“Well we can hardly just go and sit in the bleachers, can we? They will know somethings up if we’re in plain sight.”“I know but…I can’t see us getting anything useful from here either.”Mia knew Tilly was right. So far, their recon of the popular crowd had pulled up nothing. This wasn’t helped by the fact that th
“Being part of the popular crowd may not always seem as perfect as you might think. It’s easy to see these kids as carbon copies of what a teenager is meant to be. To someone on the outside they are witty, wear the most stylish clothes, not to mention their seemingly God and Goddess like bodies. Everyone wants to be them, or the very least, be their friend. But are they really all that?What if I told you that the most popular girl in school, the Pom-Pom Princess herself was taking diet pills. Yes, you read that right. Diet Pills. How many of you have been bullied by Miss Miller for being overweight? Too many to count I’m guessing. How ironic is it then that she herself doesn’t even have that slender frame naturally? In fact, you may be taking the very same diet pills. There’s even a chance she’s caught you taking them and ridiculed you for it. And those ‘friends’ that seem to dutifully follow her round? Are you sure they ar
It was the last practice of the week, which meant coach always rode them extra hard. He knew they’d take the weekend off, so this was his way of getting the most out of them. Ryan and Tyler were changing into their kit in preparation, already moaning about what might be coming up.“Damn I hope he doesn’t make us do bear crawls for ten minutes straight like last week,” Tyler grumbled while lacing up his boots.Ryan sighed. “Don’t. I’m so not in the mood for his military man routine tonight.”“At least my brother pulled through on the beers for the creek later though.”“True. I’m gonna need them if it is bear crawls.”As they stepped out the changing rooms, Ryan glanced over to where he knew the cheerleaders would be stretching. He saw the small crowd of skimpy red outfits, but did a double take when he realised there was a new girl amongst them. Was that? No…it coul
“Right now, I want to see the perfect pike movements ladies. No excuses.”Mia had no idea what on earth a pike was, so she tried to watch what the others were doing before even attempting to try the move. Of course, Savannah noticed.“What’s the matter, Mia?” She jeered. “Don’t know what a pike is?”Mia did her best to not to look too angry. “No, Savannah. I don’t.”Savannah strode over to her, a sneer plastered over her face. “Maybe it’s best you wear the mascot suit for this practice so you can watch the other girls. The suit is right over there.”Mia followed her finger to the crumple of faux fur that was the team’s Red Panda outfit. She wanted to argue, but part of her also kind of preferred this option. Sure, being mascot was the lowest of the low, but at least she didn’t have to attempt any kind of fancy moves she didn’t know.“N
Mia had decided that she was going to ask her mom to the diner after her shift at the hardware store. Over all it was going to be a pretty crappy day, because this would be the first time she’d seen Angela since the incident with the lunch tray. The hardware store had been shut the previous weekend for some unknown reason, so this was the first time Mia was going back in.As she pushed open the shop door, a feeling of dread settled into the pit of her stomach. She was sure Ryan was the only reason why she still had a job, so she wasn’t expecting a warm welcome from Angela. The bell rang out, and Mia stepped in.“It’s me, Angela!” She called, trying to keep her voice even.A few moments of silence before she got an answer. “Okay Mia. I’ll be out in a sec.”Mia waited with one hand pinning her opposite arm to her side. Moment’s later Angela appeared. Mia braced herself, but as the woman came into view Mi
It appeared that Mia was going to spend another weekend holed up in her room. As they drove back to the house, Mia wanted nothing more than to hide away from her mom.As they pulled up outside the house, Mia noticed that Ryan’s car was there. She felt a strange mix of emotion. Excited and afraid at the same time. It didn’t make sense.As they got out of the car, Ryan and Savannah were walking out.“Hey kids!” Carla called. “Where are you off to?”Savannah could barely hide her degermation. “We’re going to a friend’s house. Dad knows.”“Sounds great…” Carla gave a sideways look to her daughter, but even she knew not to push it right now with the argument they’d just had.Mia was planning on walking straight into the house when Ryan spoke up.“Do you want to come Mia? Now you’re part of the squad.”Savannah coughed. “Well&
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
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
“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
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
Mia was frozen. The corridor had fallen into a stunned quiet, although the sound of hushed whispers could be heard like the rustling of leaves in the wind.Footsteps approached her from behind, and she knew just from the echo of the sound that it was him. He moved round so he was facing her, his mouth set into a hard line.“All I’m asking, is for you to give me five minutes of your time. Please. Just let me explain everything.”Mia nodded. After all, he’d just announced his private business to the whole school. If she didn’t agree he might just follow her around shouting what he wanted to say.He led her away from the corridor down towards some empty classrooms. They walked side by side, but Mia found herself acutely aware of the negative space between them. She was torn between wanting to move further away and closing the gap between them. She wasn’t even processing the statement he’d just made.Ryan found
In the few days Mia had been away, Carla had managed to move all their personal belongings out of the house. Most of it was in storage, but the few personal things they needed for every day use had been placed in the motel rooms she’d paid for.Bob hadn’t even put up a fight. On the night of Mia’s winter dance, Carla had followed Bob’s car. She’d watched in agony as that woman had climbed in next to him. How they’d wrapped themselves around each other. From the way they’d moved against each other, Carla could tell this hadn’t been the first time.When she’d confronted him, Bob didn’t even seem to care. She’d screamed at him, asking him why he’d let her move her and Mia here just to cheat on her. He’d shrugged and told her he couldn’t help who he loved. That had been the real kicker. Carla had decided it wasn’t worth fighting with him. Their marriage had been a lie. That night she&
Despite her strange surroundings, Mia slept well and without nightmares or bad feelings. She actually felt refreshed in the morning when another officer came to wake her. She was sorry to hear that Office Park’s had already left for home. She felt like she’d not expressed her thanks enough.The morning officers made sure Mia was feeling settled enough to drive before they gave over her truck keys. Hamlet seemed like he’d had a night full of being pampered, and Mia was relieved to find he was his usual wagging self.When she got to her truck she briefly felt flashes of terror as memories of last night entered her mind. She pushed them away though. Something about Officer Park’s words had inspired her. She wanted to be strong too. She didn’t want the actions of a few thugs to affect her. But it was time to go home. As sad as it was, Philadelphia didn’t feel the same anymore. It wasn’t what she had hoped it would be. All she could
Events appeared to move by in a flash from that point. Mia watched as the thugs dropped what they had in their hands. The brick made a loud thud as it hit the concrete of the parking lot. The beer bottle the other guy had been holding shattered, the pieces fanning out like ripples on water.The first officer continued to hold her weapon while her partner handcuffed each man. She spoke into her radio and Mia guessed she was calling for back up. Minutes later it arrived, and more uniformed officers appeared. Mia looked on as each man was led away and placed into a nearby vehicle. Once they had been taken, the female officer came up to Mia’s window with a warm smile.It took Mia a few minutes to realise that it was finally safe to open her car door. Shakily, she switched the lock and pushed it open.“Hello Miss,” The officer began. “I’m Officer Parks. Are you okay?”Mia nodded. “Yes. I mean. I think so.”
It had taken Mia a long time to calm down after she’d started crying. People in the park had looked at her like she was a crazy person. As soon as she was able, she had walked briskly back towards the car, Hamlet waddling behind her trying to keep up.When she got back to the truck, she was determined to try again. She wanted to feel connected to her dad. She drove round to the diner they’d always gone to for pancakes, but as soon as she pulled up she noticed that the whole place had been redecorated inside. Nothing looked the same. As she looked through the window that was framed by Christmas lights, she felt the tears coming again. Not wanting a public repeat of the ice rink, she hurried back to the car and sobbed in there instead. She’d thought coming back to the place where her and her dad had spent time together would help her feel closer to him. In truth she just felt further away. It was like it was compounding the fact that she was on h