Mia screamed as Jeff took Ryan by the throat and slammed him into her truck.
“Get out of here, Mia,” Ryan spluttered.
Without even thinking, Mia launched herself at Jeff, bashing her fists against his large frame. She didn’t even have a plan. All she knew is she wanted to stop him from hurting Ryan. Her attack caught him by surprise, allowing Ryan free from his grasp. He dropped to the ground, choking.
“You little bitch,” Jeff roared. “How dare you!”
He forgot about his son on the floor. Jeff had his sights firmly set on Mia now. She knew it too. He turned towards her, taking steps closer and closer. His fist came up. Just as he was about to swing, Ryan came up behind him and pulled him back. But Jeff was too quick, and with one swift movement his elbow slammed into Ryan’s stomach. Ryan fell back to the floor, gasping for breath.
Jeff rounded back on Mia, but instead of flinching or shying away, she m
Mia wasn’t sure how Ryan had managed to sedate Savannah after she found out about him helping out with the truck, but she didn’t hear another word about it. Stranger still, she didn’t appear to kick up a fuss when Mia hung out with the group the following week or continue to join them for cheerleading practice.Now Tyler was sure Mia wasn’t vomiting any longer, he tried to up his charm to the max. However, Mia was now more comfortable with her position in the group, and she hoped she wouldn’t need to play along with him much longer.During one lunchtime, Trish bought up the subject of Halloween.“So, my parents are going to be out of town next weekend. I know it’s a bit early, but what about a party?”The whole group looked up with interest. House parties were a rare treat, as most of their hang outs were at the creek.“That sounds great!” Annie piped up. “Sophie are you in?”
It hadn’t exactly been the life Carla had imagined since they’d moved to Iowa. She hadn’t expected it to be easy, but she hadn’t expected it to be this hard either. However, these past few weeks, things with Mia at least seemed to be better. She was actually engaging with other kids since her father had died. Even more than that, she’d somehow got in with the popular crowd.One night, she was cooking dinner while Bob was sitting at the kitchen island with a beer. He was on his phone again. A habit that seemed to get worse as time went on.Trying to make conversation, she stirred the pasta sauce and then turned round to him. “You know, I’m really pleased that Mia seems to be making more of an effort these days. And it’s great it’s with Savannah a lot of the time too.”Bob continued to tap on his phone, leaving it a good few moments before he looked up. “Hmm. I suppose.”Carla cocked he
Tilly had insisted doing the photoshoot the very next day. Mia suspected she was worried that she would back out if she didn’t pin her down soon. Mia had assumed that the photo shoot would just be her posing in her normal clothes. How wrong she had been.“I feel ridiculous,” she moaned. She tugged on the flowy white fabric that Tilly had insisted was a dress but felt more like a small bed sheet. Even Hamlet was looking up at her with a confused expression.“You look amazing. It’s totally perfect for this project. You’re like a wood elf spirit or something.”Tilly’s theme was ethereal. She’d decided that she wanted Mia as some kind of natural goddess. Mia just felt like a natural idiot.Mia sighed. “Whatever you say. Now what do you want me to do?”They’d come to a part of the creek Mia hadn’t yet explored. It was further down than where the popular crowd hung out, and for
Mia had never been to a house party before, so her only references were from movies. She had to admit, this wasn’t far off. Trish had managed to get some Halloween decorations up and had borrowed her brother’s sound system to play music off. There was even two barrels of beer in the kitchen. Mia was sipping on the warm brown liquid now, still wondering how anyone could like the taste.Thankfully though, she had managed to get Tilly an invite. She’d convinced Trish and Annie that Tilly would be able to take some ‘hot’ photos of them in their skimpy Halloween costumes. The girls had decided to wear catholic schoolgirl outfits that looked like they belonged in the bedroom rather than at a high school party. They’d tried to convince Mia to wear the same thing, but she had put her foot down at that. Instead she’d compromised with a black body suit and a pair of cat ears.“I still can’t believe you’ve managed to con
After that bombshell, Annie hadn’t even bothered to continue on with the game. Some of the others had stayed, but Mia had taken the distraction as an opportunity to escape outside. She needed some fresh air.She selected a seat on a bench and took some deep breaths. Why was this bothering her so much?“Hey, Mia? You okay?”She turned round to find Tilly standing there with a concerned expression.“Yeah I’m fine. I just needed some air.”Tilly sat down next to her and cleared her throat. “Erm. I might be totally wrong, but…do you have…well…do you have feelings for Ryan?”Tilly’s questions hit her like a freight train.“I…no…of course not.”Tilly paused and put down her empty cup on the patio. “It’s just. What happened in there seemed to upset you. Like it’s okay if you do. I know it’s not an ideal situatio
That night Savannah didn’t come home. Mia had no idea what was going on, but Bob didn’t come and ask any questions so she guessed that he must at least know where she was. Unless she’d lied to him.Unsurprisingly, she didn’t sleep well. Every time she tried to block out her thoughts, they came rushing back to haunt her. Did Ryan really like her? Or was it just something that Tyler had made up? But if that was the case, why hadn’t Ryan argued against it? Mia realised she’d hadn’t even given a thought to the article she was meant to be writing. Now Annie wasn’t on her side, she was sure being part of the group again wouldn’t be an option. But right now, that didn’t seem to matter.The next day, Savannah still didn’t come home. When Mia went downstairs for breakfast, both Bob and her mom had gone to the grocery store to do the weekly shop. It wasn’t until after she’d managed to force some toast
Mia had never been kissed before, so she had no point of reference. But she was sure it was about as magical as you could possibly get. There was nothing awkward about it. They seemed to fit together perfectly. It was like they’d kissed 1000 times before and knew exactly what the other one wanted. At first it was gentle and tender. But as his hand came to the back of the head, she felt like she would die if she didn’t press herself further into him. Then his tongue was reaching out to hers, dancing with it. She could barely breathe it was so intense. It made her forget everything that had happened, and everything that had been said.But then he was pulling away, she almost fell forwards because he seemed to rip from her so quickly.He stepped backwards and dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry…that…shouldn’t have happened.”Mia began to shake, partly from the adrenaline, but also from the hurt. So he r
That night when Mia came out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth, she noticed that Savannah’s door was ajar. She went to walk right past, but then she began to hear part of a conversation that she couldn’t help but listen to.Savannah was evidently on the phone and talking in an excited whisper.“I told you, this our chance.”Mia couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but something about Savannah’s tone reeled her in.“We’ll just say we’re round each other’s houses. We’ve done it a million times before, so what’s the problem?”Mia edged towards the door a little, hoping to hear clearer.“What about him? Why would I waste my time on a high-school boy when I could have a chance of getting a college one?”Mia furrowed her brow. College boys? Was the high-school boy Savannah was talking about Ryan? Had they broken up?“St
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