The three girls walked towards the main group. Mia took a long swig of the beer, and instantly grimaced. Why did anyone like the taste of this stuff?
As they approached, Tyler caught sight of her and stood up from the deck chair he was sitting on. “Here Mia, have a seat.”
Mia waved her hand. “Oh no, don’t worry. It’s fine.”
Tyler shook his head. “I insist.”
“Er okay,” Mia replied, not wanting to cause too much of a scene. Mia sat down and Tyler perched on the boulder next to her grinning.
“You look great by the way.”
Mia flushed. She really wasn’t used to boys talking to her like this. She had to remember that this same guy had thrown her in the creek not long ago.
“Thanks.”
Ryan who was sitting opposite was watching the whole exchange through narrowed eyes. He knew exactly what Tyler was up to. All he wanted to do is get Mia into bed. The
As soon as Tyler pulled out from the dirt track onto the main road, Mia wondered if she should have really gone along with this after all. She barely knew Tyler. And what she did know of him wasn’t exactly great. She was beginning to sober up too.“You’re pretty feisty really, aren’t you?”The sound of his voice made her jump.“Right yeah…well. I don’t like bullies.”Tyler nodded. “That’s fair. I’m sorry we didn’t exactly get off to a good start…ya know…with the creek and all.”Mia let out a cool laugh. “Yeah. I’d say that was pretty much the worst start possible.”“I was looking out for Ryan. And you did seem weird to be fair. But now I just see…you’re different.”He shot her a sideways glance, and she tried to pretend she hadn’t noticed.“Sure. What’s done is done.&rdq
Mia was tempted to hide in her room, but she knew it would be better to go downstairs and face the she-devil head on. As she pulled on some sweats, she heard Savannah continuing to shout various expletives, and the more muffled voices of Bob and her mom trying to calm her down.Taking a deep breath, she made her way out of her room. The creak of her footsteps on the stairs made the three people at the bottom look up, and Mia tried to straighten her shoulders.As predicted, Savannah looked as if she was ready to kill. Bob didn’t look far off the same, and her mom…well she just looked disappointed.“I think you girls need to come down and sit in the living room for a moment so we can work this work,” Bob said, his harsh tone directed far more at Mia than his own daughter.Savannah continued to glare at Mia, but she did as her father instructed. She knew there was no way Mia was going to come out on top if her dad was involved.
For the next week, Mia followed Bob’s instructions to keep out of the way. Not because she wanted to listen to him, but because she didn’t want anything to do with him anyway. Or any of the rest of them.Things had quietened down at school too. Annie and Trish were still trying to get Mia involved in the cheerleading team, but she wasn’t sure how Savannah was ever going to let her on after the beer pouring incident. Ryan was also keeping away from her. She didn’t know how she felt about that. Sometimes she would see him walking in the corridor and brace herself for an insult. But he wouldn’t say a thing. He’d walk by her as if she was no one. She tried to ignore the feeling of rejection that seemed to be winding up within her.Before she knew it, she was back at the hardware store for her Saturday shift. She hoped beyond reason that this Saturday wouldn’t be quite as dramatic as the last, and thankfully she was right. That was
Mia couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened at the shop. She wondered if Ryan and his mom were okay, and if Jeff had come back. As it began to get later, she wasn’t sure how she was going to sleep with all this running through her head.Hamlet knew something was up, and snuggled in next to her on the bed with his head on her leg.“What should I do, boy?” she whispered.But the dog just stared at her with his large dark eyes.Just then, something hit Mia’s window. Her forehead creased. It hadn’t been large, but she’d definitely heard a noise. Hamlet had also looked up, and was studying the glass pane with interest.Then it happened again. Something small and hard ricocheted off the glass. She got up and went over to the window, and couldn’t quite believe her eyes when she saw Ryan standing on the lawn below.She opened the window, and in a hushed voiced called out to him. “What are
“So, what have you been doing for the past week then?” Brook had her arms folded across her chest, and looked as if her eyeballs were about to laser into Mia’s skin.“It was a bad week alright? But I think I might have some help to get back in now.”Brook raised her eyebrow. “Is that so? Who’s helping you then?”“Ryan. Ryan Lee.”Brook scoffed, Ryan Lee? Was she crazy? “Okay. If you think you can make that work, then fine. But I want this piece ready before Christmas.”“Yeah okay. It’ll happen.”Brook exited the room and Mia was left there standing with Tilly.“Is Ryan really going to help you? Like have you asked?”Mia made a face. “Not exactly…”Tilly put her face in her hands. “Oh god.”“It’s fine. Honestly. I’ve got a plan. Kind of.”Tilly sighed. &
Annie and Trish were so overjoyed that Mia had managed to secure a date with Tyler, that they insisted that she visit Annie’s after school one day to prepare.“I know you’ve been making a bit more of an effort recently, but you need to step your game up if you’re going to be dating a footballer,” Annie said whilst rifling through her closet.Mia was perched on the edge of her bed, worried sick that she was going to mark the pristine white linen. “I’m not sure we’re exactly dating…we haven’t even had the first date yet,” she commented, edging forward a little more.Trish was painting her nails a hot pink colour at Annie’s vanity desk, and looked up briefly. “Come on Mia. You have to think more positive than that. Once we’re done with you, he won’t be able to resist.”Mia bit her lip. That was the issue though. She didn’t want to be irresistible to Tyler.
“Maybe it’s time you had your own transport,” Carla commented as she drove Mia to Annie’s house.It was the night of the date, and Mia hadn’t really been paying attention to what her mom had been saying. She’d been too focused on not being sick from nerves.“What did you say?”“A car Mia. I’d rather that than have to keep ferrying you round everywhere.”Mia gave her mom a side-ways glance. “Okay. Well, that would be great.” After everything that had happened between them recently, the last thing Mia would have expected would be her mom buying her a car. Maybe she just didn’t want to spend any more time with her than necessary.Carla nodded. “I’ll have a look round town tomorrow when you’re at work. It won’t be fancy though okay? Just something to get you started.”“No. Okay, thanks. Really.”Mia’s mind st
Mia had to force her feet to move down the stairs. They didn’t want to open the door to Tyler either.“Come on, Mia!” Annie gushed. “You can’t keep him waiting too long!”As she finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, Annie asked if she was ready.Mia felt like she was ready to be sick.As the door opened, Tyler’s image came into view. Mia had to admit, he looked good. He was wearing dark jeans, and a tight white t shirt. However, it didn’t matter how hot he was. Mia still knew he was a dick. She also noticed the way Tyler’s eyes were roaming every inch of her body. It made her uncomfortable.“So, what so you think Tyler?” Annie asked, looking at the both of them.“I think I’m about to take out the hottest girl in this town,” said Tyler, sliding towards Mia. He knew she was pretty, but Annie had taken her to a whole other level. She was definitely worthy