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.
A girl with a skirt so short that you could almost see her underwear grinned as she saw her friends approach. But as soon as she caught sight of the girl behind them dressed all in black, her face fell.
“Er…who’s this?”
The rest of the group looked up with interest. “Hey, isn’t that the girl who’s stuff you threw everywhere yesterday?” The speaker was one of the cronies Mia had seen following the blonde jock the previous day. This guy’s hair was blonde as well, just a lot darker.
The girl who was perched on his lap curled her pink stained lip. “I wasn’t aware we were doing charity work.”
Mia said nothing. What would be the point?
“You can thank Ryan for that,” Savannah announced, dropping the donut box on the blanket laid out on the floor. “It was his idea.”
“Actually, her Mom begged us to take her.” Ryan commented. Mia could have punched him.
“How tragic.” The girl with the non-existent skirt shot.
Ryan grinned and turned to Mia. “Yes. It is a bit. Anyway, this is Trish.” He gestured to the girl with the skirt issues. “This is Annie and Tyler.” The pink-lipped girl on the lap of the boy with dark hair grimaced. “And that over there is Ben and Sophie.”
The last couple hadn’t said a word yet, but Mia could tell they felt the same as their friends about her presence.
Addressing his friends, he nodded towards Mia. “And this is…well actually I think we’ll stick with freak.” He grabbed one of the beer bottles from the cooler. “Beer, freak?”
Mia rolled her eyes. “No thanks.”
Ryan shrugged and handed the bottle to Savannah instead. She took it, and sat down on a free chair with a sour look on her face.
Mia was determined not to look awkward, but it was hard to accomplish when you were surrounded by people who didn’t want you to be there. She noticed a small boulder to the side of the circle, and strode over to it before taking a seat.
Ryan was still looking at her. He watched her in the same way someone would watch a nature documentary about a foreign species.
“Are you a goth or something?” Annie asked.
Mia scowled at her. “No.”
“Then why all the black?”
“I like the colour?”
Sophie laughed and whispered something into Ben’s ear.
Tyler cocked his head at the new arrival. “Why are you here anyway? You don’t sound like you’re from around here.”
“That’s because I’m not. I’m from Philadelphia.”
“Her Mom married my Dad,” Savannah added. “Now we all have to deal with the consequences.”
“Oh damn…so that means you’re like sisters now,” Tyler laughed.
Savannah whipped her head round. “That is not my sister.”
Tyler held his hands up defensively. “Keep your hair on.”
Much to Mia’s relief, the group seemed to get bored of asking her questions. The talked turned to school, relationships, and how much they hated their parents. Mia zoned out. She had no interest in listening to any of the drivel they had to say. In the end she took out a book from her bag and began to read. Every so often Ryan would glance at her, an unreadable expression on his face.
As the sun began to go down, Savannah let a dramatic sigh escape her lips. “So how exactly is this making her life a misery Ryan?”
She indicated to Mia who had her nose stuck in a book. Apart from maybe being slightly bored, Mia looked quite content on her boulder.
“I thought we’d dunk her before we left.”
Mia looked up from the book, unable to hide the concern that settled into her face. She had no idea what Ryan meant by ‘dunk’, but it probably wasn’t going to be good.
The group suddenly perked up, and sat up a little straighter.
Savannah had a wicked smirk across her face. “That could be fun.”
Mia felt like she was a lamb surrounded by a pack of wolves who hadn’t eaten in a few days. She placed her book back in her bag, and slowly stood up, as if any sudden movement would cause them to pounce.
Without taking his eyes off the girl from Philadelphia, Ryan said in an even tone. “Grab her guys.”
In a seconds, Annie and Sophie had been dislodged from their human counterparts, and Ben and Tyler made their way towards Mia. Her heart began to thump against her chest as they took hold of one arm each. She struggled against them, but their grip was too firm. She was powerless.
Ryan rose up from his chair much like a King would rise from his throne. He walked towards her, blue eyes burning into hers, until he was only a few inches away from her.
“This is for calling me a mindless jock…Boys?”
And before she could respond Ben and Tyler were dragging her towards the edge of the creek.
She screamed, “No! Please!”
But it was pointless, the two teens already had her at the bank, and in one fluid motion they lifted her off her feet and deposited her in the shallow stream. She landed backwards, the shock of the cold water and abrasion of the rocks of the river bed jolted her body. Some of the water went into her mouth, and she began to splutter, trying to sit up as her hair, now soaked covered her eyes.
The rest of the group was standing on the edge of the bank in hysterics, Ben almost doubled over. The only one not laughing was Ryan. He just looked on at her with a quiet smile, his hands resting in the pockets of his football jacket.
Mia gathered everything she had, and stood up from her position, trying not to wobble. She was soaked, and her black clothes were now stuck to her body. Her t-shirt stuck to the contours of her body and as she glanced up, she thought she caught Ryan staring at the way her waist and breasts were now accentuated. Perv, she thought.
With as much dignity as a person could muster who had just been thrown in a river, she crawled out. Her boots were full of water, making a terrible squelching sound as she stomped. Without saying a word, she walked over to where her backpack was, and slung it over her shoulder. She wasn’t sure how exactly to get home, but she couldn’t stay here.
When he realised what she was doing, Ryan called out to her. “Hey freak! You can’t walk home. Tyler’s gonna give you a lift in the back of his truck!”
Mia ignored him and continued to walk towards the way she thought they had come in. It was getting dark now, and she couldn’t deny the feeling of unease at walking home when she was soaking wet. She pulled out her phone and typed in the address of her supposed new home. As she realised it was going to be a 30-minute walk, her heart sank.
The sound of running footsteps made her turn round. “Oi, are you listening to me?”
She pressed her mouth into a thin line as Ryan approached her.
“Not talking to me now, huh?” He prompted.
“Why would I talk to you after what you’ve just done.”
Ryan shrugged and gave her another slow look up and down. “You did say ‘do your worst’.”
Mia scoffed, and turned to start walking in the opposite direction. A firm hand took hold of her arm, and she almost jumped at the electricity that seemed to come from it. She looked down in wonder to see Ryan’s strong slender fingers holding her in place. He was giving her that curious look again.
“Don’t make me carry you. Now get in the truck.”
“What on earth happened to you?!”Mia’s mom rushed towards her daughter as she entered the house. Mia was now shivering from having to sit in the back of Tyler’s open backed truck. It had been yet another humiliating instalment in the evening’s events.“Fell into a pound,” Mia muttered. Savannah had already told Mia to lie, and Mia was happy to oblige. She couldn’t cope with the fuss her mom might make if she knew the truth. She also wanted to stop being the object of Ryan’s torment. If she ratted out Savannah, he might up the ante.“Oh dear. You always were a bit clumsy.”Mia gritted her teeth so hard she thought they might crack. “I’m going to have a shower and go to bed.”After she was washed and in fresh clothes Mia sat down on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands. Why her? Why was it that nothing ever went her way? She felt Hamlet nudge her arm with h
It took a second for him to register her presence, but when he did, he almost tripped over himself. “Hello F…Mia.”Mia resisted to urge the scowl at him in front of now what appeared to be his mother. Out of all the places she could have looked for work in…“You kids know each other?”Ryan seemed to recover from his small shock, because he managed to smile at Mia in that way of his. Now she knew why Angela had seemed familiar. They looked very alike.“Yeah, Mia is the girl whose Mom married Bob Miller.”Angela looked at her perspective employee with renewed interest. “Oh right! I should have known when you said you were new in town.”Mia did her best to smile back, but the rising panic she was feeling turned it into more of a grimace.“So, what did you come in for Mia?” Ryan’s voice was layered with false geniality.“Mia came into ask about th
When it got to lunch time, Mia took what was now becoming her usual seat right at the back of the hall. It seemed that most of the kids who didn’t have anyone to sit with chose these tables. Unlike the rest of her peers though, Mia was happy with this.She was so engrossed in her book, half a cheese sandwich held aloft, she didn’t hear her voice the first time.“Mia?”Tilly was standing in front of her, a crowded lunch tray within her grasp.“Oh sorry, I didn’t hear you. Are you okay?”Tilly flushed a little. “Er yeah, I just wanted to know if it was okay for me to sit with you.”“Sure, go ahead.” Mia tried to disguise the surprise in her voice.Tilly sat down, slinging off her backpack to the floor. “Thanks. I just wanted to check you were alright. After the run in with Brook.”“Yeah, I’m fine. That was weird though.”Tilly t
“Okay so today I’ll just ask you to put out some new stock and package some stuff up for me. I’ll teach you how to use the register next weekend if you pass the trial today.”Mia nodded her head and wrung out her sweaty hands on her jeans. She hadn’t felt this nervous about something in a long time. But she had no choice, she had to see it through. Part of her also wanted to show Ryan that she was going to do whatever she wanted too.“Okay yeah, that sounds great. What would you like me to do first?”Angela tapped the boxes that were stacked on the counter. “So, these are washers.”Mia bit her lip. She had no idea what washers were.Guessing her thoughts, Angela chuckled. “They are small metal discs that go in between nuts and bolts in order to keep the fixture secure.”“Oh…okay.”“It’s alright. You’ll soon pick everything up.
Mia was shocked when Angela told her she’d passed her trial shift. She’d done okay, but she was sure someone else would have been able to do better. It was great of course, but now it definitely meant that she would probably be bumping into Ryan more than expected.When she got home, she decided to enter the house as quietly as she could. She was tired and couldn’t be bothered to go through all the questions her mom would have.Just as she was about to go upstairs, she heard Bob say her name. She wondered if he’d heard her come in, but as she got closer, she realised he was actually talking about her. Not to her.“Is she even trying? It seems like she’s not trying?” His voice echoed against the metal framed cabinets of the kitchen.“I don’t know…she’s never been right since…well. You know.”Mia’s heart faltered. Couldn’t her mom even say his name? Couldn&rsq
After the telling off of Mia’s entire life, her and Ryan were ordered to stay behind after school for detention. She’d tried to argue that it was all his fault, but the principal said that her reaction had still been ‘disproportionate’. Mia would have argued further if it hadn’t been for the fact the principal threatened her with putting it on her permeant record. That wouldn’t help her college applications. So here they were. Just the two of them in front of some crusty old teacher who clearly didn’t have a life to go home to at the end of the day. Mia had already taken out her homework and had started filling it in. Although it was hard to concentrate when the person who was ruining her life was sitting right next to her. She was so uncontrollably angry with him, that she still hadn’t stopped shaking. The sudden sound of snoring filled her ears, and she jerked her head upwards to find that the teacher who was meant to be watching them, had fallen as
When Mia got home that night, all she wanted to do was escape to her room and forget about everything that had happened. However, as soon as she entered the house, it became very clear that this wasn’t going to be the case.Her mom was waiting for her on the stairs, and she had that look on her face that told Mia she was in for a lecture.“So, your principal called today. Apparently, you thought it would be okay to assault Ryan Lee?” Carla gave Mia a hard look. She knew her daughter was having a hard time, but this was beyond anything that she would have ever expected.Mia let her bag drop to the floor. “Did he explain why I’d done it?”Carla straightened her shoulders. “Mia Fernwood. Whatever the reason, violence is NEVER the answer. I thought I’d taught you better than that!?”“He read out my diary Mom! MY DIARY! I was a laughing stock in front of the whole school!!”Mia had
“Hey, Mia!”Mia swung around to find Tilly calling after her. She stopped, and waited for her to catch up. What was this going to be about?Once the other girl stood before her, she shifted her weight backwards and forwards, struggling to keep eye contact.“Listen, I just wanted to say I was sorry about yesterday…with your diary and everything.”Mia tried not to let her expression betray how she was really feeling. “It’s fine. Those guys really aren’t worth it.”Tilly bit her lip. “Have you thought any more about the article? Brooke asked and well…seems like you kinda owe them one back.”Mia sighed. So, was Tilly just here to chase her up about the article? For a moment she’d thought…no. It was stupid to think like that.“Er no. I still haven’t decided. But honestly, I’m thinking about leaving it anyway. I don’t want any more