Tekna, thinks Mia as she stares intently at the laptop in front of her. The word has been hovering in her mind for hours now but she never seems to be able to make any sense of it; developing into some sort of enigma for her ever since she accidentally overheard it the previous night when her parents thought she was asleep.
However, finally admitting that her mind is obviously not going to get her anyway, Mia turns to the one thing everyone does when they're confused: the internet. She puts her hands to the keyboard and is about to start typing when she realises that she doesn't even have the slightest idea how the word is spelled.
Goddammit! She groans.
After some minutes of ruminating over it, she finally decides on a speech-to-text search method instead. "Tekna," she says and the computer brings up so many results, most of which spelled the word with a "CH;" and as expected, not having anything particularly interesting or "secrety" as her parents' tone suggested the previous night.
Mia is about to try searching for the word in another form when Dana suddenly bursts into her room shouting, "I finally found the indoor cat!"
Dana happens to be Mia's best friend. Her only friend, truth be told. It kinda surprises everyone- Mia herself included- but she and Dana have been friends from childhood. Her father works in the same construction company as Sam and it's on one of her regular visits to the place that she ran into Mia.
As usual, Mia wasn't taken by the girl that can make almost anyone fall in love with her at first glance, but after some time, and a whole lot of persistence from Dana, they're able to strike a friendly accord; and have remained friends ever since.
"Not minding that you just compared me to a furry animal, what brings you to my house so early in the morning on a weekend, Dana?" Mia asks, shutting down the laptop in front of her to fully face the redhead already making herself comfortable on her bed.
Thing is, it's no secret that Dana isn't a morning person, even on schooldays. So, Mia can easily tell that her early visit isn't all that a "visit." Thinking about it then, she realises that none of Dana's visit are ever about courtesy and they usually end up with her being dared to do things that she won't be able to look at herself in the mirror for days after.
"But can't a friend just think to visit another friend on a lovely weekend morning without having any underlying motive to it?" Dana asks with what can be termed as an innocent smile- by those who don't know her, that is- as she helps herself to a gumball lying fallow in a bowl on the bedside table.
"Not if they're a redhead named Dana," Mia returns, giving her own "innocent" smile to match. "So, why don't you drop the good friend act and spill the beans already?"
"Okay, Mia. You got me," she finally admits. She gets off the bed and starts rummaging through Mia's closet for nothing in particular. Truth is, Dana's just not used to sitting still. "Thing is, the football team is hosting a party next Friday to celebrate their unbeaten run," she says as she spills a trunk-load of Mia's clothes onto the floor without even giving them a second look, "and I think we should go together."
"No, no, no. Definitely no," Mia returns immediately, shooting out of her chair so fast that Dana backed into the closet in fright. "You know very well that I don't mix well with people. Besides, I know next to nothing about football."
"So do I and I'm still going," Dana returns with a shrug like it's the most normal thing in the world; and to her, it probably is. "Come on, Mia, don't be a party pooper. It'll be fun, and you don't even have to say anything to anyone throughout the party, I promise."
"No Dana, I won't, and not just because your promises hold as much water as a basket," she insists. "Going to this party sounds like the world's worst idea, especially with me in tow."
"Most of the ideas I come up with always sound like the world's worst but till date, none has ever come back to bite us in the ass," Dana reminds her with a lovely smile. "Look at it this way, a party means free food and handsome boys all packed up in the same place waiting to be picked. This could be a good opportunity to get your groove on."
Mia facepalms herself and crashes heavily onto her bed. No one can win an argument against Dana; she'll just insist her point till they agree.
"Okay, I'll go with you," she finally says after pretending to think about it for a while. "But a football party means that there's a good chance of me running into you-know-who."
"Andrew Cameron," calls Dana with a feigned dreamy look and smile, "your hellsent boyfriend."
Of course, she knows he's going to be there, Mia shakes her head; everybody does actually. No party in town is complete without the presence of golden boy, Andrew Cameron, especially if it's hosted by the football team. He's an unexpendable part of it.
Unfortunately, he and Mia can never sit in the same room for a minute-second without causing an explosion; and never the good kind.
"I got it!" Dana shouts all of a sudden even though she's laying right next to Mia, almost exploding the latter's eardrums in the process. "We'll go early, find ourselves a good spot to hang out but out of his reach, and if things start getting too hot, we'll leave."
Of course, Mia knows that Dana didn't really mean the "We'll leave if things start getting too hot" part of her statement but at least, it's something she can hold her to it if need be. So, she nods her agreement.
"All good Dana but I still need to ask permission from my pa-"
"Already taken care of," Dana cuts in, "and they already agreed to it. I've got to say your Mom was particularly happy about it."
Of course, she was, Mia groans in her head. Regina will agree to anything if it means that she gets to go out and meet people.
"That'll be all for now then," Dana says as she finally prepares to take her leave. "I'll be here on Friday evening to come pick you up for the party, and I'll bring the clothes. Nothing in your closet is worthy to be called a shopping outfit, not to talk about a party outfit. Believe me, it'll be fun."
Mia can only sigh as she watches her redhead friend literally skip out of the room in joy.
Dana may be wrong about many of the things she's said but she does get one thing right. The party will be fun, just not the kind they're looking forward to.
Mia walks through the front door and her resolve to try as much as possible to get through the night normally crumbles.Who am I kidding?She groans within herself.It's obvious I don't have what it takes to accommodate these people all night long. Mia desperately wished in her heart of hearts after Dana left her house that time will just stop and everyone will get stuck on a day like Tuesday. To be honest, it's not that she loves school that much. In fact, she despises it as much as the next person. But at least in class, no one's trying to get her attention or cajoling her into something that's practically impossible for her to achieve. Unfortunately, Mia's no time controller and so, Friday rolls in just like every other day. "Don't look so gloom,
He taps his fingers rhythmically on the chestnut table and hums a tune along with it. Boredom; that's his problem, and there's really nothing more he can do to keep it at bay than what he's doing at that moment.There was a time when I was busy, he remembers,when I had a lot to do than my time could afford. But those days are long gone behind him now, remaining back in his youth when he still aspires to be more. Now, he has it all: fame, fortune, age, and of course, a lot more time than he can possibly do anything with.He finally stops the tapping but only to begin arranging and rearranging the contents on his table for no particular reason nor aim.Thing is, even till then, a lot of people still marvel at the way he seems to have everything that can be had in
"I swear I'll never do that again in my life," groans Mia as she wakes up to her head throbbing. The throbbing is accompanied by a really heavy headache, but compared to the assault that knocked her out, it's just a lovetap;and for that, she's thankful.She finally pries open her eyes to see that she's in her room, wearing her pajamas, and from the looks of things, quite comfortable in bed.How the hell did I get home?Mia asks herself. She remembers the party and how Andrew got on her nerves- she's still considering murdering him in retaliation for that- She also remembers her indiscriminate drinking, the pain that threatened to take her life, and finally, the merciful blackout that saved her from it all.But try as she can, she just can't seem to remember anything after
“You know him?!” That’s the first thing that Mia thinks to shout after her initial shock. Now, she knows that most people will begin with questions like "What in the world just happened?"or"Where the hell did you learn to kill like that?" or something else along those lines.But Mia has never claimed to be like most people.“Yes,” Regina replies, a bit confused at her choice of question. “Andrew’s a friend.”“Wait, you’re friends with this demon?!” she shouts again. How the hell can Andrew be friends with Sam and Regina?She thinks and almost gives in to the temptation of murdering the boy who is her nemesis there and then.“Look, I know you have so many questions but I just heard those guys radio in for reinforcement,” Andrew says, cutting into Mia’s thoughts. “I suggest we leave before they arrive.”“No
We must be going at a death speed, thinks Mia as the car whizzes in and out of traffic. It's only a suspicion that she’s fairly certain is true, but she doesn’t dare to take a look at the speedometer for the fear of confirming it.By then, Mia half-expects the cops to be on their tail but none of them are in sight. Then, she realises that virtually no cop car can keep up with the Ferrari’s speed. Their pursuers, on the other hand unfortunately, has no trouble keeping up; her interval glances confirming it.“Relax already, Gates!” Andrew suddenly shouts at her from behind the wheels. “Your incessant movement is distracting me.”“Those guys are still following us,” she returns as if the past hour isn’t enough to tell him that.“Don’t worry, they can’t catch up, and they won’t want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves by shooting at us,” Andrew assures h
Mia dries herself with the lone towel in the bathroom before putting on her new outfit of blue jeans coupled with a cream top; and a frown spreads across her face. Her clothes; they fit; perfectly.How could Andrew have known my size? Mia wonders as she steps into the room to see him sprawl across the bed with a magazine in hand; his black jeans, grey top, and blue sports jacket adorning his body excellently. He has opted for a pair of leather boots instead of sneakers like her.The receptionist is nice enough to send up an extra bed to their room and even follows it up herself to make sure it’s delivered to the right room; although Mia finds her motive for doing so questionable.Thing is, throughout the set-up, she does nothing but send not-so-subtle sensual looks at Andrew and Mia almost gives in to the urge to barf at the sight of it.He’s an overbearing, narcissistic teenager, you moron! She mentally shouts at the woman.
Mia has been running for more than fifteen minutes but she hasn’t come across the payphone she spotted from the motel window.I swear it had looked so damn close before, she thinks as she tries her best to keep up her speed, but that doesn't hold as the seconds tick by.Truth is, Mia has never been an athletic person. Yes, she can hold her own quite well in a race, but her body is a little bit on the generous side- as many people have pointed out in times past- and although it has never affected her before, it definitely is now.Her thought returns back to Andrew. It has been doing so ever since she left him, but she quickly stomps it just like she does every time it crops up. He’s gonna be okay, she assures herself. There’s no doubt that Andrew’s a strong guy and will be able to carry on without her eventually.She, on the other hand, is a different story. She can’t even find a damn payphone.Mia is st
New York City, New York. It’s around ten in the night when they drive into New York; at least that’s what the clock on the dashboard says. Mia has never felt as tired as she is in that moment but the excitement coursing through her veins from seeing such a marvellous city didn’t make that all too obvious. Now, it’s not that she thinks Chicago isn’t marvellous anymore- seeing an actual big city isn’t enough to just rob Mia of that love that she has for her home city- but being in an economic jungle like New York is definitely an upgrade in travel experience for her and she likes it. And Andrew said that this isn’t even the best part, she reminds herself. The street traffic has become light by that time of the night but it still isn’t very easy to manoeuvre through the city- one of the side effects of being in the city that never sleeps- but Andrew’s navigation is quite expertly and that makes the journey reaso