"We're just two people thrown together through the bond of knowing one another's secrets."
Mia and Noah couldn't be any more different. When a change in circumstances has Mia transferring from her private school to a public one, she couldn't fit in...
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"Hey honey, how was your first day?" My mom sat on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her legs for warmth. The sofa still smelt like stale cigarettes despite how many times we scrubbed it with laundry detergent.
"Different." I sighed and her eyes softened with guilt.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make East Side work." She admitted sadly.
"Bell View is alright." I lied but her face wasn't comforted any more. "Mom, you have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault. It's all his fault." She smiled gently and I cuddled up to her underneath the blanket for warmth. All I could smell was the sofa, it was bought from a preloved website and it wasn't in the best condition but we literally had nothing.
Meanwhile my father sat in a mansion that overlooked the beach, complete with an infinity pool, a cinema room and a private gym. The worst part was that our last house wasn't even the only property he owned, he had a few private houses located abroad and he owned a lot of real estate that he planned to sell on.
Yet he left my mom with nothing, not a single dime.
My mom was looking old now, like the stress of life was catching up on her. She continuously looked tired and her hair had both grayed and thinned generously. Maybe it had always been that way but her expensive hair stylist worked his magic and made it look full, conditioned and luxurious. But there was no doubting that the split had took a toll on her mental health and outer appearance. I hated seeing her suffer so badly.
We ate a microwave dinner on the sofa together and then I excused myself so I could video call Michael and catch up on every last bit of gossip that I missed out on at East Side.
"Hey" I said, trying to fake a smile.
"Hey babe, how was your first day?" His handsome face appeared, he was still wearing his uniform and it made me feel even sadder because I missed it so much.
"I hated it. The people there are so different, they're all rude and they look like delinquents. This girl made fun of my clothes and a boy called me a spoiled brat." I let out all of my feelings to my boyfriend and I could see him squinting at the screen, not paying attention to whatever I had to say.
"Is that your room?" He asked with disgust.
I looked around, my mom managed to secure us a one bed apartment in the bad part of town, using the savings that she kept hidden once her relationship started falling apart. It was undercoated with furniture that we were donated or had accumulated from charity shops so everything was mismatched. The walls had cracks or pot holes and the pipes were exposed, often dripping. We couldn't afford heating and the neighbors were sketchy drug dealers.
"Yeah." I said, awkwardly positioning my body closer to the camera in efforts to hide the background because I could see the judgement in his eyes from across the computer screen.
