Three Cups Of Tea

caffeinated

FOR BECKY //unedited\\

01

Mila Stone had fallen in the lake.

Leaning too far over the edge, to see if the lilies were a pale blue or if it was a trick of the beating down sun, her knees buckled from underneath her and suddenly murky brown water was filling her nose.

It was unexpected to say the least.

A gaggle of geese quickly fled the scene, and that was what Carter Jones noticed at first. The squawking of the geese, evacuating the lake that they called home. When the council was excavating the brick pathway near the lake, the geese hadn't moved a feather, but when Mila came tumbling down into the lake, like Alice did down the rabbit hole, they vanished.

Then Carter noticed the seventeen year old girl thrashing around under the water.

He dropped his bike and ran with all his track and field ability to the mouth of the lake, grabbing the pale, blonde drenched mess that was Mila Stone. She latched onto his arms and he heaved her up onto the green grass.

"Are you okay?" Carter asked as Mila coughed and sputtered, showing that she was obviously, not okay. "Do you need a ambulance?" Carter asked, his vocal chords rising with the fear that came with hauling a drowning girl out of water. Mila confused to cough out the water that had made its way into her oesophagus while Carter awkwardly patted her back.

When the spluttering slowed to an almost complete stop, Mila got off her hands and knees and sat down on the slightly looked grass, looking up at her rescuer. God damn it, Mila Stome was defiantly not a damsel in distress. Carter shifted his weight onto his left foot and uncrossed his arms as Mila continued to stare at him.

"Thank you" Mila muttered at the same time Carter mumbled his "Are you okay?" Again. They both nodded their heads subtly, and Mila looked down at her hands.

How the hell had she fallen into the lake? She didn't think that she was that close to the apparently freezing cold water. She squeezed the foul smelling liquid out of her favourite black shirt. It wouldn't be her favourite anymore, that was for sure.

Carter watched as the small and skinny girl took off her soaking converse shoes, looking as if she was in the middle of the spectrum of 'mildly embarassed' to 'completely humilated'. Her white blonde hair hung around her like a drowned rat and mascara was dripping down her face.

She did not look beautiful in that moment.

But Carter was guessing that she didn't feel beautiful either. "I'm Carter. Carter Jones" He offered, holding out a hand to help her out. To his surprise she shook it, pushing herself off the ground.

"I have to go" She says, wiping the dirt from her light wash jeans, or they were light wash jeans, before water that probably contained more duck piss than you'd ever want in your water, and heading in the direction of her house, less than two miles away.

"Wait. Wait. What's your name?" Carter asked, shaking his dark brown hair from his face and feeling completely confused. Probably not as confused as Mila thought, because let's face it, getting pulled out of a river isn't exactly an enjoyable experience and boy, did she smell like shit.

Mila contemplated giving him her name. She remembered reading somewhere that giving someone on the internet your name was a dangerous idea. But, this wasn't the internet, and Carter looked like he wasn't going to let her go without a name.

"It's Mila. Mila Stone" She muttered, and Carter matched her pace.

"Mika? That's a pretty name" He said to a unsmiling Mila.

"It's Mila" She repeated clearly and Carter blushed. Right, he knew that, how did he even get Mika from Mila? Mika wasn't even a pretty name.

Career continued following her up the red brick road, and Mila was starting to freak out. Was she getting stalked? This was just like CSI. He was going to slit her throat and dump her in the lake, so there wouldn't be any DNA on the body-

"Would you like to get some lunch? I mean, dinner, since it's too late for lunch, I mean, not that I'm asking you out- wait, I mean I am, but not in that way, unless you wanted to come and you're not busy" Carter said, surprising himself. Mila stumbled over her feet, nearly dropping her soaking shoes out of her hands. This was it, if she said no she'd be swimming with the fishes tonight, to put it simply. But if she said yes and didn't go, she'd feel guilty for the rest of her life, and maybe when she's eighty years old she'll think back to this very day and remember how much of a super bitch she was. But she didn't really wanted to be murdered.

Carter was inwardly slapping his forehead. Mila looked as if she'd rather burn at a stake, but he remained silent.

"Um, yeah, I guess" Mila muttered, immediately regretting it when Carters eyes lit up. "But, not right now" Carter continued to smile and the regret in Milas stomach was tightening quickly. Or was that the creek water?

"Tomorrow then? I'm free all day" Carter said and Mila started walking in the direction of her house again. In reality, Carter was not free all day, and something inside Mila knew that, but she sighed.

"I guess, but right now, I really have to go" She told him and he nodded his head like a puppy dog.

"Lorenzo's? Eleven o'clock?" Carter asked quickly and Mila nodded her head quickly, wanting to avoid the subject that she wouldn't be attending.

"I have to go" She said again and Carter smiled.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Carter asked again and Mila didn't respond as she picked up her pace.

"See you later" Carter said as Mila disappeared down the brick road, shaking her head slightly. Oh god, he definitely sounded like a stalker, what the hell was that?

Mila wondered the same thing as she wandered down the brick path to her house.