Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 9

Leila kept a distance as she followed Mia up the steps to her apartment. The stairs were wet with rainwater, so she treaded carefully. Mia walked silently, and Leila, though usually pretty talkative, maintained the quiet.

Leila hadn't expected an invitation to dinner from Mia, but she wasn't going to turn her down, not when Mia had looked so distraught at the cemetery. Both had seemed embarrassed by the encounter, but neither had said a word about it since. Perhaps it was better to just leave it be, Leila thought, even though Leila wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort Mia.

"We're here," Mia said, stopping at the front door. The metal door was a rusted blue with paint chipping along the edges, clearly an indicator of how old the apartment was. Leila ducked under the awning to get dry and watched the rain cascade down the roof as Mia finagled with her keys. The heavy metal door slowly opened, and Leila stepped inside.

Mia's apartment was definitely older than Leila's, she realized now. The floors were all carpet, save for some pale, stained tile in the kitchen. Cream-colored paint was peeling from the walls, and every inch of free space of the room was filled with stacks of books and papers and other miscellaneous household objects. Sitting in the living room on an old red couch were a man and a woman.

"Oh, Mia. You brought someone new today," the woman said.

"This is Leila. We knew each other as kids," Mia explained. "Leila, this is my roommate, Abby, and her boyfriend, Kyle."

Leila gave a shy wave to the both of them, to which they both meekly replied with a wave of their own.

"I'm going to order a pizza. You two want anything?" Mia asked. She stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a worn paper pamphlet from one of the drawers.

Abby shook her head. "Kyle and I are leaving in a little bit."

Though there seemed to be no animosity, the tension in the room was overwhelming. Leila had never seen roommates act so coldly to each other. In college, Leila had always been eating dinner or watching movies with at least one of her roommates, but it seemed that Mia and Abby were really just that. Roommates. There was not an ounce of warmth or friendship between them.

"Is sausage okay?" Mia asked. "It's really good, I swear."

Leila blinked, realizing Mia was addressing her. She nodded her head. "Yeah, that's fine."

She patiently waited beside Mia as she made the phone call. Though Leila offered her card to pay, Mia shook her head from the phone.

"Thirty minutes until delivery. We can hang out in my room until then," Mia said.

"Okay," Leila replied shyly.

She followed Mia down the hallway, hearing the floorboards creak beneath her feet. Mia and Leila both entered into the only room on the left side of the apartment. Mia's bedroom, though not cluttered, was still messy. There were sketches strewn across her desk and dresser, her old clothes were laying on the floor, and Leila was pretty sure Mia had half the dishes piled in her room on the nightstand.

"Sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting company," Mia said as she quickly attempted to tidy up the room. Leila took a seat on Mia's office chair and sat patiently as Mia gathered her scattered belongings. As she did so, Leila glanced around the walls, noticing Mia's artwork hanging by thumbtacks and pieces of tape. Her eyes lit up at the sight of it. Mia's artwork had improved tremendously over the past decade.

Mia had finally finished tidying her things and took a seat on her bed.

"This is all your art?" Leila asked.

Mia glanced around the walls. "Oh. Yeah, it is."

"Mia, it's really good," Leila commented. "I'm so glad you kept drawing. You were always so talented."