Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Sixty-Six

    Birds were chirping...and they sounded a lot closer than they should be. Mia lifted her head and raised a hand to shade over her eyes. She was outside and not in the comfort of a bedroom, wearing only the bra and panties she'd swam in the night before. She turned her head and saw Drake's arm, secured around her torso. She cast a glance over her shoulder. He was still sleeping peacefully, long lashes brushing against the hills of his cheeks. She was still staring at him when another sound registered to her, a sound not nearly as natural as the birds in the trees surrounding Drake's estate. It was the sound of a ringtone.

    She eased herself from underneath Drake's arm and sat up slowly, bringing up a hand to her temple. Her head was killing her. Squinting against the sunlight, she stood up and looked around. She and Drake had fallen asleep in the pool oasis. She looked down at him, resting comfortably on the large circular cushion with his head propped up on one of the many pillows that had been placed around the outer edge of the lounge area. Still fully clothed, although his jeans were unbuttoned and unzipped. She stepped out of the oasis, walked across the short bridge, and towards the patio area. Even though her head was pounding, the sound of the rushing pool water had an instant calming effect.

    Her phone was nestled in the folds of her gold Cavalli dress. She remembered setting both aside prior to jumping headfirst into the pool. She knelt down to the ground and retrieved her phone. She looked at the LCD screen. It was Bri calling. Repeatedly. She answered the call and lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she croaked into the phone.

    "Bitch, what in the ever loving hell?" Bri demanded. "Do you know how many times I called just now?"

    "I wasn't awake yet," Mia muttered, scratching her head.

    "It's noon. Your time."

    "There was a party last night," Mia said, her memory still a little hazy. Images rushed at her, and she thought to herself, And there was weed. And liquor. And this purple drink that makes all other liquor seem like child's play. She glanced over towards the oasis. She couldn't really see Drake from here, but guessed that he was still sleeping. "I was going to call you today to tell you how the VMas went...I was going to call you once I woke up."

    "You don't have to tell me how the VMAs went," Bri told her. "You're all over the news, Mia. All over the news, okay? Multiple stories. Stories about you being Drake's girlfriend. Stories about Trevor hitting you. Stories about Drake and Trevor getting in a fight, okay? Over you."

    Mia frowned. "They're still running reports about the night Trevor hit me?"

    "That fight made them dig it up all over again," Bri told her. "They have video. They have...look, they have everything, okay? They even dug up the Vanessa shit again, since Vanessa has been spotted all over town with Trevor. And that's not all, man. I went to tag you in something on Instagram, because BallerAlert and TheShadeRoom have been going crazy with these stories. And I went to your page and...let's just say you have a ton of new followers now. And let's just say that there are a lot of comments on your page that are...not for the faint of heart. Yeah, let's say it that way."

    Mia turned and paced alongside the pool. "I was expecting the new followers and the mean comments."

    "Yeah, but it's...bad. Like...chicks are all like, 'Who's this bitch?' And 'She's not even that pretty.' And 'Drake is my man, what is she doing hugged up all on my man like that?' Like...it's intense."

    "I was expecting that," Mia repeated. "How about you? Have you had the chance to talk to Shawn yet? Did you tell him about...did you...did you talk to him?"