Just Breathe

Chapter Thirty Two

The morning arrived far too quickly for the exhausted seventeen year old's liking. The sound of her alarm going off had startled Lia straight out of her sleep. She was immediately met by the searing pain in her temple and the constant beeping stemming from her phone wasn't helping alleviate that.

Lia slowly rolled her body onto its side, still staying burrowed under her covers. She felt around her bed looking for the object that was the current bane of her existence and couldn't press the snooze button fast enough when her phone finally surfaced from under the top sheet. Not surprising, her phone battery was sitting at nine percent. Her battery had already been nearing its death while she was leaving Justin's. She had barely touched it since out of fear that she would be left in a random uber in the middle of night with a completely dead phone. In hindsight, it was probably one of the few smart decisions she had made.

Because she hadn't looked at her phone much since she had gotten reamed by her parents, Lia now had the chance to see more of the end results of her night on the town. Nearly thirty unread text messages were left on her phone, all varying messages from family members that amounted to, "where the hell are you?"

The string of texts from Hunter recounting her cousin's annoyance at getting interrogated by their overbearing family at the thought that she was covering for Lia didn't shock the seventeen year old. She knew Hunter had no idea where she had been, but had no doubt that she'd tried to divert the situation as much as she could from the other side of the country. It was usually Lia who was the one doing the covering. She knew whenever she spoke to her cousin she'd undoubtedly ask a thousand questions. 

After a few more minutes of scrolling, and a quick reply to Justin's good morning text that brought a flush to her cheeks, she was met with her own reflection as her phone turned itself off. Lia took it as a sign from the universe that she should get out of bed and start her day, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do. Between the unsettled feeling in her stomach,the amount of studying she knew she'd be making up, and the pressing knowledge that she still had yet to face her mother were the perfect combination of why getting out of her bed was the last thing she wanted to do. Regardless, she had to face the music.

Lia grabbed her comfiest clothes, her beloved Hamilton hoodie and a simple pair of leggings before she headed out of her bedroom and into the bathroom. She quickly brushed her teeth and messily threw her hair up in a claw clip, the thought of putting on makeup didn't even cross her mind. She took a last glance at herself in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes were prominent and a touch of bronzer would help her pale complexion. But, for today, this was as good as it was going to get.

She headed back into her room for her backpack and walked back out to the familiar sight of a typical morning in the Miranda household.

"But I don't like oatmeal,"

"Stel, you've liked oatmeal every other day of your entire life,"

Lia stood at the end of the hallway as she listened to her dad pleading with her younger sister who, unsurprisingly, had a pout on her face as she was in the midst of a regular battle of wills over the low sounds of music that filled the apartment. Their mom was sitting next to the twins in a black pantsuit, every hair in place, as she read over a case file while her coffee grew lukewarm.

"Seb," Lin turned his focus on his son, who also looked less than pleased at the typical breakfast, "Isn't it so yummy?!" His tone of voice exaggerated as he was met with defeat as the young boy simply shook his head and pushed the bowl away from him.

Lia saw the subtle smirk on her mother's face. As the parent who was usually the 'bad cop' it was a nice reprieve to switch roles every once in a while.