Mia Hill. College bound with an athletic scholarship. A go-getter with big dreams and a fully thought out plan to make sure they come true.
But with her father's release from prison looming and the inevitable stresses of adulting, everything she wa...
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Movie Night in the Park. Such a perfect, small town, and cutesy name for an event that couldn't get any more small town or cutesy if someone paid it.
But this isn't even a real park. It's the backyard of the community center with a projector playing on the side of the building. And yet, everyone here is acting like they've never seen anything more fascinating and grand. They've been talking about the fireworks show like this is gonna be Times Square on New Year's Eve. I'm over it.
I also might be projecting my irritation where it doesn't belong. Just a bit. And I really need to get a fucking handle on myself.
Glancing across the way, my eyes land on Mia again, for only the fiftieth time tonight. She's currently manning the concession stand with Stinky Steve, and he's making her laugh. I don't know how, considering he's not funny at all.
I should know, we've been in the same class since Kindergarten. His sense of humor is, and always has been, about as stale as that mop of scraggly hair on his head. And yet, he's holding her attention with the execution of a professional comedian, winning her over with punctuality and superior popcorn pouring skills.
I bet he's the perfect camp partner. I bet he's always on time, never makes any mistakes. Never gets held up in the parking lot with a clingy ex-girlfriend as he tries desperately to say goodbye.
And even if he was, I'm sure Mia would be all too forgiving, quick to offer a second chance. A chance she never gave me, that's for damn sure.
I mean, what the fuck was that this afternoon?
Sure, I was late. But was the attitude necessary? Or am I missing something?
I hate that I'm still thinking about it, and that I'm so irritated by what happened. I hate that she made a comment about Hannah's lipgloss. And I hate that I feel the need to explain myself, to make sure she knows that I wasn't even kissing her back.
Most of all, I hate that all I can think about is kissing Mia.
I shouldn't want to kiss Mia. I shouldn't want to do anything else with her that keeps going through my mind either.
Looking away again, I focus my attention on the line of other volunteers present to help out tonight, before moving onto the kids and their families in attendance. Every eye seems to be glued to the building, enthralled as the latest Jurassic Park film plays on the screen. Great movie, but not enough to keep my attention.
When my gaze drifts back to Mia, I'm shocked to find her staring right back at me this time. That's a nice change of pace.
All day and into the evening, since our little spat on the field, she's been avoiding me at all costs. But now, there's no denying I've finally got her attention. I expect her to look away when I catch her, but she doesn't. She just stands there, eyes glued to me with all kinds of unreadable emotion behind them, searching my own in a way that makes me wonder what the hell she could possibly be looking for.
