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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I'm pretty sure the only thing worse than attending a holiday party at the community center is an awkwardly quiet car drive to get there. Especially when your passenger is the quiet one making everything awkward. She's the one that wanted to go, after all.
Not that I mind going with her. I'd go anywhere with Mia. But judging by how weird she's acting, it feels a bit like she no longer wants to party with all of our old volunteer friends from the summer. Which kind of has me wondering why we don't just skip it and go park somewhere.
That would be ideal actually. My hands are itching to feel her skin, and I wouldn't mind sticking my tongue down her throat, feel her lips on mine.
"You alright, Tink?" I ask, stealing a glance at her as we drive through town. She's staring out the window, watching the snow fall, which would be a normal occurrence any other day and not raise any suspicion. Except that, usually, when it's snowing, my little snow deprived Californian is busy talking about the fact that it's snowing.
The silence is killing me. But when she doesn't respond right away, I give her a few more seconds, not wanting to press. Especially when the vibe here, if I'm being honest with myself, isn't new. It's been going on for a couple days now and I'm at a loss.
The comfortable extremes Mia and I have gravitated toward in the past involved verbal sparring, tension flirting, and being fuck buddies. Somewhere in the midst of all that, we fell for each other, and I walked right into a relationship with little to no experience on even the regular things that occur. So, I'm definitely out of my league when it comes to quiet weirdness.
I'd really like to know what's going on. But at the same time, I have to admit, I'm also not eager to look into it. Call me chicken shit, but I'm a little scared. If I had to pinpoint when the vibe changed, it would have been after I told her I loved her, and I really don't want to think that's been the cause of this shift in her mood.
"Tink..." My voice is low as I pull up to a stoplight, and put my hand on Mia's thigh to get her attention. The touch seems to stir her and she jumps a little, inhaling a sharp breath like she was lost in her own dreamworld and I woke her up.
Her head shoots over to look at me. "Sorry. Hi," she shakes her head, a nervous laugh floating past her lips. "What's up?"
"You alright?" I ask her, feeling like I've had to ask that question far too often lately. "You disappeared on me there."
"I did, didn't I?" Her gaze trails back to the snow out the window, but she places her hand over mine and gives it a squeeze. "I'm sorry... I'm just distracted, I guess."
The car behind us beeps a few obnoxious times, signaling me to the light changing, and I hit the gas. Reluctantly, I pull my hand back and put it on the wheel. "Anything you want to talk about?" I ask Mia, both hopeful and fearful of how she might answer.
She looks over at me, smiling. It's a small one, barely there on her lips, but it lights up the inside of the car and puts me a little more at ease. "I'm alright," she answers softly. "Just tired."
