Queen of Nothing

20. milo

School had been dreary as usual, and while rumors still swirled with ferocity surrounding the great Cole and Mahi breakup, I'd found ways to persist. 

One of those coping mechanisms involved launching a full scale deep dive into Gia's whereabouts. I hadn't heard from my mother in months, and had no interest in reconnecting with my father, but Gia was in reach, and I knew it. 

I'd scoured gossip blogs, reddit threads, google images, subscription based search engines that had me bleeding money. I hadn't gotten any closer to narrowing down her location, but it gave me purpose, something to do. 

I just have to survive until December break, I kept telling myself, while I flew through final exams and student council meetings and back to back shifts at Casa Nova's. Then, I could commit more time to finding her, bringing her home, figuring out what went wrong. 

The idea excited me and terrified me in equal measures. My living room started to look like a detectives office, mapped with timelines, evidence, potential sightings. 

If the sightings were true, then Gia took a bus to Los Angeles, where she spent a year, before heading to Austin, then Louisiana, where she was supposed to be now. 

But why Louisiana? Los Angeles and Austin, we had family, but there was nowhere within a hundred miles of New Orleans. The official report stated that she had short cropped hair and a new nose piercing. I tried to imagine Gia like that, her piercing green-brown eyes, her curved lips and angular cheeks, with a bob and a nose piercing. I could only remember the version of her with long curly hair that hit her at the waist, the way she always wore dresses to school, was always smiling. 

What did she do for money? How was she getting by? 

I had mapped the street that the sighting occurred at with a frenzy that was unbeknownst to me, hyper fixating on the restaurants, the people, the institutions on that block. I called each restaurant, each establishment on that street to see if anyone by the name of Gayathri or "Gia" worked there. Some people flat out refused to answer, the others hung up without question. 

It all felt a little too close to the truth for me to give up on. Meanwhile, I tried my best to put the thoughts out of my head and resume my life however I could as I walked to the park a street over, where the local peewee soccer club was hosting a Sunday game. 

With a familiar figure clad in a track suit, a whistle nestled between his full lips, brows set into a furrow. He was crouched to the kids height, offering a speech to boost morale, 

"You've worked hard, so you'll get free pizza no matter what happens after this game. But if you win? FREE ICE CREAM!" 

The kids roared in approval and I swooned a little. 

Milo had started coaching soccer games to get volunteer hours, but had connected so well with the kids that he'd continued to do it each Sunday. 

And I'd used it as an excuse to see him, of course. 

"Okay, now this is the last ten minutes. Are we going to win or give in to those weirdos?" 

"Win!" 

"I can't hear you!" 

"WIN!" The kids resounded even louder, before rushing onto the field. 

"Play nice! But not too nice!" He shouted out. 

I came up behind him, tapping him on his right shoulder before planting myself on his left. He let out a small smile before reaching out to grab me anyways, "Nice try." 

"Hey!" I whined, as he lifted me off my feet, "I'm wearing a dress, put me down." 

He grinned at me wide, soccer game forgotten, before putting me back down to observe me. I flushed deeply, an equally big and stupid grin on my face.