Eigengrau

Ready, set, begin!

Chapter 9:

The following day, upon waking up, Mia realized how cathartic her chat with April had been. Without actually talking about it, she had managed to deal with the things going on inside her, and had put her thoughts in order. She had also reinforced her will in the matter concerning Riley, and had refused to think of him in any other way than the way you think of your neighbor, who's slowly becoming your friend as well, even though you've only met him twice.

"Are you hanging out with Riley and his friends today, Mia?" Clara asked when her daughter got to the kitchen, sleepy and hungry, reaching instantly for the pancakes.

Yawning, Mia shook her head, seemingly uninterested, and caught a glimpse of Casey, who was smiling widely, out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm actually gonna go for a run to the beach," said Mia, who was very fond of her running routines "Casey, do you wanna come with me?" She saw the opportunity to get back at her step-sister for smiling so cockily "You could use it, you know. For those extra pounds you're always talking about,"

You see, Casey was constantly whining about her weight, but what she liked more than complaining were the compliments that came along with it. People would say 'Are you crazy? I wish I was as skinny as you!' and things of that sort, and Casey loved it. What pissed her off were the non-favorable comments on her body image. They mostly came as whispers from behind her back, but Mia wasn't the one to criticize someone without them knowing, so she'd do it right to her face.

"What?" as she said that, Casey's right eye seemed to twitch in anger -you know, like in movies.

"I said you could use the running, sis," Mia sarcastically said, modulating more than necessary, talking to her step-sister as if she were a child.

"Mia!" her mom scolded her, looking at her with eyes wide open, and trying -Mia could see it- not to laugh.

"What?" Mia asked, pretending not to know the reason behind her mom's interruption "I'm just being honest!"

She was finally able to use Casey's trademark phrase against her.

Casey always disguised her insults behind that one phrase, and she got away with it, because it was 'in the name of honesty'. She was even praised for it, because her comments gave her a quality which not many people have, which is being truthful. If you would have asked Mia, though, she would have coldly answered that it was bullshit, and that Casey wasn't honest, she was just a scared little bitch.

"Cut it out, Mia," Clara said, serious this time around.

Mia lifted her hands and raised her brows, as if by doing so she was suddenly exempt of guilt.

In that moment, Brett walked in, in all his dick-faced glory.

"How nice it is to wake up and see my most beloved women, all in one room," he said, full of himself.

Mia repressed a groan of disgust, and instead just rolled her eyes when no one was looking at her.

Brett went on an kissed his wife on the lips and his daughter on the forehead, and when he got to Mia, he just patted her shoulder. Mia wanted to laugh so hard at his poor attempt (is it even an attempt if you're not even trying?) of step-fatherhood. Even so, she wasn't disappointed; not at all! That pat on the shoulder was way more than what she was used to (which was nothing at all).

"Ok, I'm going for a run," Mia announced, even though she knew no one in that room cared. She just wanted to leave that place, where she was suffocating in an atmosphere of falseness.

"Kay, honey," Clara said, not really paying attention to her daughter, and instead focusing on her husband, whose hand was squeezing her butt. She was giggling like a little girl, and Mia then thought of another reason that her mother could have had to agree to marry Brett (besides his wealth): he made her feel young.