72 hours of Mia

Summer was always boring to me. It was rare for me to genuinely enjoy myself, even though I could be surrounded by a group of people. I like to think of myself as an extroverted introvert, weird right? I could be in a room with 10 people, having the time of my life and in half a second decide I want to be completely alone listening to my favorite "Sad Songs" playlist. On repeat. Don't get me wrong, I do try to enjoy myself while I'm with my friends as much as I can, but there's always something emotionally draining about being around people. Maybe that's just me.
​
​It was a typical Friday afternoon, I was with my friends eating in the food court at the mall. While eating, they were each talking about the stores they wanted to check out and the stuff they wanted to buy. It was easy for me to feel left out, I had no desire to "check out" the stores, I was only interested in one store. Create was a store filled with the most random objects you could find. The idea behind it was to appreciate someone else's creativity, I found it so fascinating and was dying to go. When we finished eating I decided to stay behind and let them explore the mall on their own. You know when you get a sudden urge to be left alone? Yeah, I needed it.
​I waited a few minutes before bursting from my seat and on to Create. I always get very excited over the simplest things, but they make me so happy. Walking into this store was like walking into a new world, there were so many different art pieces, inventions, and toys, anything you can think of. While I was looking at the different board games people have invented I heard a voice, "Guess where? Honestly one of my favorites", I turned to find myself face to face with a girl, I would say about 19, short, skinny, short hair, tan, and she was beautiful, I couldn't even speak. This was Mia. "Haha yeah, it's pretty fun", I said in an awkward laugh. Why am I so awkward? She smiled and we kept talking about the board games and all the merchandise the store had to offer. I was in awe with how great this girl seemed and how interested I was in getting to know more about her so very quick.
​We walked around the mall together, laughing, telling stories and just being plain old dorks. "You know something? I really enjoy being on the go. Staying in one place for too long can get very boring", she said to me. I didn't quite understand what she meant, but just listening to her speak about what she enjoys and seeing that spark in her eyes as she explains each detail, was enough for me to agree to anything. So we left. All over town you could find us having an amazing time playing a little game we liked to call "Hide and no seeking", the name was a work in progress, but I think it made it ours.
​The point of the game was to enter some place risky, for example storage rooms in a store or a class room full of students, and try not to get caught. Extra points if you hid in plain sight and still didn't get caught. The adrenaline felt after escaping without getting caught was something I could not explain. I felt so alive to be on the edge and she took me there. It became more than a game for us. It was more than just the adrenaline, the fun, the fear of getting caught... it was about getting away. It was about being so close but so far from home, nobody could see you. It became a part of us: being hidden.
​Three days went by and we were still successful. No one had found us and no one had even seen us since the mall. There was a sense of pleasure in the fact that we lived in the world, but yet we were not part of the world. It was just Mia and I and we were unreachable, how perfect was that? Mia had this crazy idea on how the world always looks prettier from above, so we decided to go roof topping and get on the tallest building in the city. Let me just say, Mia has crazy ideas, but they are always amazing I felt I could cry with how real and fake this all felt. The view was completely beautiful and so was she. We sat down in the middle of the roof, just looking at each other, honestly there was no need to say anything it was simply perfect. Mia looked down and smiled "I've always liked taking risks, I like to believe if people took more risks in life, they would be happier", she told me. She always seemed so passionate when she spoke, it was breath taking to me. "There's a risk I've been meaning to take and it has been bothering me because I can't bring myself to do so", she said, as to what I asked "What risk would that be?" She then kissed me. Finally
​Time froze when we kissed and I could still feel her lips on mine to this day. I loved this girl and never in my life have I fallen for someone in so little time, but I fell and I fell hard. Mia wasn't like any other girl, she actually made you feel something and not for her but for the world. She was the only person who knew me for my strange obsessions and she felt the same way. I didn't like to believe humans had soulmates, it all sounded kind of fake to me; until I met Mia. As corny as this all could sound, this isn't a love story, this is a story about life and how this one girl, gave purpose to mine.
​We headed to a school that afternoon to observe the classes and once again, hiding. It wasn't long until we heard police sirens outside the building. It was clear to us that our family and friends had to have been looking for us, but we never thought they would find us. So we did what we knew best, we hid. Even though this was a serious moment, it was still a rush to test our hiding abilities and we would test it on the cops. A couple minutes passed and we noticed the place was getting quite full so we needed to get out of there. Mia was clever, she quickly found an escape route that led to the shed behind the school, and it was just what we needed so off we went. The end of the route had a small opening that only she could fit through. "I can't fit through there", I told her with a sense of desperation. She then looked around and saw we could go around it and still get out in time so I went first. I was standing in the shed when I heard a man's voice and quickly hid behind some equipment, "Search for them everywhere, they like to hide in plain sight, you have to really look", he said on the phone. Heart pounding, I waited for him to leave the shed and got up, looked at Mia and told her to come so we can leave. Mia was silent and completely still, just looking at me. "Come on we can leave, we can get away, let's go", I almost pleaded. Nothing. She was just looking at me and I could not understand why she wouldn't say anything. "Please, if you hear me. Please come home, we need you back home", I heard my mother's voice on the police radio. I couldn't believe I had been away from home all this time. Maybe Mia wants to go back home as well. "Look, we can go back home. It's all going to be okay, we can go back, come on", I said once again and to this she responded, "You just don't get, huh?". What does she mean by this? I looked at her, very confused. "Okay, you take your time I'll meet you outside" I finally decided and walked out. I saw my family in the distance and ran over to them, they were so relieved to see me. "Where's the other girl?" I was asked. I pointed to the shed and a few minutes later a cop comes out and says "There's no one in there, its empty". My heart dropped. They must've not looked in the right place. I ran inside to find it just as I left it except, no Mia. I looked all around, I yelled her name, she wasn't there, she had stayed behind and just like that, she was gone.
They never found Mia and I never saw her again. To this day I still wonder what happened, why she couldn't say not even one word to me that day, why she couldn't move until I was gone. I wonder where she is every day, if I will ever see her again and if I will ever experience happiness so genuine like the way I did with her. Wherever she may be, I know she is taking on risks and living life the way she intends to. I am forever grateful for my 72 hours of Mia. I miss her every second of everyday but, she was a free soul. And she deserves to stay that way, free.