Fearless Beings

Chapter 24

Mia's POV:
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I smirk. "Something tells me patience isn't your strong suit."

Karen crosses her arms over her chest, tapping one foot on the ground. "Okay, I'm done playing nice, Mia. Why the hell did you come back?"

Ouch. Someone isn't just ecstatic to see me James was. "I came back from visiting my--"

"I don't care," she cut me off, glaring down at me.

"Oh, finally. We have something to bond over. Would you look at that? I don't care either!" I reply, grinning. "Seriously, Karen, I came here to see James and Tom."

James rounds the corner, and appears in the living room, where his mum and I are having a very heated conversation. "Mum--"

"Go back to your room, James," she says, her voice hard and commanding.

James gives me one last glance and walks away. I wave after him. "So, Karen, how about we--"

"I don't want to chit chat. Especially not with you," she snaps.

Okay, so she skipped the pleasantries.

"Karen, I don't have anything to do with you. I just came here to spend more time with Tom and James. Really. Don't flatter yourself; I didn't come here for you," I roll my eyes. God, these heels are ankle-killers. I walk toward the couch. Dropping my handbag on the coffee table, I sigh and  throw myself on the couch, lifting my aching feet on the coffee table.

"I don't want you in my life," she says, her venom-filled voice shrills I'm my ears.

"I don't know if you know this, or if this might come as a shocker to you, but I'm not in your life. I'm in Tom's and James'," I shoot back. "Now please go back to whatever you were baking before I arrived."

She circles the couch twice before she stops in front of me. "Mia," her tone almost catches me off guard, it's soft and pleading. "I don't want to hate you, okay?" This is new. "And you're making this really hard for me, so I'm just going to ask you a question and I want you to be super honest with me, alright?"

I raise a brow. This can't be bad. I mean, if I can find some middle ground with my crush's mum, then I'll be okay, right? "Fine. I promise."

She takes a deep breath, afraid of her own question. "Do you remember any fire incident in your life?"

I rake my brain. "No. Why?"

"Do you know anything about a girl named Abigail?" She questions, her eyes full of dread.

"Uh..." I say. "There's a girl in my school who goes by that name. Why?"

Her shoulders hunch over in what appears to be relief. She runs a hand down her face and smiles at me. "I... I just thought you were someone else."

I lick my lips and sit up straight. "Does that means that I'm officially in your good books?"

She rolls her eyes. "No. I still hate you."

"What did I ever do to you?" I ask, exasperated. "I've been nothing but polite!"

She scoffs. "We have different definitions of polite, then."

"But--"

"Mum? Mia?"

My eyes widen as I look up at Karen. She tucks her hands behind her back, and smiles at her boy. I stand up and smirk.

"What are you doing here?" He's asking me.

"Oh, Karen and I were having a very civil conversation," I say. Not exactly what I imagined my first words with Tom to be like after two weeks of  "travelling to Paris".