Almost Friends

Epilogue- Mia

Mia

October, 2014

Ran was right. We're all just a mass of weird and sweaty freakshows. And this is especially evident as you're walking through the halls of your high school. Though the two besties by your side- Asian hotness and White Trash Barbie- resemble actual humans, most of the other visuals that are thrown into your line of sight are insanely horribly in nature. Here comes one right now ...

"Oh my God, look." I elbow Kyle and point to the slit in Via Nguyen's mini skirt as she bends over to get something out of her book bag.

Via, I've decided, is basically a dumb version of me; she's just another rich girl with daddy issues. She craves attention from guys and does whatever she can to get it. The fact that she and I are different races doesn't even apply in our case; we're nearly carbon copy freakshows.

"Holy macaroni," Kyle says with a tisk.

"I see vag," E mumbles and we all chuckle.

"She's such a whore," I whisper as Via stands and then glances around a bit self-consciously before tugging at the hem of her skirt. At the sight of her vulnerability, a trace of guilt zips through me. I clear my throat and say, "But I like her haircut—at least she's a cute whore."

E snorts. "I love it when Mia tries to be nice."

I narrow my eyes at her. "I am nice to people who deserve it."

E shrugs. "Whatever you say."

I glance at E's shoes. She's wearing the three inch heels I gave her last week. Instead of going with my first instinct and shoving E, I lean forward and plant a huge kiss on her cheek.

"Stop!" E shrieks and pushes me away.

Laughing, I fall onto Kyle who rights us both on our feet and murmurs, "Y'all are insane." I still haven't quite pulled myself together when Kyle spots Meagan and Rose and beckons them our way.

Meagan is cute as always, but Rose ... that's another story. Even so, I make sure to give the overdone sophomore a smile and nod. It takes a ton of willpower to ignore the many horrendous make-up choices she's made, but by God I am trying.

"How's it going?" I ask, exchanging air kisses with the two underclassmen.

The girls reply in unison and start talking about something that I don't hear a word of because the sound of my boyfriend's laugh catches my attention. I turn in the direction of the noise and see he and Lanie at his locker. Ran holds a comic book that they both stare at with ginormous grins. In fact, Lanie's smiling so much that her face is aglow, making her look more human than freakshow-ish.

I avert my eyes and focus on taking steadying, deep breaths. I can't get mad. I have to stay calm. Just breathe and stay calm. Reaching into my purse, I root around for my lip gloss, just to have something to focus on.

Every seven days I've given myself the "calming injections" my father gets from some place called Serenity Bayous. Despite this, I'm a hundred percent sure that if I get angry enough, my ability will burst through and cause all hell to break loose. After all, I threw my own father against a wall, knocking him out cold the last time he tried to hit me ... and that time I didn't even hear the whirring buzz in my head or feel the anger welling up inside of me—it just happened.

"You all right, Mia?" Kyle whispers, surprising me. Sometimes I forget how observant she is. She nudges me with her elbow. "You look like you're getting in a fight with the insides of your purse or something."