ʳᵒᵒᵐᵐᵃᵗᵉˢ ( jack gilinsky )

39 - baggage

song mood for this chapter-
superposition - daniel caesar, john mayer

jack's pov

the tension in the air is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. i look over at mia's mom who looks way too young to be a mother of an 18 year old.

i can tell that they're related. she just looks like a slightly older version of mia. i oddly get a warm feeling in my heart.

"mia! you never told me you had a sister. you guys really won the genetics lottery." camden winks.

"that's her mom, you idiot." tyler hits him and then turns to the woman, "hi veronica, long time no see."

"tyler! wow, i wasn't aware that you were still friends with mia." her mom comes in through the doorway. "so this is where you've been living? it's quite small." she looks at mia judgmentally.

"if you just came here to shit on everything you can just leave." mia snaps.

"am i not allowed to visit my daughter?" veronica amuses.

"since when do you even care?"

"well, i haven't heard from you since you've moved out."

"i think you know why i don't call you." mia says harshly.

veronica huffs and glances over at me. "jack, right? mrs. hampton told me quite a bit about you. you really are more handsome in person."

veronica steps towards me but mia quickly tugs me behind her.

"don't be ridiculous mia, i'm just looking around your dorm." veronica chuckles. "where's your roommate? i'd like to meet her."

"actually, i'm her roommate." i answer and mia shoots me a look as if i wasn't supposed to say that.

"that's weird. i thought dorms were supposed to be co-ed... you live with your boyfriend? how cute."

mia glares at her, "are you gonna tell me why you're really here or are we gonna beat around the fucking bush?"

veronica folds her arms, "fine. if you want me to get straight to the point in front of all your little friends, i'll tell you. i'm cutting you off."

"what does that mean?"

"i'm not paying for your tuition anymore. you're on your own." veronica purses her lips.

"w—what, you can't do that." mia flusters.

"yes i can. you're 18, mia. you aren't my liability anymore."

"but paying for my tuition is the least you could do for me. you and i both can agree." mia raises her voice.

"frankly, that whole ordeal doesn't concern me anymore."

"then it shouldn't concern you when i tell everyone at home about you and miles."

oh god. i can see where this is going. i wasn't aware of how much baggage mia has from her life before she met me.

"careful, sweetie." veronica warns, "he's not a minor anymore. and no one would believe you anyway."

mia lets out a shaky breath, "you told me that if i kept my mouth shut you would let me go to good school and now you're taking it all back?"

"hm. seems like i am. transferring to a community college next semester doesn't sound so bad does it? i was thinking i could use the money towards a new house."

"are you kidding me?! you know how much this meant to me and— and you're just gonna barge in here and take it all away from me?" mia yells, her voice filled with pain.

"mia, it's okay." i attempt to calm her down.

"no! she doesn't get to ruin what i have here. she doesn't get to ruin us. she's already ruined everything good i've ever had in my life!" mia turns to veronica, "you're the fucking reason why dad left! you've blamed everything that's happened on me, when in reality it's always been you—"

mia gets cut off by veronica's palm slapping across her cheek. mia winces and stumbles back onto me.

"okay! no ma'am. we are not doing this today." tyler gets up.

i feel my body tense up with anger. i stand up to her mother and look down at her.

"get out." i huff.

veronica ignores me and glares back at mia, "i'm not the reason why your father left us, you are. he never wanted you either."

tyler roughly grabs her arm, "please shut up. you've done enough, veronica."

"you know, tyler. i've never liked you." she says as he leads her to the door.

"i could say the same thing about you, bitch. you are way too grown for this." he spits.

veronica dryly chuckles before looking back at me. "oh and be careful, jack. don't knock her up so she can give birth to a mistake just like i did."

and with that, she leaves, slamming the door shut.

i look at tyler who shakes his head at me in disbelief and i sigh.

i turn around to console mia but she's not there.

my eyes find camden outside on our balcony giving her a much needed hug, she says something to him and he nods before coming back inside.

"come on tyler, let's head back to our dorm yeah?" camden says and tyler nods.

once they leave, i go out to the balcony and sit next to mia. we linger in silence as i watch her stare at the sunset, unable to read what's going through her mind.

she finally looks over at me, trying to give me a small smile to show that she's okay, but completely fails to do so.

her eyes instantly well up with tears as she breaks down right infront of me.

"fuck, please don't cry baby." i mutter as i cup her face and wipe away her tears. i embrace her tiny body in my arms and she places her head in the crook of my neck.

"you don't have to say anything, mia. you can tell me when you're ready."

_
roommates is coming to an end soon y'all! i'm predicting a few chapters left + an epilogue. that's crazy to say because i've been writing this book for such a long ass time. i'm working on my another book to make up for it🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝 the beef in this chapter tho🙈