Still Holding On

~ Chapter One ~ Mia ~

I grasped at my pendant, making crevices in my fingers. My frizzy hair bounced and jiggled in my face but I paid it no mind. I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. It was the first day of Freshman year, but unlike all the other giggly, squealing girls, coordinating their outfits for the first 2 weeks, I was not excited. 

It was 6:00 am, and the dark circles under my eyes were so deep they looked like holes in my cheeks. I had barely slept the night before, my thoughts filled with streams of worry. It wasn't that I was scared- I wasn't. What was there to be scared about? I scolded myself silently for thinking like that. With Dad gone, I didn't have time to worry about High School. Mom's cancer had been working up, and her treatments had been so expensive, I had had to work double shifts at my jobs, and while Mom was sick in bed with Lung Cancer, she still took on the burden of going to work. Everyday. 

It had gotten so bad that she couldn't stand. Which meant extra work for me~ not that I minded. Mom was the kindest person I knew. She had loving green eyes and a caring smile. She was so soft and small I could never scream at her. And I didn't understand why such an amazing person like that would have to take on so much in such little time. 

I made myself stumble out of bed. I looked in the mirror, but I didn't recognize my face. I had mousy brown hair, and it was cut so jagged it hid most of my face in a dark shadow. My murky green eyes looked small and buggy from loss of sleep. And my skin was scattered in tiny pimples and oddly placed freckles. 

But inside, I knew I was doing the right thing, taking care of Mom. I pulled on my high-tops, grabbed a piece of stale toast, and walked out the door. I took care to part my greasy hair so it covered my oily face. I bit back some flaking parts on my lips, and hopped onto the bus. 

Kids all around me were talking and catching up on each other's summers- everyone except for me. I stared out the window and watched the maple trees and fluffy, full clouds whiz by. I tried to think about anything but Mom, but everything kept coming back to her. 'I wonder if the Math homework will be hard. Mom always used to help me with Math before-' Ok, I thought, think about something else. I fumbled with a pineapple keychain I had been given at a second grade birthday party~ one of those parties where the parents invited the whole class~ so they had no choice but to invite me. Mom used to love pineapples. I forced myself away from that subject, thinking about anything but that. But everything kept leading back to her. 

I hugged my denim backpack tight to my chest. The bus driver pulled his toothpick out of his mouth and stuck it tight on his neon cap. His burly figure opened the door and everyone hustled out. When I stepped out of the very last row, my pendant dropped. A single golden leaf and blossom, blooming in a beautiful clear sphere. My most prized possession. Mom and Dad had saved up months of paychecks to get me that for my thirteenth birthday. It dropped with a soft thud, and I quickly bent down to pick it up.

But a pair of perfectly tanned hands grabbed it first. Brendon Davis, the coldest, sourest of the bunch at school, snatched the beautiful necklace, and with his clammy hand broke the silver chain in half. He snickered and high fived Leo, his partner in crime. When a slender girl with dyed red streaks in her strawberry blonde hair kicked his shin and swiftly grabbed the pendant. It's chain was snapped in two, and I felt my eyes well up with tears. 

"Hey... are you okay?" She said, cautiously, like I was a wild dog. I didn't respond. I cradled the beautiful jewelry in my hands and picked up my backpack. The girl helped me up. She smiled at me, and I got a closer look on her face. She wasn't wearing any makeup that I could tell~ but she was pretty. She had clear blue eyes and a light pink grin that made you fill up with sunshine. Her creamy blouse and black tight sweater lit up the room. She smiled a half smile. I did my best to smile back, but it was hard. She looked like the type of girl who could accomplish anything~ and never doubted herself. The kind of girl that I wanted to be~ but never would be. 

"I'm Jenna," She said. And the world seemed to collapse. It couldn't be. She pulled her hair to one side. "Jenna Dare." The world seem to fade and close in, in and out. I couldn't breath. Jenna Dare? It couldn't be. It wasn't. I shook my head and tried to block out the thought. "No," I muttered. Jenna frowned. I grabbed my backpack, and ran out of the bus, trying to block the memories that were flooding their way in faster then a hurricane. "Jenna Dare." I said to myself. Then I ran to the front doors of school, trying to erase the memory that I had just met the girl who- who- I gasped for air. "Jenna Dare," I breathed. 

"Jenna Dare."