Lia’s POV
When Lia woke up Tuesday morning, she knew it would be a long day. Her alarm hadn’t gone off on time, her hair wouldn’t straighten and her monthly gift had arrived, leaving her a bit irritated. She was rushing around her room searching for her jacket and her car keys. Her blonde hair was coming loose from the braid she had done. She was stressed to the max. Lia’s mother was calling for her from downstairs, hurrying her along for breakfast. “I’m coming, mom!” She shouted back. She found her grey jacket and pulled it on. She checked her pockets. Her car keys were still in her pocket from last night. Lia stomped into her boots. Her mother was getting louder. “Mom,” she grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs, “I’m here, calm down.” She made it to the kitchen.
“It’s about time, Lia.” Her mother—Diana Lassiter—was sitting at the table with her coffee in her hand. “You’ve got to get up earlier, honey.”
“I know, I know,” Lia set her backpack down. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Granola,” her mother said. “Eat up, you’ve got school in twenty minutes.”
Lia didn’t say anything. She just poured herself a bowl of granola as her mother complained about Lia’s lack of efforts. She sat across from her mom and listened. “Lia, have you signed up for the upcoming SAT? You’ve got to improve your score. You won’t get into school with a 2354 for a score.”
“Mom, that’s almost a perfect score—,” Her father walked into the room. “Good morning to my two favorite ladies.” Thomas Lassiter was a bank owner and a very well-known man in the community. He was handsome and charming. Maybe a little strict, but Lia knew he always meant well. “I’m great, Tommy.” Diana kissed her husband’s cheek. Her dad kissed the top of Lia’s head. “Shouldn’t you be getting to school, honey?”
“She woke up late. And she still hasn’t signed up for the next SAT, Thomas.” Her mother spoke for Lia. Something she always did. Her dad looked at Lia, raising a blonde brow. “And why’s that, Lia?”
Lia just shrugged. “I’m sorry, I will.”
Her mother pointed her spoon at her. “You better,” she said sternly. “Go to the bookstore after school and get the updated version of the SAT book. You need it. It’s your senior year, Lia. You can’t goof off. You graduate in less than four months. No distractions. I won’t have my daughter’s future messed up because of laziness.”
She grabbed her untouched breakfast and put it in the fridge. She hadn’t even gotten to school yet and she wanted to go back to bed already. Lia was exhausted. Her grades were perfect. She never missed a day of school. Not once. She was valedictorian of her class. She was captain of the girls’ soccer team, she was the president of the senior class. Lia volunteered on the weekends at the old folk’s home. Her parents pushed her to do everything and to do it well. Of course, she wanted to do it, anything to get out of this stupid town. But her future—she didn’t know what it held for her.
Probably a nine to five job sitting behind a desk. Something Lia, didn’t want. She couldn’t see herself drinking expensive coffee and wearing silk suits and doing small talk all her life. The sad thing was, she couldn’t see herself doing much of anything. She was just Lia, daughter of Diana and Thomas. Everyone knew her. Or at least they pretended to. Lia was sure her own parents didn’t really know her. But she refused to be the typical teenager that complains about their life and think their parents don’t understand them, blah, blah, blah. She was lucky for what she had. Her parents gave her everything she wanted and that was enough.
Lia just felt like she was missing something and she wasn’t sure of what it was. She expressed this to her mother once and her mother said that was unimaginable for a girl like Lia to feel that way.
“Lia, are you even listening to me?” Her mother interrupted her thoughts.
She snapped to attention. “Huh?”
“Why do I even try?” Her mom said exasperated.
“I’ve got to go to school, I’ll see you later.” She picked her backpack up again and headed to the front door.
“Don’t forget about the bookstore!” Her mother shouted. Not have a good-day, but don’t forget about the bookstore. Lia didn’t respond back. She just slammed the door behind her. It was chilly out. And then it started to rain. “Are you fucking kidding me…?” She mumbled as she ran to her car. Her hair was going to frizz majorly. But she didn’t really care.
Getting into her silver Sedan she buckled up and the engine roared to life. She sped out her driveway. She looked at her jeans. The dark denim was nowhere near being faded. Her mom bought her new jeans every other week just because she could. Lia liked worn jeans. Her mother didn’t. Just one more difference between the two.
When Lia got to school, she was soaked. She couldn’t find a parking spot close to the school. Her cell phone was buzzing as she hustled up the steps. She pulled her phone from her pocket. It was her best friend: Ellie.
“Hello?” Lia answered out of breath.
“Damn, did you just run a marathon?” Ellie asked. “Where are you?”
Lia opened the door into the school. “Just walked in. Where are you?” She then spotted Ellie standing by their lockers. She hung up the phone and tapped Ellie on the shoulder. Her best friend looked at her. “Dear God, are you all right?”
“It has been a day, I will tell you what.” Lia sighed. She wrung out her hair. “Help meeee.”
Ellie laughed and led Lia to the bathroom to help resurrect her hair. Class started in the next five minutes. Ellie rebraided Lia’s hair quickly. “So, why the long face?” She asked Lia.
“Parents,” Lia groaned. “Always the parents.”
“Your day will get better. Not to worry.” Ellie reassured her. “Our math test was moved to next week…that ought to make you feel better.”
“I studied all last night!” Lia shouted. “I was totally prepared!”
“Wow, today is really not your day.” Ellie said, finished with her hair. “You look beautiful.” Lia rolled her eyes. She adjusted her outfit. Dark jeans, hunter green lace tank top, grey jacket and grey boots. Her backpack was on one shoulder, her hair on the other. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her make-up wasn’t smeared, thank God. Her hair looked a lot better. Her outfit would eventually dry. She took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Just think, Lia…we’ll be out of here in four months.”
Four months couldn’t come sooner.
~ ~ ~
Lia was halfway to the bookstore. Her day was stressful. She hated feeling this way. But everyone had their days, she knew that. Today was just not hers. With the surprise pop-quiz in her anatomy and physiology class to the ten paged essay she had to write when she got home, she was feeling just a little overwhelmed. The bookstore downtown was old, but Lia loved it. It was relaxing to her, to be surrounded with words bound with leather or paperback. The rich smell of old paper. Books made her happy. To be lost in another world. Or to simply become the character in the book, leaving Lia’s world behind.
She parked her car. The bookstore was an old Victorian styled building with arches and big bay windows. It was a rusty color with a light brown trim. The stained glass door was huge and the real deal. It casted a rainbow in the foyer of the bookstore. She pushed through the door. Thank God. Her leather purse bumped against her hip. She could smell the ink and coffee. There was a bundle of fresh sunflowers in a vase. The dark wood creaked as she walked in.
Lia was home.
*Author's Note*
Hi guys! It’s Em. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Brooke and I have a lot planned for this book and I hope you’re as excited as we are. What do you think of Lia so far? She’s an interesting gal, I think. I hope you have a great day/night! See you next chapter!
