Monday September 11th, 2000
The next day Mia's alarm woke her, her night had been restless. But despite the lack of sleep she had grown used to functioning with, she woke up feeling refreshed. Picking the first day of school clothes had never been this difficult; she was debating between sweats and something more formal like khakis. Splitting the difference she grabbed a pair of jeans, a simple white t-shirt to go underneath a green sweater, and boots. Always the boots, this place was probably never going to let her wear sneakers again. She threw her hair up in its nest and headed downstairs. Not hungry she by-passed the kitchen and left for school, her parents had already left for the day, and as she was leaving she spotted a note on the door from her mom.
Have a great first day.
Try and be pleasant to the other students.
Love,
Mom
What did she mean by "pleasant"? "I'm always pleasant." Mia snorted to herself as she grabbed her jacket and locked the door behind her.
Finding the school was not difficult in such a small town. It was walking distance from her house but it had already started raining and Mia was grateful she had a car. There was a thick fog surrounding the school, it felt like a cage. The parking lot was filling up and she felt the curious stares as she looked for a spot to park. She slung her bag over her shoulder, sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, she lied to herself. She finally exhaled and stepped out of her car and made her way to the main office to check in. Inside the office she relaxed a bit, whether due to the warmth of the small room or the fact that the receptionist was the only one in there.
"Can I help you?" The small woman behind the counter asked as Mia approached.
"Yes, my name is Mia Russo, I'm a new student." Mia responded knowing full well that this woman knew who she was and was expecting her.
"Well Hello Mia, I'm Mrs. Johnson, welcome to Point High. I have your new schedule right here and I just need you to sign a few things and fill out a medical card for the nurses office." She said as she handed Mia the forms and a pen. "I've asked one of your classmates to show you around today, I believe you have your first period class with him. Ah, there he is now, Michael this is Mia." She said as she introduced the two to one another.
"Hey there Mia, you can call me Mike." He said with more enthusiasm than Mia would have liked.
"Hello"
Mrs. Johnson turned her attention back to Mia and informed her that she could bring those forms back with her tomorrow. Mia nodded and turned to follow Mike to their first class which was apparently English.
Keeping her mother's note in mind she considered that the pleasant thing to do would be to talk to this new boy she was forced to spend the day with.
"So I guess you're stuck with me for the day." Mia said hoping he did not notice her disappointment. She had trouble relating to people her age, well people in general.
"It's my pleasure, here let me see your schedule, looks like we have a few classes together." He said
Not at all surprised Mia just smiled in response, with a school this small she was bound to know the whole student body by the end of the day. She walked beside Mike to their first class. She could feel everyone's eyes on her as they walked through the hallways and was glad she did not need to do much of the talking. Mike seemed to enjoy talking without her participation.
She followed him through the door of their first class, it was small. Mike introduced her to the English teacher, a tall balding man whose nameplate identified him as Mr. Taylor. He gawked at Mia and then proceeded to give her a textbook and assign her a seat. Grateful to be in the back of the class where she could dodge some of the curious glances Mia prayed her teachers would not make her introduce herself. Mia looked over the reading list the teacher handed her, she wished she'd saved her old assignments; they would have made repeating her senior year a little easier.
The rest of the morning went on like this, Mike walking her to her next class talking about the football team, his friends, fun things to do on the weekends.
"So, I guess this is a lot different from Pennsylvania, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Does it rain much there?"
"Not as much as it does here, I'm sure."
"Wonder what that's like?" he pondered.
"Sunnier," Mia told him.
"You're not very tan."
Mia couldn't help herself, "I'm part vampire."
Mike studied her face apprehensively. It looked like clouds and sarcasm didn't mix. Mia sighed in disappointment; sarcasm was the only kind of humor she enjoyed.
When they did not have class together he would be there waiting for her afterwards. As they walked to the cafeteria for lunch, some of Mike's friends caught up to them waiting impatiently to be introduced to the new girl.
"Hey guys, this is Mia." Mike said, his tone skirting ownership of the new girl.
A pretty girl with light brown hair squeezed in between Mike and Mia and introduced herself first. "Hi, I'm Charlotte; I think we have Algebra together." Knowing that they did, Mia smiled in response. She could tell that although polite Charlotte was making it clear that Mike belonged to her. Mia had no problems with this; she had no interest in boys. Below the radar is where she wanted to stay and a boyfriend was not on her list of priorities.
"This is Melissa." Charlotte said as she pointed to the quiet girl walking slightly behind her.
"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you." Melissa said in a soft almost silent tone, confirming her shyness. Mia was glad she would not be the only one who was quiet and shy in this school.
"And I'm Sam." A large boy said as he pushed past Mike, who had moved to the other side of Mia, and was now standing next to her.
"Hello" Mia replied knowing she had already forgotten all of their names.
The cafeteria was small, but typical. When they walked in, the line for food was to their right; Mike guided her in, asking what she wanted to eat. Just then as if on command the back door to the cafeteria opened, the cold air that rushed in caught Mia's attention and when she looked for its source she saw a very attractive couple glide into the lunch room.
When Mia laid her eyes on these two beautiful people she froze in place, she gasped for air and her books dropped from her hands crashing to the floor. She hurried to hide the horror on her face from her classmates as she bent to pick up her books.
"Who are they?" Mia asked Mike, pronouncing every word slowly in an attempt to hide her fear and control her shaking.
"Who them? Oh, that's Elizabeth Montgomery and Christopher Croft." The girl was tall and beautiful; her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The boy was big, muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark hair.
"Behind them coming in are Ella Croft and Wesley Trapp. The all live together with Christopher and Ella's aunt and uncle." Mike said with distaste in his tone. This girl was different, short, pixie like. Her hair was deep black, cropped short and pointed in every direction, while the boy was taller, leaner, but still muscular and blond.
"I think it's ridiculous, if you ask me?" Charlotte added.
"Who cares, they stick to themselves and it's not like they're related." Sam countered as he loaded his tray.
"Oh and that's William Croft." Charlotte added just as he walked through the door. William was more boyish than the others; Mia could see he had dimples when he smiled, though he wasn't smiling now. He was tall and lean, with untidy dark hair. "He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good looking enough for him." She sniffed.
"I hadn't noticed." Mia said distracted by Charlotte's wounded pride, she wondered when he'd turned her down. "Um, I'm not really hungry, actually is there a bathroom close by?" She asked as she paid for her soda.
"Yeah, sure its right around the corner, on your left." Melissa said.
"Thank's" Mia replied.
Once in the bathroom, Mia quickly checked under the stalls and to her relief she was alone. She locked herself in the farthest stall and began the breakdown she had been controlling since the moment she saw them. Panic seized her throat as she gasped for air.
"Get control of yourself. You can't pass out right now." She said to herself. Who are they? Did they come looking for me? What are they doing here, do they know? Or do I just have the most amazing luck on earth and walked right into an ambush… Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Charlotte and Melissa coming to see if she was okay.
"Hey, Mia are you in here?" Charlotte bellowed concern far from her tone.
"Yeah, I'm here, I'll just be a second." Mia took a moment to compose herself. She had to get through this. The plan had been made, there was no turning back now, and too much was at stake if they were not here for her. She knew they existed, and she prayed this was just a coincidence, a sick twisted kind of coincidence that would only happen to the most unlucky human on the planet.
When she came out of the stall Charlotte did not seem to notice that anything was wrong, but Melissa could tell something was not right. Perceptive, Mia thought to herself as she caught the concern in Melissa's eyes. After making some adjustments to her hair Charlotte lead both Mia and Melissa back into the lunch room to her group's table.
"Mia, you alright?" Mike asked seemingly concerned. This irritated Charlotte so she felt the need to sooth Mike by answering for Mia.
"Geez Mike she's fine, it's just first day gitters."
Although completely off the mark, Mia was grateful for Charlotte's abrasiveness. First day gitters would be acceptable, what Mia was feeling right now was fear for her life. Once at the table surrounded by her classmates Mia took a quick glance toward the pale but gorgeous group of strangers on the other side of the room. There was something different about them; they were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where everyone else sat as possible. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. There were acting like, like humans. She could see them fidgeting around trying to look natural. But that was not what kept her gaze or what seemed most contradictory to what she was used to. It was their eyes. They were gold, some lighter than others but definitely gold, not the blood red she had grown too loath and detest. Did they come in different species, she thought to herself.
"For not having noticed, you sure are staring." Charlotte whispered to Mia. "See Dr. & Mrs. Croft took in their niece Ella and nephews; William and Christopher. I guess Mrs. Croft can't have kids because they adopted Elizabeth and Wesley. The sick part is they paired up and all live in the same house together." Of course she's already crushing on William Croft, Charlotte thought to herself.
A quick nod quieted Charlotte for a moment, while Mia's mind started to wonder again. Who are they, what are they doing here, what's with this elaborate story about how they all knew each other, and why do they seem so different from the other's? They were all looking away, away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as Mia could tell.
Just then as if he could hear her thoughts, William, looked up and caught Mia staring. Quickly Mia looked away, not from embarrassment but from fear.
William turned as a reflex reaction to the sound of his name; though it was not being called it was being thought. His eyes locked for a small portion of a second with a pair of wide amber eyes set in a pale round face. He knew the face, though he'd never seen it himself before this moment. It had been the main thought in every human head that day, the new student, Mia Russo. William looked away, bored; it took him a moment to realize she had not been the one to think his name.
"The new girl is finding out about us." William said to his family.
Christopher chuckled under his breath "Oh yeah, anything interesting?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary." He replied, slightly confused as to why he could not hear what the new girl was thinking. His ability had always come naturally; he did his best to tune out his families thoughts out of respect and to tune out the petty thoughts of his classmates for his sanity. But when he heard Charlotte informing this new girl about his family he waited patiently to hear what she thought, only, he did not hear anything. It was William's responsibility to know her reaction. He acted as the lookout, for lack of a better word, for his family. He looked up to see if she was still there, and caught her looking at him, not surprised by that fact, people usually took quick glances at his family until their instincts told them better. But why couldn't he hear what she was thinking. Very peculiar he thought.
This new girl, Mia he thought, she seems different, quiet; he could not grasp all the excitement over her. Granted she was vaguely pretty, her skin was rather fair, and her eyes fascinating. He wanted her to look up so he could get a better look. Confused by his sudden fascination with her he leaned in a bit to try and catch a thought; he had never had to try before, it just happened. Reasonably frustrated by this new difficulty he listened to the students surrounding her. It was not long before their ridiculous fantasies or petty jealousy began to test his patience. It seemed as though this new student had stirred something up between Charlotte and Mike, typical, he thought to himself. Sam was waiting to make his move out of respect for Mike. But Melissa's thoughts were simpler, sweeter. William stayed there for a little while.
Mia looks upset, she seems shy, this must be hard for her being the new student in such a small town. I should try to distract her... William paid close attention. He had never had to read a person's face before; he always relied on his ability to hear what they were thinking. If anyone ever grew suspicious, William could give his family early warning and an easy retreat. It happened occasionally; an active imagination would run too far, and William was the one to alert his family so they could move on. Not being able to hear what this new girl was thinking was making him anxious.
"What's the rest of your schedule like, Mia?" Melissa asked, hoping to interrupt whatever trance had Mia so upset. William was grateful for Melissa's question, maybe if he heard her voice he would be able to pick it out of the crowd, although that had never been a problem before. Quietly without looking up Mia handed her schedule to Melissa. Damn It! William thought to himself, she's a mute.
"Oh, we have Government together, 7th period." Melissa said with genuine enthusiasm. William got a look at Mia's schedule while Melissa scanned over it and saw that they had next period together. He would find out more then.
Mia nodded towards Melissa's remark, but kept her eyes down in case he was still looking in her direction. Quite frustrated, William stood up rather quickly, and left the lunch room. To the human eye his brother's and sister's did not seem to notice, but surprise flashed across all their faces for a split second.
"What's his problem?" Elizabeth said to low for human ears to hear.
"I'm not sure." Ella replied. The family depended on Ella as much as they did William for information. What William could not hear, Ella could see. A little confused they all decided to leave lunch early. Ella was hoping to find William so she should see if he was okay.
It was time for lunch to end, so Mike helped Mia gather her books, annoying Charlotte in the process. Mia's attention was on staying calm so she let him help her with her books and stood slowly to follow him to her next period. She was unaware of the fact that the table across the room that she had been avoiding eye contact with had already emptied. Once in the hall she tried desperately to relax.
"Cool. We have next period together." Mike said, grinning from ear to ear.
On the way to their next class Mia focused on calming down while Mike continued on his quest to impress her with his football stats. When they reached the classroom, Mike did not need to tell her it was Art, it was obvious from the projects lining the walls and window sills, paint dripped on every surface from the generations before her. Instantly Mia was relieved. Finally a class I can enjoy, she thought to herself. She felt more at ease as she scanned the classroom, not making eye contact with any of her new classmates. She passed over their heads, one by one, suddenly stopping, something had caught her attention and slowly looking down she let her eyes meet his.
"Oh shit!" Mia mumbled to herself as she turned to escape the classroom only to run into Mike who was still introducing her to the art teacher. Slightly caught off guard, but grateful for the chance, Mike instantly put his arm around Mia to embrace her. The teacher, Mrs. DeSimone was still tying on her paint covered apron and did not seem to notice the small collision. When she looked up she greeted Mia with a big smile, oblivious to the terror in her eyes, she personally escorted her to the only seat available. When she was turned around Mia realized where the only available seat was and immediately thought it was a sick joke. You have got to be kidding me! Mia thought to herself, my favorite subject, the one class I could look forward to and he's in it and not only is he in it, it looks like I have to sit next to him. Could my luck get any better, she finished to herself as she stiffened up and let her eyes fall to the ground.
What a very odd girl, William thought to himself. Although she had cursed to low for anyone else to hear it was quite audible to him. He began to worry when he realized she was fleeing because of him, without being able to hear what she was thinking he could only assume she was frightened. At least that's what it looked like to him; again he was not used to relying on facial expressions. Did she know? He thought to himself. He was not sure what to make of this girl or her reactions to him. He knew that despite their attempts to look human his family gave off just the right amount of danger, so that even if they did not realize it their human instincts told them to steer clear. She was moving very awkwardly as if she did not want to stir up the air around her. Her eyes never left the floor as they approached his table. Poor girl, he thought to himself, whatever was bothering her, sitting next to him was not going to make it any better. But he was hoping that the closeness might help him single out her thoughts, not that he needed to be close before, but he hoped nevertheless.
"Here you are dear, right here next to my sweet William. You take care of our new girl, William, she looks very talented." Mrs. DeSimone said as she held out the seat for Mia to sit. Apparently, William was one of her favorites. This confused William because the rest of his teachers disliked the fact that he knew more than they did, but he enjoyed the praise from the simple minded art teacher. Being the teacher's favorite did not confuse Mia, however, who wouldn't love him, she thought to herself. Look at him, he's stunning. The few, very brief glances she had of him revealed what she already knew, he was beautiful. Dark black hair, perfect pale skin, with those distinguishing purple circles around his golden eyes. His face looked like it had been chiseled out of stone; felt that way too, she remembered. Features defined and muscular, and had she not known why he looked the way he did she would have swooned over him. But despite his looks she was terrified, and sure he knew it. Maybe, she thought to herself that is the key to getting rid of them. They seem to be trying awfully hard to blend in; maybe if I hint to him that I know, they'll leave. Or maybe he'll just kill me, she concluded. She spent the next half hour sitting perfectly motionless doing everything she could to keep the air around her still, she could not be sure that it mattered but she did not want to take any chances.
William reacted to her stillness with apprehension, he understood it and felt almost bad for the girl, but there was an urge he had never experienced before to learn why. He assumed it was because he could not hear what she was thinking. Even now three feet from her he heard nothing. His seat in the classroom had been strategically picked. He was near the window and as far away from the other students as possible, well, until now. He was grateful that Mrs. DeSimone allowed him to run a fan near his seat; it blew the smell of the humans away from him and fresh air from the open window towards him. He had no interest in any of them but it had been too long since his last hunt and he could feel his hunger today.
Just then, Mia, exhaled harder than she should have, Mrs. DeSimone ran past her to catch a falling piece of art and a wave of her scent flew straight towards William, barely distracted by the fan blowing behind him. She gasped trying to take back the smell headed his way, knowing what was about to happen.
Her eyes met his, both pairs full and dark, his raging with fury and hers flooded with panic. A quiet war raged between them that the rest of the room was unaware of. Her scent hit him like a wrecking ball, like a battering ram. There was no image violent enough to summarize the force of what happened to him in that moment. In that instant, William was nothing close to the human he had once been, no trace of humanity remained. He was a predator and Mia was his prey. For William was a vampire and Mia had the sweetest blood he'd smelled in eighty years.
Thirst burned through his throat like fire. There was a fresh flow of venom as his stomach twisted with hunger. His muscles coiled to spring. Not a full second had passed; when their eyes met William could see his reflection in hers. The shock from the face he saw saved Mia's life for a moment. Mia didn't make it easier for him, as she processed the expression on his face, blood flooded her cheeks, turning her skin the most delicious color William had ever seen. William tried to focus on the face he'd seen in her eyes, a face he recognized with revulsion. The face of the monster in him, the face he had beaten back with decades of effort and uncompromising discipline. How easily it sprang to the surface now! The scent swirled around him, scattering his thoughts and nearly propelling him out of his seat. No. William gripped the edge of the table to hold himself in place.
Someone opened the window behind William sending ordinary unscented air across his face, and for one short second he could think clearly. In that precious second he saw two faces, one was his, the red-eyed monster and the other was Phillip. There was no resemblance between the two faces; there was no reason for there to be. Phillip was not William's father in the biological sense. They shared no common features, the similarity in there coloring was a product of what they were; the similarity in their eye color was a product of their mutual choice. But in a few moments any resemblance would be lost, there would be nothing left in William that would reflect the years he'd spent with his creator, his mentor, his father in all the ways that counted.
Mia could see the fury still in his eyes, no longer gold, black now. She could see his grip on the table was firm and he seemed to be arguing with himself. This is completely out of character, she thought, her heart starting to slow as she realized he was not going to harm her here. What is he waiting for, she pondered to herself, they must truly be trying to live amongst these humans. All her experience told her she should have been dead by now, along with her classmates and teacher. Becoming more and more amazed at this one's self control she cocked her head to one side as if asking a question.
He noticed this subtle gesture and it very slightly distracted him from the ferocity inside him. Is she mentally stable, he wondered to himself, she knows something is wrong and that I'm dangerous and yet she looks intrigued? Who is this girl sent here to unravel all that my family has built, why did she have to come here and destroy everything? Why did she have to exist? Why had she ever been born? She will ruin me, William thought to himself. He turned his face away from her, as a sudden fierce, unreasoning hatred washed through him.
Mia's amazement soon turned to sympathy, this poor creature, not like the rest, was trying to restrain himself. I wonder what he's doing, she thought, he looks like he's in a lot of pain. Surprised by her reaction to a creature she feared more than anything, she found herself concerned for him. Despite everything he was capable of she did not want to see him suffer. What is so different about him? She contemplated this until the bell rang to dismiss class. As she expected he was up out of his seat and gone by the time she blinked. It took her a moment to realize Mike was standing next to her, eager to walk her to her next class. She had been completely oblivious to what they had done in class but could tell from the look of Mike's shirt it had something to do with pastels. Finally being able to breath she exited the class cautiously, maybe he had only been restraining himself until he could find her alone, she deliberated to herself. I'll have to stick to the crowds for awhile she thought to herself disliking the idea the moment she thought it.
"So, did you stab William Croft with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that." Mike asked almost revealing his excitement that William Croft did not seem interested in Mia.
Crap! He noticed, she said to herself. Unsure of this odd family's intention in this small town, and still trying to protect their months and months of planning, she did not want to take any chances of bringing more attention to herself so she denied noticing.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean."
"He looked like he was in pain or something. Don't worry though, he's a freak; his whole family is that's why they stick to themselves." Mike said thankful for Mia's disinterest in the good looking Croft family.
William had escaped to his car; he didn't have enough discipline to be around humans now. What helped now was the cool, wet, clean air that drifted through his open windows. Though he could remember the scent of her blood with perfect clarity, inhaling the clean air was like washing out the inside of his body. He was sane again, he could think again and he could fight again. Fight against what he didn't want to be.
Perhaps if I avoid her, William thought, very, very carefully, my life would not have to change. He would not have to disappoint his father. He would not have to cause his mother stress, worry…pain. Yes it would hurt his adopted mother, too. And Katherine was so gentle, so tender and soft. Causing someone like Katherine pain was truly inexcusable.
As Mia walked to the parking lot her fear rose up again, she had not seen any of them since her art class and rather preferred it that way. She kept to the group of students surrounding her in case that was the only reason she was still alive. She thought about being in the car alone and then being home alone. She was grateful her parents worked later than school, she hated the thought of them in danger. She decided as she walked along with her class mates that if this was her time she could handle it, as long as everyone else was safe. She was not afraid of death, on several occasions she welcomed it, begged and pleaded for it in fact. It was the love she had for her parents that kept her from taking her own life. But now it just seemed inevitable and if this was how she was going to die she wanted to make sure her family would be safe.
"William?" Ella asked, alarm in her voice as she slid into his car.
He just shook his head at her.
"What the hell happened to you?" Christopher demanded.
Instead of answering William threw the car in reverse, swung it around and accelerated, hitting forty before he was on the road. Without looking William knew that Christopher, Elizabeth and Wesley had all turned to stare at Ella. She shrugged. She couldn't see what had passed only what was coming. She looked ahead for him now; they both processed what she saw in her head and were both surprised.
"You're leaving?" she whispered. The others stared at William now.
"Am I?" he hissed through his teeth.
Ella saw it then, as William's resolve wavered and another choice spun his future in a darker direction, Mia Russo, dead. William's eyes, glowing crimson with fresh blood.
"Oh." Ella said, the picture growing more specific. William saw the inside of Mia's house; she was in the kitchen as William stalked her.
"Stop!" William groaned, not able to bare much more.
"Sorry," she whispered, her eyes wide. Just then the vision in Ella's head shifted to a dark highway, the tree's beside it flashing by. "I'll miss you," she said.
Christopher and Elizabeth exchanged an apprehensive glance as the car approached the turn to their driveway.
"Drop us here," Ella instructed. "You should tell Phillip yourself."
William nodded and stopped to let his family out, they would make Ella explain once he was gone. He turned the car around and accelerated back toward town, as he sped back, William wasn't sure where he was going. To say goodbye to his father? Or to embrace the monster inside him?
Mia was glad that she did not have any more run-ins with the Croft family on her way home from school. Of course she knew there was a very good chance one of them would be waiting for her inside. She sat in her car, parked outside of her house, for a minute remembering the hope she had just that morning and realizing once again that hope was a lost cause in her life. She had thought about her death many times, this was not what she pictured. She hoped she would have the chance to request that he hide her body, her parents did not need to see that. Well time to go, she thought to herself as she got out of her car and walked up to the house. Everything looked in place, but these were delicate predators and as easy as it was for them to crush bones between two fingers it was just as easy for them to stroke the side of a bubble without popping it. So instead of going out of her way to inspect her home she went about her normal routine. If it was going to happen there was nothing she could do about it. She put her books down and started to get things out for dinner.
The night went by peacefully; Mia had made dinner for her parents so that when they got home they could all sit down to eat and talk about their days. Her mom and dad seemed to enjoy their first days of work. When they asked about her day she gave them the highlights, leaving out anything that had to do with the Croft family. As the evening continued Mia wondered if she had been right about William and his family. She did not expect to be alive at this point and still half expected there to be a killer in her bedroom when she went up to bed. So when she thought the time had come to go to bed, she said good night to her parents hugging them just a little bit longer than necessary and headed to her room, to her surprise everything was normal when she got there. She got into bed, knowing another restless night was ahead and wondered about the strange family.
Tuesday September 12th, 2000
Mia jumped when her alarm went off the next morning, either because she was actually asleep or because she never expected to wake up. Again with the best of her ability she got ready for her second day of school. Maybe I just imagined it, maybe I'm just losing my mind and seeing things that aren't really there, she thought to herself as she stared into her closet. But Mike and Charlotte saw the difference, they noticed that the Croft's were not like them, she continued. Finally realizing she was going to be late she pushed her inquiry to the side and finished getting ready. She was not hungry again so she left straight for school, stopping only for a moment to see if anyone was in her house that was not supposed to be.
When she got to school, Mike was there with the group she had been adopted by, waiting for her. She parked, and walked over to greet them.
"Hey Mia" Mike said, an unnecessarily large smile creeping on his face. This annoyed Charlotte to no end so she made a point to grab Mia by the arm and escort her to the girl's room closest to them. Melissa followed as if out of sheer habit.
"Okay, spill." Charlotte said in an excited tone. "Mike said you and William Croft had some sort of fight yesterday."
"What?" Was all Mia could come up with. "I don't know what Mike is talking about. He asked me yesterday what I'd done to William and I told him I didn't know what he was talking about. He must have imagined it because William and I didn't even speak to one another."
"That's strange, when we got here this morning he was bragging about how you didn't seem interested in William and that you must have turned him down because he looked furious." Charlotte pressed.
"No, nothing like that happened." Mia replied, annoyed by the fact that Mike had created some kind of incident and assumed that she had turned William down. She no longer wanted to have this conversation so she tried to change the subject quickly. She could tell Charlotte was a relatively conceited girl so she knew any topic that was about her would do. "Forget about William, what about you and Mike?"
"Why? Did he say something, did you hear something?" Charlotte asked instantly forgetting anything that had to do with William Croft.
"No he didn't say anything. You can just tell that something is going on between you two." Of course this was completely because Charlotte made it very clear that she wanted something to be going on between them; Mike on the other hand was oblivious.
"Really! Oh I wish he would ask me to the Homecoming Dance, it's in a few weeks you know and I just keep thinking he's going to but then he doesn't."
"Well maybe you should ask him."
Melissa was still with them but had yet to say anything so Mia felt it necessary to bring her into the conversation.
"What about you Melissa, are you interested in anyone?"
"Who me? No, well, no, not really, I mean yes, there is this one guy."
Girl talk was painful for Mia and she could see it was going to be like pulling teeth to get Melissa to talk. Thankfully Charlotte, just like Mike, had no problem monopolizing the conversation without Mia or Melissa's help. They walked to class like this with Charlotte chattering on about Mike and her second and third choices if he was not interested. Mia was glad her first class was not with Charlotte it had only been a few minutes and she was already exhausted by the onslaught of information she cared nothing about. The rest of the morning went by peacefully; she never saw any of the Crofts and was anxious for lunch to see if she had completely imagined them.
When she got there she was slightly relieved to see that yes they did exist and that for the moment she was not crazy but she noticed an empty seat. William was not with them. She looked around the room and he was nowhere to be seen, an odd feeling, one she had not been expecting crept up inside her and she realized she was disappointed. The rest of her day went by as a normal school day should; in fact the rest of the week went by much the same as this day had. Mia could not help but wonder if she had completely imagined William even existed.
