Chapter 49: Solidarity
"I wonder what place he was talking about."
"I don't know." Chloe answered uncertainly. "Belle and Shawn didn't say anything else. I guess we'll just have to wait till they get here to find out more."
****
"Shawn, I'm getting so worried. It'll be dark soon."
Shawn tried to give Belle a reassuring look as he drove back to Dot Com. "We're just going to have to trust Philip, Belle.trust that he'll find her."
****
He was still holding the 'fairy' in his hand, as he looked around. He directed his attention back to the 'fairy' in his hand. It was going to turn to night soon. He couldn't waste time. He let the 'fairy' fall out of his grip, walking slowly through the area, searching.
****
Chloe and Brady watched anxiously as the front door opened. Shawn and Belle stepped through it, quickly making their way over to the booth.
"So, Philip went to go find her?"
"Yes." Belle answered her brother as she and Shawn once again sat down on the opposite side of the booth.
"Did he say where he was going to go look for her?"
"He was really vague about it. He just said that it was somewhere she went to when she was at her most desperate."
Chloe clapped a hand over her mouth at Shawn's words, then spoke excitedly. "OH my gosh, I know where he's going!"
****
The coolness that came with the approaching night was beginning to make her feel bitterly cold, but.
She still just couldn't get up and leave. At first it had been a place she feared. It was so desolate, dark and dangerous, but with time she began to grow accustomed to it. She learned that just because something looked a certain way on the outside, that didn't necessarily affect it on the inside.
Of course once things got better, she went back to caring about the little things again, the superficial things. She forgot what she had learned. She felt herself getting weak again, giving in to jealousy and fear. She let herself become a part of something that now disgusted her.
Her body trembled.
****
"Oh poor Mimi! You really think that's where she went to Chloe?"
Chloe responded to her friend's worried state of mind. "Yeah Belle, I think so."
"To go there.OH Shawn, she must feel so lost!"
Shawn hugged Belle, comforting her.
****
The Streets.
When he was gambling he had spent some time out on them, but he had never gone out as far as this. The furthest he had been out to were to some of the back areas of town, but still near the established businesses, where mostly so-called 'normal' people resided.
But this.
This was the area that every town had, yet every town also wanted to forget about. Hush-hush. No one wanted to talk about it. No one wanted to admit it. This was the place where the deadbeats, the losers, the tawdry, the lazy people lived. They didn't matter, right?
Philip shook his head, realizing that was how he USED to feel. It made him ashamed to think he had once regarded THESE kinds of people as bums, derelicts. They deserved it because they CHOSE to live this way. If they really wanted a job, they would find one, pure and simple, right?
Yes, in some cases. Some of these individuals that lived here did let their lives go down the drain, let their well beings fall apart, but others.this was no choice. This was reality, this was the way it was. They had NO alternative.
How lucky he was to live in such wealth and prosperity, he realized, as he walked through the grimy, desolate area. Just one flip of the coin and he could have been here, living like this, not knowing where his next meal was even going to come from. Now he understood how horribly awful she must have felt when she had nowhere to live, when she had to dig through garbage cans to find food. Now he saw how lonely and lost she must have been.
He couldn't keep himself from staring as he moved from one corner to the next. A part of him was even a little frightened. This was so new to him. He watched an expensive, yet too flashy looking car pull up to a corner. A girl dressed very provocatively came out of it, watching him as he watched her. She flashed him a sexy smile. He found it hard to take his eyes away because she looked so outlandish, so overly done, yet she also looked.
He shook his head, looking away. She was probably as young as he was yet here she was.definitely not ready to go to school..more like ready to go to work.
Down a darkened alley way, he saw two men standing together exchanging money. Philip looked away when they turned to look at him.
He continued to search for her.
The sky above brought no more light to the ground below, to the streets he was walking on. Night had come and as the darkness continued to grow, the streets came to life. Out came the runaways, the sellers and buyers, and the homeless.
As he searched every hidden back street he noticed them, talking to pawn brokers, hoping to get some bucks, digging out of large garbage bins, looking for.food? And just sitting down looking.
So many of them had that same look, the look of someone who believes society has let them down, has abandoned them.
They were young, old.every imaginable age. Some were alone and some looked like entire families. They created their own bonfires, holding out their hands to keep warm, many of them dressed shabbily and inadequately for the cold.
He saw a little boy, probably only five years old, sitting there, shivering as his mother?.dug through a pile of garbage. It made him feel sick inside to see. It made him worry for her.
"Mimi, what you went through." he whispered quietly to himself, now seeing first hand fully what life was like for the less fortunate.
"Hey, give you 50 bucks for the jacket bud."
Philip stopped in shock, feeling someone grab his arm, disturbing him from his thoughts. He stared at the poorly dressed young man. "What?"
The guy looked at Philip with annoyance. "The jacket, you know, what you're wearing, I'll give you 50 bucks for it!.Hey, you're not from around here are you? You might want to leave. You totally stick out like a sore thumb."
"I'm looking for a friend." Philip couldn't believe he was actually talking to this guy, this guy that offered him 50 dollars.for a $300 jacket! But the guy, once he got past his disheveled look, seemed alright.
"What, she some runaway or something? She sell her body for dinero?"
Philip shook his head. "No, no. She just.she used to live out here, not by choice of course."
Philip was almost sorry for his last words. The guy was gazing at him with a look of pure contempt.
"Oh yeah, no one wants to be out here, with the DIRTY people, the vagrants. Why don't you just get back in your little fancy car and go back to your fancy little house pretty boy?!"
Philip reached for the man's arm before he could angrily leave. "I'm sorry. I'm just.I'm not used to any of this and I'm worried about my friend. I didn't mean to sound like some rich snob."
The guy shook his hand at Philip. "Yeah, whatever. What's her name? Maybe I've seen her around."
Philip hesitated. He didn't know even know this guy. He could be some total psycho. The more he talked to him though, the more normal he seemed to be.he couldn't go on his whole life judging people by how they looked. "Mimi."
The guy smiled. "Hey, I remember her a couple of years back. She's cool, funny."
Philip smiled after getting over his initial shock that the guy knew Mimi. "So you haven't seen her out here, tonight?"
"Nah, I haven't seen her in years, but listen bud, look all the way down the alleys if you really want to find her. She was pretty crafty I remember, and good at finding hidden little corners. Just watch yourself though, okay? You definitely stand out around here with how you're dressed and everything, but you're main problemo is that you keep staring. Try to blend in more and no one will bother you."
Philip smiled again. "Thanks for the advice."
He took out a twenty dollar bill, handing it to the guy. "Here."
The young man looked at him with disgust. "I don't want your stupid charity!"
Philip shook his head. "It's not charity. It's payback for the street advice and for your help with finding Mimi. Please, take it. It's just my way of saying thanks."
The young man looked at Philip a little suspiciously, but finally took the money. "All right, as long as you put it that way. I hope you find her soon. She's a good kid."
Philip nearly laughed. The guy he was talking to didn't seem too old himself, but it was like this lifestyle seemed to age people so fast. "Yeah, she's my best friend.I better go."
****
She lay her head against the cold, rusty metal. Here, it was so different. Here, the only thing anyone cared about was SURVIVAL. It was the one thing that mattered. No one teased anyone about what they wore or how they looked. The only thing that mattered was that you found something to eat, or that you got money.
Anything, as long as you made it to see the next day.
****
Philip sighed. Where was she? He had scoured every hidden corner, every dark alleyway and he still hadn't found her. Maybe she didn't come here. Maybe he was way off in his way of thinking. But if she wasn't here, where did she go?
He sat down on the sidewalk outside a pawn shop, holding his head in his hands. Frustrated and filled with anxiety he just sat there.
Finally, he opened his eyes, looking down at the ground, noticing another abandoned 'fairy.'
"What?" He questioned, picking it up, seeing something else, something he hadn't caught before, but now that he was sitting.
He got up, still holding the 'fairy,' making his way down a hidden alley.
Finding.
****
They sat there, waiting for word, waiting for news, suddenly hearing one of their cell phones ring.
Brady picked it up, speaking for just a minute, then ended the conversation.
"Good news guys."
****
Philip sighed with relief, hanging up his cell phone.
He found her!
There she sat, behind a large trash bin, at the end of an alley that was at first sight not even noticeable. It was well hidden behind a couple of broken down fences. All that mattered to him now though was that he had found her.
"Oh Mimi."
Philip ran over to her, getting down on the soiled ground without a thought, hurriedly taking off his black leather jacket, wrapping it around her trembling shoulders.
"Meems, Meems, Meems."
He whispered, holding her against his chest, rocking her in his arms. "It's okay now.you're not alone."
With disbelief, she looked up at him, afraid that if she even blinked he would disappear. She was having trouble grasping the fact that he was actually there. She had been shocked to look up earlier and see him standing there. Then when he hurried over, placing his jacket around her shoulders, she just sat there, stunned.
Now she felt his warm caring embrace as he held her tightly. But way at the back of her mind, as she closed her eyes and cried softly in his arms, she wondered.
What was he doing there?
Intense relief entered his mind now that he had found her, now that he held her securely in his arms. It was a bit of a surprise at first, how he felt so much better now that he had found her, because only recently he started seeing the truth. His feelings for her were changing.
It wasn't that their friendship was diminishing. If anything, it had grown stronger. Instead of weakening the bond, their temporary separation had shown him how much being able to communicate with her day after day meant to him.
He felt empty without it.
Surrounded by the foul smell of garbage all around him, he concentrated on only one sensation: the redolent fragrance of wildflowers that she seemed to always carry with her. He closed his eyes now, nestling his face into her soft auburn hair.
That day they were caught in the rain, he found himself taken by surprise at the novel emotions and feelings that were starting to enter his mind and heart. Just the sight of her, rivulets of rain water falling from her face, from her lashes.the beauty she radiated as she looked up to the sky with an expression of wonder and joy.then tasting the sweetness of her.it had made him almost dizzy.unsettled.
Tonight, unable to find her at first, he felt an urgency, a helplessness. Now that he was with her he knew, their relationship was not getting weaker, it was only getting stronger, and slowly it was changing.
For now though, he wanted to do only one thing.to help her.
Mimi raised her face to look up at him again. "What.why.you're here?"
Her voice was so uncertain and shaky that it alarmed him. "I came to find you. I was worried." He stroked her hair, not taking his eyes away from her face.
"But.but how did you even know?"
"Don't worry about that now." Philip answered her softly, pulling his jacket closer around her body. "I can't believe you're out here in this cold.dressed the way you are." He was referring to the fact that she was wearing a pastel floral dress with a pale orange sweater over it, but nothing else. "Where is your jacket?"
"I.I forgot it. I ran out of there so fast I.oh, you don't even know."
"No, no I do." He reassured her. "I know basically what happened. I know that Gretchen, Jan and some of those other girls were giving you a hard time, that they said some really stupid things." With the touch of his hands he started to gently remove the tears from her face, using them as a tissue.
Oh, the sweetness with which he was wiping her tears away, one by one.
"How.how could you know?"
"Chloe told me." He answered simply.
The name took her aback. "Chloe? How? She was there?"
He continued to wipe away her tears, his fingers stroking the soft skin of her cheeks now. "Yeah. She heard most of it from what she told me. She tried to follow you, to stop you, but you ran out of there so fast."
Mimi could hardly believe any of what she was hearing, as she distantly felt his hands move down to near her chin. Chloe had actually tried to help her?
"I can't believe.So, she, told you what happened?"
Philip finished wiping the last of her tears. "Yeah. We've been looking for you everywhere."
"WE?"
Why did she seem so surprised?
"Yes, WE. Mimi, the minute I knew I started looking for you. And not just me.Brady, Chloe, Shawn, Belle.we've all been looking for you. We were worried!" With one hand, he combed through her hair, moving it away from her face.
"You were?"
Philip looked at her with frustration. "Yes. Of course we were. We all care about you!"
Mimi regarded him skeptically as he slowly removed his hand from her hair. How he kept touching her.she definitely wasn't complaining though. "Well the rest of you might, but Chloe? I doubt she was that worried. She doesn't exactly like me much."
Philip countered. "Well, you don't like her that much either."
He had her there. "No.you're right."
"She was concerned."
Mimi started to respond, but Philip cut her off gently. He still wanted to make sure she was okay and find out more about what happened. For too long he had tried to avoid problems.to let them go. With her, he learned to face his fears, his uncertainties, and now he wanted to help her face hers. He wanted to be there for her, pure and simple.
"Listen, right now I'm more interested in knowing how you're doing." He moved away from her a bit, noticing that she was shivering less now that she had the warmth of his jacket around her shoulders.
Mimi kept staring at him, unable to get over the shock of him being there. "I can't believe you're here. Look at what you're wearing."
She was referring to the fact that he was dressed in a light blue sweater and beige pants, expensive designer clothes that were not meant for dark alleys. But there he was, sitting on the stained dirty ground, his back against a large rusty dingy garbage dumpster, with foul odors subjugating the air.all because of.her?
No, it couldn't be, could it?, she asked herself with uncertainty.
He smiled a little, the effect softening his facial features. "Yeah, I guess I am not exactly dressed right for here, but, oh well.You'll have to give me advance notice next time and I'll find something more appropriate."
She nearly laughed at his silliness. "You're crazy! But really Philip.this isn't exactly the kind of place someone like you comes to. I bet you've never even been out here before."
"Right again, but you're here and so now I am." He studied her face, able to tell she still wasn't convinced.she still didn't understand. He took her face into his hands, staring into her jade eyes.
"Don't you get it? I came here to find you. I was frantic. I couldn't stand the thought of you being all alone after what happened. I don't care how dirty it is or anything. all I care about is you."
Mimi felt tears welling in her eyes again at the fervor of emotion she heard in his voice, how his eyes spoke volumes. Her throat choked with feeling, she simply whispered: "Thank you."
Philip smiled, slowly taking his hands away from her face. "Oh Meems, you don't have to thank me, not ever. I know they upset you, but.you should have just come to me."
He touched her cheek again, stroking it with his fingers, catching on the tip of one a fresh tear. "Don't you know I'm always here for you?"
Mimi's face dropped. "I.I had to get away.all I kept hearing was their voices, their chanting over and over again."
With one hand, he clasped hers in it, with the other he lifted her chin gently to get her to look at him, lending her his strength.
"Tell me what you kept hearing.let go of it Mimi, let me carry the weight."
"I." She started hesitantly, but didn't continue.
"Mimi, that night in the cabin, I told you about the island. I told you things I've never told anyone before. I didn't want to at first, but you convinced me to, you were there for me. After, it felt like this great weight had been taken off my back, it felt so much better. You helped me push the nightmares away Mimi. You helped me face my own fears. Now, let me help you face yours. Let me return the favor, please.Meems?"
He was actually pleading with her, wanting to help her, his hand holding hers still, keeping it warm, making her feel safe. She stared to speak quietly, taking strength from him.
"I.when it all started, when we first lost our house and we started living in the tent, when my dad went away to find work, I was scared, so scared at first. Connor was so sick by then and we.there was no alternative. I started selling anything I could, trying to find money any way I could. I started spending nights out.out here. It terrified me at first. It was so dark, so dismal, dirty, and there were all these strange people, but I.I.I told myself forget about all that. Don't you see Philip? That's what happens when you have almost nothing anymore. You stop caring about the things you used to. You develop a new layer of skin. You do what you have to."
Her voice started to break off shakily, but after a bit she went on, her voice absolute.
"You do what you have to, to survive, to make it to the next morning."
Philip nodded his head, saying nothing. His hand continued to stroke hers, his other hand moving across her shoulder and arm reassuringly. For the first time he did understand what she was saying. Coming out here had shown him the kind of life she had been living for a while. It proved to him how incredibly strong she was.
Mimi felt his understanding. She went on.
"For a while this almost became home. I learned to not be afraid of it anymore. I met people and saw them for who they really were, not what they looked on the outside. But, when everything got better again, when I could go back to living "normally" again, it was like I forgot all I learned. I got weak again and selfish. I did all that stupid stuff to hurt Chloe and I let Jan use me. I made dumb decisions and I let myself become part of something so awful.it now disgusts me completely. That dumb internet prank.I ask myself now, how could I have done something so horrible?"
He stroked her face with his fingers. "Hey.I did some pretty horrible things myself. You made a mistake, that's all. What matters is that you realize now how wrong it was. Mimi, we've both learned from our mistakes."
"I know I would never do anything that horrible again. That's for sure. But one of the reasons I first started teasing Chloe, Philip.it's so cowardly. I wanted to make them stop. I would have done anything to make them stop."
Philip's expression showed some confusion. "What do you mean, make them stop? Mimi, I know you've been teased by some of them from time to time, but what I heard from Chloe today. It kind of shocked me. I mean, when did all this get started?"
"You weren't really around for most of it. You and Shawn were at boarding school and Belle and I, when we were in middle school, we didn't have any classes together. She had dance and cheerleading after school. My parents couldn't afford any of that so I just.I went home and watched TV.alone. We barely saw each other, so without any of my friends around I became their favorite target. At first they called me 'stick girl' and then later, after I.after my appearance changed as I grew into my teen years they called me."
Her voice shakily dropped off as a flow of fresh tears came from her eyes. Philip squeezed her hand and with his other hand stroked her face gently, lifting the tears away with the touch of his fingers.
"It's okay.just let go of it.I swear I won't let you fall."
Mimi looked up at him, feeling such gratitude. How could one person be so gentle, so caring, so giving? How lucky she was to have him as her friend.
"They.they called me 'Cow,' making noises as I walked by, laughing, smirking, anything they could do to make me feel.to make me upset. I tried to act like it didn't bother me, but.I guess I'm not as strong as Chloe. So many times I remember running away from them, running home, hearing them snicker because they had made me cry."
Philip continued to just listen, knowing this was tough for her. She had kept so quiet about it. He had never really known. He guessed now, that Belle probably hadn't either.
"Then high school came and Belle and I had home room together and we started being friends again, like we had never stopped, and Chloe came and I saw that they had a new target so I joined in. I thought, as long as they left me alone, that was all that mattered. I took the easy way out."
"You can't totally blame yourself. I'm sure a lot of people would have done the same. It's a human reaction Mimi, wanting to protect yourself."
"Yeah, but.it was wrong and it didn't work anyway. As soon as my dad lost his job, and I started sneaking into the locker rooms to take my showers, it all started up again. But by then, I felt so lost, so alone. I felt like I was losing Belle to Chloe. It made me hate her. I saw it, as she was taking away my best friend. I was so scared too that you guys would find out the truth, that I was homeless and that you guys would want nothing to do with me ever again. I felt so ashamed."
"Why? Why would you feel ashamed? I still don't totally get that. It's not like you had any control over it. Your family didn't do anything wrong. You just fell upon hard times and needed some help."
"Tell me Philip, the truth. What did you think the first time you heard about it? Did you think that. what you just said, or did you think there was a way we could have avoided it? Be honest with me."
Philip smiled sadly. "You got me. You're good Meems. I didn't completely understand. When I first heard, I didn't see how your Dad could have just lost his job. I thought the economy was so strong. Even after I got involved with the whole Habitat for Humanity thing, I still didn't completely understand it. It wasn't until tonight actually, that I saw for the first time an inkling of what you must have been going through. This world out here is so new to me. Not even when I was gambling did I ever venture out this far. The people out here.I know now the answer isn't as simple as I used to think it was. I see how fortunate I've been."
His honesty and insight made her smile a bit. "Thank you for understanding. That's basically why I didn't tell anyone. I didn't think anyone would get it. I was wrong. Even if you guys couldn't completely understand, you were there for me and that meant so much, more than I can ever say. I just.today everything came back to me, with what they said. Oh Philip, they called my dad a deadbeat. They couldn't be more wrong. It killed him to leave us. Even still, now, I can tell he wishes so much that he never had to do that. He feels like for a time he failed us, even though we have no bad feelings about it. I hated hearing them say things about my family."
She went on, angrily, yet shakily, on the verge of crying.
"They don't know anything about them!"
Philip reached out for her, taking her into his arms and holding her tightly.
"Shhhh..It's alright now. They just did that to hurt you. Don't listen to anything they said. You know how much your parents love you. That's all that matters."
Mimi felt tears coming again. She moved away from Philip, trying to hold them back, but he stopped her.
"Don't. It's okay. Just go ahead and cry. You don't need to hold back from me."
He held out his arms for her again, feeling her gratefully move into them. Then he held her silently as she cried, letting go of the pain and misery. He closed his eyes, rocking her back and forth in his arms.
After a while, she stirred in his arms, moving away from his embrace. She met his eyes with hers.
"Thank you Philip, this means, everything you've done for me tonight.it means so much to me."
She reached up, kissing him on the cheek, and then slowly moving away from him.
Philip closed his eyes at the touch of her warm lips against his skin. Then he slowly opened them, seeing her jade eyes staring into his blue ones. "I already told you. You don't have to thank me, ever. We help each other, right? Now, you're going to listen to me, because I have some things to say, that I need you to hear, okay?"
Mimi looked at him uncertainly, but nodded her head.
"Good. First of all, please, if anything like this ever happens again, and I sure hope it doesn't because those clueless girls are going to have to deal with me next time, but if it does, just don't run away, okay? At least don't run away from me. Find me and if you need to get away from here we'll go together, all right?"
"Philip-"
He cut her off, touching her lips with his fingers before she could say anything more. "Say okay. I'm not taking no for an answer on this one."
"How bossy!"
Philip laughed, her sarcastic wit filling him with joy. "Hey, you don't want to see me go bald from tearing my hair out each time I get worried about you, do you?"
Mimi cringed humorously. "OH my gosh, that would not be a pretty picture! No, I definitely don't want to see that. Okay."
She got serious again, speaking quietly, thankful for his caring nature. "Next time I'll look for you. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you would worry that much."
Philip gave her a condescending look. "Now, that we got that settled, there's something else we have to talk about."
He reached out for her face again, holding it firmly with his hands so he could look straight into her eyes. "Of course I was that worried about you. What did those girls say about me? I'm sure they said something."
"They said.that.you don't really like me, that you're just using me, making a joke out of me. They said that I don't really have anything to offer you anyway."
It wasn't easy for her, but she was glad she said it. She wanted to be honest with him, like he had been with her.
Philip sighed. "Those vicious little.it doesn't matter. I'm not going to waste my time on them. They obviously are just so damn petty.Did you believe them?"
"No. I know you're not like that. I just.it."
"It made you feel insecure?"
"Yes."
"Okay.Listen to me, all right? Believe what I tell you. Those girls don't matter to me one bit. Nothing they say is important. They don't have one idea how much I care about you and I'm glad they don't because it's none of their damn business. You are my best friend Mimi. It's that simple and I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally. I would never use you in any way or make what we have a joke, never."
His voice conveyed the truth, how much he cared about her. "I know that."
"Good." He let go of her face. "Now, about Chloe. You seem to think that I prefer her over you for some reason. You constantly make yourself inferior to her. I wish you would stop doing that. Yes, Chloe is strong in her own way, but so are you in your own way.amazingly strong."
"Right." Mimi said unconvincingly, looking away. "A strong person wouldn't run away all the time."
Philip reached out to touch her cheek again, getting her to look at him. "Maybe. But I don't even think you're going to do that as much. I think you realize that you have too many people that care about you to do that anymore. I hope you do. You ARE strong. How long do you think one of those girls that so cowardly put you down today would last on the streets, huh? I bet they wouldn't even last one hour. But you, you lived out here for days, nights. That takes guts Mimi. I don't even feel completely comfortable here, but you."
"Here, no one looks down upon you because of the way you look. There's no place for that here."
Philip's face showed understanding. "That's why you came here, because here no one ever teased you, said words to hurt you."
"Yeah. That's why."
"I get it. But the way you survived out here, taking care of yourself, trying to help your family, your little brother, that's tough, for anyone, let alone a teenager in high school. It shows how strong you are, how independent and how generous. You've also been there for me, telling me things sometimes I didn't want to hear, but you didn't give up. You stayed firm about it, proving how great of a friend you are. I never had that with Chloe, Mimi. We were never truly friends. I feel so lucky to have that with you. THAT'S why I don't want to rush this, not because I feel less about you, but because I never want us to lose what we have, this special give and take friendship. It's the reason why I want to take things slow with you. Okay?"
Mimi couldn't believe what he was saying. She blinked, feeling her eyes welling up with the moisture of tears again. "Okay."
"Last of all, but not least. You are beautiful. You are a beautiful person Mimi because of who you are on the inside as much as who you are on the outside. I'm going to do everything I possibly can to help you start seeing that, but I realize it's got to mainly come from you. You have to believe it yourself Mimi, because it's true. You just have to start seeing it. Believe it Mimi. Don't let anything those stupid girls tell you affect you. I mean they called you 'Cow' and started making chanting sounds! How dumb can you get?"
Mimi recoiled away from him, hurt.
"Are you making fun of me?"
Philip reached out for her hand reassuringly. "No, of course not. But just look at me Meems. Listen to how silly this sounds. 'Cow- Moo! Moo!' Doesn't it sound absolutely ridiculous?!"
Mimi felt a smile come in spite of herself. "It does sound kind of dumb."
Philip smiled back. "Right. It does. It's just as dumb as when I started that whole Ghoul Girl thing. But it's just so much more insane now. I mean, we're getting ready to graduate soon and those girls can't find anything better to do than make some stupid cow noises. They must be leading some pretty boring lives!"
Mimi giggled, then sighed. "I'm so glad that you're with me now. You always make me feel better."
She reached up, gently pushing back some strands of hair that had fallen near his eyes.
"Ah.now that's what I want to hear. So next time you feel the urge to run you're going to look for me first, right?"
Mimi smiled, removing her hand from his hair. "Right."
"Good." He let out a sound of discomfort, looking around at the strange surroundings with some apprehension.
Mimi looked at him curiously. "Not feeling that at home Philly?" She questioned with a slightly amused look.
Philip turned to face her with a sheepish look. "No, I mean I'm not some rich snob or anything."
His voice dropped off as he noticed her looking at him unconvincingly.
"It shows that much?"
Mimi reassuringly reached out for his hand. "Actually, you were hiding it pretty well until that look your face had just about a minute ago. I'm still surprised you came out here to look for me. How did you even know I would be out here?"
Philip inwardly sighed at the feel of her small hand on his. "I didn't. I tried the park first, but when you weren't there, I remembered how you said when you were homeless how you used to spend time on the streets. I thought it might be a long shot, but I had to at least try. Then when I found this."
He reached in his pocket, holding out the abandoned fairy to her.
She took it from him with surprise, studying it. "I saw one of these earlier and I blew on it, making a wish, like we used to do when we were kids. I guess it came true."
Philip smiled gently. "Maybe. Yeah, well when I found one, I took it as a sign. Then I found this one and it.I don't know, I guess in a way it led me here."
She reached up, holding him close to her, feeling his arms return her embrace. She whispered in his ear: "It DID come true then."
Philip whispered back, "I'm glad."
After a minute of closeness, they both slowly pulled back. Philip spoke first. "Okay, I'm not totally complaining, but uh, could we get going? It's kind of cold out here and this hard ground isn't that comfortable."
Mimi gasped. The temperature had gone way down as night had fully hit. She looked up at him, noticing he was shivering a bit. "OH Philly, here, take your jacket back!" She started to hand it back to him, but he immediately stopped her from going any further.
"No way! I want you to wear it. I'm alright." He draped the jacket around her shoulders again.
"You're shivering!" Mimi complained. She started to get up, holding onto his hands, pulling him up with her. Then she moved the jacket so it was half on her and half on him. "Here, we'll share it."
Philip just smiled, wrapping his arm around her, feeling her return the favor by wrapping her arm around him.
As they headed back to the car, she noticed his wary looks concerning the unfamiliar territory. She smiled up at him encouragingly, receiving an appreciative grin.
Holding each other close, they walked together, in solidarity.
****
"MIMI! You scared me to death!"
An overly excited Belle hugged Mimi fiercely near the entrance of Dot Com. Philip stood back and smiled. They had barely made it through the doors when Belle had come over in a rush, grabbing her best friend.
When Mimi finally got a chance to catch her breath, she looked up to see Philip giving her a knowing look.
"See, didn't I tell you, you had us worried?"
Mimi nodded her head. "Sorry."
Belle reached for Mimi's hand, leading her over to the booth where Shawn, Chloe and Brady were sitting. Mimi said hi to Brady and Shawn, but just kind of glanced at Chloe, noticing how she quickly made her way out of the booth, saying she wanted to get something to drink.
Brady got up to follow, but spoke to Mimi first. "Glad you're okay Mimi. You are feeling better now, right?"
Mimi gave him an answering smile. "Yeah I am. It helps to know I have such good friends."
"Good."
With that, Brady left to join Chloe at the counter.
Mimi and Philip sat down across from Shawn and Belle.
"I guess Chloe didn't really want to see me." Mimi said quietly.
"Well, you said hi to everyone, but her. How did you expect her to act?" Philip added a bit reproachfully.
Shawn and Belle said nothing, just waiting for her reaction. It kind of surprised them actually, how honest they seemed to be with each other. With Chloe, Philip had seemed to be walking on eggshells a lot of the time, constantly praising her, but at the same time holding things back.
Mimi answered sarcastically. "Yeah. Like she wants to even talk to me anyway."
"You won't know for sure if you don't say anything to her. She is the one that made sure I found out what happened."
Belle added: "She was looking for you too, with Brady."
"She even told those girls off for all the mean things they said to you."
Mimi looked at Shawn with shock, then turned to Philip. "She did?"
Philip answered simply. "Yeah. She did."
Mimi silently watched her friends for a minute, then gestured to Philip. He moved out of the way, letting her out. She looked up at him hesitantly.
"I'll be right here, waiting for you."
Mimi smiled up at him. "Thank you. I don't even understand why I'm doing this. I still don't completely like her, but she.she helped me today and."
"You're doing it because it's the right thing to do. It's like what I had to do with Brady after he found me on that island. You'll feel better, I guarantee it.
"I hope so." She looked up at him shakily.
"You will." He squeezed her hand quickly, then let go, sitting down across from his friends again.
"You're not going to go with her?" Shawn questioned.
"No." Philip spoke adamantly. "She has to do this alone."
Belle and Shawn just smiled at each other. How much two of their closest friends were changing.were growing.
****
Brady looked up as Mimi made her way over. He looked to Chloe, then back at Mimi as she approached the two chairs they were sitting in at the back of Dot Com.
"Hi Brady." Mimi smiled over at Brady who smiled back at her. "Hi.uh Chloe, can we talk?" She asked tentatively.
Chloe looked up at Mimi in shock, then looked over at Brady, who smiled at her encouragingly. "Uh."
Brady made no move to get up. "What do you say Chloe?" He asked her.
Chloe looked to Brady, then back up at Mimi. "Uh.okay." She said, not totally convincingly.
Mimi looked at Brady.
"Hey, I think I'll go talk to the rest of the gang over there, give you two some privacy, okay?" Brady waited for Chloe's reaction, but started to get up anyway.
"Okay." Chloe said, this time with certainty. Then she watched him leave.
Mimi looked down at the now empty chair across from Chloe. "Is it okay if I sit?"
Chloe turned her attention back to her. "Sure.it's a free country."
Mimi nodded, sitting down. "Look, I don't know why you did it, but thanks for calling Philip. I appreciate it."
There. She said it.
"Well, actually.I mainly did it for Philip, Belle and Shawn. I knew they would be worried about you."
"Yeah. Of course, that's why. You probably even enjoyed those girls saying all those things to me.thought I deserved it."
Chloe's face turned very serious. "No. You're wrong Mimi. I didn't enjoy it."
****
"So you think it's safe to leave the two of them over there, alone?" Shawn asked with some trepidation.
Philip laughed softly. "They'll be all right. I mean, if Brady and I could learn to get along!"
Brady smiled. "Yeah, if Uncle Phil and I could learn to be in the same room together without tearing each other apart!" He smirked at Philip.
Everyone laughed.
****
"That's kind of surprising. Considering all the terrible things I did to you in the past."
"But that's it. It was in the past. I'm not saying I can just forget about everything you did to me because I can't. I can't act like I'm okay with it because I'm not. But I also did some things to you that were pretty awful, in retaliation. I'm not proud of them now, but at the time I was just so upset with you, I wanted to make you suffer."
Mimi studied Chloe, finally telling her the truth. "I was scared. I was so scared I would lose my friends to you. I wanted to make your life miserable because of it. I also was just so tired of being made fun of. I thought if they started making fun of you, they would leave me alone."
Chloe regarded Mimi quietly at first. "They hurt you a lot, before I even came to Salem, didn't they?"
"Yes."
"And probably for no real reason, huh? They just needed someone to pick on.it's like a drug to them."
"Yeah. I never really thought of it that way, but I guess you're right."
"You once accused me of using Philip."
Mimi's eyes widened. "Well."
****
"So Uncle Phil, you and Mimi are looking kind of close tonight. Something going on there?" Brady teased, pretty much already knowing the answer.
"We're friends Brady."
"Yeah. For now, but soon, maybe more?"
Philip looked over at Mimi, proud of her. "I don't know.maybe."
Shawn, Belle and Brady wisely said nothing.
****
"You were right. I did use him, but never intentionally. I never wanted to hurt him. I loved him.just not enough. He was like my safety net. He protected me from all the hurt and pain. But at the same time I cared for him so much. I still do. I will always care about him."
Mimi laughed sarcastically. "You don't think I could ever be good enough for him?"
"No. I think just the opposite, though it's not easy for me to admit. There are so many different facets to his personality, as I'm sure you're finding out. We tried so hard to be happy with each other, but it just wasn't meant to be. We ended up hurting each other more than anything. With you though.I don't know.he seems truly happy, truly himself."
Chloe was a little surprised she said all that to someone she still did not regard a friend, but Mimi had opened up about her reasons for teasing her and so now.
"Wow. I don't really know what to say. I thought you hated me."
Chloe smiled a little. "No. I don't really hate you, though I still don't completely like you."
Mimi smiled back. "I don't really like you all that much either."
They both laughed.
****
"Oh my gosh! Look at them! They're laughing!" Belle looked on with wonder.
Philip just smiled.
****
"I am truly sorry for the internet prank. There were times I tried to tell Jan it was a big mistake, that it was wrong, but in the end I went through with it. I was weak, but I know now. I do realize how wrong it was."
"I know you do. You apologized for it before, on the island, remember?"
"Yeah. I just don't think I realized until recently how truly awful it was. Thank you too, for what you said about Philip. I was jealous a lot of the time. I mean you had the attention of all the guys after you wore that red dress. I felt left out."
Chloe responded dryly. "Well, guys can be dumb sometimes."
Mimi giggled. "Yes. They can be. Chloe, I know you didn't do it for me, but thank you for telling those girls off and for finding my friends. I really needed them." Mimi spoke the last words shakily.
Chloe understood completely. Many times, she had felt shaky herself.
"I honestly don't know if we can ever be friends Mimi, but that doesn't mean I think you're an awful person. At least I don't think that anymore. Mostly though, I understand how you felt when they were saying all those terrible things to you. It's something we have in common."
Mimi looked at Chloe gratefully. "Yes, I guess it is. Well, that's it. I just wanted to say thank you and tell you how sorry I really am for all the stupid things I did to you."
Mimi started to get up.
"Mimi wait." Chloe stopped her.
Mimi looked at Chloe questioningly.
"Just don't believe anything any of what those girls said to you, okay? Everything that came out of their mouths today was just garbage. They WANTED to hurt you, just like they did to me so many times."
Mimi laughed shakily. "Yeah, but with you they never succeeded. You were so strong all of the time."
Chloe laughed back sardonically. "Right. It may have appeared that way, but the truth is words hurt. I guess I just covered it up good. I think now though we've BOTH been through it enough. Don't you?"
"Yes. I just hope I can be strong enough to face them if it happens again."
"You will be. BOTH of us are a lot stronger than we were before."
Mimi smiled. "Yeah Chloe. I think you're right."
****
Philip was walking back to the booth, after getting himself and Mimi some food and sodas, when all of the sudden someone stopped him.
"Hi Philip."
Philip smiled coolly at Gretchen, not at all happy to see her.
"Hi." He answered smoothly, trying to keep his anger in check.
Mimi came over to him, after talking with Chloe, not noticing Gretchen at first.
Her smile died on her lips as she saw her.
Philip watched worriedly as Mimi's face drained of color at the sight of Gretchen.
"Hi Mimi. I hope you don't mind. I really wanted to talk with Philip alone."
Mimi looked at Gretchen, then back up at Philip, getting ready to leave, but he grabbed her hand quickly, holding onto it. She looked up at him, receiving a gentle smile. She held onto his hand, standing by his side.
Philip turned his attention back to Gretchen. "Anything you have to say to me, my friends should be able to hear too."
Gretchen seemed a little put off at first, but she quickly covered it up. "Uh.okay. No big deal. We're all friends anyway. Isn't that right Mimi?" She smiled down at her.
Chloe had gotten up from her chair to join Brady at the booth earlier. Now they all watched the confrontation. Chloe groaned at Gretchen's last words. How fake she could be.
Mimi said nothing, just looked away, smiling caustically.
Philip squeezed her hand, then turned back to Gretchen with another deceiving smile. "What did you want Gretchen?"
"It's just, it being almost the weekend, I thought maybe it would be fun to do something together, you know, just us though. Sorry Mimi."
Mimi shook her head with annoyance. "You have some nerve." She bravely added.
Philip looked at Mimi, but said nothing. He wanted her to get the chance to say what she needed to.
"I beg your pardon?" Gretchen asked, secretly giving Mimi a very cold and warning look.
Mimi paid no heed though. She was with her friends now. "You are just so fake, it's sickening!"
Their friends came over to stand by them as some of the people in Dot Com stopped what they were doing, noticing what was going on.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Gretchen innocently asked, looking to Philip.
That was it. His patience was spent. "Oh please! You know exactly what she's talking about!"
"No I don't."
"COW, Gretchen!" Philip spoke through clenched teeth. "Does that ring a bell?" He felt Mimi's hand shaking a bit and he squeezed it again, knowing that if he did something like put his arm around her he would take away her autonomy. He wanted her to feel strong right now, not sheltered, but he also wanted to give her just a bit of support.
"What?" Gretchen looked at him, pretending to be confused.
"Don't play dumb. You know you said that and worse. You just don't want to look bad in front of Philip."
Philip looked over at Chloe who was standing with the rest of his friends and family, lending their support. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
Gretchen looked down at Mimi coldly. "Is that what SHE told you?" She asked, referring to Mimi.
Philip laughed acerbically. "You just never give up, do you? Whatever you can do to make someone you don't like feel bad?"
"Look who's talking. You're the one who started the whole Vampira thing." Gretchen answered acidly.
Philip just looked at her silently, then finally spoke. "You know what, you're right. I did start all of that, something I will regret forever."
He looked over at Chloe. "I'm sorry. I know I've told you before, but I'm saying it now in front of everyone. I'm so sorry for all those horrible things I said about you at first Chloe. It was all just so stupid."
Chloe smiled at him appreciatively, understandingly. "I know Philip. I forgave you a long time ago."
"I know you did Chloe. Just thanks for being so understanding." He smiled back at her warmly, then turned his attention back to Gretchen, his face turning angry again. "The thing is Gretchen: I learned my lesson. I realize now that the most important thing is friendship, true friendship. I don't have time or the need anymore to play games and put people down."
Gretchen laughed. "You have definitely changed Philip. You've gotten a lot more boring. Spare me the sermon, please."
Philip looked at her coldly. "Fine. As long as you stay away from the people I care about."
Belle piped in from behind. "I second that Gretchen. We may have to cheer together, but anyone who hurts my best friend is not someone I want to be friends with. I think it's disgusting how you like putting other people down."
"Belle's right, Gretchen. What you did today, and all those other times, just showed how weak you are." Shawn added with emphasis.
Philip smiled, feeling the support of his friends. He turned to Mimi, seeing her smiling too. "So in answer to your question Gretchen, NO, I don't want to do anything with you, not now, not EVER. Got it?"
Gretchen attempted to appear smug. She looked around, noticing people staring at her, some with disdain. "That's just fine. I don't want to do anything with any of you losers anyway."
Mimi added with emphasis: "Why don't you take a look in the mirror Gretchen and see who the real loser is?"
Philip smiled. "I think that just about sums it all up."
Gretchen looked at Mimi with surprise for a minute, huffed, then finally turned and walked out.
Philip, Mimi, Chloe, Brady, Shawn and Belle in a show of solidarity high- fived each other.
Who needed shallow popularity, when you had the strong bonds of friendship?
****
Philip and Mimi, after enjoying a burger and fries with their friends, walked out of Dot Com, nearly running into Ramon.
Ramon laughed. "Ah.just the person I was looking for. Miriam, I have something I want you to see."
Mimi gasped. "Oh my gosh Ramon, it's finished?"
"Si."
"What? What's finished?" Philip asked, wondering what they were talking about.
"Ah Philip. You must see it too. You two come with me."
Mimi excitedly followed Ramon.
Philip chased after them, calling out irritably: "What's finished?!"
****
Philip and Mimi followed Ramon into the garage. Now that she was there with him, Mimi was feeling a little apprehensive about Philip seeing it. What would he think?
Ramon removed the covering off the painting, waiting for their reaction to it.
Mimi looked up at Philip, wondering what he thought.
Philip walked over to the painting, crouching down by it, studying it silently.
Finally he spoke. "You painted this.of Mimi?"
Ramon looked at Mimi then at Philip. "Si. I ask her if she mind and she say no. She was a very good subject."
Philip looked at Ramon, then back at the painting, still quiet.
Mimi spoke out of exasperation. "Well, aren't you going to say anything Philip? Okay, I know I'm not the model type to pose for a painting, but Ramon was the one who wanted me to! I did it as a favor to a friend. Oh, well, are you just going to sit there and keep staring at it?! Just say something, please!"
He spoke quietly, though not to her. "You captured it so perfectly, her beauty."
Ramon smiled, looking over at Mimi, then to Philip. "Gracias Philip."
Philip smiled back, then turned to look at the painting again. It was done in profile, against a shadowy background. In the picture she was sitting down, wearing a rich green colored dress that brought out the jade in her eyes, holding a flower up against the side of her face, her expression one of beatitude, yet also a certain wistfulness, the contrasts in manner lending a haunting quality.
"When did you paint this Ramon?"
"Ah, shortly after I came here. I finished mostly after you have your party. I just add some finishing touches."
Philip thought back. Yes, he had been right. It was during that time.
He looked back at Ramon. At first he hadn't been so sure how he felt about Ramon painting Mimi. It had made him a little anxious, possibly even a bit jealous. He kept his feelings in check though and now he was glad he had. It may have been by mistake, but the portrait spoke the truth.
"She looks happy.yet sad too."
"Si. I notice that too, though she hide it pretty well."
Philip turned to look at Mimi.
Feeling his gaze, her eyes moved from the portrait to his face.
Even as he spoke to Ramon, his eyes didn't waver away from her. He wanted to her to understand.
"It really doesn't matter. She's still beautiful."
Mimi's jade eyes stared into Philip's blue ones questioningly.
He smiled at her, saying nothing.
****
Philip pulled into Mimi's driveway, getting out of the Tribute. He walked over to the other side, opening the door for Mimi.
She got out, walking with him over to the front porch.
"So were you kind of mad I didn't tell you about the painting?"
He looked over at her. "No, not really. It's a great picture."
"Well, he is an artist."
"True, but he had an exquisite subject too."
"Yeah, right." Mimi started out, getting a disapproving look from him.
"Thank you." She simply said.
Philip smiled with approval.
"Good. Well, I should probably leave and let you go inside."
Mimi hurriedly took off his jacket, which she was still wearing.
"Well here." She started to hand him his jacket, but stopped, walking around in back of him, starting to drape it around his shoulders, giggling as she did it because he was taller than her and.
Philip chuckled then turned around suddenly, catching her hands in his grasp, staring down into her eyes.
She looked up at him, as his hands moved to encircle her waist, the jacket long forgotten.
He leaned down, kissing her gently on the lips, moving away from her slowly. Then he took the jacket, draping it around her shoulders again. He spoke to her in a soft whisper: "You can give it back to me tomorrow."
"But you'll be cold." Mimi protested.
Philip smiled at her reassuringly. "I'll be fine." He moved closer to his car. "Sleep well, okay?"
Mimi moved back slowly. "You too."
"Good night."
"Good night."
~*~
With the heart and mind joined in a show of solidarity, with the two friends once again on joined paths, with the rays of hope lighting the way.
All that remained was.
"I wonder what place he was talking about."
"I don't know." Chloe answered uncertainly. "Belle and Shawn didn't say anything else. I guess we'll just have to wait till they get here to find out more."
****
"Shawn, I'm getting so worried. It'll be dark soon."
Shawn tried to give Belle a reassuring look as he drove back to Dot Com. "We're just going to have to trust Philip, Belle.trust that he'll find her."
****
He was still holding the 'fairy' in his hand, as he looked around. He directed his attention back to the 'fairy' in his hand. It was going to turn to night soon. He couldn't waste time. He let the 'fairy' fall out of his grip, walking slowly through the area, searching.
****
Chloe and Brady watched anxiously as the front door opened. Shawn and Belle stepped through it, quickly making their way over to the booth.
"So, Philip went to go find her?"
"Yes." Belle answered her brother as she and Shawn once again sat down on the opposite side of the booth.
"Did he say where he was going to go look for her?"
"He was really vague about it. He just said that it was somewhere she went to when she was at her most desperate."
Chloe clapped a hand over her mouth at Shawn's words, then spoke excitedly. "OH my gosh, I know where he's going!"
****
The coolness that came with the approaching night was beginning to make her feel bitterly cold, but.
She still just couldn't get up and leave. At first it had been a place she feared. It was so desolate, dark and dangerous, but with time she began to grow accustomed to it. She learned that just because something looked a certain way on the outside, that didn't necessarily affect it on the inside.
Of course once things got better, she went back to caring about the little things again, the superficial things. She forgot what she had learned. She felt herself getting weak again, giving in to jealousy and fear. She let herself become a part of something that now disgusted her.
Her body trembled.
****
"Oh poor Mimi! You really think that's where she went to Chloe?"
Chloe responded to her friend's worried state of mind. "Yeah Belle, I think so."
"To go there.OH Shawn, she must feel so lost!"
Shawn hugged Belle, comforting her.
****
The Streets.
When he was gambling he had spent some time out on them, but he had never gone out as far as this. The furthest he had been out to were to some of the back areas of town, but still near the established businesses, where mostly so-called 'normal' people resided.
But this.
This was the area that every town had, yet every town also wanted to forget about. Hush-hush. No one wanted to talk about it. No one wanted to admit it. This was the place where the deadbeats, the losers, the tawdry, the lazy people lived. They didn't matter, right?
Philip shook his head, realizing that was how he USED to feel. It made him ashamed to think he had once regarded THESE kinds of people as bums, derelicts. They deserved it because they CHOSE to live this way. If they really wanted a job, they would find one, pure and simple, right?
Yes, in some cases. Some of these individuals that lived here did let their lives go down the drain, let their well beings fall apart, but others.this was no choice. This was reality, this was the way it was. They had NO alternative.
How lucky he was to live in such wealth and prosperity, he realized, as he walked through the grimy, desolate area. Just one flip of the coin and he could have been here, living like this, not knowing where his next meal was even going to come from. Now he understood how horribly awful she must have felt when she had nowhere to live, when she had to dig through garbage cans to find food. Now he saw how lonely and lost she must have been.
He couldn't keep himself from staring as he moved from one corner to the next. A part of him was even a little frightened. This was so new to him. He watched an expensive, yet too flashy looking car pull up to a corner. A girl dressed very provocatively came out of it, watching him as he watched her. She flashed him a sexy smile. He found it hard to take his eyes away because she looked so outlandish, so overly done, yet she also looked.
He shook his head, looking away. She was probably as young as he was yet here she was.definitely not ready to go to school..more like ready to go to work.
Down a darkened alley way, he saw two men standing together exchanging money. Philip looked away when they turned to look at him.
He continued to search for her.
The sky above brought no more light to the ground below, to the streets he was walking on. Night had come and as the darkness continued to grow, the streets came to life. Out came the runaways, the sellers and buyers, and the homeless.
As he searched every hidden back street he noticed them, talking to pawn brokers, hoping to get some bucks, digging out of large garbage bins, looking for.food? And just sitting down looking.
So many of them had that same look, the look of someone who believes society has let them down, has abandoned them.
They were young, old.every imaginable age. Some were alone and some looked like entire families. They created their own bonfires, holding out their hands to keep warm, many of them dressed shabbily and inadequately for the cold.
He saw a little boy, probably only five years old, sitting there, shivering as his mother?.dug through a pile of garbage. It made him feel sick inside to see. It made him worry for her.
"Mimi, what you went through." he whispered quietly to himself, now seeing first hand fully what life was like for the less fortunate.
"Hey, give you 50 bucks for the jacket bud."
Philip stopped in shock, feeling someone grab his arm, disturbing him from his thoughts. He stared at the poorly dressed young man. "What?"
The guy looked at Philip with annoyance. "The jacket, you know, what you're wearing, I'll give you 50 bucks for it!.Hey, you're not from around here are you? You might want to leave. You totally stick out like a sore thumb."
"I'm looking for a friend." Philip couldn't believe he was actually talking to this guy, this guy that offered him 50 dollars.for a $300 jacket! But the guy, once he got past his disheveled look, seemed alright.
"What, she some runaway or something? She sell her body for dinero?"
Philip shook his head. "No, no. She just.she used to live out here, not by choice of course."
Philip was almost sorry for his last words. The guy was gazing at him with a look of pure contempt.
"Oh yeah, no one wants to be out here, with the DIRTY people, the vagrants. Why don't you just get back in your little fancy car and go back to your fancy little house pretty boy?!"
Philip reached for the man's arm before he could angrily leave. "I'm sorry. I'm just.I'm not used to any of this and I'm worried about my friend. I didn't mean to sound like some rich snob."
The guy shook his hand at Philip. "Yeah, whatever. What's her name? Maybe I've seen her around."
Philip hesitated. He didn't know even know this guy. He could be some total psycho. The more he talked to him though, the more normal he seemed to be.he couldn't go on his whole life judging people by how they looked. "Mimi."
The guy smiled. "Hey, I remember her a couple of years back. She's cool, funny."
Philip smiled after getting over his initial shock that the guy knew Mimi. "So you haven't seen her out here, tonight?"
"Nah, I haven't seen her in years, but listen bud, look all the way down the alleys if you really want to find her. She was pretty crafty I remember, and good at finding hidden little corners. Just watch yourself though, okay? You definitely stand out around here with how you're dressed and everything, but you're main problemo is that you keep staring. Try to blend in more and no one will bother you."
Philip smiled again. "Thanks for the advice."
He took out a twenty dollar bill, handing it to the guy. "Here."
The young man looked at him with disgust. "I don't want your stupid charity!"
Philip shook his head. "It's not charity. It's payback for the street advice and for your help with finding Mimi. Please, take it. It's just my way of saying thanks."
The young man looked at Philip a little suspiciously, but finally took the money. "All right, as long as you put it that way. I hope you find her soon. She's a good kid."
Philip nearly laughed. The guy he was talking to didn't seem too old himself, but it was like this lifestyle seemed to age people so fast. "Yeah, she's my best friend.I better go."
****
She lay her head against the cold, rusty metal. Here, it was so different. Here, the only thing anyone cared about was SURVIVAL. It was the one thing that mattered. No one teased anyone about what they wore or how they looked. The only thing that mattered was that you found something to eat, or that you got money.
Anything, as long as you made it to see the next day.
****
Philip sighed. Where was she? He had scoured every hidden corner, every dark alleyway and he still hadn't found her. Maybe she didn't come here. Maybe he was way off in his way of thinking. But if she wasn't here, where did she go?
He sat down on the sidewalk outside a pawn shop, holding his head in his hands. Frustrated and filled with anxiety he just sat there.
Finally, he opened his eyes, looking down at the ground, noticing another abandoned 'fairy.'
"What?" He questioned, picking it up, seeing something else, something he hadn't caught before, but now that he was sitting.
He got up, still holding the 'fairy,' making his way down a hidden alley.
Finding.
****
They sat there, waiting for word, waiting for news, suddenly hearing one of their cell phones ring.
Brady picked it up, speaking for just a minute, then ended the conversation.
"Good news guys."
****
Philip sighed with relief, hanging up his cell phone.
He found her!
There she sat, behind a large trash bin, at the end of an alley that was at first sight not even noticeable. It was well hidden behind a couple of broken down fences. All that mattered to him now though was that he had found her.
"Oh Mimi."
Philip ran over to her, getting down on the soiled ground without a thought, hurriedly taking off his black leather jacket, wrapping it around her trembling shoulders.
"Meems, Meems, Meems."
He whispered, holding her against his chest, rocking her in his arms. "It's okay now.you're not alone."
With disbelief, she looked up at him, afraid that if she even blinked he would disappear. She was having trouble grasping the fact that he was actually there. She had been shocked to look up earlier and see him standing there. Then when he hurried over, placing his jacket around her shoulders, she just sat there, stunned.
Now she felt his warm caring embrace as he held her tightly. But way at the back of her mind, as she closed her eyes and cried softly in his arms, she wondered.
What was he doing there?
Intense relief entered his mind now that he had found her, now that he held her securely in his arms. It was a bit of a surprise at first, how he felt so much better now that he had found her, because only recently he started seeing the truth. His feelings for her were changing.
It wasn't that their friendship was diminishing. If anything, it had grown stronger. Instead of weakening the bond, their temporary separation had shown him how much being able to communicate with her day after day meant to him.
He felt empty without it.
Surrounded by the foul smell of garbage all around him, he concentrated on only one sensation: the redolent fragrance of wildflowers that she seemed to always carry with her. He closed his eyes now, nestling his face into her soft auburn hair.
That day they were caught in the rain, he found himself taken by surprise at the novel emotions and feelings that were starting to enter his mind and heart. Just the sight of her, rivulets of rain water falling from her face, from her lashes.the beauty she radiated as she looked up to the sky with an expression of wonder and joy.then tasting the sweetness of her.it had made him almost dizzy.unsettled.
Tonight, unable to find her at first, he felt an urgency, a helplessness. Now that he was with her he knew, their relationship was not getting weaker, it was only getting stronger, and slowly it was changing.
For now though, he wanted to do only one thing.to help her.
Mimi raised her face to look up at him again. "What.why.you're here?"
Her voice was so uncertain and shaky that it alarmed him. "I came to find you. I was worried." He stroked her hair, not taking his eyes away from her face.
"But.but how did you even know?"
"Don't worry about that now." Philip answered her softly, pulling his jacket closer around her body. "I can't believe you're out here in this cold.dressed the way you are." He was referring to the fact that she was wearing a pastel floral dress with a pale orange sweater over it, but nothing else. "Where is your jacket?"
"I.I forgot it. I ran out of there so fast I.oh, you don't even know."
"No, no I do." He reassured her. "I know basically what happened. I know that Gretchen, Jan and some of those other girls were giving you a hard time, that they said some really stupid things." With the touch of his hands he started to gently remove the tears from her face, using them as a tissue.
Oh, the sweetness with which he was wiping her tears away, one by one.
"How.how could you know?"
"Chloe told me." He answered simply.
The name took her aback. "Chloe? How? She was there?"
He continued to wipe away her tears, his fingers stroking the soft skin of her cheeks now. "Yeah. She heard most of it from what she told me. She tried to follow you, to stop you, but you ran out of there so fast."
Mimi could hardly believe any of what she was hearing, as she distantly felt his hands move down to near her chin. Chloe had actually tried to help her?
"I can't believe.So, she, told you what happened?"
Philip finished wiping the last of her tears. "Yeah. We've been looking for you everywhere."
"WE?"
Why did she seem so surprised?
"Yes, WE. Mimi, the minute I knew I started looking for you. And not just me.Brady, Chloe, Shawn, Belle.we've all been looking for you. We were worried!" With one hand, he combed through her hair, moving it away from her face.
"You were?"
Philip looked at her with frustration. "Yes. Of course we were. We all care about you!"
Mimi regarded him skeptically as he slowly removed his hand from her hair. How he kept touching her.she definitely wasn't complaining though. "Well the rest of you might, but Chloe? I doubt she was that worried. She doesn't exactly like me much."
Philip countered. "Well, you don't like her that much either."
He had her there. "No.you're right."
"She was concerned."
Mimi started to respond, but Philip cut her off gently. He still wanted to make sure she was okay and find out more about what happened. For too long he had tried to avoid problems.to let them go. With her, he learned to face his fears, his uncertainties, and now he wanted to help her face hers. He wanted to be there for her, pure and simple.
"Listen, right now I'm more interested in knowing how you're doing." He moved away from her a bit, noticing that she was shivering less now that she had the warmth of his jacket around her shoulders.
Mimi kept staring at him, unable to get over the shock of him being there. "I can't believe you're here. Look at what you're wearing."
She was referring to the fact that he was dressed in a light blue sweater and beige pants, expensive designer clothes that were not meant for dark alleys. But there he was, sitting on the stained dirty ground, his back against a large rusty dingy garbage dumpster, with foul odors subjugating the air.all because of.her?
No, it couldn't be, could it?, she asked herself with uncertainty.
He smiled a little, the effect softening his facial features. "Yeah, I guess I am not exactly dressed right for here, but, oh well.You'll have to give me advance notice next time and I'll find something more appropriate."
She nearly laughed at his silliness. "You're crazy! But really Philip.this isn't exactly the kind of place someone like you comes to. I bet you've never even been out here before."
"Right again, but you're here and so now I am." He studied her face, able to tell she still wasn't convinced.she still didn't understand. He took her face into his hands, staring into her jade eyes.
"Don't you get it? I came here to find you. I was frantic. I couldn't stand the thought of you being all alone after what happened. I don't care how dirty it is or anything. all I care about is you."
Mimi felt tears welling in her eyes again at the fervor of emotion she heard in his voice, how his eyes spoke volumes. Her throat choked with feeling, she simply whispered: "Thank you."
Philip smiled, slowly taking his hands away from her face. "Oh Meems, you don't have to thank me, not ever. I know they upset you, but.you should have just come to me."
He touched her cheek again, stroking it with his fingers, catching on the tip of one a fresh tear. "Don't you know I'm always here for you?"
Mimi's face dropped. "I.I had to get away.all I kept hearing was their voices, their chanting over and over again."
With one hand, he clasped hers in it, with the other he lifted her chin gently to get her to look at him, lending her his strength.
"Tell me what you kept hearing.let go of it Mimi, let me carry the weight."
"I." She started hesitantly, but didn't continue.
"Mimi, that night in the cabin, I told you about the island. I told you things I've never told anyone before. I didn't want to at first, but you convinced me to, you were there for me. After, it felt like this great weight had been taken off my back, it felt so much better. You helped me push the nightmares away Mimi. You helped me face my own fears. Now, let me help you face yours. Let me return the favor, please.Meems?"
He was actually pleading with her, wanting to help her, his hand holding hers still, keeping it warm, making her feel safe. She stared to speak quietly, taking strength from him.
"I.when it all started, when we first lost our house and we started living in the tent, when my dad went away to find work, I was scared, so scared at first. Connor was so sick by then and we.there was no alternative. I started selling anything I could, trying to find money any way I could. I started spending nights out.out here. It terrified me at first. It was so dark, so dismal, dirty, and there were all these strange people, but I.I.I told myself forget about all that. Don't you see Philip? That's what happens when you have almost nothing anymore. You stop caring about the things you used to. You develop a new layer of skin. You do what you have to."
Her voice started to break off shakily, but after a bit she went on, her voice absolute.
"You do what you have to, to survive, to make it to the next morning."
Philip nodded his head, saying nothing. His hand continued to stroke hers, his other hand moving across her shoulder and arm reassuringly. For the first time he did understand what she was saying. Coming out here had shown him the kind of life she had been living for a while. It proved to him how incredibly strong she was.
Mimi felt his understanding. She went on.
"For a while this almost became home. I learned to not be afraid of it anymore. I met people and saw them for who they really were, not what they looked on the outside. But, when everything got better again, when I could go back to living "normally" again, it was like I forgot all I learned. I got weak again and selfish. I did all that stupid stuff to hurt Chloe and I let Jan use me. I made dumb decisions and I let myself become part of something so awful.it now disgusts me completely. That dumb internet prank.I ask myself now, how could I have done something so horrible?"
He stroked her face with his fingers. "Hey.I did some pretty horrible things myself. You made a mistake, that's all. What matters is that you realize now how wrong it was. Mimi, we've both learned from our mistakes."
"I know I would never do anything that horrible again. That's for sure. But one of the reasons I first started teasing Chloe, Philip.it's so cowardly. I wanted to make them stop. I would have done anything to make them stop."
Philip's expression showed some confusion. "What do you mean, make them stop? Mimi, I know you've been teased by some of them from time to time, but what I heard from Chloe today. It kind of shocked me. I mean, when did all this get started?"
"You weren't really around for most of it. You and Shawn were at boarding school and Belle and I, when we were in middle school, we didn't have any classes together. She had dance and cheerleading after school. My parents couldn't afford any of that so I just.I went home and watched TV.alone. We barely saw each other, so without any of my friends around I became their favorite target. At first they called me 'stick girl' and then later, after I.after my appearance changed as I grew into my teen years they called me."
Her voice shakily dropped off as a flow of fresh tears came from her eyes. Philip squeezed her hand and with his other hand stroked her face gently, lifting the tears away with the touch of his fingers.
"It's okay.just let go of it.I swear I won't let you fall."
Mimi looked up at him, feeling such gratitude. How could one person be so gentle, so caring, so giving? How lucky she was to have him as her friend.
"They.they called me 'Cow,' making noises as I walked by, laughing, smirking, anything they could do to make me feel.to make me upset. I tried to act like it didn't bother me, but.I guess I'm not as strong as Chloe. So many times I remember running away from them, running home, hearing them snicker because they had made me cry."
Philip continued to just listen, knowing this was tough for her. She had kept so quiet about it. He had never really known. He guessed now, that Belle probably hadn't either.
"Then high school came and Belle and I had home room together and we started being friends again, like we had never stopped, and Chloe came and I saw that they had a new target so I joined in. I thought, as long as they left me alone, that was all that mattered. I took the easy way out."
"You can't totally blame yourself. I'm sure a lot of people would have done the same. It's a human reaction Mimi, wanting to protect yourself."
"Yeah, but.it was wrong and it didn't work anyway. As soon as my dad lost his job, and I started sneaking into the locker rooms to take my showers, it all started up again. But by then, I felt so lost, so alone. I felt like I was losing Belle to Chloe. It made me hate her. I saw it, as she was taking away my best friend. I was so scared too that you guys would find out the truth, that I was homeless and that you guys would want nothing to do with me ever again. I felt so ashamed."
"Why? Why would you feel ashamed? I still don't totally get that. It's not like you had any control over it. Your family didn't do anything wrong. You just fell upon hard times and needed some help."
"Tell me Philip, the truth. What did you think the first time you heard about it? Did you think that. what you just said, or did you think there was a way we could have avoided it? Be honest with me."
Philip smiled sadly. "You got me. You're good Meems. I didn't completely understand. When I first heard, I didn't see how your Dad could have just lost his job. I thought the economy was so strong. Even after I got involved with the whole Habitat for Humanity thing, I still didn't completely understand it. It wasn't until tonight actually, that I saw for the first time an inkling of what you must have been going through. This world out here is so new to me. Not even when I was gambling did I ever venture out this far. The people out here.I know now the answer isn't as simple as I used to think it was. I see how fortunate I've been."
His honesty and insight made her smile a bit. "Thank you for understanding. That's basically why I didn't tell anyone. I didn't think anyone would get it. I was wrong. Even if you guys couldn't completely understand, you were there for me and that meant so much, more than I can ever say. I just.today everything came back to me, with what they said. Oh Philip, they called my dad a deadbeat. They couldn't be more wrong. It killed him to leave us. Even still, now, I can tell he wishes so much that he never had to do that. He feels like for a time he failed us, even though we have no bad feelings about it. I hated hearing them say things about my family."
She went on, angrily, yet shakily, on the verge of crying.
"They don't know anything about them!"
Philip reached out for her, taking her into his arms and holding her tightly.
"Shhhh..It's alright now. They just did that to hurt you. Don't listen to anything they said. You know how much your parents love you. That's all that matters."
Mimi felt tears coming again. She moved away from Philip, trying to hold them back, but he stopped her.
"Don't. It's okay. Just go ahead and cry. You don't need to hold back from me."
He held out his arms for her again, feeling her gratefully move into them. Then he held her silently as she cried, letting go of the pain and misery. He closed his eyes, rocking her back and forth in his arms.
After a while, she stirred in his arms, moving away from his embrace. She met his eyes with hers.
"Thank you Philip, this means, everything you've done for me tonight.it means so much to me."
She reached up, kissing him on the cheek, and then slowly moving away from him.
Philip closed his eyes at the touch of her warm lips against his skin. Then he slowly opened them, seeing her jade eyes staring into his blue ones. "I already told you. You don't have to thank me, ever. We help each other, right? Now, you're going to listen to me, because I have some things to say, that I need you to hear, okay?"
Mimi looked at him uncertainly, but nodded her head.
"Good. First of all, please, if anything like this ever happens again, and I sure hope it doesn't because those clueless girls are going to have to deal with me next time, but if it does, just don't run away, okay? At least don't run away from me. Find me and if you need to get away from here we'll go together, all right?"
"Philip-"
He cut her off, touching her lips with his fingers before she could say anything more. "Say okay. I'm not taking no for an answer on this one."
"How bossy!"
Philip laughed, her sarcastic wit filling him with joy. "Hey, you don't want to see me go bald from tearing my hair out each time I get worried about you, do you?"
Mimi cringed humorously. "OH my gosh, that would not be a pretty picture! No, I definitely don't want to see that. Okay."
She got serious again, speaking quietly, thankful for his caring nature. "Next time I'll look for you. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you would worry that much."
Philip gave her a condescending look. "Now, that we got that settled, there's something else we have to talk about."
He reached out for her face again, holding it firmly with his hands so he could look straight into her eyes. "Of course I was that worried about you. What did those girls say about me? I'm sure they said something."
"They said.that.you don't really like me, that you're just using me, making a joke out of me. They said that I don't really have anything to offer you anyway."
It wasn't easy for her, but she was glad she said it. She wanted to be honest with him, like he had been with her.
Philip sighed. "Those vicious little.it doesn't matter. I'm not going to waste my time on them. They obviously are just so damn petty.Did you believe them?"
"No. I know you're not like that. I just.it."
"It made you feel insecure?"
"Yes."
"Okay.Listen to me, all right? Believe what I tell you. Those girls don't matter to me one bit. Nothing they say is important. They don't have one idea how much I care about you and I'm glad they don't because it's none of their damn business. You are my best friend Mimi. It's that simple and I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally. I would never use you in any way or make what we have a joke, never."
His voice conveyed the truth, how much he cared about her. "I know that."
"Good." He let go of her face. "Now, about Chloe. You seem to think that I prefer her over you for some reason. You constantly make yourself inferior to her. I wish you would stop doing that. Yes, Chloe is strong in her own way, but so are you in your own way.amazingly strong."
"Right." Mimi said unconvincingly, looking away. "A strong person wouldn't run away all the time."
Philip reached out to touch her cheek again, getting her to look at him. "Maybe. But I don't even think you're going to do that as much. I think you realize that you have too many people that care about you to do that anymore. I hope you do. You ARE strong. How long do you think one of those girls that so cowardly put you down today would last on the streets, huh? I bet they wouldn't even last one hour. But you, you lived out here for days, nights. That takes guts Mimi. I don't even feel completely comfortable here, but you."
"Here, no one looks down upon you because of the way you look. There's no place for that here."
Philip's face showed understanding. "That's why you came here, because here no one ever teased you, said words to hurt you."
"Yeah. That's why."
"I get it. But the way you survived out here, taking care of yourself, trying to help your family, your little brother, that's tough, for anyone, let alone a teenager in high school. It shows how strong you are, how independent and how generous. You've also been there for me, telling me things sometimes I didn't want to hear, but you didn't give up. You stayed firm about it, proving how great of a friend you are. I never had that with Chloe, Mimi. We were never truly friends. I feel so lucky to have that with you. THAT'S why I don't want to rush this, not because I feel less about you, but because I never want us to lose what we have, this special give and take friendship. It's the reason why I want to take things slow with you. Okay?"
Mimi couldn't believe what he was saying. She blinked, feeling her eyes welling up with the moisture of tears again. "Okay."
"Last of all, but not least. You are beautiful. You are a beautiful person Mimi because of who you are on the inside as much as who you are on the outside. I'm going to do everything I possibly can to help you start seeing that, but I realize it's got to mainly come from you. You have to believe it yourself Mimi, because it's true. You just have to start seeing it. Believe it Mimi. Don't let anything those stupid girls tell you affect you. I mean they called you 'Cow' and started making chanting sounds! How dumb can you get?"
Mimi recoiled away from him, hurt.
"Are you making fun of me?"
Philip reached out for her hand reassuringly. "No, of course not. But just look at me Meems. Listen to how silly this sounds. 'Cow- Moo! Moo!' Doesn't it sound absolutely ridiculous?!"
Mimi felt a smile come in spite of herself. "It does sound kind of dumb."
Philip smiled back. "Right. It does. It's just as dumb as when I started that whole Ghoul Girl thing. But it's just so much more insane now. I mean, we're getting ready to graduate soon and those girls can't find anything better to do than make some stupid cow noises. They must be leading some pretty boring lives!"
Mimi giggled, then sighed. "I'm so glad that you're with me now. You always make me feel better."
She reached up, gently pushing back some strands of hair that had fallen near his eyes.
"Ah.now that's what I want to hear. So next time you feel the urge to run you're going to look for me first, right?"
Mimi smiled, removing her hand from his hair. "Right."
"Good." He let out a sound of discomfort, looking around at the strange surroundings with some apprehension.
Mimi looked at him curiously. "Not feeling that at home Philly?" She questioned with a slightly amused look.
Philip turned to face her with a sheepish look. "No, I mean I'm not some rich snob or anything."
His voice dropped off as he noticed her looking at him unconvincingly.
"It shows that much?"
Mimi reassuringly reached out for his hand. "Actually, you were hiding it pretty well until that look your face had just about a minute ago. I'm still surprised you came out here to look for me. How did you even know I would be out here?"
Philip inwardly sighed at the feel of her small hand on his. "I didn't. I tried the park first, but when you weren't there, I remembered how you said when you were homeless how you used to spend time on the streets. I thought it might be a long shot, but I had to at least try. Then when I found this."
He reached in his pocket, holding out the abandoned fairy to her.
She took it from him with surprise, studying it. "I saw one of these earlier and I blew on it, making a wish, like we used to do when we were kids. I guess it came true."
Philip smiled gently. "Maybe. Yeah, well when I found one, I took it as a sign. Then I found this one and it.I don't know, I guess in a way it led me here."
She reached up, holding him close to her, feeling his arms return her embrace. She whispered in his ear: "It DID come true then."
Philip whispered back, "I'm glad."
After a minute of closeness, they both slowly pulled back. Philip spoke first. "Okay, I'm not totally complaining, but uh, could we get going? It's kind of cold out here and this hard ground isn't that comfortable."
Mimi gasped. The temperature had gone way down as night had fully hit. She looked up at him, noticing he was shivering a bit. "OH Philly, here, take your jacket back!" She started to hand it back to him, but he immediately stopped her from going any further.
"No way! I want you to wear it. I'm alright." He draped the jacket around her shoulders again.
"You're shivering!" Mimi complained. She started to get up, holding onto his hands, pulling him up with her. Then she moved the jacket so it was half on her and half on him. "Here, we'll share it."
Philip just smiled, wrapping his arm around her, feeling her return the favor by wrapping her arm around him.
As they headed back to the car, she noticed his wary looks concerning the unfamiliar territory. She smiled up at him encouragingly, receiving an appreciative grin.
Holding each other close, they walked together, in solidarity.
****
"MIMI! You scared me to death!"
An overly excited Belle hugged Mimi fiercely near the entrance of Dot Com. Philip stood back and smiled. They had barely made it through the doors when Belle had come over in a rush, grabbing her best friend.
When Mimi finally got a chance to catch her breath, she looked up to see Philip giving her a knowing look.
"See, didn't I tell you, you had us worried?"
Mimi nodded her head. "Sorry."
Belle reached for Mimi's hand, leading her over to the booth where Shawn, Chloe and Brady were sitting. Mimi said hi to Brady and Shawn, but just kind of glanced at Chloe, noticing how she quickly made her way out of the booth, saying she wanted to get something to drink.
Brady got up to follow, but spoke to Mimi first. "Glad you're okay Mimi. You are feeling better now, right?"
Mimi gave him an answering smile. "Yeah I am. It helps to know I have such good friends."
"Good."
With that, Brady left to join Chloe at the counter.
Mimi and Philip sat down across from Shawn and Belle.
"I guess Chloe didn't really want to see me." Mimi said quietly.
"Well, you said hi to everyone, but her. How did you expect her to act?" Philip added a bit reproachfully.
Shawn and Belle said nothing, just waiting for her reaction. It kind of surprised them actually, how honest they seemed to be with each other. With Chloe, Philip had seemed to be walking on eggshells a lot of the time, constantly praising her, but at the same time holding things back.
Mimi answered sarcastically. "Yeah. Like she wants to even talk to me anyway."
"You won't know for sure if you don't say anything to her. She is the one that made sure I found out what happened."
Belle added: "She was looking for you too, with Brady."
"She even told those girls off for all the mean things they said to you."
Mimi looked at Shawn with shock, then turned to Philip. "She did?"
Philip answered simply. "Yeah. She did."
Mimi silently watched her friends for a minute, then gestured to Philip. He moved out of the way, letting her out. She looked up at him hesitantly.
"I'll be right here, waiting for you."
Mimi smiled up at him. "Thank you. I don't even understand why I'm doing this. I still don't completely like her, but she.she helped me today and."
"You're doing it because it's the right thing to do. It's like what I had to do with Brady after he found me on that island. You'll feel better, I guarantee it.
"I hope so." She looked up at him shakily.
"You will." He squeezed her hand quickly, then let go, sitting down across from his friends again.
"You're not going to go with her?" Shawn questioned.
"No." Philip spoke adamantly. "She has to do this alone."
Belle and Shawn just smiled at each other. How much two of their closest friends were changing.were growing.
****
Brady looked up as Mimi made her way over. He looked to Chloe, then back at Mimi as she approached the two chairs they were sitting in at the back of Dot Com.
"Hi Brady." Mimi smiled over at Brady who smiled back at her. "Hi.uh Chloe, can we talk?" She asked tentatively.
Chloe looked up at Mimi in shock, then looked over at Brady, who smiled at her encouragingly. "Uh."
Brady made no move to get up. "What do you say Chloe?" He asked her.
Chloe looked to Brady, then back up at Mimi. "Uh.okay." She said, not totally convincingly.
Mimi looked at Brady.
"Hey, I think I'll go talk to the rest of the gang over there, give you two some privacy, okay?" Brady waited for Chloe's reaction, but started to get up anyway.
"Okay." Chloe said, this time with certainty. Then she watched him leave.
Mimi looked down at the now empty chair across from Chloe. "Is it okay if I sit?"
Chloe turned her attention back to her. "Sure.it's a free country."
Mimi nodded, sitting down. "Look, I don't know why you did it, but thanks for calling Philip. I appreciate it."
There. She said it.
"Well, actually.I mainly did it for Philip, Belle and Shawn. I knew they would be worried about you."
"Yeah. Of course, that's why. You probably even enjoyed those girls saying all those things to me.thought I deserved it."
Chloe's face turned very serious. "No. You're wrong Mimi. I didn't enjoy it."
****
"So you think it's safe to leave the two of them over there, alone?" Shawn asked with some trepidation.
Philip laughed softly. "They'll be all right. I mean, if Brady and I could learn to get along!"
Brady smiled. "Yeah, if Uncle Phil and I could learn to be in the same room together without tearing each other apart!" He smirked at Philip.
Everyone laughed.
****
"That's kind of surprising. Considering all the terrible things I did to you in the past."
"But that's it. It was in the past. I'm not saying I can just forget about everything you did to me because I can't. I can't act like I'm okay with it because I'm not. But I also did some things to you that were pretty awful, in retaliation. I'm not proud of them now, but at the time I was just so upset with you, I wanted to make you suffer."
Mimi studied Chloe, finally telling her the truth. "I was scared. I was so scared I would lose my friends to you. I wanted to make your life miserable because of it. I also was just so tired of being made fun of. I thought if they started making fun of you, they would leave me alone."
Chloe regarded Mimi quietly at first. "They hurt you a lot, before I even came to Salem, didn't they?"
"Yes."
"And probably for no real reason, huh? They just needed someone to pick on.it's like a drug to them."
"Yeah. I never really thought of it that way, but I guess you're right."
"You once accused me of using Philip."
Mimi's eyes widened. "Well."
****
"So Uncle Phil, you and Mimi are looking kind of close tonight. Something going on there?" Brady teased, pretty much already knowing the answer.
"We're friends Brady."
"Yeah. For now, but soon, maybe more?"
Philip looked over at Mimi, proud of her. "I don't know.maybe."
Shawn, Belle and Brady wisely said nothing.
****
"You were right. I did use him, but never intentionally. I never wanted to hurt him. I loved him.just not enough. He was like my safety net. He protected me from all the hurt and pain. But at the same time I cared for him so much. I still do. I will always care about him."
Mimi laughed sarcastically. "You don't think I could ever be good enough for him?"
"No. I think just the opposite, though it's not easy for me to admit. There are so many different facets to his personality, as I'm sure you're finding out. We tried so hard to be happy with each other, but it just wasn't meant to be. We ended up hurting each other more than anything. With you though.I don't know.he seems truly happy, truly himself."
Chloe was a little surprised she said all that to someone she still did not regard a friend, but Mimi had opened up about her reasons for teasing her and so now.
"Wow. I don't really know what to say. I thought you hated me."
Chloe smiled a little. "No. I don't really hate you, though I still don't completely like you."
Mimi smiled back. "I don't really like you all that much either."
They both laughed.
****
"Oh my gosh! Look at them! They're laughing!" Belle looked on with wonder.
Philip just smiled.
****
"I am truly sorry for the internet prank. There were times I tried to tell Jan it was a big mistake, that it was wrong, but in the end I went through with it. I was weak, but I know now. I do realize how wrong it was."
"I know you do. You apologized for it before, on the island, remember?"
"Yeah. I just don't think I realized until recently how truly awful it was. Thank you too, for what you said about Philip. I was jealous a lot of the time. I mean you had the attention of all the guys after you wore that red dress. I felt left out."
Chloe responded dryly. "Well, guys can be dumb sometimes."
Mimi giggled. "Yes. They can be. Chloe, I know you didn't do it for me, but thank you for telling those girls off and for finding my friends. I really needed them." Mimi spoke the last words shakily.
Chloe understood completely. Many times, she had felt shaky herself.
"I honestly don't know if we can ever be friends Mimi, but that doesn't mean I think you're an awful person. At least I don't think that anymore. Mostly though, I understand how you felt when they were saying all those terrible things to you. It's something we have in common."
Mimi looked at Chloe gratefully. "Yes, I guess it is. Well, that's it. I just wanted to say thank you and tell you how sorry I really am for all the stupid things I did to you."
Mimi started to get up.
"Mimi wait." Chloe stopped her.
Mimi looked at Chloe questioningly.
"Just don't believe anything any of what those girls said to you, okay? Everything that came out of their mouths today was just garbage. They WANTED to hurt you, just like they did to me so many times."
Mimi laughed shakily. "Yeah, but with you they never succeeded. You were so strong all of the time."
Chloe laughed back sardonically. "Right. It may have appeared that way, but the truth is words hurt. I guess I just covered it up good. I think now though we've BOTH been through it enough. Don't you?"
"Yes. I just hope I can be strong enough to face them if it happens again."
"You will be. BOTH of us are a lot stronger than we were before."
Mimi smiled. "Yeah Chloe. I think you're right."
****
Philip was walking back to the booth, after getting himself and Mimi some food and sodas, when all of the sudden someone stopped him.
"Hi Philip."
Philip smiled coolly at Gretchen, not at all happy to see her.
"Hi." He answered smoothly, trying to keep his anger in check.
Mimi came over to him, after talking with Chloe, not noticing Gretchen at first.
Her smile died on her lips as she saw her.
Philip watched worriedly as Mimi's face drained of color at the sight of Gretchen.
"Hi Mimi. I hope you don't mind. I really wanted to talk with Philip alone."
Mimi looked at Gretchen, then back up at Philip, getting ready to leave, but he grabbed her hand quickly, holding onto it. She looked up at him, receiving a gentle smile. She held onto his hand, standing by his side.
Philip turned his attention back to Gretchen. "Anything you have to say to me, my friends should be able to hear too."
Gretchen seemed a little put off at first, but she quickly covered it up. "Uh.okay. No big deal. We're all friends anyway. Isn't that right Mimi?" She smiled down at her.
Chloe had gotten up from her chair to join Brady at the booth earlier. Now they all watched the confrontation. Chloe groaned at Gretchen's last words. How fake she could be.
Mimi said nothing, just looked away, smiling caustically.
Philip squeezed her hand, then turned back to Gretchen with another deceiving smile. "What did you want Gretchen?"
"It's just, it being almost the weekend, I thought maybe it would be fun to do something together, you know, just us though. Sorry Mimi."
Mimi shook her head with annoyance. "You have some nerve." She bravely added.
Philip looked at Mimi, but said nothing. He wanted her to get the chance to say what she needed to.
"I beg your pardon?" Gretchen asked, secretly giving Mimi a very cold and warning look.
Mimi paid no heed though. She was with her friends now. "You are just so fake, it's sickening!"
Their friends came over to stand by them as some of the people in Dot Com stopped what they were doing, noticing what was going on.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Gretchen innocently asked, looking to Philip.
That was it. His patience was spent. "Oh please! You know exactly what she's talking about!"
"No I don't."
"COW, Gretchen!" Philip spoke through clenched teeth. "Does that ring a bell?" He felt Mimi's hand shaking a bit and he squeezed it again, knowing that if he did something like put his arm around her he would take away her autonomy. He wanted her to feel strong right now, not sheltered, but he also wanted to give her just a bit of support.
"What?" Gretchen looked at him, pretending to be confused.
"Don't play dumb. You know you said that and worse. You just don't want to look bad in front of Philip."
Philip looked over at Chloe who was standing with the rest of his friends and family, lending their support. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
Gretchen looked down at Mimi coldly. "Is that what SHE told you?" She asked, referring to Mimi.
Philip laughed acerbically. "You just never give up, do you? Whatever you can do to make someone you don't like feel bad?"
"Look who's talking. You're the one who started the whole Vampira thing." Gretchen answered acidly.
Philip just looked at her silently, then finally spoke. "You know what, you're right. I did start all of that, something I will regret forever."
He looked over at Chloe. "I'm sorry. I know I've told you before, but I'm saying it now in front of everyone. I'm so sorry for all those horrible things I said about you at first Chloe. It was all just so stupid."
Chloe smiled at him appreciatively, understandingly. "I know Philip. I forgave you a long time ago."
"I know you did Chloe. Just thanks for being so understanding." He smiled back at her warmly, then turned his attention back to Gretchen, his face turning angry again. "The thing is Gretchen: I learned my lesson. I realize now that the most important thing is friendship, true friendship. I don't have time or the need anymore to play games and put people down."
Gretchen laughed. "You have definitely changed Philip. You've gotten a lot more boring. Spare me the sermon, please."
Philip looked at her coldly. "Fine. As long as you stay away from the people I care about."
Belle piped in from behind. "I second that Gretchen. We may have to cheer together, but anyone who hurts my best friend is not someone I want to be friends with. I think it's disgusting how you like putting other people down."
"Belle's right, Gretchen. What you did today, and all those other times, just showed how weak you are." Shawn added with emphasis.
Philip smiled, feeling the support of his friends. He turned to Mimi, seeing her smiling too. "So in answer to your question Gretchen, NO, I don't want to do anything with you, not now, not EVER. Got it?"
Gretchen attempted to appear smug. She looked around, noticing people staring at her, some with disdain. "That's just fine. I don't want to do anything with any of you losers anyway."
Mimi added with emphasis: "Why don't you take a look in the mirror Gretchen and see who the real loser is?"
Philip smiled. "I think that just about sums it all up."
Gretchen looked at Mimi with surprise for a minute, huffed, then finally turned and walked out.
Philip, Mimi, Chloe, Brady, Shawn and Belle in a show of solidarity high- fived each other.
Who needed shallow popularity, when you had the strong bonds of friendship?
****
Philip and Mimi, after enjoying a burger and fries with their friends, walked out of Dot Com, nearly running into Ramon.
Ramon laughed. "Ah.just the person I was looking for. Miriam, I have something I want you to see."
Mimi gasped. "Oh my gosh Ramon, it's finished?"
"Si."
"What? What's finished?" Philip asked, wondering what they were talking about.
"Ah Philip. You must see it too. You two come with me."
Mimi excitedly followed Ramon.
Philip chased after them, calling out irritably: "What's finished?!"
****
Philip and Mimi followed Ramon into the garage. Now that she was there with him, Mimi was feeling a little apprehensive about Philip seeing it. What would he think?
Ramon removed the covering off the painting, waiting for their reaction to it.
Mimi looked up at Philip, wondering what he thought.
Philip walked over to the painting, crouching down by it, studying it silently.
Finally he spoke. "You painted this.of Mimi?"
Ramon looked at Mimi then at Philip. "Si. I ask her if she mind and she say no. She was a very good subject."
Philip looked at Ramon, then back at the painting, still quiet.
Mimi spoke out of exasperation. "Well, aren't you going to say anything Philip? Okay, I know I'm not the model type to pose for a painting, but Ramon was the one who wanted me to! I did it as a favor to a friend. Oh, well, are you just going to sit there and keep staring at it?! Just say something, please!"
He spoke quietly, though not to her. "You captured it so perfectly, her beauty."
Ramon smiled, looking over at Mimi, then to Philip. "Gracias Philip."
Philip smiled back, then turned to look at the painting again. It was done in profile, against a shadowy background. In the picture she was sitting down, wearing a rich green colored dress that brought out the jade in her eyes, holding a flower up against the side of her face, her expression one of beatitude, yet also a certain wistfulness, the contrasts in manner lending a haunting quality.
"When did you paint this Ramon?"
"Ah, shortly after I came here. I finished mostly after you have your party. I just add some finishing touches."
Philip thought back. Yes, he had been right. It was during that time.
He looked back at Ramon. At first he hadn't been so sure how he felt about Ramon painting Mimi. It had made him a little anxious, possibly even a bit jealous. He kept his feelings in check though and now he was glad he had. It may have been by mistake, but the portrait spoke the truth.
"She looks happy.yet sad too."
"Si. I notice that too, though she hide it pretty well."
Philip turned to look at Mimi.
Feeling his gaze, her eyes moved from the portrait to his face.
Even as he spoke to Ramon, his eyes didn't waver away from her. He wanted to her to understand.
"It really doesn't matter. She's still beautiful."
Mimi's jade eyes stared into Philip's blue ones questioningly.
He smiled at her, saying nothing.
****
Philip pulled into Mimi's driveway, getting out of the Tribute. He walked over to the other side, opening the door for Mimi.
She got out, walking with him over to the front porch.
"So were you kind of mad I didn't tell you about the painting?"
He looked over at her. "No, not really. It's a great picture."
"Well, he is an artist."
"True, but he had an exquisite subject too."
"Yeah, right." Mimi started out, getting a disapproving look from him.
"Thank you." She simply said.
Philip smiled with approval.
"Good. Well, I should probably leave and let you go inside."
Mimi hurriedly took off his jacket, which she was still wearing.
"Well here." She started to hand him his jacket, but stopped, walking around in back of him, starting to drape it around his shoulders, giggling as she did it because he was taller than her and.
Philip chuckled then turned around suddenly, catching her hands in his grasp, staring down into her eyes.
She looked up at him, as his hands moved to encircle her waist, the jacket long forgotten.
He leaned down, kissing her gently on the lips, moving away from her slowly. Then he took the jacket, draping it around her shoulders again. He spoke to her in a soft whisper: "You can give it back to me tomorrow."
"But you'll be cold." Mimi protested.
Philip smiled at her reassuringly. "I'll be fine." He moved closer to his car. "Sleep well, okay?"
Mimi moved back slowly. "You too."
"Good night."
"Good night."
~*~
With the heart and mind joined in a show of solidarity, with the two friends once again on joined paths, with the rays of hope lighting the way.
All that remained was.