Previously:

The doorbell rang. I dashed to the door, thinking it was Felix there about the band we'd talked about putting together over vacation. I swung the door open to see...

Mia standing there, with tears streaming down her face.

Chapter 8 – Converse Shoes and Eavesdropping

I stood there with my mouth wide open as I stared at her in shock. She had a look of sincere embarrassment etched in her eyes that she cast downward. She seemed to be attempting to focus on her Converse All-Stars instead of me. She didn't even want to set her eyes on me. It made me feel an inch tall. I hated that feeling. I gained consciousness and exerted effort into breathing as I stood there perplexed. At least she's safe I thought to myself. She's probably here for Lilly's support, not mine. I realized her shivering and steeped away from the door, motioning her to come in. I didn't speak. It seemed to risky.

She obliged and stepped in quietly, still staring down at her shoes. To my relief, Lilly came rushing out of her room to see what was going on. She gave one quick glance at me and Mia, analyzed Mia's condition and grabbed her arm, wrenching her back into her room and slamming the door.

I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she didn't leave me there to deal with Mia. I hate to see Mia sad, and I would probably be any help. I would just frustrate myself. Besides the fact that I freeze up every time I'm near her, due to her knowing my feelings for her and not requiting them.

I was surprised Lilly didn't take advantage of the perfect opportunity to humiliate me. Maybe for once she actually wanted to help her depressed friend out before going through with her vile schemes. Maybe she was hatching a plan right at that very moment as Mia spilled her guts to her.

Or maybe she was doing exactly what she always does: psycho-analyzing Mia to death.

There was only one way to find out: eavesdrop. Okay, I know it's wrong, but in desperate times, my skills (eavesdropping, picking locks, hacking, sending viruses, et cetera) are very tempting.

It's not like I was eavesdropping for any bad reasons. I was just concerned, that's all.

I stepped towards the hollow, wooden door and leaned my ear up against it. I could hear voices clearly.

"What's wrong?" Lilly asked, being genuinely caring. I smiled at my sister's ability to be more than a critical feminist, but a caring friend. I wasn't all that surprised by it, either. I knew she had some sensitivity under all that bossy personality. "You're parents are looking for you, you know. They're scared out of their minds for you." I heard bedsprings bend as someone, presumably Lilly, sat on the bed.

"I know," Mia sniffled.

"So what the hell is going on that you felt the need to run away from your Grandmere when you know it's going to get dark? I mean, I know she's horrible but... You could not have been more stupid." Well, she had to criticize something. She is Lilly, after all.

"I know," Mia repeated quietly. "Its just that..." There was a pause and I heard muffled footsteps. She was pacing.

"Lilly she wants me to move to Genovia," she said in a rush. I sighed quietly as my legs seemed to shatter to pieces. I fell to the floor, being as soft as possible, careful not to let them hear. I rubbed my temples. This could not be happening. Not that it mattered anyway. It would probably make things ten times easier for me if she moved. But I didn't want her to move when we were on such awkward terms. But I ruined the semi-friendship we had, so there was no hope for non-awkward terms.

"You what?!" Lilly's shriek brought me back to reality.

"Uh-huh." Mia said grimly, sniffling.

"Didn't your dad say you didn't have to move to Genovia a long time ago?"

"Well...I don't know. Maybe he changed his mind? All I know is she's forcing me to move to Genovia." I got up and started to walk away back into my room when I heard something interesting.

"No one can force you to move somewhere, Mia. Why can't you be more assertive? I mean, argue a little. Don't just give in and run away crying like it's a sure thing... Or are you being passive about it because you see it as an opportunity to get away from Michael?"

"Who said I was being passive?" Mia said.

"You ran away. You didn't confront them, did you? You just ran. Not only did you run, but you were stupid about it in the process."

"I'm not moving, even if it gets rid of my problems with Michael," Mia said quietly. "Sure, I won't have to see him anymore but it doesn't change the fact that my heart's kind of broken anyway..." she trailed off. Wait, her heart was broken? Why?

"Kind of broken? Puh-lease..." Lilly said, sounding disgusted. "Don't lie to me. You're crushed. And whether you believe it or not, you crushed him when you ran away like that. If you could just go back and tell him how you feel—."

"What am I supposed to say? 'Michael, I love you too.' I can't just go up to him and say that. And how do we know for sure he wasn't making fun of me, anyway? What if I was right and he was totally joking with the whole letter thing? I mean, he might not have meant it in a harsh way. He might have thought my letter was a joke too but... If it turns out he was joking and I tell him how I feel then I'll totally humiliate myself. I wouldn't be able to hide it either. You see how red my face gets when I'm embarrassed." She stopped herself from rambling on and sighed. I could feel my entire mind plunge into confusion. What did she just say? Was she saying she ran away because she thought I was joking? Does she honestly thing I'm that mean?

Wait, does that mean she did send the cards?

"And there's the nose thing," Lilly said. This only served to confuse me more.

"How did you know about--?"

"Your nostrils? How could I not? But, Mia, he really does think that someone else sent those cards. He was humiliated when you ran away like that. If you would just go up to him and tell him you did send the cards and you did mean what they said... well he wouldn't respond how you think he would. He'd be really happy."

And you know what? She was right. She was so right. I was elated. I felt a huge smile spread across my face as I slowly walked into my room and closed the door quietly. She was right. Everything Lilly told me was right.

I felt a wave of confidence come over me. I never really had that much confidence in my looks or my people-skills. I'm more confident in my talents, such as computers and music.

And I was never confident about Mia until I found out she liked me.

Now I just needed to tell her.

I needed to tell her before she left. The realization of her moving swept over me like a bad storm. My confidence just washed away as I realized even if I did tell her, she was moving. Just like Emma. Don't compare Mia to Emma I thought. They're two completely different people.

I heard the door open as Lilly's voice rang out throughout the hallway. She was always a naturally loud person.

"You stay here. I'll be back," she said. "I need to drop this off with Boris."

"But Lilly--," Mia protested. I cracked open my door and set one foot in the hallway.

"You can't come, Mia. I'm sorry. If someone sees you outside then they'll take you back home. I thought you didn't want that."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said nonchalantly. Mia looked horrified at the thought.

"Lilly please..." she pleaded.

"Stay," Lilly said as she closed grabbed her coat and slammed the door. Mia's shoulders slumped. She avoided eye contact with me and stared at her feet once again.

"Um," she said quietly, "hey." I saw her trademark deer-in-the-headlights look and attempted to help her feel more comfortable.

"She'll be back soon..." I said. She was leaning up against the wall, fidgeting with her watch.

"So, uh, this is kind of awkward," I said, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Okay," she said shyly. I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed things out in the open before I exploded.

"Mia, why did you run away?" I asked, attempting to break the ice. I felt I already knew the answer. She looked up at me for the first time. She was obviously shocked by my blunt question and took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Um, well," she looked back at her feet and blushed, "You-were-making-fun-of-me," she said in a rush. She seemed uncertain.

"No, I wasn't." I said. I leaned back against the wall so I was right next to her. She looked up at me in confusion.

"You what?"

"I wasn't making fun of you. I meant what I said." I paused for a moment to try to read her reaction, but she was completely blank. "Did you?"

She looked up at me and smiled, nodding her head. "Yeah." She couldn't seem to believe it.

Then I did the thing I've been waiting to do for what seemed like forever.

I bent down and kissed her.

A/N: Ok, it's a bit of a cliffhanger, but not that bad. You should've seen the place where I was going to stop. Now that would have been really evil of me.
But I felt like being nice today. :-)
So I'll have the next chapter up eventually. Yes, there is another chapter. Remember, we still have the whole MOVING issue to deal with.

So, uh, go ahead and click that little purple-ish button and give me a nice long review. You know I love all my reviewers. They all rock.

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