Michael:
She stared at me with wide, grey, red-rimmed eyes, similar to those of a deer when they are caught by the headlights of a car. What seemed like thin film of water appeared over the gray orbs, which indicated to me that tears were imminent. But I felt no sympathy. She had broken my heart. If she was sad about it then it was her fault; she shouldn't have told me that she loved me in the first place.
I think that she saw the bitterness in my eyes and quickly shoved a fairly large package into my hands. It was wrapped in neutral blue snowflake paper that sparkled in the fluorescent lights of the hallway and I could glimpse a beige envelope with my name written on it smoothly. She had most likely written the card before she had broken my heart. I knew for a fact that no-one's handwriting could be that smooth if they were full of guilt. But maybe she didn't feel any guilt.
Once it was in my hands, I realized that the package was fairly heavy. But compared to the weight of the broken heart that I carried on my shoulders, it felt like a feather. I hoped for a fleeting instant that she had come to apologize for what had happened and to tell me that it was a mistake. But from the look in her eyes, she didn't have anything to say. She opened her mouth as a single tear ran down her cheek, tracing her soft facial features, but no words came out.
She turned around and calmly walked towards the stairs. The bitterness filled my mouth again. She really didn't care about me. At least I knew where I stood now.
My whole body shivered as an eerie feeling of coldness raced up my spine. Forgetting completely about my walk, I slowly closed the front door behind me and slipped my key back on my hook. Quietly, I made my way back to my room with the package in my hands, hoping that Lily wouldn't hear me returning. I would take the walk later. Right now I had to find out what was in the package.
When I finally reached the refuge of my room, I let out a sigh of relief, and was strangely comforted by my ruffled white sheets and plain room. I tenderly placed the package on my bed, wondering what could have possessed Mia to give me a present after what had happened. Wary of the package, I first picked up the card.
My hands shaking, I ripped open the card, and pulled out a glittery card. The front of the card, which was similar to the wrapping paper, consisted of a raised snowflake covered with glitter with smaller, similar ones surrounding it. The glitter rubbed off on my fingers as I carefully tried to open the card. I found myself wondering if Mia had gotten the same glitter on her fingers.
Pushing those thoughts away, I opened the card to find "Happy Holidays from the one who loves you most!" and underneath written in Mia's handwriting,
Dear Michael-
I hope you like my present! I didn't know what to buy you so I thought that I'd make you something! Happy Holidays!
Love,
Mia XOXOXO
I felt tears well up in my eyes as I thought of how happy we had been. How could Mia have given me this card? Did she just not bother to change it? Or did she not change it for a reason? As calmly as I could, I tossed the card onto the desk that held my computer and turned back to my bed.
The package, unlike the card, looked hastily wrapped, like she had done it at the last minute. The wrapping paper was wrinkled and unevenly cut in some places, and the stick-on bow, which was a pearly white color, had been hastily placed in one of the corners. I turned it over and pulled off the tape that held the wrapping paper secure. I wasn't one for ripping off wrapping paper, but I didn't like to waste time either. It was pointless to try to save the wrapping paper usually. But this time I wanted to save it. I wanted to save some of what I had left of Mia. I'm pathetic.
So I carefully peeled away the wrapping paper away from what seemed to be a cardboard box. When I lifted the lid off of it, and pulled away the tissue paper, I found what seemed like an extremely long book(as in dimensions). I lifted it from its box, pulling the tissue paper away as I went. The opening of the cover revealed that the "book" was in fact a photo album. On the front page was an intricate collage centered around my favorite picture of Mia and I. Surprisingly, the shot had been taken by Lily at the Cultural Diversity dance during Mia's freshman year. Apparently she had told Boris that she was going to the bathroom, and when we both weren't looking, she quickly snapped a picture of us dancing. She hadn't actually given us the picture until we had gotten together, so neither of us knew about it. I remember that night so well, that now when I think about it, it seems like only yesterday. I remember the pleasurable feeling of having Mia so close to me but at the same time, having her so out of reach. At that time, I had thought she didn't love me. Maybe I should have continued with that belief. Look at where thinking she loved me had gotten me.
Realizing I had turned away from the photo album in my ponderings, I gazed back open the album. As I flipped through the pages, memories flashed through my mind. Mia had carefully sorted the box of pictures of us that I knew she kept in her room into separate events or categories. There was a Silly page, and a Romantic page and various pages for the different events we had attended. As I glanced down at the Movie Time page, I saw scattered tickets from the movies we had attended, including old re-showings of the Star Wars movies. I remembered how she had asked for my ticket at all of the movies and I had never given a thought. The most recent instance I could remember was about 2 months ago. She must have been working on this for a long time.
As I lifted the album up to get a closer look at one of the darker pictures of Mia and I at the movies, a small piece of paper slipped out from the album and floated casually down to rest on the beige carpet of my bedroom floor. From where I was standing I couldn't see what it said, but I could recognize Mia's handwriting. I carefully, but hastily placed the album back on the bed and bent down to pick up the paper. My knees winced at some of the first quick movements I had made in days.
Not wanting to strain my knees (although I had no idea why they were hurting) I quickly grasped the piece of paper and stood straight once again. I took at seat by my computer and flattened out the paper so I could read it better. It was smudged at the bottom and the whole sentence seemed to have been written hastily.
I started reading the beginning, " I, Amelia Thermopolis-", but a sharp knock on the door interrupted me and I hurriedly folded the paper and shoved it into my jean pocket.
Mia POV:
My walk to Tina's house was fairly uneventful, but even if anything important had happened, I don't think I could have remembered, since I spent the whole walk thinking about the look on Michael's face.
The first thing I had taken in about him, after the initial shock, was his bedraggled appearance. His hair, which normally was silky and thick and made me want to run my hands through it, now was straggly, and had lost its soft shine. His face on the whole seemed very depressed and bags under his eyes implied sleepless nights. And when I finally locked eyes with him, I didn't notice the red rims around them or the way the peat-bog goodness seemed to have disappeared. All I saw was what normally was his love for me shown in his eyes shaded by a harsh, judgmental stare, which reminded me of the bitterness after you take a bite of a lemon for your first time at the age five. But it wasn't that normal bitterness associated with something as simple as a fruit. It was a heartbroken bitterness; one I knew I had caused.
That look in his eyes had taken away all of my hope that he still wanted me back. I had tried to speak to him, but once I caught the glance for a second time, I knew it was hopeless. He wouldn't listen to anything I said, so I knew that I should just leave him to try to get over me. I knew my present wouldn't help, but maybe it would trigger his love for me again, if it was still there.
And if he didn't see from that present that I still loved him, then he didn't want to see it and that was something I was going to have to accept.
As I turned the corner to Tina's house, I set my back straight, giving the impression that I felt confident, and snatched a tissue from my pocket and quickly rubbed my red-rimmed eyes and blew my nose. Hopefully I looked presentable; hopefully I looked like I hadn't just seen Michael.
I walked up the gate that was the entrance to the main courtyard and calmly pressed the button on the side. Tina's voice flowed through the speaker calmly, "Hello? Mia?"
I responded quickly; I felt nervous for no particular reason, "Yeah Tina, it's me, Mia."
"Okay hold on a sec, let me open the gate!" And with that the gate to their house started slowly creaking open and I slipped through quickly. Her house really wasn't that big, but her parents were very paranoid when it came to security. I mean why do you think she has a bodyguard?
I could see the front door open from where I was and Tina came rushing out. "Mia! I'm glad you came! Come on in! I just made some cookies!"
I was extremely surprised. Tina, making cookies? I never knew she did that kind of stuff. When Lily and I had always done it for fun she had sat on the side and just tasted them after they were done. Whatever; cookies sounded appetizing right now. I needed a sugar boost.
I walked inside and followed Tina to see someone sitting at the table by a plate of what looked like delicious cookies.
As I walked up to grab a cookie, I came face to face with Lily. Oh god. I was in for it now. Why had Tina betrayed me?!?
"Spill it Mia. I want the whole story."
AN: I'm so sorry I haven't updated and I'm sorry this is so short. Well actually I haven't really had time to even think about updating. Midterms are next week, but I wanted to get another chapter, even if it was a shortone, up for all of you to read. About reviews. Ihave come to realize that no matter how much I ask, reviews come slowly. I now realize that I shouldn't rely on them as my source of inspiration so if you want to review thats absolutley wonderful(it helps me a lot, especially if you give me suggestions) but if you don't then I hope you enjoy reading this story!