Saturday, December 13

I think I'm quite lucky to be alive today.

Seriously. If I had been caught off just a little more off guard, I would have gone into cardiac arrest.

Why, you wonder? What has had me freaked out yet again?

Let's think, shall we?

Yes. Mia. Again.

If I didn't love her so much, I swear, I'd probably kill her from having getting my heart rate this high.

Of course, if I didn't love her so much, there would be no reason for my heart rate getting so high.

So. What did she do this time?

Nothing major, there's only a huge spread of photos of her looking gorgeous in gowns across the Times.

That was my first reaction, of course, how beautiful she looks. Mia, I think, has the kind of beauty you grow into. Girls like Lana Weinberger are pretty and all, but in about twenty years, they'll be about as plastic as Michael Jackson. But Mia...? Traditionally, she's no looker, but I can tell that in twenty years, she will have become more beautiful than Lana ever could hope to be.

And I'm not just saying this because I love her... really.

My second reaction, however, was, Did Mia seriously want this?

I know Mia. She's self-conscious. (Lilly says Mia's "insecure" as if it's the plague, but Lilly's psycho.) She would never do something like that. If there were ever a photo shoot of Mia in the paper, it would be with her telling people to support Greenpeace or something like that.

It was all I could think about at school. Yes, I was at school, working on the booth for the Computer Club. Judith was mad at me today because I couldn't concentrate, but it wasn't the object of her affections in the Times today.

Her yelling gave me a huge headache (god, I might as well be hungover—is this what Josh Richter feels like every morning?) so you can imagine how I great it felt to go home and flop down on my bed.

But, because it's me, I didn't get a chance to do that.

Why, you ask?

Hmmm. Let's continue to ponder, shall we?

Yeah. Lilly. Of course.

"Did you see the paper?" were her first words to me as I came through the door.

"Yes," I replied tiredly. I wasn't in the mood for Lilly. (Well, am I ever?)

"And?" She scrutinized me, but why, I don't know.

"And what?"

"What do you feel about Mia and her photo shoot?"

What do I feel about Mia, little sister? I don't think you want to know.

"What do I feel? Does it matter?"

"Stop evading the question," Lilly answered briskly, effectively evading my question, now that I reflect upon it.

"I think... I think Mia didn't do this," I said slowly. "She'd never do something like this. But..."

"But what?"

"She doesn't look half-bad."

Shit, did I just say that out loud?

Luckily, I didn't say what "half-bad" really means (it means "my-god-she's-gorgeous-and-all-I-really-want-to-do-is...)

Ahem.

For whatever reason, Lilly looked triumphant at this. "Good," she said, "because it was Mia's grandmother that arranged the whole thing. Mia is evidently horrified and I can see why," she added, narrowing her eyes at the thought of Mia's grandmother. The two... don't see eye-to-eye, especially when it comes to Mia. Perhaps that's why Lilly gets along so well with Mia's mom.

I talked to Trevor and Felix about it. Felix was sympathetic, but Trevor said a few crude comments that had me snapping.

T-Man05: dude, what's your problem? you hot for her or something?

Oh, if only you knew.

CracKing: No. She's my sister's best friend. I see her all the time. Stop talking about her like that. It's weird.

Which is true.

Logging off, I sent an e-mail to Mia which I hope is witty and will make her smile. Come Monday, she's going to need all the friends she can get due to all the Lana Weinberger's of the world...

Thursday, December 18

I. Am. So. Tired.

This entire week has been killing me. I mean, normally with finals I glance over my notes but this year has been hectic. With the Computer Club, my schedule has been all over the place. Not to mention Mia keeps calling every five minutes asking me about algebra (and while I don't mind because it's Mia, I can't help wonder where Mr. G. Is amidst all of this.)

Lilly keeps screaming about something these days (no one actually pays attetion to her. We're all used to it) and I have such a freaking big headache again... gahhhhh.

I must be turning into Josh Richter to feel this shitty all the time. You know, minus the alcohol, slutty girlfriends, and Daddy's credit card.

"Michael, get your butt out here!"

Ugh. It's Lilly. Again. Be right back.

Later

Wow.

Just... wow.

I am so proud of her.

"She did this," I asked Lilly, "all by herself?"

"I helped her write some of it," Lilly said with that gloating gleam in her eyes. "And Tina did her make-up. But yeah, basically. It was all her."

It couldn't have been more genius. Mia gave an unexpected press conference that's being showed on New York 1, CNN, MSNBC Headline News, and Fox News Channel. And she did it (basically) all by herself.

I always knew that girl was smart.

I can't keep the grin off of my face. For all of Mia's klutziness and naviety, she really is something. She has what it takes to become a princess.

And yet... I have to keep remembering she's a fucking princess destined to marry some pretty boy like Prince William, not a computer geek like myself. What chance do I have with her?

Slim to none, leaning towards the "none" side.

It's comforting, though, to think that I'd treat her better than any of those poor little rich boys would.

God... I sound like that puff Romeo. I need to get out more.

"Michael, get the phone!"

Shit, I think it's Judith. We're putting the final touches on my "special" show I'm going to show Mia.

And tomorrow's the day.

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Notes: All I can say is I had neither the inspiration nor time to get this chapter on time, so I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll have a chapter done within a month.

So... we're nearing towards the end. Eek! I think I'll have to split it up, though, otherwise that would be super long. Sorry.

To everyone who reviewed: wow. You guys are just too awesome. Thanks for everything!