Rock Star Life
By: Karilicious123
Chapter 5: The Drive
"Oh my gosh !" Haley gasped in horrific disgust, after Peyton finished telling Mia's story to the girls.
"Peyton, surely this could not have all happened to little Mia?" Brooke whispered as tears poured out of her eyes.
Sam did not say a word.
"As awful as it is, guys, it's all true." Peyton solemnly said.
"I just can't imagine how she bottled that up for so long. That poor, sweet, little girl." Brooke cried.
Sam did not say a word.
"Where is Mia now, anyways?" Haley asked Peyton.
"She is at the hospital signing body release forms, making funeral arrangements and such. I gave her a ride this morning, and as a matter of fact," Peyton said looking at her watch, "I should be off to pick her up now."
"Hey, would you mind if I picked her up? I really want to talk to her and see how she is; for her own good, and mine." Brooke pleaded.
"I think that would be a great idea ! I have helped her all that I can as of now, so I think getting another person's advice would be just what Mia needs right now." Peyton exclaimed.
Sam still did not say a word.
"Well, I better go then." Then Brooke turned to Sam, "Can you go tell Millie that I won't be at the shop until after I talk with Mia. She knows that something is up, so you won't have to really go into detail if you don't want to."
"Yep." Sam shortly retorted.
"Alright, call you both later to tell you how everything went !" Brooke called to Haley and Peyton as she headed out the door, leaving Sam, Haley and Peyton in a circle on the couches in Peyton's living room.
"Well, I better start heading down to the store then." Sam said as she got up to leave.
"If you want, I can drive you there so you don't have to walk to far?" Haley offered.
"No, it's cool. I could use the exercise, I guess." Sam smirked glumly as she left Peyton's house.
"What's gotten into Sam? She seems...different. She didn't say a word today, or a sassy comment, or a joke, or even smite commentary." Peyton questioned to Haley.
"I don't know." Haley said, "but she and I did have an interesting conversation while you were in there with Mia yesterday." Haley finished, remembering their conversation, "She was telling me that she didn't feel good enough to be a part of the Davis family. She got really upset at how maternal Brooke is towards Mia. Especially when she calls her 'a daughter' to her. Apparently, she has never told Sam that to her face."
"You didn't tell Sam about Brooke's plan to adopt her, did you?!" Peyton shouted, glaring at Haley.
"It was so hard to let her feel like that when I knew the whole time about the adoption, but I didn't spill."
"Good, because Brooke made us SWEAR not to say anything to her!" Peyton exclaimed, "We know that Brooke loves Sam more than anything in her life, and that she thinks of Sam as her own daughter, and soon Sam will see that too. Don't worry." Peyton said to Haley.
"I know, it's just that, I don't know if I have ever told you this, but I worry a lot about Sam." Haley confessed, "She just seems lost and she doesn't seem to see how great of a girl she is !"
"I know what you mean, I think about that too, but, again, once Brooke asks her is she wants to be her legal daughter, I think a lot of those feelings will disappear." Peyton said with a smile.
"I hope you're right." Haley said, "Well, I have to go pick up Jamie from a friend's house." She hugged Peyton goodbye, "Call me if you need anything." Haley finished as she left.
Peyton nodded and remembered just how amazing her best friends were.
***
Mia sat in a cold office, holding back tears, as she signed for her mother's cremation, and arranged her burial.
"Exactly how many people will be present at the funeral?" the mortician asked.
"Well, my mother didn't really come in contact with anyone the last decade of her life, so I will invite my friends, I guess, so.." she counted everybody on her fingers, "7, I think."
"Alright, so a small private ceremony. All I need you to do now is fill out an order and design for her headstone." He said as he handed her a packet full of papers to fill out the colors and lettering and such. "Just bring them by later today."
Mia nodded.
"And I suspect you don't need any help with the writing of the eulogy speech?"
Oh that's right. Thought Mia. I have to do that too.
She nodded again.
"Well, then I will see you at the Center Hill Cemetery for the ceremony, tomorrow at noon. Take care."
Mia nodded, forced a closure smile, and left, tears immediately streaming down her face. She is really gone.
When she walked outside, she was surprised to see Brooke's car there.
"What are you doing here?" Mia asked, as she approached Brooke's car.
"Picking you up. I thought we could talk a little." Brooke sympathetically said, "Hop in."
Mia gladly did as she was told.
"So, how was it in there?" Brooke asked, cutting directly to the chase.
"It was so surreal. I still can't believe I just planned my mother's funeral." Mia softly spoke in a monotone.
"I can't even imagine." Brooke said, "When is the funeral?"
"Tomorrow, at noon. At Center Hill Cemetery."
"Well, Sam, Julian, and I will all be there. I promise."
"Please be." Sam stuttered, as she began to cry again, "I need you."
"Oh, baby," Brooke said as she held Mia's hand, "We're here for you. We're not going anywhere, ever."
Then Brooke pulled up to Peyton's house. Mia was about to get out of the car, when she turned back to Brooke and asked, "Hey, Brooke. Would you mind if we drove somewhere and just talked? I don't think Peyton is home and I really don't want to be alone right now."
"Of course I wouldn't mind ! Let's go !" Brooke exclaimed, accelerating on the gas, knowing just the place to take her.
***
Meanwhile, Peyton, who was curious as to why Mia wasn't home yet, pulled up to Brooke's house to see if she could find her there with Mia.
"Brooke? Mia?" Peyton called, as she casually walked into what felt like her home away from home. After all, it was before she moved in with Lucas.
"They're not back yet." Sam spoke in a meak voice.
Peyton walked over to a solemn Sam, sitting by the window still, gazing blankly outside.
"Oh, I was just checking because I thought they should have been back by now." Peyton said, now feeling slightly intrusive.
"Brooke called and said that she was taking Mia on a drive, so they could talk a little longer." Sam said, without any emotion.
"Oh," Peyton said, heading back out. Then stopped, remembering what Haley had said this morning about Sam, and turned back to her and asked, "Hey, do you want to go get some ice cream?"
Sam nodded, in slightly higher spirits, and followed Peyton out of her house.
***
Brooke and Mia drove for what seemed like ages, in silence. They had a few short conversations, all stimulated by Brooke, but nothing major. Brooke was trying to plan out what to say to Mia, and Mia was trying to process all of her emotions into sentences that Brooke could possibly understand. Then Brooke pulled up to 'The Spot' by the lake.
"Brooke, where are we?" Mia asked as she got out of the car.
"Welcome to 'The Spot' !" Brooke said cheerfully.
"What's 'The Spot'?" Mia asked.
"Well, you know how our little circle of friends has been like family since our high school days?"
Mia nodded.
"Well, this 'Spot' has marked significant points in our lives. It started out to be Peyton and Lucas' spot, where they confessed their love for each other...multiple times..." Brooke laughed, "Anyways, since those days, we all come here when we are hurt, or confused, or lost, and somehow, we all end up always leaving in higher spirits than we had when we came here." Brooke took Mia's hand, "Which is why I brought you here."
"Brooke, ,thank you. You always know what to do. I mean, don't get my wrong, Peyton has been my rock lately, but I feel like you and I relate more with these things. Especially since you always talk about the hurt you got from your mother..." Mia trailed off.
"Yeah," Brooke whispered. She did. She always talked about the pain that her mother had inflicted on her since childhood. That is one of the reasons she held Mia so close to her in her heart; because she knew what it felt like to be neglected.
"Brooke?"
"Yes, Sweetie?"
"Did my mother really love me?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Because she would have been gone a long time ago if she didn't." Brooke looked directly at Mia, "What your mother did to herself, split her. She became this other person because of the alcohol and the drugs, but all along, that same person who gave birth to you and loved you was always there. She was just under layers and layers of that monster that she had become. And I bet you that she held onto that person, hoping that one day it would shine through again."
"I think it was beginning to, it just happened to late." Mia bowed her head and began to cry.
Brooke pulled Mia into her arms and let her cry.
"And I still have to write her eulogy, but I honestly don't know what to say." Mia sobbed.
"Say exactly what you feel. Hold nothing back, because you'll regret it if you do."
"You're right, Brooke." Mia smiled through calmer tears. "And I think I have an idea of what to say now." She said as they stood up.
"So the spot helped?"
"Yeah, but you helped a lot more." Mia smiled. "Sam is lucky to have a mother figure like you."
"Thank you." Brooke smiled, "Actually, wanna know a secret ?"
Mia nodded.
"I'm taking Sam out to a nice dinner next week, to celebrate a year of her being my foster daughter, and I am going to ask her if she will let me adopt her!" Brooke gushed.
"Wow, that's big ! Congratulations !" Then Mia's face went blank."
"What?" Brooke asked, confused.
"Does that mean that you won't want to talk to me anymore, after you have a real daughter of your own?"
"You'll always be a daughter to me, Mia." Brooke smiled, "Nothing can change that."
And on that note, they headed back to Tree Hill.
***
Meanwhile, Peyton and Sam had just sat down with their sundaes at the ice cream shop, when a group of kids from Sam's school started staring at them, pointing, and laughing, obviously at Sam. Then one girl walked up to their table.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but how much did Sam pay you?" The girl said to Peyton, giggling.
"For what?" a very confused Peyton asked.
"To be her mother!" Then she faced Sam, "What, did Brooke Davis' fabulous life suffer with the extra trash mixed up in it?" , she smirked.
Sam sunk low in her chair and did not say a word to the girl. She just turned to Peyton and said, "Are you finished?" in a short and slightly irritated tone.
Peyton nodded and they stood up to leave.
"Bye you nasty homewrecker!" The girl cackled as they left.
As they reached Peyton's car and got in, Peyton just stared at Sam.
"What?" said Sam in a very casual tone.
"You want to tell me what all that was about ?"
"It's nothing. When Brooke put a picture of us in her magazine, the kids at school found out that I'm her foster daughter. They are just jealous, so they make fun of me."
"Does this happen often?" Peyton said, looking at Sam in a very serious and maternal way.
"Everyday." Sam said meekly.
"Oh, Samantha ! I'm so sorry !" Peyton said as she grabbed Sam's hand. "Well, your friends stand up for you, right?"
"Peyton, it's fine. Just let it go." Sam said.
"Does Haley know about all of this ? If she knew, maybe she could tell them to stop. Or tell the principal, I mean, she is your teacher and their teacher, doesn't she have some influence on their actions towards other students? I'm sure she wouldn't mind if-"
"No, she doesn't know ! So don't tell her !" Sam interrupted with a significant raise in her voice volume.
"Well, does Brooke know?" Peyton asked bashfully.
"It's no one's business but my own ! The only reason you know is because you were here with me and saw it !"
"But don't you want them to stop? I mean, I'd be really upset if that happened to me."
"I can take care of myself, okay ?"Sam snapped back, immediately feeling bad afterwards for being rude to Peyton. "Look, it's really nice of you to care, but I can deal with it. You all are busy with Mia right now anyways, so you don't need to be bothered with my crap. Just forget you saw anything today in there." Sam said in a calmer tone.
"Samantha, just because Mia needs our help right now, doesn't mean that we are all just going to up and leave you." Then she looked Sam right in the eye, as Haley had done the other day. "You know that you can trust me with your problems, right?"
"I know, and I appreciate that, but I just feel selfish for stealing her thunder."
"Who's?" Peyton asked, confused once again.
"Mia's."
"You're not stealing her thunder, Sam. Whatever that means. If you need help with something, just ask me."
"I will, Peyton, I promise." Sam said, trying to shut Peyton up, "But I want to wait until after Mia's mother's funeral. I think we owe her our undivided attention tomorrow for that."
"Okay." Peyton said as they pulled up to Brooke and Sam's house. "Well, don't hesitate to call me if you need me." Peyton said with a smile.
"Okay. Thanks again for today." Sam said with a weak smile as she got out of the car.
Sam's Point of View*
Today was interesting. Of all places to run into Sandra Green and the rest of her little crowd, it had to be at the ice cream shop, with Peyton. I feel bad for talking to Peyton like that. I wanted to tell her that I have been mercilessly bullied by that group of people ever since I came here, and the whole 'taken in by a celebrity' thing really didn't help much; it just made it worse. I couldn't be happier with the so called 'family' that I have acquired and I wouldn't change it for anything, but I just wish I wouldn't get mocked for it. I just wish I had friends too, basically. I mean, I have Mia, but she is 4 years older than me and probably has better things to do than hang out with a 15 year old, not to mention the gigantic platter of crap at her feet. I just wish everything would be okay for everyone.
I don't feel the need to tell anybody about this because someone once told me that one only grows stronger through pain. With hurt, comes power. I am hurt, so hopefully one day, I will be powerful. And those kids aren't even worth it. School is for an education, when it really comes down too it, and I value my education; more than people think. I love learning. Class, not so much, considering that Haley is my teacher. You see, Haley and I are very close outside of school, but we don't really try to show it at school. From 8-3, Haley is Mrs. Scott, the teacher, and I am Samantha Walker, the student. I think some of the kids have caught onto the fact that Haley is my foster mother's best friend, but I don't think they know enough or have verified it enough, to mock me for it. And hopefully, they won't know more.
I also realized today, that I have honestly had enough. I am tired of taking their crap, so next time one of them says anything to me, I am going to do something. I don't know what yet, but I will teach Sandra not to mess with me anymore.
When Sam stepped inside, she found Mia and Brooke laughing in the kitchen with Haley.
"Well where have you been, missy ?" Brooke joked to Sam.
"Peyton came by to see if you were here, and then she asked me if I wanted to go get ice cream."
"I know, she told me." Brooke joked. Then, she turned to Haley and Mia, as Mia spoke to them.
"Well, this day ended up to be fun afterall. Thank you both, very much. I better go now, but I'll see you all tomorrow at noon, right?"
"We'll all be there." Brooke smiled.
"Okay, thanks !" Mia said as she left. "Bye Sam."
Then Sam turned to them and said, "Where have you all been today? Where did Haley come from?"
"Well, after Mia and I talked, Haley called and asked if we wanted to go out to lunch, so we accepted her generous offer." Brooke said with a giggle.
"And this afternoon turned out to be fun; just what Mia needed." Haley smiled, "Well, I better go. See you both tomorrow!" She said as she hugged them goodbye and left.
Brooke then turned to Sam and said, "Are you okay? You seem a little weird."
"I'm just tired. I'm going to, uh, take a nap." Sam said as she walked into her room.
Something is wrong. Thought Broke, as she picked up the phone and dialed Peyton.
Hello?
"Hey, Peyton. It's Brooke."
Hey! What's up, how was your day?
"It was good. Mia and I talked and then had a great lunch with Haley. I think Mia is in higher spirits. But that's not why I called." Brooke took in a deep breath, "Sam seems upset about something, but she won't say anything. Did she say anything to you today?"
Remembering what Sam said about not telling anybody anything, Peyton replied, No, she didn't. She was fine when I was with her. Maybe she's just tired?
"Yeah, you're right, it's probably nothing. I just wanted to check because I feel like Sam and I haven't really talked in a while, and I'm just scared she's hiding something. Well, I'll see you tomorrow at the funeral."
Yes, at the funeral. Peyton said in a deflated tone, Bye. ,she finished as she hung up the phone.
***
Thinking about Mia and the funeral, just made Peyton want to hug Mia, so she walked into Mia's room.
"Hey, Peyton." Mia smiled, "What's up?"
"Just wanted to ask you the same thing." Peyton smiled, sitting next to Mia on the bed.
"Just planning out the eulogy speech."
"How are you holding up?" Peyton asked softly, brushing the hair out of Mia's eyes.
"You know, the best I can. It is what it is."
"I know it hurts, honey, but I promise we'll get through it."
"We?" Mia asked, confused.
"Yes, we!" Peyton said as she grabbed Mia's hand and held it tight.
"Thank you, Peyton. Thank you for everything. I am scared about tomorrow."
"I know you are, but it only gets better once you feel like you've hit rock bottom, I promise you'll be okay." She smiled as she left.
Mia's Point of View*
As I lay in my bed, in my room, in Peyton's house, trying to write the perfect eulogy, once again, countless emotions ran through my head. It wasn't the emotions part that I was having trouble with, when writing the eulogy, it was just conveying it all to words and sentences to try and do my mother justice that was the hard part. Because, like Brooke said, she was a real person underneath it all, and I needed everybody to see that.
Thank God for Brooke. Thank God for everybody, really, but today, thank God for Brooke. talking to her felt so easy because I felt so in realtion oto her. I mean, Peyton had problems with her mother too, but not the same ones that Brooke and I Ihad; abuse, neglect, and tragity. I think Sam is so lucky to have Brooke as her soon to be mother; luckier than she thinks she is. I wish Brooke was my mother; even though she wasn't much older than me. But as much good advice as Brooke, and Haley for that matter, gave me, at the end of the day, I always want to turn to Peyton. I view Peyton as the big sister that I never had. She knows more about me than anybody, though my music, and my actions, and just everything in general. I look up to Peyton a lot, and I hope one day, that I can recover from whatever this time in my life is, and be like her; Strong, beautiful, powerful, and happy.
Tomorrow is going to be big day. I am nervous, scared, sad, relieved; every emotion known to and felt by man kind, but I need tomorrow to be here. I need to close this chapter in my life and move forward, like everybody has been saying. The only question is, is how?
Thank God for the Drive. Though Sam and Mia, at the same time.