Chapter 21: A Chance Encounter

"Just so you know," the principal says. "Your mother did call us to confirm your enrollment and all the staff on campus have been made aware of your situation."

Mia swallows a nervous lump in her throat and slowly nods. She continues to look down at her feet, not exactly comfortable with conveying the range of emotions she'd been feeling to the man in front of her. Not only was she living with almost complete strangers, starting a new school, but is still tolerating the fact that her father had a complete grasp of her life.

Her grandparents had left early that morning, giving her hugs and reassurance that everything was going to be okay. Mia couldn't help but cry a little as she said goodbye to her previous guardians when they left in the family pick-up truck. The last sense of normalcy had left and she was starting anew. She wanted to believe their words that life could only improve now that her father did not know where she was living, but she was smarter than that and knew so much better. She wishes beyond everything that she was eighteen and able to live on her own.

But unfortunately, she was still only seventeen and stuck wherever she was sent.

Her uncle Zack had dropped her and the boys off on the school's grounds before heading off to find a job. She left Georgie and Bill to head into the high school with her registration papers, walking past the logos and banners decorating the halls with the mascot being the tigers. She keeps the hood of her sweatshirt up to avoid any unwanted attention and heads into the main office.

After waiting for a while, the principal invited her into his office to speak with him.

Despite being in a different school, the standard routine and introduction was nothing new to her. The usual banter about the school's excellent programs, the rules, the promise to keep her father away... all so typical, all so mundane... all so fake and Mia knew it.

"The security team on campus has been given your father's full description as well as the staff. If they so much as spot him within a 50-mile radius of the school, the police will be called. We understand that this is a very private matter and a personal one for you and your mother, so we are doing our very best to ensure your safety at this school as well as your privacy."

"Thank you," the teenage girl nods. Despite the reassurances of the principal, the girl knew what her father was like. He'd find a way to sneak into town and ruin everything... he always did.

"And Welcome to Hawkins High School Miss Rogers."

"Thank you."

Mia pulls her hoodie up again over her hair and begins to walk down the hall, trying not to be seen by anyone. She figures she has a better chance of hiding and staying in this new place longer if no one really got to know her. A few students give her passing glimpses, but most don't really seem to care, which is how she wanted it. She stumbles to find her locker assignment. Once she does, she unloads the books she doesn't need until the third period. She's so focused on keeping her head down and remaining out of sight that she's not watching where she's going.

Mia runs into someone, causing her to drop all her books and supplies on the ground. A few laughs erupt from around her. Her face turns red in embarrassment and she doesn't even lock eyes with the person she bumped into. It's her first day and she's already made an enemy. Her heartbeat hits overdrive as she scrambles to get her things in order.

"Sorry," Mia says, beginning to gather her things. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

A pair of hands come down to help her. She finally looks and gasps. It's a boy. A very handsome boy too. Her breath catches in her throat and she turns beet red in the face. She wants to look away, but she can't stop staring at his brown eyes. His hair is styled in a very particular way which would indicate to her that it needed a lot of hairsprays to stay that way. He gives her a slight smile, trying to make her feel less nervous. He had the air of confidence and charm that was typical of most high school boys, the muscles under his shirt was an indication to her that he was a jock of some kind. Mia's heart pounds against her chest as she's afraid she's offended the high school quarterback or the captain of some sports team, definitely not the person you want to piss off on your first day. She bites her lip very hard, afraid he might lash out at her, but his face seemed eerily calm and not at all angry. He seemed friendly enough and not at all offended that she accidentally bumped into him.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he says, helping her. He too is enamoured by her looks. She has bright green eyes and mousy brown hair that falls past her shoulders. "I haven't seen your face before. Are you new here?"

Mia nods, taking her books from the guy, and despite wanting to keep a low profile, she feels drawn to him.

"Yeah, I just moved here from Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin, that's pretty far from here."

"Yeah."

"Is it cold there?"

"In the winter yes," Mia says, not sure why she's carrying on a conversation with him. "Coldest winters you can ever imagine in the States, except for maybe Alaska."

"So, what made you come to this hole of a town...?"

She bites her lip hard, her mind racing to find some form of excuse. She didn't need to tell this guy her life's story, the desire to keep a low profile seems to have gone out the window with this meeting.

"Change of scenery?" she tries with a weak smile.

He frowns at her but then smirks. "Why do I do not believe that?"

"Why would you?" Mia mutters to herself. She swallows, still trying to hold her tongue and not spill her guts to this guy, no matter how handsome he may be. Her cheeks are still red and she unceasingly looks at her feet as if embarrassed. She sighs when he raises his eyebrow at her.

"Because not a lot of people move into Hawkins, they usually move out."

"Why is that not reassuring?" she grimaces. She notices that a couple of students are now watching the two as they stand in the middle of the hallway talking to each other, much longer than either of them anticipated. Several of them whisper to each other, while others are snickering or giving them annoyed looks for causing congestion in the halls.

"Oh, if only you knew," he mutters.

"Should I ask you to expand on that?"

"Probably not."

"Good because it's probably better than the less you know about why I'm here the better."

"Can I ask why?"

"I'm not exactly comfortable sharing my life story with a total stranger."

"I guess that makes sense, I'm Steve by the way. Steve Harrington." He holds out his hand for her to shake. Despite her reluctance, Mia shifts her books to return the gesture. Her skins feel like its on fire when their hands meet. It feels like a jolt of electricity going through her and her cheeks become even redder than before. She's embarrassed and nervous that her hand might be sweaty, and she continues to gaze into his eyes, not able to fully speak.

"And your name?" he prompts.

"Oh right, I'm Mia, Mia Rogers."

"Mia, that's a nice name,"

"Thanks, my mom named me after some famous stage actress or scientist, I can't even remember now."

"I think it's a pretty name, unique, better than Steve, you can meet any Steve on the street."

"Or in a school hallway," she smirks, still blushing intensely.

"Yo Harrington! I thought you graduated, what are you doing around here?" Someone shouts down the hallway.

"Get a job," another screams out. Other students in the hallway laugh and snicker.

Steve runs his hand through his hair nervously and grimaces. His blood boils intensely and runs his hand through his hair nervously. This is exactly what he was trying to move on from; the superficiality and desire to be popular in school, per Dustin's suggestion. But it was kind of hard to do when your life is literally going nowhere, you scoop ice cream for less than 4 bucks an hour, and you've seen the scariest and most bizarre shit that barely anyone can comprehend.

"That is also not reassuring," she says, trying to break the awkward tension. "If they take shots at you, then I'm not safe either."

"Don't let that ruin your first day, it is weird for me to be here, I just had to give something to one of my friends. She and I work together and she left her stuff at the store."

"Store? So do you work at the mall?"

"Not really the one you're..."

Just then the bell rings, cutting off their conversation.

"I have to go, I guess I'll see you around... Steve Harrington,"

"Okay, Mia Rogers from Wisconsin, catch you later."

I hope so... she thinks to herself as she begins to carry her books towards her first class. She looks down at a scrap of paper with the list of her classes written on it. Again, she feels very small in a large school, not something that she was used to.

Despite her best judgement, she turns.

"Hey before you go, do you know where Room 36 is?"

"Uh, yeah, take a left by the lockers over there and it's the fifth classroom on the right."

"Thanks again."

"No problem... see you around."

"Yeah," she says before walking away, face still flushed and heart still racing.

She reaches her classroom just before the bell rings. She approaches the teacher and checks to ensure that she's in the right class.

For her sake, the woman doesn't force the girl to stand in front of the class to be introduced, instead, the educator lets her take a seat immediately.

"Good morning everyone. Before we begin, I would like to welcome Miss Mia Rogers to the class. She just transferred here from Wisconsin. When given the chance, please do your best to make her feel welcome."

Many eyes turn to stare at the new kid and she forces herself to smile and wave before looking down at the desk in complete embarrassment, despite being used to these awkward introductions. She takes out her notebook and attempts to lose herself in the lesson.

The teacher begins to talk about the works of Shakespeare and their significance to society as a whole, a topic something Mia actually found interest in, but unfortunately, they were going to be studying King Lear and she'd already studied it the year before. She tries to listen to the lesson but ends up tuning out most of it. She begins doodling in the margins of her notebook until she starts thinking about Steve Harrington again.

He was someone who interested her... he seemed like a nice guy, someone you could hang out with and just talk to. He was just as awkward as she was and she could tell that he only acted confident, but deep down, he was insecure. Despite having very few friends of her own due to the constant relocation, Mia could read people really well and see beyond their outer facade. It was like an intuition or a sixth sense that helped her navigate the toxic environment that was high school. When she'd looked into his eyes, she could see someone who had been hurt in the past and had seen things. What those were, she couldn't be sure, but the guy also wore his heart on his sleeve and wasn't trying to fake anything as far as she could tell. He also seemed to have a sense of humour and an uncanny way to make her blush.

These rushes of emotions were completely new. While Mia had crushes in the past, they never went anywhere because the moment the truth about her father was known, no one wanted to get near her for fear of getting hurt. She'd also convinced herself that she didn't need a boyfriend because when the inevitable happened, it would lead to nothing but heartbreak.

Even then, there was something about Steve that she couldn't get out of her head to the point where she had to force herself to stop smiling and make it look like she was paying attention.

By the end of the period, Mia's mood had improved just a bit from before and the spark of hope was ignited inside herself. Maybe Hawkins would be able to give her the chance she was never given, the opportunity to be normal and explore deeper relationships with those around, especially a certain someone.

A/N: Here is another chapter that I've been working on for a while. I'm sorry if the stuff with Mia is a bit repetitive at the moment, but this is significant because of how repetitive her situation is. She also doesn't seem to have a lot of strong personality traits because of the impact her father's abuse has had on her life and how no matter where he is, he still has a grasp on her life. This will hopefully change in the coming chapters. Please follow and review.