I don't want to see you again
I don't want to see you again
After that party night, he became very cautious amd didn't just want to barge inside the room or bathroom even though it was his room.
"Someone is here to see you." He snuck his head inside to tell Mira who was lying down on the bed and had only muttered dryly for him to come in.
She sat up and looked at the door, hoping it was neither her mother nor father at the door. As the door widened, surprisingly, it was Mia who was standing there.
If Mira thought she looked awful, Mia looked even worse than her. Her face and eyes were swollen and red. She had shadows under her eyes and her eyes looked tired and lifeless.
"Mia.." Mira called in a weak voice as she quickly got down from the bed.
They both met halfway inside the room and hugged each other tightly while James excused the ladies. Even though he was their close friend, this was something but ladies needed to talk about since it concerned them directly.
"I am so… sorry.." Mia said in between tears.
Mira was one person who loved her unconditionally and she hated herself now because of the pain her family was making her go through.
"Stop it.. it's not your fault. Don't say that." Mira scolded her as she cried also. "I do not blame you for it. I don't blame you at all so don't say that."
Mia buried her face in Mira's neck and sobbed quietly.
A little while later, both were cuddling on the bed. Although Mira was the youngest, she liked to act like the boss so she cuddled Mia from behind while they both shared a pillow.
"You didn't go to school?" Mira asked her.
"I didn't." Mia answered dryly.
"You shouldn't skip classes. You are going to graduate soon." Mira chided her.
"I didn't have a choice." Mia replied. Going to school had been the last thing on her mind after all that happened during the last twenty four hours.
"What happened to her? How long has she been around?" Mira asked curiously.
The 'her' she was referring to was Mary but because of how angry the name made her feel, she chose to settle for that instead.
"A long time. She only went into hiding the first few months before she reached her mother. They've been keeping in touch all this while." She said in a choked voice. "Now that I think about it, it makes sense since her mother suddenly stopped worrying too much about Mary's whereabout and her late night cries stopped." Mia hissed.
"But why did she do that? It doesn't make any sense. Why would she run away and still keep in touch with her mother while they kept it away from you? And why does it hurt you so much when you've never really liked her?" Mira asked curiously.
She couldn't seem to shake off the fact that there was more to it than Mia was letting on. She knew Mia had never liked Mary and had mentioned a couple of times that she was happy Mary disappeared but only prayed she was safe somewhere. So she didn't understand why Mia was so broken now.
"Are you disappointed she is still alive?" Mira asked with a tone filled with sacarsm.
"This time, I would have preferred it if she had died for real." Mia muttered.
"She left me with nothing but misery and debts."
"Debts? What debt?" Mira asked in confusion.
For the past years, Mia didn't mention the debt Mira had thrown them in because she didn't want them to pity her or see her differently. They had only assumed she was taking different jobs to take care of herself and her mother.
"She borrowed a lot, gambled with it and couldn't pay back so she ran away. It spanned to hundreds of thousand and we had to pay it on her behalf or else, I would be married off to the creditor's son, who is sick by the way." She said with a dry laugh making Mira sit up immediately.
"I don't believe you." Mira shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe Mia had been going through all of that for years yet she hadn't mentioned it to her and she was sure James also didn't know about this.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you both." Mia also sat up and looked at her apologetically.
Mira's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
"You.. have been in debt… for years? And…"
"I just.. I didn't want to tell you both." Mia said, her eyes glistening with tears, she could tell Mira was definitely mad at her. It was obvious.
"You didn't want to tell us?" She asked in anger before standing up,
"I am your friend! The three of us have been together for years and you kept something like that from us? Those many part time jobs, why you couldn't hang out with us, it was all because of the debt? Was that why you asked me for a thousand bucks the other day?" Mira asked in disbelief.
"I'm sorry." Mia said calmly.
James who heard Mira's raised voice from downstairs quickly ran up stairs and opened the door, hoping they weren't fighting.
Mira was standing and looking at Mia coldly while Mia was still sitting on the bed giving Mira and an apologetic look.
"So have you paid it?" Mira asked in a quiet but harsh voice. Both ladies ignored James who was wondering what was happening between them.
"I have. Leo paid it." Mia confessed with her head down. She had expected Mira to get angry so she wasn't surprised.
"You trusted Leo more than us? We have been your friends for fifteen years yet you kept this from us and told Leo about it instead?"
"That's not it. Mia said defensively. He found out by chance."
"You are silly! Mira scoffed at her before reaching for her bag. "I don't want to ever see you again." She said angrily and began to head towards the door.
"Mira.." James held her hand to stop her from leaving but she shook him off and left the room.
James was torn between going with Mira or staying with Mia. His friends were both broken and he would have preferred they stayed together to make things easier but now he didn't know what to do.
As if Mia could read his thought, she said,
"I was the wrong one. You should go after her." Mia told him quietly, making it easy for him to make a decision so he went after Mira while Mia tried to control her emotion.
**********
"What did Leo say about Mia?" Chloe asked Jeremy as he drove them away from school.
Jeremy turned to briefly glance at her, obviously surprised she was speaking with him.
Although she had agreed to let him drive when he sent her a text after the last class to ask her if he was welcomed to drive her, which surprised him that she had actually agreed. But since the drive started, it had been quiet and awkward and he didn't know what to say until she spoke just now.
"She's sick. He said he was going to ask her to call me when she wakes up. " he said with a deflated sigh.
"Oh…." Chloe said and looked like she was lost in thought.
"Are you going straight to the meeting or to the office first?" Jeremy asked when he didn't know what else to say.
"Why are you asking me that when you are already on your way to the office?" Chloe asked with a raised brow. Although she could guess he had asked her that because he had nothing else to say.
"That's right…" He answered awkwardly and looked ahead. When he became very uncomfortable with the silence, he turned to speak to her but she spoke first.
"I didn't know you had a lot of friends in school." She said indifferently.
"Friends? What are you talking about?" He asked, sounding and looking confused.
"Just keep making tons of friends." She said with a stiff smile before looking out the window, leaving Jeremy totally confused and clueless.
"Look, I know you are mad at me for what I said yesterday and I am going to apologize for it if you feel offended. I really do not like you being so cold to me like this and saying things I do not understand. So I take back my words. I went overboard and said some things I wasn't supposed to say to you— as my boss, and also thought too highly of myself when I already know it is impossible for you to ever like someone like me so... I sincerely apologize. I won't ever cross my limit again and if you want me to stay away, I promise I would." He said in a serious voice that actually took Chloe by surprise.
Jeremy faced the road and continued driving while waiting for her to respond but she remained quiet.
She was speechless.