Awkward silence
Awkward silence
"I never said I was having fun." She countered.
"Well, I thought when I called, you'll be in your room as usual, but it sounds like you went out to party, right?"
"Well... not really but... yea." Mia shrugged as she looked around the beach. It was already 10pm, they were in the beach and just like Louis had said earlier, it was kind of cold but the crowd and also the bonfires kept the place a bit warm and lit. There was a loud music coming from some huge speakers, drinks everywhere, people laughing, playing games, people dancing, everyone was generally having fun.
She had stepped to the side when James called to answer his call, leaving the people she had come here with.
"Did Leo call to tell you to have fun? I'm guessing he is the only one that has that kind of power to pull you out of the house."
Mia giggled, "It wasn't him."
"I doubt you left on your own."
"Well...."
"Well?"
"It was his brother. Louis." She informed her friend.
A second passed, two passed, three passed, but there was no sound from the other side.
"James?" Mia asked before pulling her phone away from her ear to check if the call was still ongoing.
"I'm still here." He said with a sigh.
"You were silent."
"Because I was thinking. Have you been hanging out with him lately?" James inquired.
"Who?"
"Your boyfriend's twin brother."
"I... can't say we have been hanging out. Remember I told you I got sick a few days ago and he took me to the hospital. He has been keeping in touch since then."
"I don't like the sound of that." James said, his tone didn't sound nice nor soft.
"What do you mean?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"Can't you see? You miss your boyfriend like crazy and his brother who you do not like is suddenly becoming your best buddy, can't —"
"Hey! I'm not his best buddy and neither is he mine. Besides, Jeremy and Chloe are here with us."
"Swear to me that you haven't been staring at him longer than usual, probably wishing that was your boyfriend right there?"
Mia couldn't lie to him that she hadn't. Her silence told James that what he just guessed was correct.
"You should stay away from him, Mia. And come to your senses. That isn't Leo. It is never going to be Leo. Do not confuse yourself because you may end up hurting yourself and also your boyfriend."
"You are thinking too far, I promise you."
"I really hope I am. Look, I was speaking with my parents about you the other day—"
"About me? What about me?"
"You studied business administration, so you can literally fit in anywhere—"
"James.."
"Hey... no pressure. If you want to meet them, fine. If you do not want, it is also fine. You are my best friend and I believe you would have done same had you been in my shoes."
She sighed, "Thanks anyway."
"You are welcome. Now go have fun and make sure not to embarrass yourself and me bro."
"You're an idiot."
James laughed good naturedly before saying, "You love this idiot and this idiot loves you too."
"That just gave me goosebumps. Get lost." Mia said and hung up. After she did, she smiled. She always liked talking to James.
When she returned to the crowded area, Jeremy raised a hand to get her attention so she moved towards them. They had found a space to sit down since majority of the people present had left their seats to go dance.
Jeremy scooted towards Chloe to give Mia a space to sit down on the low plywood that had been used to form a round seat.
"Hi!" Katie greeted, smiling at Mia.
Katie was sitting directly opposite her and had her body resting on a guy sitting beside her. He looked a bit mature, around Leo's age.
"This is my boyfriend, Andrew." Katie introduced when she noticed how Mia was staring at him.
Mia was obviously surprised to see she had a boyfriend since she was always around Jeremy.
"Haha. I know what you are thinking. It's never difficult reading you. I love this guy here." She said, placing a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek.
"He knows about Jeremy and how I tease him for fun." Katie explained.
Andrew smiled and waved at Mia. "Congrats, I heard about you." He said nicely.
"Thank you."
Mia wasn't very interested in whatever else was going on around them so she just sat there like a ghost while the others talked. The only people who weren't contributing was Louis and Mia. Chloe did say one or two things to keep the conversation going. Jeremy must have influenced her because the former Chloe wouldn't have come here in the first place, talk more of joining in on a conversation with other people.
"We should dance." Katie suggested as she watched the dancers everywhere.
Chloe looked around in horror. She was a terrible dancer but that wasn't what was bothering her at the moment. The kind of dancing styles she was seeing made her face heat up.
Katie stopped up and pulled her boyfriend with her while she managed to convince Jeremy to also dance with Chloe.
Jeremy looked interested and because she couldn't just deny him the fun he wished for, Chloe let him lead her towards the crowd of people dancing together.
With everyone gone, it was only Louis and Mia left. Mia noticed how Louis was glaring at Jeremy and snorted. That caught Louis attention and he looked at her.
The atmosphere became quite awkward since they didn't know what to say to each other.
"Did you... take your meds tonight?" Louis asked, going into doctor mode.
"I did." Mia nodded.
They lapsed into another round of silence, deciding to watch those who were having fun instead.
Mia decided to distract herself with some drinks so she picked a cup and poured herself a wine from the one the group had been drinking.
When she took the first sip, she stopped and wondered what it was. It smelled different like it was a mixture of different drinks and other things she probably didn't know about. Why was it in a wine bottle then? Wasn't it illegal?
But it didn't taste very badly so she just gulped down half the contentd of the cup.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Louis barked at her before snatching the cup from her, some liquids dropped on her shirt in the process.
"You realize you are on meds?" He chided with a frown.
"You are so annoying." She said before standing up to walk away.