Chapter 7 John #2
Mia grimaces. ‘Well, Samuel Williams was the kind of boy you take risks for. The kind of boy for whom you leave it all out on the table. So, I went a little deeper into the water, and I was trying to figure out exactly how far I should go. I was thinking I didn’t want to leave anything up to interpretation, you know?
I finally picked a spot that was just deep enough to show off my shoulders, decolletage and the tops of the girls.
I was in a spot where all I had to do was press my toes into the floor, and I would rise up a few more inches, making my state of undress unmistakable.
‘I heard some noise, so I dipped beneath the water one last time to make sure there were no stray hairs clinging to my face. Then I saw Sam. In all his Sam glory.
‘He came right to the edge, grinning and saying hello. I pushed my toes against the tiles and rose up, and Sam stumbled to a halt with the strangest expression on his face. At first, I was thrilled. My plan was working and Sam was speechless. I said, “Want to come join me?”’
Mia sighs, wrapping her arms around her waist. ‘I’d never felt so bold.
So powerful. So fully in control of my own destiny.
Sam looked at me, his eyes bouncing from my chest, to my face and back down.
Then he glanced over his shoulder. I told him the water was perfect, and I moved closer to the shallow end, until the water was only at my belly button.
Sam didn’t move, but I had come too far to back out now.
I was all in at this point. So, I took a few more steps, and at that point the water was below my hips.
Sam came closer, and that’s when I heard the other voices. ’
John covers his mouth. This story is not turning out the way he expected.
‘Nearly a dozen other guys burst into the pool building. And – get this – it was most of Sam’s tennis club, and – horror of horrors – my brother Charlie.’
John’s gasp is involuntary and one hundred per cent genuine.
‘One of them yelled out, “Oy, Sam! This is incredible!” And that’s when I realized that I was an idiot. I looked at Sam, and I was just flooded with these feelings of betrayal. He said, “Mia, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how you misunderstood—”’
‘Wait a minute,’ John objects. ‘He thinks you misunderstood?’
Mia nods, and there’s a spark of anger in her eyes as she reminisces.
‘I was so stupid. So, there I was, freezing cold now, making a mad dash for the ladder and my clothes. But they’re all on that bench, remember?
So, I would have had to run buck naked to the bench and they were all going to see me. Even Charlie.’
John makes an appropriately sympathetic sound. This truly is worse than he could have imagined.
‘At that point I understood it was all some sort of sick joke. Sam came towards me, and he said again that it was all a misunderstanding. He tossed me his shirt, and I frantically pulled it on and dashed out of the water. Then everything was a blur. I was at the bench, pulling on my clothes, and I remember throwing his wet shirt back at him. Sam was spouting more nonsense, and I just ignored him, and the idiots who were snickering as I stomped past them. I didn’t even know where Charlie was – I just ran the whole way back to my room. ’
John had lived through quite a few humiliating events in his lifetime, but nothing on this level.
Mia sweeps the crumbs into the dustpan and empties it in the nearby bin.
Then she flings herself back down on the bed and groans.
‘I was such an idiot. I let his sweet talking and good looks blind me to the fact that he was just playing around with me, and I meant nothing to him. But I learned an important lesson that night. Never leave anything up to interpretation. And never trust Sam Williams.’
‘Did he ever explain himself?’ John asks, perplexed. From what he’s observed so far, Sam seems like a solidly decent chap. This story doesn’t quite add up – but maybe that can just be chalked up to Sam’s immaturity. ‘Or at least try to make a proper apology?’
Mia snorts. ‘I never gave him the chance to. We only had a few months left in the academic year. I never talked to him again. I deleted his number and blocked him on socials. Lucy helped me avoid him for the rest of the term, which wasn’t that hard to do since I knew his class schedule and practice times.
And after he graduated, I forbade Charlie from ever bringing up his name. ’
‘Ah.’
There’s a glimmer of tears in Mia’s eyes.
‘He humiliated me. And I really haven’t tried to be with anyone else since.
Lucy calls me the “first date only” girl.
James is the first guy I’ve seriously dated since that all happened.
And look how that turned out. There’s apparently something about me that says “please use me and discard me”.
’ John starts to object, but Mia interrupts him.
‘It just feels awful, you know? To have finally allowed myself to think another guy was interested only to be let down once more. You’d think I’d learn. ’
John sighs. ‘Well, your hatred of Sam makes perfect sense, now. That’s quite the origin story.’
‘So, you agree with me.’
‘Totally. But I’m not sure what your plan is from this point. Are you just going to hide out in this cottage for the rest of the week to avoid him?’
Mia shrugs. ‘That was my plan …’
John considers their options. He wouldn’t mind just sitting in this cottage, talking to Mia all week.
But, then again, an opportunity like this rarely presents itself.
‘You know what I think?’ John drums his fingers together.
‘I think Sam didn’t suffer enough for what he did to you.
And we have him as a sort of captive audience while he’s here. ’
‘What are you suggesting?’ Mia sits up, interest brightening her features.
‘I have a few abilities that may come in handy. Were we to decide to harass Sam a bit.’
‘Ooh. Harass him how?’
‘Well. I am, as you know, a ghost. So, I could use some of the powers I’ve been granted to drive him crazy.’
‘You’re going to haunt him?’ Mia bounces on the bed, eyes sparkling.
‘Well, I’m not going to drape myself in a bed sheet and float through the corridors, if that’s what you’re thinking. But I imagine we can make Sam’s life quite a bit more interesting, if you know what I mean, while he’s here.’
Mia claps her hands and cheers. ‘Yes! This is an amazing idea! You can turn on his light all night while he sleeps. Or! I know. You could tie knots into all his shoelaces. Hmm, that one’s not very good. Let me think about this for a second.’
John leans back against the cool window glass and smiles.
It feels good to have a purpose again, after so long stuck in the in-between.
He has never been able to work out why he’s stayed tethered to this realm, but as Mia continues to throw out ideas enthusiastically, John begins to wonder whether helping her really could be the key to freeing himself from limbo.
Mia deserves to find some healing from the terrible treatment she’s received at the hands of the men she thought she’d had a future with.
And if it helps to finally liberate John too … Well, there is no harm in trying.