Chapter 10 #3
Now, throwing herself on the brown and tan quilt that covered the bed, Mia grabbed a slice of the hot pizza Clayton had brought over a few minutes ago.
She wasn’t about to cut off her nose to spite her face—her social studies teacher’s favorite metaphor that the guy amazingly managed to work into a lesson at least twice a week—and not eat the pie just because her wiseass half brother delivered it.
She was starving and her day had sucked donkey balls.
Flopping onto her back, Mia jammed one of the decorative mustard pillows under her head. She toed off her shoes and let them fall on the thick tan carpet below while she balanced her plate on her stomach and checked her phone.
No messages, of course. The only person who ever texted her was her mother and that was usually only to drunk-text after midnight. Although occasionally boys got ahold of her number and sent her penis pics in a quest to—what? Win her heart?
Sometimes she wondered why she bothered dating at all.
At least Connor didn’t have her number anymore. But after he’d tracked her a couple of times, she still worried he’d find her again. She hadn’t even given Nicole her contact information.
Inhaling the first slice of pizza, Mia moved on to the next and checked her school assignments.
She could always claim she’d been too sick to complete them, but what else was she going to do in this mustard and brown hell?
Stare at the tan walls and wonder how much time Pete had left and she got booted back into Duchesne’s hands?
She opened a document from math class and figured she’d get some problems done when her phone chimed with a text. Holding her breath, she swapped screens to read it.
So I hear I wasn’t the only one too chicken-shit to go to school today.
Mia set her pizza aside.
Boys never sent her texts that weren’t lewd photos.
Was this a girl giving her trouble?
Who is this?
she typed, wiping her fingers on a napkin when she had a hard time hitting the right keys.
Blue balls. Literally.
Davis? Mia scrambled to sit upright and scrolled to reread his first text now that she knew who sent it.
You were a no-show today?
she typed, shocked to be having a conversation with him after last night’s disaster. And had she actually left bruises? That sounded painful.
Wasn’t ready for third degree about our date. You?
Surprised, Mia took a moment to munch another bite of pizza while she thought about her reply. She wasn’t sure why he’d contacted her but…what if he didn’t hate her? The idea cheered her on a day that had gone from bad to worse with her dad and this bogus living situation.
Although the pizza was damn good. Slowly, she keyed in Same. Then hit Send.
Her phone remained silent for long minutes. She told herself to stop watching it. The conversation had ended.
He was just being friendly, maybe, to show her he didn’t hold a grudge.
But when her cell finally buzzed again, she couldn’t deny a twinge of excitement.
I thought about what you said. About bad experiences. With guys.
Thinking back, she couldn’t remember saying much, actually.
She didn’t share details about that—not even with Gabriella.
She’d always feared someone stepping into her life to “help” and somehow making her situation worse.
Mrs. Duchesne was a perfect example. After she’d confided in that woman, only to have her honesty questioned, she didn’t trust so easily anymore.
Yeah?
She didn’t know what else to say since his thought seemed unfinished.
When his reply came her heart skipped a beat.
I don’t want to be a bad experience.
It was possibly the most romantic thing she’d ever read. Which, of course, only proved how much her dating life had sucked. But still…the words made her want to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight.
She couldn’t type that back to him, though. While she thought about how to reply, he shot another text her way.
And I’ve got a perfect way to silence the blabbermouths tomorrow.
Mia hoped the punchline to all this wasn’t something vulgar. She braced herself for a penis pic. Because…wouldn’t
that be just like a boy?
She keyed in ??? and hit Send. Hoped for the best.
I’m serious about this.
came his first text. Followed quickly by
Think before you laugh.
And then, just when she couldn’t stand the suspense, his text showed up.
We could pretend we’re a couple.
Mia most definitely did not laugh. She read it. Reread it. Knew it had to be a joke. It was like one of those teen movies—the guy pretends to like the sleazy girl and the whole school laughs at her behind her back.
Except that she couldn’t picture Davis Reed spearheading stupid pranks. And what if he didn’t believe she was sleazy the way the rest of Crestwood seemed to?
Have aliens abducted you?
she sent back, needing to cover herself in case this was a joke. And then,
Is a Martian keying in this crazy idea?
The texts came faster now.
Would a Martian know about the blue balls??? Be real.
Mia had never typed an emoji in her life.
In her mind, it was way too cliché. But if she’d been a smiley face sort of girl, she would have sent one.
Outside her bedroom, she could hear Gabriella and Clayton talking, making her wonder how long her so-called brother was staying.
She couldn’t decide if they were really a couple or not.
Not that it mattered since she wouldn’t be speaking to either of them again.
When her phone pinged, she read the note from Davis.
I’ll drive you to school and we walk in holding hands. Best defense against people saying stupid stuff. Guys, at least, have some respect for another guy’s girlfriend.
Mia debated. He could still be playing her. What if he was sitting around with a room full of other band geeks while they collectively decided what to text to her? It just seemed too…high school. Possibly more cliché than a smiley emoji.
But what if he was serious? He was a different kind of guy, that was for sure.
If he really was interested in putting a stop to the gossip about their date—to shutting down people before they asked intrusive questions—his idea might do the trick.
She’d always been a serial date in the past. Never a real relationship. What if that stopped the gossips?
I do need a ride to school, she typed back finally. Best to be cagey and see what happened tomorrow. She wasn’t going to be a sucker and swoon all over him, only to find out he was playing her.
Then again, she also wasn’t going to knee him in the balls again if he tried to kiss her.
If that ever happened, Mia had the feeling she’d kiss the living daylights out of him for saying she was a smart girl. For now, she sent the address of the Chances’ house and hoped for the best.
This is going to be fun.
It turned out to be Davis’s last text of the night.
Mia got busy doing her homework, and she had him to thank when she went almost an hour without thinking about her father, her half brother or her false friend Gabriella.
Thanks to Davis, in spite of everything, she was kind of looking forward to tomorrow.