The Great Awakening

Mia spent the following afternoon sorting through pictures, responding to e-mails, and getting up-to-date with current events. She’d been subpar at being human while she was in the hospital with Kevin. Everything revolved around him to the point where she removed herself completely with the world around her. When she logged in to her e-mail account she had hundreds of unread messages, mostly from friends (which were also clients) asking for photos she’d taken, and from friends of Kevin’s who were curious about his condition. After sorting them into two separate folders, she tackled the ones pertaining to pictures first. She wasn’t in the right state of mind yet to discuss her friend.

There was a knock on her bedroom door. A few moments later, her mother entered with a mug of hot chocolate. “Hi, honey. I thought you might want some cocoa.”

Mia smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”

Carol took a seat on the edge of her daughter’s bed and took a look around. It’d been so long since she was in Mia’s room -- she hadn’t stepped foot in it since the day her daughter left to travel around the world with Kevin. It hadn’t changed a bit. The walls were still pale blue and covered in posters. They ranged in subject. Most were prints from Mia’s favorite artists; others were photos she’d taken and got blown up into poster size. Her furniture was bamboo-colored: a few shades lighter than the stained hardwood of her floor. When she turned fifteen, she’d recruited Kevin to help her hang strings of Christmas lights around the border of the room, giving it a warm feeling.

“What’re you doing over there?”

Mia’s desk was perched in the far left corner of the room. It wasn’t a large space by any means but it suited Mia’s line of work well. She always said she had to be in the right mindset to deal with her photography; being at home provided her with a sense of comfort she had trouble finding anywhere else.

“Just editing some photos.”

Carol nodded. “Your dad won’t hush up about that boy you’re dating.”

“We aren’t dating,” Mia scoffed. “We’re just friends.”

“Dad seems to think different.”

“I barely told him anything! All I said was that I’d met a guy.”

“...and that Kevin seemed to disapprove of this?” Carol asked, trying to tie the pieces together. Between what her husband was telling her and what Mia was trying to insist wasn’t true, it seemed like there were two very different sides to the Mason saga.

Mia sighed. “I don’t know, Mom. He just isn’t fond me dating his friends incase it ends badly.”

“Did you know I dated your Uncle Paul before I dated your dad?”

“What?” Mia swiveled around in her chair, shocked by her mother’s question. She’d never known her mother to talk about dating anyone other than her father. She thought they’d fallen in love at first sight and got married shortly after. That much was true: her parents got married after only dating for a few months. This had a lot to do with Mia’s reservation regarding relationships. She thought she had to meet someone she’d marry in only a few months’ time.

“It’s true. Paul and I dated for a few months in high school. I could never find the heart to tell him I’d grown feelings for his brother. I never cheated on him, mind you, but I guess I did emotionally-”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Carol exhaled heavily. “Because, Mia. You can’t always listen to other people, especially when it comes to relationships. They’re the sort of thing that don’t always come with a do-over. You’ve gotta listen to your heart sometimes.”

“Mom, it has only been a few weeks. I don’t even know if he has those kinds of feelings for me.”

Carol laughed as she stood up and headed for the door. “Trust me, sweetheart, if he’s willing to go against his friend’s wishes, he has feelings.”

Mia shook her head once her door closed. She wanted to believe her mom but she had a hard time doing so. It would’ve been great to have Mason have feelings for her but she wasn’t sure she was ready for a relationship. With her in Vermont and him in California, she couldn’t see how it was going to work out anyway. She’d only been home for two days and wasn’t picturing herself leaving anytime soon. Being at home was key if she wanted to clear her head. She couldn’t be anywhere near Kevin, and California was a lot closer to Utah than Vermont was. Until he came home, at least.

She’d successfully edited and sent out nearly four-hundred pictures before calling it a day. It was nearing three in the afternoon and her mug of hot chocolate had gone cold and untouched. The snow her father was anticipating had yet to fall so she decided a walk around town was exactly what she needed. Being home was great, but after spending so much time outdoors, she needed a few hours of fresh air every day.

Her cold weather essentials were sitting by the front door - exactly where she’d left them when she came home the night before. She slipped on her gloves, scarf and hat before shouting over her shoulder to her mom (who was in the kitchen) that she was going for a walk. Instinct required her to wear her camera around her neck and she snapped a photograph every few yards. Vermont sparked a fresh fire within her. Suddenly she wasn’t so against her career and had become all right with it. Things could always be worse.

She’d gotten to the town sports shop before bumping into a familiar face. It was one that instantly conjured up a slew of guilt and nerves.

“Mia?” Adam, Kevin’s brother, approached her with a look of bewilderment. “What are you doing home?”

Mia laughed nervously. “Oh, you know...”

“How come you’re not in Utah with Kev?”

She shrugged. “We kind of had an argument so I came home.”

Adam looked perplexed. “An argument? You two?” Mia nodded. “Are you sure?”

“Adam, I’m sure.”

Mia’s fuse was growing shorter and shorter as his stares kept getting more questioning. He hadn’t meant to annoy her but the thought of his brother and her arguing was almost too shocking to believe. However, he knew she wouldn’t have left his side unless something happened, so he decided not to push it further.

“Well, I was just dropping off a stack of these stickers at the shop,” he explained as he showed her the stickers he was talking about. They were plain, white, with I Ride 4 Kevin in red lettering. “They’re free, Burton gave ‘em to me to hand out. They think it’ll spread awareness and stuff like that.”

Mia nodded. “Can I have a few?”

“Sure. Take the entire stack if you want. I have a whole box of them at the house.”

Nodding again, Mia took the stack of stickers from Kevin’s brother and made her way into the sporting goods store he’d just exited. The family who owned the shop had been operating it since her parents were young. Over the years, Mia had become friendly with the family’s youngest daughter, Ella. Ella worked in the shop when she wasn’t in school - she was studying to be a doctor. Regardless, Ella was the only person other than Kevin and his family that Mia could call a genuine friend. They kept in touch while she was traveling and kept her up-to-date on what was happening in Norwich and Mia let her know what was going on wherever she was at the time.

“Is that Mia Fulton?” The current owner of the shop and Ella’s father, George, asked excitedly as he emerged from the back room.

“Hi, Mr. Rozanski,” Mia replied happily, blushing the entire time.

“It’s been ages! What brings you home?”

“Just missed good ol’ Norwich is all.” He nodded, ushering her into the back of the store. The offices were back there as well as a sort of break room which was always stocked with fresh coffee and some sort of pastry.

“Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” Mia answered and received a styrofoam cup a few moments later. “How is Ella doing in school?”

“Fantastic! She finished her freshman year with a 4.0 GPA.”

Mia smiled. “That’s great, Mr. Rozanski.”

He shared her smile, obviously proud of his daughter, before turning the conversation around. “I heard about Kevin. How is he doing?”

“He was doing pretty good when I left. He has a lot of therapy to do, though.”

“Pretty nasty accident, huh? It was all over the news and in the papers. You couldn’t get away from it even if you tried.”

“I’m sure it was just as bad as they were saying.”

As Mr. Rozanski went on to explain Vermont’s response to Kevin’s accident, Mia felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. After digging through a few layers to retrieve it, she smiled despite the man across from her’s solemn story.

From: Mason (Mobile)
Sent: 02/06/10 @ 4:49p

Things in Vermont so interesting you can’t keep in touch? :-P

Mia let out a small laugh, earning Mr. Rozanski’s attention. He knew he’d lost hers as soon as her phone started buzzing but she looked so relieved to have a distraction that he didn’t have the heart to ask her to pay attention. Kevin seemed to be a sore subject for her; whether it was because of the accident or something else he didn’t know, but he knew better than to push it. So he focused on what seemed to be making her happy, and that was whoever was on the other end of the message she just received.

“Find yourself a beau over on the west coast, did ya?”

Mia shook her head. “No, not quite.”

Mr. Rozanski laughed. “Well, you fooled me with the way your face lit up the second he messaged you.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” she groaned. First her father, now Mr. Rozanski.

“Having a crush isn’t a bad thing.” He smiled at Mia before making his way to the front of the store, leaving Mia to think up a proper response for Mason’s text message.

She finally replied a few minutes later: You could always stop by and see what all the fuss is about.