Everybody's Losing Control

It was a couple of weeks into October now, and Mya couldn’t remember a time when she had been happier. Seth had made her feel more alive than she’d felt in a long time, and he always made her feel special. Even her parents and Will noticed how she was smiling all the time, making them more than willing to let Mya spend time with Seth.

But today wasn’t to be a day for smiling. Seth walked up the stairs to Mya’s bedroom on Tuesday morning, seeing as Carrie had opened the front door, only to find Mya sitting in a ball on her bed and crying.

“Oh baby, what’s wrong?” Seth asked worriedly, shutting her bedroom door.

He ran over to her, scooped her up in his arms and held her close to his chest, letting her cry into his polo t-shirt.

“Why are you crying?” Seth asked softly, brushing her hair away from her face.

Silently Mya handed him a photo of a young girl, making him frown.

“Who’s this?” he asked, confused.

“My little sister, Lila,” Mya choked.

“You have a sister?” he asked again, even more confused.

“I had a sister,” Mya said sadly.

“Oh god, she was the death in the family reason why you moved here, wasn’t she?” Seth gasped.

Mya could only nod, starting to cry again, and buried her head in Seth’s chest. He couldn’t explain it, but her heightened emotions seemed to be affecting him too, and his eyes started to water.

“I was just looking through the final box of random crap I still have to find a place for, and I found it at the bottom. It was taken the day she was kidnapped,” Mya whispered.

“Kidnapped?” Seth said, confused.

“I’d better explain. Um, my sister is…was 6 years younger than me. Mom had a difficult pregnancy with her and as a result Lila was slightly brain-damaged. She had quite a few learning difficulties, she trusted people too easily and was easily distracted by pretty things. My family lived in Italy for a year and everything was great until some sort of carnival about 2 months ago. Mom, Dad, Will and I thought Lila was right next to us, but suddenly she wasn’t. Will and I split from mom and dad to find her, us going one way, them going the other. Will and I saw Lila standing in the shade of an alley with a small girl. Weirdly pale girl. By the time we got over there, they’d vanished. We set up searches and investigations for her, or at least her body, for 3 weeks, having active police involvement because of dad’s influence. The day before we were due to go down an abandoned drain shaft, her body was dumped outside our hotel, completely mauled,” Mya said shakily.

“Oh baby, words cannot express how sorry I am. I know how it feels to lose a loved one - my dad died a few years back,” Seth said softly, smiling weakly.

“I couldn’t imagine losing my dad,” Mya whispered, another tear rolling down her cheek.

“It was hard on all of us,” Seth nodded gravely, wiping the tear away with his finger, “where were you staying?”

“In Volterra,” Mya sighed, drying her eyes properly.

Seth froze, his eyes going wide in shock.

“Is something wrong?” Mya asked hesitantly.

“N-No. I’m fine. Um, are you okay to go into school today?” Seth asked worriedly, changing the subject.

“I’ll be fine. I need something else to do other than sit around here all day being sad,” Mya said firmly.

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Seth said uneasily.

“I am. And besides, we’ve got that Chemistry test to do that I’m not letting you get out of. Let’s go!” Mya giggled, jumping out of his arms as her mood changed.

“Damn, I was hoping you’d forget,” Seth sighed dramatically, standing up too.

“Not a chance. Does it look like I’ve been crying?” Mya smiled.

“Nope, you looked beautiful,” Seth said warmly.

He pressed a slow soft kiss to Mya’s lips, making her stop breathing for a second or two. When Seth pulled away, he smirked at the breathtaken look on her face.

“You’re just biased. Now stop distracting me – we’ll be late!” Mya scolded playfully.

Seth rolled his eyes, picking her bag off the floor and holding his hand out. She took it eagerly, linking their fingers together as she followed him down the stairs.