Some Days

So maybe she had overreacted a little, but there was nothing in the world that could make Mia go back to her brother and his new family. There was just no way. She looked at her phone as she got into her car, thanking God that she was finally getting away from that ratty motel. There were five missed calls. Two from her parents and three from Ben. Mia scoffed.

"Screw you," she mutttered under her breath as she tossed the phone in her purse and pulled out of the parking lot.

She went to the only familiar place in town, the corner coffee shop she had gone to the day before. Sighing in relief as she saw there was no sign of the desperate barrista, Mia sat at the same table she'd been at before. She still had no idea where she was going to go. She didn't want to go back home to her parents. Yes, they had asked her to come here, but that didn't mean she hadn't wanted to. It got her out of the house and away from their watchful gazes. She was finally independent, in a way. She wasn't going to give it up so early.

Mia didn't know how long she sat there, zoned out completely, before she felt a body sit down next to her. She groaned inwardly. Not the barrista, not the barrista. Please, not him. And it wasn't him. Mia found the boy, John, who had given her his number, next to her. She raised her eyebrows.

"I somehow knew we would see each other again," John said, smirking.

Mia laughed lightly.

"And how is that?"

"Intuition, I guess."

Mia's smile slipped for a second before it widened even further. She felt a twinge of regret and guilt. Maybe she had overreacted over everything yesterday. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to throw the idea of having John in her life out the window. After all, he had asked her to hang out with him and his friends. He wasn't asking for a date. He wasn't suggesting a relationship, was he?

"So?" he asked her.

"So, what?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"So, what are you doing just sitting here? You're not even drinking any coffee."

"Right, well I wasn't really sure what there was to do around here..." she trailed off.

"Say no more," John stated, standing up and holding out his hand for her to take.

"Where are we going?" Mia asked nervously, hesitating at the sight of his outstretched hand.

"I am going to take you on a tour of Tempe."

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Her mouth had turned dry and she was still staring at his hand as if it were the plague.

"Come on," he said. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

Mia shook her head quickly and slowly took his hand. He pulled her up from her seat and led her out of the shop and across the street where his car was parked.

"What about my car?" Mia asked, getting in the passenger seat.

"We can come back for it later," John told her before starting the car and driving off quickly.



Mia stared quietly at the quickly setting sun. She and John were now sitting on the pier at a lake that Mia was told wasn't far from where John's apartment was. Sometime during the day, Garrett and Pat had met up with them, joining the tour, but they soon wandered back home when dinner time came around. Her eyelids became heavy as the sun continued to set, and she wondered if time would pause if the sun stopped setting and stayed like this forever. Does time wait on things like that?

It was late, or so she assumed, when John shook Mia awake. She yawned quietly and sat up. How long had she been asleep? The sun was gone and the moon was full in the sky.

"Time to go," John whispered to her, standing up and pulling her up with him.

She stumbled, but he caught her.

"You would make an awful drunk, wouldn't you?" he said jokingly, before he picked her up bridal style and carried her to the car.

Her eyes closed again, and Mia was glad he couldn't see her face very well in the dark as she winced at his comment.

"You have no idea," she said.

As John drove, he glanced over to her.

"Maybe I should just take you home. You said something about your brother? He could take you to get your car tomorrow. I'm not sure I trust you to drive right now. You look absolutely exhausted."

Mia shook her head slowly.

"About that..." she started.

There was a long pause before she continued.

"My brother and I got into an argument last night. I stayed at a motel. It's fine, you can just drop me off at my car."

"Mia, why didn't you say something earlier?"

She remained quiet as he continued to drive.

"Mia, why don't you just come stay at my place? I don't want you staying in some grungy motel again."

Mia shook her head hastily.

"No, John. I can't do that. I don't want to intrude, and you don't want a stranger staying in your home. I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it."

It was John's turn to shake his head.

"Mia, you wouldn't be intruding and I don't really think we're strangers anymore. We are on a first name basis, you know."

He sighed.

"Really, Mia. Just stay at my place. Please? I have a spare room. It's yours for as long as you need it."

Mia bit her lip. In one day, she had managed to throw practically all of her rules out the window. Why not this one? In one day, John O'Callaghan had managed to squeeze his way into her life. And in one day, Mia Wells had learned to accept it.