Marcus & Mia

by Hannah Meade

  I find a pretty nice apartment. Two bedrooms, one bath, right down by the beach...

  "Hey, babe."

  I freeze. That is definitely not Emily. I glance over my computer and lock eyes with Marcus.

  Oh, no. No. I am not ready to deal with him yet. I am still figuring out how to deal with Emily. We have not spoken since last night, when I left her on the beach.

  "Marcus, what are you doing here?" He must have come after I locked myself in my room. But why has he not come in to see me?

  Oh, right, he was probably screwing Emily. While I was asleep. Nice.

  "Just came by to see my favorite girl. I decided to wake up a little early and pick up some muffins." He holds up a bag with his grandmother's café name on it.

  Damn he is good. Maybe I can play along for a little while longer. We can talk later. "You are the best." I get up and swipe the bag away from him, refraining from any physical contact. I dig out the chocolate chip muffin and take a big bite out of it. Mmmmm. That is good shit.

  Marcus grins. "You should be glad to have me."

  I swallow back the bile rising up in my throat and nod. "Sure am, Marcus." I get back up on my chair and continue to devour my muffin while checking out this apartment some more. $1,000 a month is not bad down here where I live; it is actually pretty cheap. Especially for an apartment by the beach. I have a balcony that gives me a fantastic view of the huge, blue ocean. I look up the number and dial it on my phone.

  Thankfully, Marcus leaves the room. Then I do not have to explain to him why I am moving out.

  They answer on the first ring. "Hello?"

  I conjure up what is left of my good attitude and respond back. "Hi, my name is Mia Hatheway and I am interested in this apartment you have for rent."

  "Oh, of course. Are you willing to pay the first month's rent up front?"

  "Yes. I have that much. When are we able to meet up?"

  "I am available right now if that is okay with you. Would you like to meet me at the apartment and look at it before you commit?"

  "I would love to. I will be there in about ten minutes."

  "Okay. See you then."

  "Alright. Bye." I hang up and smile. The first good thing that has happened since last night.

  ~~~

  I pull up to the apartment exactly ten minutes later. I get out and a woman who looks in her mid-twenties grins at me. I walk up the steps and shake her hand. "Nice to meet you..."

  "Sandy. Nice to meet you, Mia. So, what are your first impressions of the apartment?"

  I gesture around. "Do I really need to answer that?" She laughs lightly, understanding completely. "I mean, it has an ocean view. You cannot get much better than that."

  "Well, wait until you see the inside. Besides the ocean view, the space is what I loved most about this apartment. It is bigger than you would think." She walks through the door and up two floors to the apartment. Number 23. I will have to remember that.

  She unlocks the door and gestures for me to step inside. And, boy, is she right. I do not expect the apartment to have so much space, but this is like a tiny house. When I walk in the door, the main living space is right there. A TV mounted on the wall allows for more storage space below it. The island from the kitchen juts out into the living room, letting the living space and kitchen to connect. The cupboards in the kitchen match the dark wood that seems to be running throughout the house and surrounds the whole kitchen, except the doorway. But the best part about the kitchen is probably the dishwasher. I have never had one and I am so excited to not have to manually wash dishes anymore.

  Not that I ever really cook anyway.

  Once you get past the kitchen and living space, there is a small hallway. On the right, there is one bathroom with a jetted tub and separate shower. There is a white marble sink countertop with a stainless-steel sink and a huge vanity mirror to the left of the tub. The toilet is right across from the shower and there is probably enough space to put another shower in there. That is how much space is still left in this apartment.

  Past the bathroom on the right is one of the bedrooms with a walk-in closet. This bedroom is also the one with the beautiful ocean view. To the right of the queen-sized bed are two French doors that open up to a decent sized balcony overlooking the ocean. Yeah, I will spend quite a bit of time out here. This bedroom has a nice little desk with a mirror attached above it and a MAC computer set up already. So, I can do my makeup and watch Netflix at the same time. Nice.

  Right across from the bedroom is the other bedroom. Pretty much the same size, except this one does not include the ocean view. Everything else; the MAC computer, vanity, and walk-in closet; is also in this room.

  I walk back into the living space after exploring the apartment and grin at Sandy. "Wow, Sandy. This is just amazing. I can definitely see myself living here."

  "Perfect. I knew you would love it. Do you want to make the deal now?"

  Do I? If I make the deal and pay her now, it will be official. I will no longer be living with Emily. I will be on my own this time. I give Sandy a smile. "I do."

  ~~~

  I never thought this would happen. I always thought Emily and I would always live together, until we each start a family and I move out. I mean, it is her house. I am not going to make her move out of her own house. Of course, I know I am going to move out eventually. I just did not think it would be this soon, right before my junior year of college.

  I get back to the house and Emily's car is gone. Great. Now I can pack without her knowing about it. For now at least.

  Marcus's car is gone too. No surprise there.

  I step inside Emily's house for probably the last time and head up to my room. I get out the boxes I had bought on the way home and start putting my stuff into them.

  All of my pictures of Emily and me, smiling and laughing. All of those memories that I cherished. They are finally leaving this room; this house.

  I pack up my books from my bookshelf, which takes about three big boxes to fit all of them. To say I am obsessed is a major understatement.

  I take down my inspirational quote pictures from my wall, all ten of them. My pictures I have blown up from me meeting my favorite writers; Kiera Cass, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Tan; all of them are taken down and put into boxes.

  By dinnertime, I have finished packing and everything is in my car. I am currently waiting for Emily to get home so I can explain to her what is going on.

  I heard the door unlock, but nobody comes in. I furrow my eyebrows and peek around the island to see who is here. I wish I did not.

  Emily is home, but she is too busy smacking lips with my "boyfriend" to notice I am home. I just stand there, painfully waiting for either of them to notice me.

  Emily finally comes up for a breath and her eyes meet mine. "Shit. Mia." She immediately pushes Marcus away like she is repulsed by him.

  I know better. "Oh, do not stop on my account. Would you like me to open your bedroom door for you?" I am mad. It is better to believe that they are not hooking up when I do not actually see it. But this? This makes it all the more real. And all the worse.

  Marcus has the decency to look embarrassed. "We did not realize you were home."

  "That is all you have to say for yourself? I just saw you cheating on me and all you have to say is 'we did not realize you were home'?"

  "Um..."

  I sigh. What did I ever see in him? "Can I talk to Emily? Alone?"

  He nods, excusing himself from the room.

  Emily is the first to fill the silence that ensues after Marcus left. "Mia, I am so..."

  I put a hand up to stop her. "I am moving out, Em."

  "Wha...What? Why?"

  I have to chuckle. "Why? Really? Why do you fucking think, Emily?"

  "No, please, Mia. I am sorry. I just cannot help myself. But please, please stay with me. We are supposed to stick together forever."

  "Plans change. And people change. I am moving out. My stuff is already in my car. If you
were not too busy swapping spit with Marcus, you might have noticed. I am leaving tonight, but I just wanted to let you know what was happening, so you did not come home and wonder what the hell was going on. I guess it really does not matter either way. You would not have cared."

  Emily looks down at her feet, ashamed of herself.

  But I am not finished. "I do not want you to contact me, Emily. Because I need to learn to handle myself and not lean on you the entire time. You were my rock, Em. The only thing that kept me going in the morning. But now, I need to be my own rock and find myself again. So please, do not contact me until I contact you. And I hope you wake up one day and realize that you do not want to live this way. I hope you actually get into a relationship and sop hooking up with guys left and right. I hope you have a good life, with or without me." I hope she can tell when my voice breaks at the end. I am mad, but she is still my best friend. This hurt.

  "I am going to miss you, Mia." She leans in for a hug and I let her.

  We hold on tightly to each other, both hoping there is a way to fix this. But both knowing there is not.

  I pull away first, not wanting to start crying in front of Emily. I need to stay strong if I am going to support myself. "Goodbye, Emily."

  "Goodbye, Mia."

  I wave a little goodbye and walk out to my car.

  Time to start a new adventure.

  Fourteen

  It has been two days and I still have not gotten all my stuff unpacked.

  The other night I was so exhausted, I just collapsed onto my bed once I got home. Best sleep I ever got.

  These past couple days, I have just been enjoying living in my own apartment. I have gone down to some of the restaurants down by the beach for meals and I have been reading my books on my balcony in my spare time. Reading about a teenage badass while looking out into the ocean just makes me so calm. I have hardly thought about my Marcus-Emily situation.

  So far, I have had no regrets about moving here.

  I am just finishing up editing a chapter of my book when I hear a high-pitched voice call my name.

  I have edited half of my book so far and I am making so much progress on the publishing part. I have found a publishing agency, but I have to edit through it first before they can publish it. Whoever is interrupting me is not helping me do that.

  I look over and some girls who look my age are waving at me and shouting my name. "Um, hi?"

  "Hi. We heard you just moved in and we wanted to say hello. You are our age, right? Because that would be so great. The last person who lived there was an old lady and we could not do anything with her."

  Oh, boy. This is an excited bunch. "Well, I am twenty-one. How old are you guys?"

  "OH, MY GOD, we are twenty-one too. Want to hang out today?"

  No way am I spending the day with these two. "Well, I am kind of busy today." I hold up my computer. "Work stuff," I lie.

  The overly peppy girl deflates a little. "Oh, well, there is this party tonight on the beach and you totally should come. It is at nine."

  I fake a smile back. "I will think about it." More lies.

  She grins back at me. "Okay. Oh and by the way, my name is Madison and this is my best friend Katie." She gestures to the other girl beside her, who looks a little more subdued than her best friend.

  "I am Mia. Nice to meet you."

  Madison answers again. She seems to be the leader of this duo. "I love that name. I am so jealous. Well, we will let you get back to it. Later, Mia." She waves at me and goes inside their apartment. Katie stays behind and rolls her fingers by her head, meaning to say Madison is crazy.

  I laugh. At least I am not the only one who thought so. Maybe Katie will not be so bad. Madison on the other hand...

  I get up once Katie goes inside and continue unpacking. Now that my concentration has been lost, I cannot write anymore.

  I shuffle through all of my pictures with Emily in them and decide I will only keep one up. The rest will be kept away in my closet. All of these memories will be locked away until I am ready to remember them all again.

  I look longingly at the two three-year-old girls, one dressed as a bride and the other dressed as her maid of honor. We both said that we would be each other's maids of honor. We thought we would be together for that long. We did not know anything back then.

  I hear giggling outside and then two loud raps on the door.

  I open the door to reveal Madison. Ugh. What does she want now? "What is up?"

  She is grinning from ear to ear, holding out a basket with an assortment of random items in it. "This is for you. We decided to put together a welcoming basket for you. There are all the brochures for the stores and restaurants located on the beachfront, there is some chocolate in there, all kinds of fruit because we do not believe in eating junk food, and much more. Oh, and I put our phone numbers in there so we can text and call each other. Is that not GREAT?"

  I inwardly grimace at her peppy spirit. This girl needs to take it down a notch. But my heart warms a little at the fact that they like me enough to bring me a welcoming basket. "Thanks, Madison. This is really thoughtful."

  "Katie would have come over too, but she has to get ready for practice later. And please, call me Madi. Nobody except my grandparents call me Madison anymore."

  "Practice?"

  She nods vigorously. "Yep. Cheer practice."

  Well, that explains why Madison, I mean Madi, is so overly happy. I wonder why Katie is not that way.

  "I would have been there too, but I sprained my ankle recently, so they let me skip this practice."

  I smile back, hoping this conversation can end soon.

  "Well, I will leave you to it then. Later, Mia."

  My heart breaks a little at the nickname Emily had for me. It does not feel right when Madi says it.

  I walk back inside and decide to put a pause on unpacking, again. Instead, I walk outside and down by the beach. Madi says that there are a bunch of shops down by the beachfront, so maybe I will treat myself.

  I stop in front of a place called Sally's Sea Store. It looks like The Little Mermaid threw up in here. There are shells all over the place. There are shell lamps, shell fans, shell floor tiles; you name it. The ceiling is baby blue, and the walls are white. Needless to say, it is pretty damn bright in here.

  "Hello. Welcome to Sally's Sea Store. How may I help you today?"

  I turn my head to see an older woman, maybe in her fifties, smiling at me from behind the counter. "I am just looking around. I just moved down here."

  She claps her hands together excitedly. "That is wonderful. Where did you come from?"

  "Not very far from here. I lived by Costas Beach, about ten minutes away. But this is nothing compared to that. We did not have any beach stores or restaurants over there. We just had to go into town."

  "So, how are you liking it here so far?"

  "I just moved last night, so I am not sure what to think of it yet."

  She nods understandingly. "Well, my name is Sally. So, if you need anything, just let me know."

  I smile. "Thanks, Sally."

  I look around at the small, little shop. Immediately, my eyes catch the book section. The books are mostly centered around the beach or a summer romance. But one specific book catches my eye in the back. One Paris Summer.

  Now, I do not get obsessed over a lot of things. I am mostly a simple girl. But when you combine two of my all-time favorite things into one thing, I go nuts. I read through the description and conclude that I have to have this.

  I just might need to buy another bookshelf for all these books.

  Nothing else seems worthy of spending my money on, so I have Sally ring up my book.

  She smiles at my choice. "It is always nice to see a young book reader. Most people nowadays prefer television or something like that. My granddaughter has read this book about five times. I think you will like it."

  I grin back. "I think I will too. Bye, Sally."

  "Bye. Have a grea
t day."

  I continue my journey along the beach and find a decent looking restaurant. The time on my phone reads twelve-thirty. I do not even think I ate breakfast this morning.

  I walk into The Surf Shack and am greeted by a cute, young waiter. He grins at me. "Welcome to The Surf Shack. My name is Ryan and I will be your waiter today. Just one?"

  I nod.

  He taps something on his computer and gestures for me to follow him. "Right this way."

  We stop at a table set for two and he sets down a menu in front of me. "What can I get you to drink?"

  "Just some water, please."

  He nods and wanders off.

  I turn my head and stare out the window right next to me. A couple walks past the restaurant; hand in hand. They look happy, really happy. The woman is grinning up at the man like she does not have a care in the world. The man is looking at the woman like she is his whole world.

  I want that. I want that feeling. That feeling of being wanted. So far, I have not had that.

  I guess I thought that I would have that with Marcus. We were doing so well. I thought we were happy.

  "Here you go, miss." Ryan interrupts my thoughts and sets my water down.

  I nod, avoiding eye contact. I wait for the retreating footsteps; they do not come.

  "Are you alright?"

  I raise my eyes and wonder why he even cares.

  I shake my head, waving the issue away like it does not matter. "I am fine. Can I get a hamburger?"

  He looks reluctant to leave, not believing me for a second. Seconds later, he decides it is not worth pestering me further and leaves.

  My phone vibrates once he leaves. I look down, wondering who in the hell is texting me.

  Can we meet?

  I suck in a breath and glance around, suddenly on alert. How did he get my number?

  I have her. We need to talk.

  No. He cannot possibly have pulled that off. No.

  I delete both of his texts, hoping to pretend this never happened.

  Ryan comes back with my hamburger. And sits down across from me.

  I look up at him, eyebrows raised. "Can I help you?"