What did I think I was doing?
Chapter7
Still Haunting Me
Justin
Mia was here, standing on the front walkway.My body felt like when I’d punched Alek, only this time the pain was everywhere, not just in my hand.Long moments passed and I wasn’t behaving normally.Or even like a baseline human.She was the focus of my attention, and everything outside of her was fuzzy and muted.
It had been eleven years since I’d seen her, but I could have picked her out of a lineup without question.Despite that, she was different, which surprised me.Eleven years made changes to a person, had shapedme, but in my head, not her.Like she’d been in some kind of magic bubble.
Her hair was shorter, not falling in waves down her shoulders and back.She’d pulled it back in a ponytail, strands around her face, the rich brown more muted.Her features were the same, but there were shadows under her eyes, and lines around both her hazel eyes and mouth.She looked tired.More, she looked exhausted.
She was wearing scrubs, wrinkled and dirty, so she must have finished a shift at the hospital.Guess she’d gotten her medical degree after all.She was driving a shitbox car, but she’d have student loans to pay off so that tracked.She watched me with wide eyes.Why was she here?
I drew in a breath.“Mia.”
She swallowed, pulled her shoulders back.“Cora heard you were here and staying for a while.I thought it would be better to get that awkward first encounter over with.I didn’t want us to bump into each other accidentally, with people watching.”
“Right.”While I felt the earth rocking, she wanted to make sure there was no public embarrassment.What the fuck had I expected?I’d known I needed to face her.I’d just hoped to put it off for a while so I could prepare.I certainly hadn’t expected that I’d be knocked sideways by seeing her again.
Her eyes flickered to the neighbor’s.The old woman in the blue house had always been a gossip.I didn’t know if she was still alive, but whatever we had to say, it should be done away from prying eyes.I turned back to the door and headed inside.
I didn’t hear footsteps.I turned.“You coming?”
She pressed her lips together, then nodded.
I didn’t need to show her the way.She’d been here often.Maybe she’d been around after I left.Grandma had always liked Mia.
I was too restless and unsettled to sit in the living room, so I leaned on the wall on the far side.I didn’t know what to do with my arms.With the cast on one and the bandage on the other I couldn’t put them in my pockets, so I finally crossed them.I probably looked angry, but if I left them twitching, she’d know how affected I was.
Mia stopped in front of the couch.After an awkward pause Fitch appeared in the doorway.He turned to Mia.His brows shot up.“Hello…?”
I opened my mouth, but she spoke first.“Mia.Mia Bailey.”
Her voice was different too.Clipped, aloof, nothing like when we’d been together.Neither the soft and warm tone I was used to, nor the loud, angry and sharp words of that last fight.
Fitch smiled, and a jab of pain shot up from the fists I was clenching.“Nice to meet you, Mia.Did you care for JJ’s grandmother?”
She looked down at her scrubs.‘Oh, no.Nothing official.I helped out a bit, but just as a friend.”She turned her attention back to me.“I was very sorry to hear about her passing.She was an amazing woman.”
“Thank you.”Did I sound right?Fitch shot me a glance, so maybe not.
“Can I offer you something?”He at least was functioning like a normal person.
“No thanks.I just…” Mia swallowed again and crossed her arms.She must be as uncomfortable as I was.“I heard that Justin was back and possibly staying for a while.I wanted to make sure we didn’t run into each other the first time by surprise.”
Fitch turned to look at me, brows raised again.
I shrugged.“One of the ghosts.”
His eyebrows flew up.
Mia frowned.She didn’t want a surprise meeting, but her showing up out of the blue after eleven years had shocked me.I’d maintained enough sense to have her come in where the neighbors didn’t need to see me acting like a zombie, but that might be all I was capable of.
I scrubbed my face with the back of my left hand and shook my head to wake myself up.“Um, do you want to sit down?”
She considered for a moment, then perched on the edge of the couch.“I don’t plan on staying.But considering our past, and that people around here know it so well, I wanted us to be prepared.”