Page 42 of Prove Me Wrong
I feel my dimples appearing as I think about her words of cherishing things. There are a few things that I truly cherish in this world, and I guard all of them with care. And Mia has become one of those things. I’d shield her from everyone if she let me, and I really hope that she will one day.
A loud ringing cuts through the room, pulling my attention from her monotonous eyes to her phone on the coffee table. I can make out the word MUM on the screen when Mia moves past me, rushing over to decline the call. Shoving it into her shorts pocket, I watch as her shoulders slump a little, my stomach knotting in response.
Questions flood my brain as to why she’s ignoring her mum. Is it too awkward for them to speak in front of me? Does she not talk with her parents either?
Flared grey-blue irises shift to mine before Mia shoves hair behind her ear, clearly feeling a little nervous now. Throat working, panic flaring her delicate features, I don’t push her with questions, even though they’re piling on the end of my tongue like a stack of letters. The last thing I want to do is freak her out. She’s only just getting comfortable enough to joke with me.
“Are you okay?” I ask warily.
Nodding quickly, she wipes at her nose before grabbing her keys off the coffee table. “Yeah, but I should probably go. Gran might need my help with something,” Mia blurts out. She pecks Jade’s blonde curls before walking towards the door.
My heart sinks a little insidemy rib cage. “Grey?”
Looking my way, her hand rests on the doorknob, lips pursed tightly and eyebrows pinched together tightly. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs.
I stop in the doorway, not wanting to crowd her.
I’ve seen the way she rubs her skin when she’s nervous. The hitches in her breath when I’m close to her. I went to therapy to get my anxiety under control after Em, and to see Mia struggling with it stings my chest. I want to know what it is that makes her so afraid and cautious, but I’m going to have to wait for her to tell me when she’s ready.
“Thank you for letting me stay and watch. I really enjoyed it,” Mia whispers before pulling open the door. “I’ll see you on Tuesday.”
She leaves before I can mutter anything else.
Chapter Fifteen
NOAH
My therapist used to remind me every session that it takes people different amounts of time to recover from life-changing events. That every mind is unique, and our ways of dealing with events are diverse. That not one person is the same as another.
Mia has reminded me of that lesson this week. With the few times I’ve seen her, she has been quieter and more reserved than the last week or two. I felt like on Sunday she was finally feeling relaxed enough to be herself around me. But since the phone call with her mum that she ignored, her walls have been restored, and she’s taken a step backwards from me. And I can’t lie, I’ve definitely noticed the distance she’s put me at.
The way her anxiety seems to steer her life hurts me, because I was living under its control not too long ago. The caution set in her stormy, wide irises. The curves of her lips are barely visible. There’s something beneath her surface, shadowing her life that I want to know about. To save her from those demons that linger in the darkness of her mind, but I have to wait.
I never push people.
I hated it when my parents tried pushing me into anything, so I will never force anyone into sharing something they keep guarded withinthem. It took me weeks to talk about that night. To open up to my therapist and my friends. I can only imagine that Mia is still dealing with the repercussions of a life-changing event, too.
The two days she’s come to the house this week, Mia arrived right on time and left as soon as she heard my key unlocking the front door. It pained me to see her avoiding me, but I just have to be patient with her, even though I spend most of my time thinking about her.
Even at work, Damon has caught me a few times drifting off when I should have been focusing on a car. My sleeve almost caught fire at one point because I was wracking my brain as to why Mia is so nervous around me. Luckily Damon was there to turn off the torch before I burnt my skin off.
“You seem distracted,” he said gruffly.
I just grunted in response and turned to continue working on the older Holden.
His next words stumped me. “It’s a girl, isn’t it?”
Glaring at him, my silence answered his questions. Chuckling throatily, Damon just patted my shoulder encouragingly. “It’ll work out, Noah. And you deserve someone good.”
Those words echoed in my mind all night until I finally fell asleep well after midnight. I caught sight of Mia in her kitchen, making her nightly drink. Glancing over her satin red set, which is definitely a colour she should wear more often. All I wanted was for her to come over. To know what she’d feel like to hold, to kiss, to touch all over. To feel my fingers running through her silky, dark hair.
Grey eyes meet mine, her pale lips twitched, and warmth spread across my chest like flames licking at my flesh.
Eyes dropping to my chest, and up to my mouth, I felt mine pulling into a grin when June walked into the room. I had toturn my back on them. I don’t know why, but it felt wrong for me to eye her with her grandmother in the room, but I was lying awake in my bed for ages thinking about her.
It’s now Saturday morning, and I groan myself awake as my phone rings loudly on the bedside table. Smacking my hand on the wooden surface, I grab it from the charger and stare at the name, blinding my eyes.
Julian.
