Me, Mayself, and I
Mia eagerly laid her fingers across the laptop keyboard and began typing.
Author’s note: Hey guys, I’m back! I know a lot of you have been eagerly awaiting this part, so I hope it meets all your expectations! ^_^ I haven’t had a lot of time to write lately but I’m doing as much as I can. Love ya!
~April Showers~
The pill bottle rolled further away than May had expected. Well, shit, she thought. This wasn’t even her classroom.Thankfully, there was only one other student there, frantically scribbling on paper at a well-worn desk. More bad news: the bottle had settled just beneath said desk. May sighed in exasperation, though the moment she bent down to pick up the escaped receptacle, she noticed another hand lowering to meet hers.
“Is this yours?”
“Mine? Um, yeah. Thanks.” The stranger’s hand was warm yet wary. Neither girl pulled away immediately. After about a minute, May picked up her pill bottle properly and tucked it into her bag. “Bye,” she muttered and darted out of the room to make a hasty retreat for the bus.
Panting, May took a second to recover herself outdoors. Only a matter of time, now. Unfortunately, her musings were interrupted by a flash of red sprinting towards her. Was that… the girl from the other class?
“Wait up! I brought something to show you. You’re not the only one that takes medication, here.” Grinning, she pulled a familiar orange cylinder from her bag. “I thought maybe you were embarrassed about that, so I wanted to let you know you’re not alone.” Alone? Hold on; there was an opportunity here!
“I… thank you. I was actually wondering, what bus do you take?” Now it was the girl’s turn to look puzzled, but she let May know it was the one that would be arriving in about a minute.
“Really? That’s the one I’m taking, too. Would you maybe want to…” Her conversation partner eagerly picked up on the question before she could finish.
“You want to ride together? Sure!” May lowered her head to stare at the sidewalk; how interesting pavement is when one is unable to look her compatriot in the eyes, even having done so mere moments ago, she thought to herself.
The young woman sighed contentedly while gazing upon the word-filled screen. She knew romance wasn’t always the biggest draw for a serious audience, but it made her happy, and it made her ten followers happy. It helped a little to include the whole “medication” subplot, she believed, even if it was just to make her feel better about her own condition… not that anyone besides herself had ever stigmatized it. She stretched, yawned, and took a little round pill from its bright orange bottle, gazing at the neatly printed label wrapped around it: Prozac. She’d started taking the stuff in her first year of college, when everything started crashing in on her. The situation often made Mia long for simpler times.
“Oh, to be back in high school,” she sang to no one in particular. Living alone could be such a drag, and it made finding meaningful relationships that much more difficult. It made, well, everything more difficult. Finding time to talk to anyone was almost impossible; her friends had their own classes to attend, and even the cat that lived outside would only visit every now and then. Mia thought of inviting it into the house and offering it some scraps.
A sudden knock at the door startled Mia out of her thoughts, though when one listened closer it was more of a gentle scratching. Who would be visiting this late in the evening? She clicked the “x” on her document window–she wouldn’t want anyone seeing that mushy little love story–and headed to the door, slowly turned the brass handle, and… it was him! She still hadn’t come up with a name for him, but he didn’t seem to belong to anyone specific. She’d always referred to him as “Little guy.” Mia’s face lit up as he tilted his head to look at her. She’d teasingly done the same thing to her friends at school, soliciting their food even when she had plenty. Did he know he was tricking her? The bit of pudge he had since the last time she’d seen him told her that perhaps he did.
“Hi, little guy! Do you want to come in? I’ve got something for you, and no one’s dropped by for a while. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.” He didn’t understand what she said, but still eagerly pushed his nose against her outstretched hand. She suspected he hadn’t seen anyone worth knowing in a while, either, and gently scratched behind his ears.
“Good boy. I’ll go get you that something-something I promised.” She yawned and departed for the pantry, leaving the small cat to lick his tan and white paws apathetically. It wasn’t like he had anywhere to go. He licked his jaws and, soon enough, Mia had returned with a fistful of some kind of food.
“Here you go, guy. Come to think of it, I don’t even know if you’re a boy or a girl, kitty. I guess it doesn’t really matter.” He ignored her words, more interested in grabbing tiny strips of meat from her hand. “I can still call you ‘Guy,’ right?” Mia pretended the cat’s contented purr was his response. “All right, my little guy,” she laughed, “Come sit with me on the couch, okay?” She patted the cushion next to hers and the two lonely animals settled down for what Mia thought would be a typical night of television and cuddling, up until one particular program came on as she was about to fall asleep.
There was something about this show which caught Mia’s interest more than the others. The scenes were all too familiar but the feelings they brought about were new and disconcerting. May would have enjoyed the frivolity, would have texted her many friends about it. “Did you see what Joe did to Fiona? Lol, he has no idea how to treat a girl.” Neither the real Mia nor fictional May ever got along with boys. There had been no reason to in the past, but maybe, Mia thought, she could do it just to find something in common with someone around her area. Though the cat’s company was pleasant, Guy couldn’t hold a conversation to save his life. She jumped back on her computer.
“Are you ok?” May snapped out of her trance.
“I’m fine!” Fighting not to trip over her next words, she added, “There’s just one problem. I never caught your name?”
“It’s Jess! Nice to meet ya…”
“May.”
“Then let me say, pleased to ‘May’ke your acquaintance!” May found herself unable to keep from cracking a smile. Two could play at that game.
“I’ll bet you were ‘Jess’t joking with that one, right?”
“Ooh, a worthy opponent! I’ll let you know I could keep this up all… May. All right, so ‘May’be that one doesn’t work as well.” It wasn’t just the abundance of bad puns causing May’s heart to beat faster under her cardigan. Just as she started to speak again, the screech of an approaching school bus drew the girls’ attention away from each other.
“Let’s go!” Jess had grabbed May’s hand to pull her onto the bus. May tried to stop herself from staring at the way the light played off the other girl’s auburn locks.
Why did she always find herself staring at the ceiling when she hit a block? Mia thought and shook her head. It hadn’t been that long ago when she and her mother lived by themselves, peacefully, on a quiet street. However, as a young woman, Mia grew bored of the peace and would regularly find herself outside the house with friends, floating off to wherever they wanted to take her. She’d never expected to find herself living another quiet life, nor would she have chosen it if her university had been closer to home. As her mother had put it, “You can go a local school or you can go to a cheap school. I’ll pay your living expenses if you go cheap; otherwise you’re on your own, love.” May, on the other hand, could go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She could be as popular or unique as Mia said she was, and every day she reminded Mia a little more of her younger self. Flirting, flouncing, free… Truthfully, though, she’d only been as free as her mom or her friends’ moms were willing to drive. At least that was something she could now do independently. Smirking, Mia placed her fingers back on the keyboard.
The girls quickly fell to chatting.
“I was planning to head to the mall with some friends this weekend. Want to come?” Jess asked cooly with… was that a wink? May tugged at her collar.
“Y-yeah! I’d love to!” Jess didn’t seem to notice her hesitation as she pulled out her phone and rapidly began texting. May felt it was only appropriate to bring out her own phone, though she did try to catch a glimpse of what Jess was typing. Something about a “cute girl I met on the bus”? It almost appeared as if Jess, too, was watching May out of the corner of her eye.
“Maybe I should pack up and go to the city,” Mia would often mumble to herself as she stared out the window on Monday mornings. The idea was wholly impractical, but the slight rush of adrenaline pumping whenever she considered leaving was pleasant. She loved her college friends as much as she had her high school ones, but reality always shot her with a harsh reminder of how busy, busy, busy they were. Mia only pretended to be busy so her anonymous fans wouldn’t notice her regular lack of inspiration.
There were things to look forward to in the empty apartment, though. Mia had heard that her favorite show, the one she was watching now, was going to be rebooted at the end of the month. Even if she didn’t know any of the big names, it would be interesting to see a new interpretation of the characters. She knew she’d still return to the reruns, though, in a vain attempt to relive her youth. The screen flashed before her.
Later that night, May couldn’t stop refreshing the FaceBook page on her laptop. Where was it? When would she get the invite? Then, a small ping. That was it! Quickly clicking accept, she glued her eyes to the screen. The chat window popped up immediately.
“So, the mall: does 10 am work for everyone?” An unfamiliar name. Not who she was looking for.
“10 works great for me! You’d better ask Freya and May, though.” Jess!
May clicked over to her profile page and scrolled through the girl’s information until she found what she was looking for: “Single.” Was this stalking? She sure hoped it wasn’t. “I can’t wait to tell everyone I met a girl!” she announced to herself and hopped out of bed to get ready for dinner with her own friend-group that night.
Something clicked as Guy yawned and leapt off the couch to head outside. High school may be over, but why couldn’t Mia make her own fun? All she’d been doing for the past year was hiding behind a screen and reminiscing about her childhood. This wasn’t the end of her life, not if she had anything to say about it. Suddenly, she remembered there had been one guy from school Mia had been friends with. He wasn’t so bad, she thought to herself, and he still lives on the same street. She pulled out her phone and began typing.
“Hey, Terry. I know it’s been a few months but it’s kind of lonely here on campus. Would you like to meet up for dinner tonight?”
“Mia! It’s great to hear from you. Nothing’s really been going on here, either. I’d love to join you, of course.”
“What do you say we rendezvous at that diner we used to go to after school? Does six work for you?”
“Six sounds great! I’ll see you there, man.”
“Cool, see you. :)”
Mia returned to her laptop one last time.
Apologies for the sudden break here. I would add more, but life waits for no one. I promise Chapter 2 will be out soon; thanks for supporting my work, y’all! These stories would never exist without all of you here to encourage me. Take care of yourselves, now!
xoxoxoxoxo ~April Showers~