Young Writers Society

September 13 • Friday

(5:32 pm)

"It's strange how things you think would be painful are actually fun. Like sports, for example. Or studying for a test, or changing something about your life. They're things you'd like to avoid, but when it gets down to it, things aren't as bad as they seem.

"Despite all I've been learning and how I've been growing, there are some things that I don't think I'll ever get over. I think about them, and I know I should talk about them, but I can't. I choke on the words and feel dizzy every time I try. It's something hard, but it's never becoming easier, never becoming fun. I think that there are some cases in which things were never meant to be dredged up.

"I think it's best if I just take things little by little. I'm doing better, and I can't ask for much more than that, though my mother certainly can. Not that she knows all that I'm hiding- no one does. But improvement is good... I hope.

"-F-"

It seemed that Finnley was always closing his laptop with a sigh these days. He was telling people a little more than he would have liked, a little more than he felt comfortable doing. His mom and his therapist were encouraging it- they said it was a good sign. It didn't feel like a good sign.

Finnley looked over his homework assignment again. Mia would be coming over any minute. When Finnley had complained about the biology test Monday, and how confusing it was, Mia had insisted they study together. She certainly had no qualms about biology, or studying. Or really, much of anything. Over the past week, she had worked him hard playing softball. In gym he still seemed to be failing hopelessly, but Mia reassured him that he was doing well.

They were going to meet up right after school (they had taken to walking home together most days), but Finnley's mom had insisted that she come over later and have dinner with them. Although he had been expecting it, he still started when he heard the doorbell.

"Come on down, Finnley! Mia's here!" his mother called up just as she opened the door.

"Mrs. Bale?" said Mia's confident voice. "I'm Mia Hart. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"And you as well, Mia," Finnley's mother replied, sounding truly pleased. Finnley was actually excited to see Mia. Though it promised to be a hard bit of studying, they decided that they could watch a movie if they ever got through it. He scampered down the stairs and saw Mia in the doorway, wearing a bright turquoise dress and chatting with his mom near the door. She looked up at him as he came down.

"Hi Fin!" she grinned, waving cheerily. His mom raised an eyebrow that Mia couldn't see; even she didn't call him Fin, but it was a Mia thing, and like all Mia things, he couldn't stop it.

"Hey Mia," Finnley said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "How've things been since I last saw you three hours ago?"

"Oh it's been fine, just being with my plants- I'll have to show you them sometime!" Mia said excitedly as Mrs. Bale slipped back into the kitchen. From what he had heard, Mia practically had a forest in her home. She loved plants and flowers of all kinds, but claimed that animals disagreed with her.

"Of course! But while you're here, I have to introduce you to Rory." When Finnley showed her to his hutch and let her hold Rory, she immediately retracted her previous statement concerning animals.

"He's so cute!" she squealed, hugging him. They sat for a few minutes with the rabbit before going to dinner, after which it was time for the real work.

"My bedroom's just up here," Finnley said, gesturing at the stairs as Mia thanked his mother countless times. He opened the door and pulled out all of the worksheets he had been attempting to study off of. Almost immediately, Mia snatched them from his hands and looked them over.

"No no no," she scoffed, "that's not how it's done. Honestly, Finnley, it's only the second unit. How hard can it be?"

"And I suppose you got them all right?" he sniffed, raising an eyebrow. "Even number seven?"

"Yes indeed," she said pompously, but with a smile. "Here- do you have a pencil?" Mia showed him how the entire problem worked, and what to do if such a hard thing happened to come up on the test.

"You know what? You're brilliant at everything. How'd you do that?" Finnley said in awe. Science was something that he struggled with, as well as obviously sports. Mia seemed to do both of those things with ease.

"Thanks," she said, loosing her long black hair only to put it back in a ponytail again. "What I don't get is all that artsy stuff- your poetry, for example. Mine is just... I don't know what. When we read them all again, and I ended up reading one I wrote about what my dog looks like. I thought it was okay, but then you read yours about all the smells of home, old and new, and I realized that mine was just terrible."

"No, yours isn't terrible!" Finnley said- just a bit too quickly.

Mia stared him down, her face looking as if it was carved from stone, an odd look for someone usually so lively. "Don't ever lie to me," she said, deadly quiet.

Finnley nodded uncertainty, his eyes shifting away from her stiff stare. "But there are some things-"

"I know there are some things you won't tell me," she cut in. "I understand that. But don't you ever lie to my face like that."

"What if you really aren't horrible, though?"

"I'll believe that when you say it- when you aren't lying," Mia said. Suddenly, she broke into a smile. "I notice things, remember?"

Finnley let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Normal Mia was back again- or, at least as normal as she could get. "Alright, well, it wasn't such a great poem. But if you help me with this biology for our test Monday, I'll help you write some poems for this unit. Deal?"

"AND I get to keep teaching you softball," Mia added.

Finnley sighed and rolled his eyes. "And you get to keep teaching me softball."

"Deal!"

It was hardly late at all when they finished studying. They had been chatting for a while when Mia cut in.

"Oh! What about that movie?" she said, her eyes lighting up.

"Well, sure. I guess we just forgot about it. Do you have a favorite?" Finnley asked. A movie would be another two hours... that would be okay, it would be over in time and Mia would get home in time and everything.

"What movies do you have?"

"They're all down here in our living room, you can take a look if you want," he said distantly, still thinking it over in his mind.

"And... would it be okay if I stayed overnight? I have a tendency to fall asleep during movies, it might be easier for you to just leave me there instead of trying to wake me up!" she laughed.

"You... what?" It was suddenly as if Finnley had woken up. "Well, I guess, I'll have to, um, ask my mom first," he said, stumbling over his words.

"Of course! If she says no, I understand. But I'll just call my dad when you let me know, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, just look through the movies..." Finnley was now fighting to keep calm. What would she discover if she were to stay overnight? There was only one answer to that: Allie.