A Truth and a Lie

Mia's brown eyes opened. Cracks in the ceiling, moldy smell, stains all over the brick walls...well, home is home. She sighed, and tore herself from her thin blankets. Mia brushed the tangles out of her long dark hair. She changed into her school uniform that her mom could barely afford, and opened her door to the kitchen.

Her mom was standing at the sink, that is, if you could call it a sink. It was barely large enough to set the dishes her small family used after a meal. Her mom turned around, she was a frail woman, not very tall. She had shoulder length brown hair, and had piercing blue eyes. You could see every bone in her body.

"Good morning, sweetie! Breakfast is ready!" She exclaimed.

How a person who lived like them could be so cheerful, Mia would never understand. Mia collapsed on the rickety stool where she always sat, resting her arms on the small wooden table where they ate. Becky flounced into the kitchen, pigtails swinging and sat in the chair opposite Mia. She was almost as annoying as mom. Mia's mother placed a plate of limp scrambled eggs in front of them.

"Eat up," She said brightly, "You are going to be late for school if you don't hurry."

Mia grimaced as she gulped down her room temperature eggs, and grabbed her bag. She opened the door and slammed it behind her, barely noticing the familiar tremor it sent throughout the entire apartment building. She walked outside, and took in the dirty streets of New York. People begging for money on every corner, taxis rushing past, polluting every molecule of clean air left. At least it was better than home. She walked down the litter covered street, avoiding the eyes of the homeless. Mia turned right, then left. Crossed a few streets, ignoring the angry beeps of the cars, then followed an endless path, and arrived at school. It was a small, humble red building, the school from stories. To top it all off, it even had a white sign and neat writing that said BIG APPLE HIGH SCHOOL scrawled across the top. BAHS housed her very small high school class. Four grades, less than 70 people. She began walking up the steps to the large double doors. A hand grabbed her from behind.

"Boo!" Jake yelled. Almost making her jump. Almost.

Mia smiled. Jake was her only friend in the world. They recently started dating, but the two had known each other since they were toddlers. He had been there when her father died. Her only anchor in the wild storm that enveloped her whole life. He even stuck around when she stopped talking, even to him.

He spun her around, and pulled her in for a kiss. His hand on her waist, she wrapped her hands around his neck. His lips were so soft. He pulled away too soon. He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"I have to go, I'll pick you up after school."

Mia nodded, turned, and walked into the building.

School was the only escape from home. No matter how many people whispered about her, how often she was chosen last for any game, it was better than being home. The one place where she should've felt safe. Everywhere in the house was reminders of dad, and her mom didn't help. It is almost as if he never existed to her. As if everything he had done for them had amounted to nothing. She hated home. It was worse than school. She counted down the minutes, grasping on to every single one, hoping that time would stop. The final bell would never ring, and she never had to go home. Then again, if that happened, she'd never seek Jake...so, pros and cons. It was finally lunch time. Her only nutritious meal of the day. The only meal that she knew hadn't been touched by mold or handled by roaches. She held out her tray, and watched as the lunch lady plopped mashed potatoes, a sloppy joe, and a tiny cup of pudding on her platter. Mia wandered around, wondering where she should sit alone today. No one would sit by her, as if they could catch her poorness, or perhaps her miserable life. If only Jake didn't go to another school. It was last period, math. Her favorite subject. The only class where she didn't have to struggle to keep up, she could work ahead silently in the back, and then read her book when she finished. Unnoticed. A total wallflower. BRrrrrriiiinnnggg. Her least favorite sound in the world. Now she had to face home. Mia walked outside and saw Jake. Her smile once again returned to her face when she saw his. They headed down the sidewalk, first to her house. They began to cross a street, and a car came suddenly barreling in front of them. They leaped back, barely avoiding the four car collision that occurred mere yards away. Mia knelt down, breathing heavily. She was almost just killed. Jake, gently lifted her up, and put his arm around her shoulder. The pair quickly turned and walked the alternate, longer way home. After walking for ten minutes, Jake suddenly pulled her down an alley.

"Come on, I know a shortcut." He yelled yanking her along.

Mia felt uneasy, but followed him through a seemingly endless alley. Shielded from the safety of people. Her heart pounded in her chest, someone's watching, someone's watching me right now. The fear ripped through her body almost overtaking her. She walked faster, slightly ahead of Jake, he jogged a little to keep up with her. Mia glanced behind her. She almost screamed when she thought she saw a shadow move across the corner of her eye. Her heart beat faster, and faster and faster. Until suddenly, they could see her house on the other side of the wall Jake bent to give her a boost. She started to climb, when something heavy fell into them. They collapsed onto the disgusting floor. Falling into trash bags, and who knows what else. A hunched man stood in front of them. His eyes bloodshot, beer can clutched in his hand. Oily black hair fell over half his face, and his clothes were torn and stained. He was drunk, and dangerous.

The man threw a punch at Jake. He had invaded his alley. An enemy. The man's judgement was clouded, unable to see he was a mere kid with his girlfriend, trying to get home. He threw the can at him. Hitting him in the eye. Jake yelled, and swung out to defend himself, catching the brute in the chest. He fell to the ground, and kicked out at Jake, knocking the air out of him. Jake fell to the ground and the man quickly got up and started beating him. Jake cried out in pain, and all Mia could do was stand there in shock. It was complete déjà vu. Jake became her father before her eyes, and the skinny man became a huge six foot tall giant beating the life out of him before her very eyes. She would not sit in the shadows again. A rage poured out of her. It was almost as if she was watching herself from above. Seeing herself push the man onto the ground, and punching him in the face. Again, and again, and again. Jake got up and limped over to Mia, trying to pull her off. But she couldn't stop. She hit the man, releasing all her rage into him. His fault, his fault, his fault. All she could see was red, and it fueled her. She stopped. Got of the man's still chest. Jake just stood beside her in utter shock.

"He-e's dead. Mia, you killed him! Come on, we have to go get someone, we'll say you did it out of self-defense. He was hurting me. It'll be ok." He went to pull her away, out of the alley, to safety. Home.

No.

Not home.

She yanked her arm out of his grasp and kicked the limp body a final time.

"No." she said. The first words she had spoken in a long time. In complete defiance of the law. This single word silenced Jake. Mia just stood there, looking at the body.

"We won't go to the police. We won't go home. We will go. Leave this awful, wretched town and city. We don't need to say goodbye, we'll just grab a cab, and ride off into the distance. Come on Jake!"

He just stood there, staring blankly at her. "You're asking me to leave. To lie to everyone. To not report that we will killed someone!"

Jake, if you don't come with me, I will go on my own."

He made no signs of moving. He just...stood there in the alley, looking between Mia, and the lifeless body on the floor she put there.

Mia turned, and started walking away, at the end of the alley, she looked back, to see if he followed...but he wasn't there. Only the dead man. Jake had climbed over the fence to home.

Mia quickly faced the other way, her brown eyes brimming with tears. She hailed a taxi. Five dollars in her pocket. Nothing else. Not even a friend. Never had she felt so alone, she had always had Jake. Mia steeled herself. Not anymore. She was alone now, and she was never coming back to this place.

All that fueled her was her resentment towards her home...

and a lie.