Mia Johnson

"Hello world!!!" Michelle yells drunkenly.

"Why's the sky purple?" Amber asks drunkenly, almost falling down but I grip her arm.

"Oh....my....God, Miaaaa....you......look exceptionally....beautiful tonight. I could totally kiss you right now." Michelle says pouting to kiss me. I gently push her mouth away.

"Gosh, I love your hair." Amber says pulling at my long black braids.

"Ouch!! Stop it Amber!!" I yell in pain.

"She's looking.....madly.......attractive tonight, right Amber?"

"Yes, she is.....very.....very attractive"

"Can you guys just be quiet for a second?" I ask not really expecting any answer.

"Ugh, thank God..." I mutter to myself as I finally reach the car parked on the street, in front of the house where the party is ongoing.

I open the door of the black Jeep, shove their drunken asses into the back and close the door.

"Finally" I say to myself as I lean on the car to catch my breath.

This is like my normal routine for every party night or night party? I really don't know the correct one to use at the moment. Anyway, you may be wondering "who are these ladies that just staggered out of this seemingly awesome party?" Well, you are about to find out.

My name's Mia Johnson and these drunk bitches are my friends, best friends.

Oops.....sorry, I tend to use the b-word whenever I am irritated.

The one wearing a pink and black long wig is Amber Williams while the brunette is Michelle Torres. We're more like sisters than best friends. Believe it or not, this trio got to this level together like a small family and how did it happen? Well, brace yourself for this long story. You should probably order pizza or something else 'cause when I say it's a long story, I mean it's a lo...o...nn...gg..g story. It's literally my life story. Here it comes.

I was raised almost single-handedly by my mom, Eve Johnson after my dad abandoned us. My dad, Will Johnson, was partially a good father to me but he was never really a good husband to my mom. Three days after my sixth birthday, my mom and dad had a serious argument about what I didn't know, still don't know. Of course they always had arguments but that one was way more serious than the ones I knew about. Shortly after the argument, my dad came into my room. He sat on the chair close to my bed, he looked at my supposed sleeping face (I pretended to be asleep when I heard his footsteps towards my room). He touched my forehead and said "I love you, Mia. You're my princess, you've been my princess and you'll always be my princess" He pecked my forehead and he left my room.

Why is he suddenly saying this? Is he going somewhere? Oh my God, is he dying?

I thought as I was fighting the urge to get up and follow him.

Too much thought for a six year old, right?

I then heard our front door open and close.

Oh my God, I think he's leaving. Where would he be going at 1:05am?

I rushed out of my room to the living room where I saw my mom sitting with pretty obvious furiousness, but on seeing me, she faked a little smile. I asked where dad went and she said he was going for a business trip and that he left so early because he had a flight to catch. I kinda had the feeling that my mom was lying but I kept quiet.

And I bet you're wondering how I felt that way at that age. Well, I was in a weird way, smarter than supposed at that age. I am still smarter than my age.

I'm just flattering myself.

Just as I sat beside my mom on the couch, she pulled me into a tight hug and she said these words to me "I don't know if you will understand this at your age but don't trust any man. They are all the same. You'll think that they love you but they only want to use you and they'll abandon you when they get tired of you.....so never trust them. Stay away from them if possible" and I agreed to take her advice not knowing the real meaning. I knew that what she said must have had something to do with dad but I didn't bother to think about it further. I chose to believe that my dad really went for a business trip.

Days turned weeks, weeks turned months and months turned years, my dad was still on a business trip.

Whenever I asked my mom about my dad, she always got uncomfortable and of course, she would find the best way to change the topic, so I stopped asking her about it. She wouldn't even let me speak to him on phone and when I had the opportunity to steal my mom's phone for a second, I searched for my dad's contact but it was gone.

Their last argument must have been a really serious one that my mom even deleted his number.

I've always had the suspicion that my dad wouldn't be coming home but I chose not to be negative and just hoped for him to come back one day.

After I turned eleven, I stopped thinking and hoping for my dad to come home because at that point in my life, I knew he wouldn't come back so I just took my mind off the whole "he's gonna come back" stuff.

Anyway, a little break from the family drama. It's time to talk about how I met Amber and Michelle 'cause that's what started this story.

I had a friend, Olivia McCall. She was my only friend. I'm an introvert.

Forgot to mention that earlier.

We became friends when we were four. We found ourselves in the same school and class which helped us become as close as ever. Olivia meant a lot to me. We shared some things in common and we shared some secrets with each other. Whenever I thought about my dad leaving me stuff, she always cheered me up and I would once again forget the tragedy. Things were going so well between me and Olivia but not until the final year of middle school when the real tragedy befell Olivia. She lost her mom and dad in a car accident. Just like that, Olivia became an orphan and she was an only child just like me. I thought my case was the worst but just take a look at the poor kid who had just lost her parents.

After her parents' funeral, Olivia was asked by a relative, her father's sister precisely, to come and live with her in Florida which she agreed to out of no choice. On the day of her departure, we said our goodbyes and wished each other well. We also hoped to contact each other one day.

And that's how I parted ways with Olivia, my only friend, my best friend.

Death!! Do you have to be so brutal?

I thought to myself. The death of her parents had just separated us after we had looked forward to being inseparable, to being best friends till we grow old and die. That would be difficult with her moving to somewhere far, where we could never see each other else if I move there which I can't because I don't wanna go to Florida even if it is for something more......important.

First day of high school sucked.

There was no Olivia McCall.

Second day, well....sucked too.

Starting from the third day, I decided to pull myself together and focus on the real deal of school......studying. I was always the top of my every class, I'm still the one of the best in my college department. I enjoy studying a lot. Infact, I'm a nerd.

I was just sitting in the cafeteria, playing with my lunch when a beautiful tanned skin girl walked over to my table and sat down with a loner like me. I recognized her as one of the hottest girls in school.

"I've noticed that you sit alone since last week"

Yeah, that was on the second day of the second week of high school.

"Yeah" I said.

"Why? Don't you like have any friend to sit with you or do you just choose to be alone?"

"Maybe both" I replied.

"Okay, hope you don't mind me sitting with you?"

"No, I don't mind at all." I said.

"Thanks. I'm Michelle Torres by the way."

Yeah, Michelle.

"Hi, Michelle. I'm Mia Johnson." I said with a smile.

"You have a cool name, Mia." Michelle complimented.

"Thanks. Yours is equally cool." I said.

"Thanks too. Can we be friends?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah.....sure.....totally" I said surprisingly.

Did one of the hottest girls in school just ask to be friends with me? Unbelievable! Normally, girls like Michelle hate girls like me, nerds in general.

I thought.

And that was how I became friends with Michelle Torres.

Few days later, I met Amber sitting at my favorite spot outside the classroom building, a bench under one of the trees there, where I always went to spend my break. I love nature and being there made me feel closer to nature. I studied there sometimes when I didn't want to go to the library 'cause it's calm, a perfect place for studying, apart from the library of course.

"Hi" I said.

"Oh...hello....I....I...can leave if you want. I've noticed you come here all time and alone too. I wanted to be somewhere calm and so I decided to come here since you were not here...yet"

"No, don't leave because of me. It's not like I own the spot" I said as she was about to stand up from the bench.

"Are you sure you're cool with me being here with you. I don't wanna be an intruder"

"Just because you're sitting in my favorite spot doesn't make you an intruder. I don't own the spot and you got here before me. I should be the one asking."

"Okay. Thanks."

"It's nothing"

"My name's Amber Williams. What's yours?"

"I'm Mia Johnson"

"Okay, nice to meet you, Mia"

"You too, Amber"

From that moment, Amber and I became friends. We spent our entire break there, discussing certain things. Amber was so polite, she's still polite.

It's really rare to find her kind.

Two days later, I introduced her to Michelle and it was a wonderful introduction. The three of us had some things in common and it really brought us closer to each other.

That was how this trio came into existence. We would hang out together, we would study together, infact, we did almost everything together. We figured that we didn't want our friendship to end in high school so we applied to the same college in Los Angeles and we got in.

Before that, there was one thing I disliked about Amber and Michelle... not like it's a bad thing just that it was one of the things we didn't have in common.

Remember the advice my mom gave me, the "don't trust guys" one.

Yeah, that advice.

I chose to follow that advice, I still follow that advice and guess what? I wasn't dating anyone, have never dated anyone and still not dating anyone.

Amber and Michelle were sort of pissed off or disappointed that I wasn't dating. They started dating in our junior year and they were expecting me to also find someone to date but I didn't. And the craziest thing is that I didn't even have feelings, still don't. I never had a crush on anyone. In summary, I didn't have interest in any form of intimacy, still don't too.

Amber and Michelle, knowing how horrible it was to be a virgin in high school, got the idea of taking me to parties which I hated with everything in me.

Still hate.

They would try to get me drunk so that I would hook up with a guy unknowingly but their plan failed because they were the ones that always ended up drunk. They always got mad whenever those plans failed. They did lots of things just to get me to loosen up a bit but one thing was holding my back.....

My mom's words.

So instead of being a teenager desperate to have my virginity taken, I was just.....me.

Back to family drama.

Two weeks to my graduation from high school, something really terrible happened. It was on a Wednesday when I was called to the principal's office. I was told that my mom got a call from someone, telling her that her husband was dead.

Her husband, my father.

I couldn't believe my ears. I ran home without saying a word to anyone. I got home and our living room was in a mess. I then saw my mom sitting on the floor, beside broken glasses, her hands were covered in blood caused by the injuries sustained from the broken glasses. My mom looked at me in tears and said "He's gone, Will's gone" I stood there lost in thoughts as hot tears rolled down my cheeks.

This has to be a lie. I can't believe it. My dad, dead? No, it cannot be true.

It dawned on me that my father was really dead during the funeral the next day. My dad who left me when I was six finally came back to me at seventeen but as a corpse. The good memories flashed back to me, the days he sang me to sleep, the surprise birthday gifts he got me, the way he cuddled me whenever I was sad, even his last words to me.

How would I ever forget his last words to me.

My mom equally does those good things but when you've lost someone dear to you, you can't just help but remember only his/her own good deeds.

So disheartening!!

What's with bad news and final things? Olivia lost her parents in final year of middle school and I lost my father two weeks to graduating from high school and also few days to my eighteenth birthday.

What a wonderful coincidence!

I cried so much that there were no more tears left to cry. But my mom cried ten times more than I did. We were sitting on the couch, after the funeral when my mom pulled me into her usual tight hug and said to me "Always cherish every moment with your loved ones 'cause you don't know if one of those moments would be the last and no matter how much you fight with them, never forget your love for each other. It's okay to fight with the ones you love but it's never okay if you never get to make up with them. I really hope you'll find a good guy to spend the rest of your life with"

My mom's new advice was quite surprising. The same mom that told me I should never trust guys told me that she hoped I would find a good guy.

Great!

The new advice is indirectly almost the opposite of the old advice.

Too late, my mind was already occupied with the old one.

Out of family drama.

Michelle, Amber and I set out for Los Angeles. We lived in the college hostel in our freshman year and now we're in sophomore year. We rented an apartment big enough for three ladies and bought a car.

Remember that jeep I shoved their drunken asses into earlier....

Yeah.....that jeep.

We did all those with our savings from working part-time and of course with our parents' support.

We were doing great in college but Michelle and Amber didn't stop dragging me to parties when we were not busy and of course they would get drunk and someone has to drive them home, me.

End of story, back to reality.

After catching my breath, I enter the jeep, start the car engine and start driving home.

"You guys should keep quiet, please!!!" I yell at them as they were talking rubbish.

Gosh, how long am I gonna keep doing this.