Mia hummed to herself as she set up her laptop for an evening call with her college friends. She'd cleared all her drawing utensils to the side and made herself a warm cup of tea. She expected the call to go late in the night. With her friends' busy schedules, their calls happened less often these days, meaning there was always too much to catch up on.

Mia thought back to the last time they'd spoken. She'd been living with Abby at the time, just trying to survive day-to-day life. While her friends knew about her current housing situation, she looked forward to sharing all the details with them verbally.

As Mia opened her laptop, she was greeted by a chorus of hello's.

"Once again, you're never on time," Alana teased

"Sorry, I couldn't find my charger. My desk was a mess," Mia complained.

"Ooh, is this the new bedroom?" June asked.

Mia glanced behind her. "Oh. Yeah, it is. You want a tour?" she asked. Her friends all joined in a chorus of agreement, and Mia briefly stood up and rotated the laptop around her room. There wasn't much to see. The walls were still pretty bare save for a few drawings, and all her furniture was laid out the same as when she had been living with Abby, but her friends ooh-ed and ah-ed all the same.

"I mean, the window is bigger, so there's more sunlight that gets in, but that's really the only difference," Mia explained.

"I'm mad you didn't call us when you were still living with Abby," Phoenix admitted. They punched their hands together in a fist. "I would've beaten her up for kicking you out."

"I mean, I should've seen it coming," Mia mumbled.

"Getting kicked out was absolutely not your fault!" Alana exclaimed. "She shouldn't have rented to you if she knew she was going to get engaged soon!"

"I mean, it's fine now," Mia said, not wanting to dwell on Abby any longer. She hadn't seen Abby since and never planned to again. They had no reason to cross paths, save for the off-chance of running into each other at the grocery store or the like.

"I mean, I've got somewhere to live now, right?" Mia said.

"This is your childhood friend you're living with?" June asked.

Mia nodded. "Yeah. She had an extra room and really kindly rented it out to me. Thank God we get along much better than Abby and I did, so...it hasn't been bad at all. She even invited me to dinner at her parent's house the other night. It was weird but also really nostalgic. It's been a long time since I've been in that house."

"Glad you found somewhere you're comfortable," Phoenix said. "Just know you're always welcome to crash on my couch if you ever need somewhere to stay for a bit."

"No, no. That'd be the last thing I would want to do. I wouldn't want to inconvenience any of you," Mia said. She knew it was a fault of hers. She'd only told her friends about the Abby situation after she'd agreed to move in with Leila. For some reason, she needed to protect her independence. Telling them she was struggling felt like defeat for her, especially after they'd given her such a sweet send-off to Maine. Returning to New York after a few months away would have left a bitter taste in Mia's mouth.

"So why didn't you and Julian just make plans to live together?" Alana asked, breaking Mia from her thoughts. "I thought you were planning to eventually."

"I did not say that!" Mia argued.

June cackled. "What was it you were texting me when you first met him? Him being the one and all that?"

Mia felt her cheeks burn. "I was drunk when I texted you that. And we talked about it, but I don't know, we felt like it was too soon, and we didn't have enough money, and..." Mia let her voice drawl off.

"Sounds like excuses to me," Alana remarked.

Mia rolled her eyes. "Come on, leave me alone."

"Is the relationship going well at least?" June chimed in.

Mia nodded, though even she felt apprehensive doing so as she thought of the fight that she and Julian had gotten into recently.

"I mean, yeah. We've been in a relationship for three months now," Mia said. She stared down at her fingers, avoiding eye contact with her computer screen. "We've been spending a little less time together since I started living with Leila, but now that it's been a month since I moved in, I'm a lot more adjusted."

"Well, as long as it's going well," June said.

"Enough about me, how are all of you?" Mia asked, directing the conversation toward them before they could even begin to start asking about her career path.

It was easy to remain distracted the rest of the call as she listened to her friend's stories of post-grad life, their own dating struggles, and how work was going. She grew quiet when the conversation turned to New York. As they all recounted their favorite spots in the city, she felt saddened that she was away from them. Though Mia smiled and nodded, she didn't have the courage to admit to them that she truly missed New York, not when she had made such a big deal about moving back to Maine in the spring. It felt like she was being torn in two different directions these days. Part of her wanted to remain in Maine, the place she had once called home, and yet another part of her wanted to be back in New York, where she had carved out a life for herself. Currently, she wasn't happy with either option.

"Will you come visit soon, Mia?" Phoenix asked.

"I have to save up some money first, but hopefully sometime soon," Mia said. "Maybe in the winter."

As they ended the call for the evening, Mia was surprised to see it was still before midnight. Normally her calls with her friends left her feeling elated and ready for a good night's sleep, but tonight she cradled her body with her arms. She felt saddened as she thought of New York and slightly annoyed at her friends' comments about why she wasn't living with Julian.

Mia headed to the bathroom just as Leila was stepping out. Leila let out a slight squeal, which Mia had found strange. She'd been noticing Leila had been acting on edge the past few days, but Mia hadn't bothered asking why. She figured if she did, Leila would act even more nervous.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," Mia said. "I honestly thought you were asleep."

Leila laughed uneasily. "No worries. I decided to stay up and read. Um, did your call with your friends go well?"

Mia shrugged. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Well, good night then," Leila said, heading toward her bedroom.

"Um, Leila," Mia said.

Leila spun around. "Everything good?"

"Um, I'm sorry this is last minute, and he might say no, but can I invite Julian over tonight?" Mia asked. "I'm not feeling that well. I want to see him," she murmured.

"Oh. Okay. I mean, I'm going to bed anyway," Leila said.

"Are you sure?" Mia asked.

"Yeah. No worries," Leila said. "Good night. Um, I hope you feel better," she said as she slipped into her room.

After Mia had her pajamas on and teeth brushed, she sat in bed with her phone pressed to her ear. She wasn't sure if Julian would pick up, but she was happy to hear his voice on the other line after a few rings.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," Mia murmured. "Do you want to spend the night?"

"Spend the night?" he questioned.

"I want to see you," Mia murmured.

"Just to sleep, I'm guessing?"

"No," Mia answered.

The line was quiet for a little bit. "I thought you didn't want to do anything when Leila was there."

"I changed my mind," Mia argued.

"What brought this all on?" Julian asked.

"I don't know. I just want to see you. Can't that be my answer?" Mia asked.

Julian sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll be over soon."

"Okay. See you," Mia said. She had used this tactic before, inviting Julian over when she didn't want to listen to her thoughts anymore. Once he finally arrived to her apartment, her distraction techniques worked briefly, but as soon as he fell asleep, she laid awake, listening to him breathe on the other side of her.

Mia grumbled and laid on her back. As she stared upward at her ceiling, a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She was frustrated, whether she wanted to admit or not. She glanced to her side, tempted to wake Julian to talk to him about her problems, but she didn't want to disturb him, and strangely, she felt his advice wouldn't be helpful.

As Mia laid with her thoughts, she knew it was true that she missed New York. Every time she thought of her friends, she missed the city. She tried to remind herself again and again why she had returned to Maine, how it had been a temporary plan for her to heal and rest and get back on her feet, but now, she felt she was putting in roots here against her better judgment, what with dating Julian and living with Leila.

Leila. While Julian certainly made Mia think twice about leaving Maine, it was Leila who did so more. She had reintroduced Mia back to Maine, had reminded her of what she loved about the state, as well as made Mia nostalgic for her childhood days before her mother had passed.

I can't keep getting pulled back into Maine, not when I don't plan to stay here forever, Mia thought.

And yet when she shut her eyes, her mind wandered to visions of the beach and the plains. It was the image of the waves on the Maine shore drawing back and forth that eventually made her drift off to sleep.