I haven't heard the sound of my mother's voice in over what? A couple of years?

"Mia? Mia? Are you still there?" she asked frantically.

"Yup," I replied in a quiet tone.

"Great. Great. I was hoping, I mean I thought, you would have hung up on me after I told you who I was." She laughed nervously.

"I'm considering it." The words slipped out of my mouth, but that doesn't mean they're not the truth.

Mom went silent for a few seconds. "I'm sure I deserved that."

That reply shouldn't have brought me satisfaction, but it did.

I went inside the tent, wanting some privacy. The interior was not as ordinary as the exterior led you to believe. Not only was this one of the biggest tents I'd ever seen, but the inside also had electric candles and lanterns, a portable speaker, a huge pile of pillows, and blankets that formed sort of made a bed. Then there was a little cooler left open with drinks and right next to it was a box of snacks. This was as good a setup as any. I took a seat on one of the chairs across from the "bed."

"Why are you calling me?" I got straight to the point.

"I, um, was hoping we could talk?" she said.

"Sure. But how about you talk, and I listen because you have a crap ton of explaining to do." I suggested, angrily nibbling on my bottom lip.

"I know. I know, and I'm sorry." Mom sighed. "Maybe we should meet in person? Are you busy this week?"

I shook my head. "No."

"That's great!" She missed my real meaning.

"No. I mean, I don't think I want to meet with you." My stubbornness, combined with my eight-year grudge, made me unreasonable.

How could I meet with her? My mom pulled one of those, "I'll be back soon, honey, love you!" and then abandoned me. The worst part was that it was right around my birthday. I didn't realize at the time that that would be one of many birthdays. That I would spend without her.

"Mia, everything I have to say would probably be better if I said it in person. I can't just blurt these things out over the phone."

I think I would prefer to hear it over the phone. That way, if she said something I didn't like, I could just hang up. Problem solved. "It's fine. Let's hear it." I leaned back in the chair.

"Okay. Well... um... I don't exactly know where to begin. It's a long story."

I rolled my eyes as if she could see me. "I'll take the cliff notes version. Thanks."

"I'm calling because I want to reconnect with my daughter. I was hoping we could spend the summer together. I've made plans to travel around Asia. I have a few cities I'll be visiting for business. But I loved to take time out to sightsee and explore. I think it would be a good family trip for us and..." She sighed harshly into the phone. "Your sister is dying to meet you."

I gasped. "I-I-I have a sister?" I could barely get the sentence out.

"Yes, Mia. Her name is-"

I interrupted her. "Unbelievable! Of course, you went off and started a new family. Dad said you were unhappy and wanted out. I guess he was right." My heart was broken when I realized she had left for good. Now it was hurting again for a whole other reason.

"No, no, no. It was nothing like that! I may have been unhappy at some point, but that's not why I left. Your sister was sick, and she needed a kidney transplant."

What was she talking about? I didn't have a sister back then? Unless...

"WAIT A MINUTE! How old is she?" The words rushed out of me in one breath.

Her response was slow. "She'll be thirteen next month."

"But how? Does that mean that she's... or did you..." My brain couldn't function from the shock of all this. I leaned forward, placing both of my elbows on my knees, and palmed my forehead.

This was too much.

"There was a time when your father and I separated, and I met someone. It's a long story," she huffed. "After that, I made some very questionable decisions. I'm not proud of them, but I've been forgiven for them. The only person who hasn't forgiven me yet is you, Mia. Your father has finally given me permission to reach out and fix this, so I called as soon as I could."

I frowned. Dad hadn't even given me the heads up that this would happen.

Mom went on. "Please don't be upset with him. I was afraid you would shoot the idea down immediately if he asked you about me potentially reaching out."

"So you thought it would be better to surprise me instead?" I let out a humorless laugh.

"I didn't want to do that either, but I was desperate to hear your voice, Mia. It would have broken my heart to hear you say no." I heard her sniffling. "It's breaking my heart now that you've said you don't want to see me. I will do anything to make up for these last few years if it means that I can see you again. Anything, just name it." The desperation in her voice was evident. I wanted to believe her, but I didn't know her well enough to say that she would keep her promise. This woman was practically a stranger to me. Trust needed to be earned, and she already had a bad rep.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I need to think about this," I mumbled.

"Okay," Mom sniffled again before I heard her blowing her nose. "It's fine, ba-Mia. Take all the time you need and let me know. Okay?"

"Okay." I know this chat hasn't gone the way she hoped, but it could have gone so much worse.

There had been many things I used to imagine saying to my mom if I saw her again, but I didn't have it in me to say any of them. If it were possible, Mom sounded as broken up about our relationship as I did.

"Okay," Mom repeated. "Great. So um, this is my cellphone number. I'll text you my house and office number in case of anything, really-an emergency or whatever. Or maybe you just want to talk. I want you to be able to reach me no matter what."

All I could think to say was a weak, "Thanks."

"I hope you'll reach out soon," she rushed on to add.

I didn't know how to respond to that.

"And Mia?"

"Yes?" I answered numbly, wondering what else she had to say.

"I love you." And then she hung up.

As I sat there, the minutes ticked by, staring at the ground beneath my feet.

I needed to find Grey. I almost forgot that I was here to watch a street race. This was turning out to be the perfect distraction for us both.

My eyes were glued to the ground, lost in my thoughts, so I was surprised when I stepped one foot outside the tent and collided with someone.

"Hey there, sexy? Is O'Malley in there?" he said, pointing to the tent behind me.

"No."

I watched his eyes quickly scan my body, and he smiled. "Do you have business with him that had you waiting in his love nest? If so, what kind of business is it? Maybe you and me could work out something together instead?" He waggled his eyebrows at me. Gross.

I took one good look at him. Never mind the alcohol stench coating his breath. This guy was far, and I mean far, from my type. Plus, he doesn't know how to talk to a girl properly. That was probably how he got that black eye and a broken nose in the first place. Crazy that none of that had dampened his confidence.

But anyway, if he searched hard enough, maybe a few girls around here wouldn't mind having fun with him.

"No thanks. Not interested," I told him.

I tried to walk around him, but he grabbed my arm and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "I think I can persuade you to change your mind," he said it all cocky as if he had some hidden charm that was bound to work on me.

I was about to give him a piece of my mind when Caroline intervened. "HEY, DOUCHEBAG!" she said, walking towards us with a tray of s'mores in hand. "You might want to ease up off her. That's Grey's girl." His eyes grew wide, and he released my arm with lightning speed. "Luckily for you, he wasn't around to catch that, or you would have gotten a matching black eye but with a busted lip this time, instead of a broken nose." Caroline stopped when she reached us. "Now run along." She swatted the air like he was a bug she wanted to get rid of.

He scampered off like hellhounds were on his tail.

I turned to Caroline. "Grey did that?" He never fought. He was too calm, chill, and unbothered to get caught up in something like that.

"Yup. Word on the street is that they bumped into each other at a gas station a few days ago, and Grey had caught him trying to tamper with his motorcycle. When Grey confronted him, that idiot threw a punch and missed, but Grey didn't."

Holy cow.

Caroline laughed at my reaction. "Your boyfriend has a badass rep out here in these streets."

"Not my boyfriend!" I corrected her. Why does everyone always assume that? "And I can't believe he did that!"

"Can't believe who did what?" Grey said, creeping up behind me.

I whipped around to face him. "You beat up some guy?"

He looked confused. Was he going to stand here and pretend that he didn't know what I was talking about?

"That guy over there!" I pointed to the sleazeball that tried to hit on me.

Grey glanced over his shoulder. "Oh yeah." He put one hand in his pocket. "It was self-defense. He totally had it coming," he said nonchalantly, without a single ounce of remorse.

I rolled my eyes. I really couldn't argue with him there. I just wished he would have told me. "Why didn't you say anything?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "It wasn't that big a deal, and I'm fine. Most importantly, my baby over there is a O-K."

I shook my head. Boys and their toys.

"Anyway," Grey changed the subject. "Ready to watch your first street race?"

This race was becoming a welcomed distraction for both of us.

My face lit up with excitement. "YEAH!"

"Then come on, let's go." Grey took my hand.