Mia found herself and Blake in the art room. Since she had only been in lunch for about ten minutes, they still had forty minutes to talk or whatever it was they were going to do.

The room was empty except for some easels and stools. There were some cupboards in the back that she assumed were filled with painting supplies.

It was cold in the room but at that moment, Mia couldn't care less. All she cared about was that no-one was staring at her and she couldn't be happier.

"We are going to do art," he told her.

"I didn't know you liked art," she told him, smirking.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," he replied.

"Okay? Like what?" she asked, challenging him.

"I can't tell you. That would spoil the fun."

"Fine, then. Let's just paint."

"Okay." Mia grabbed a canvas, some paint, and a few wooden paint brushes. She wheeled herself in front of the easel and started thinking. She wanted to paint something good enough to impress Blake.

Suddenly, it popped right into her mind. She set aside the colors she would need before going crazy.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Blake had already started. For some reason, it felt like a competition.

Half an hour later and Mia was nowhere near close to finishing but she knew the bell would ring soon so she packed up everything she had used, hid her unfinished painting in a closet and watched as Blake did the same.

"That was nice. Thank you."

"No problem. By the way, Bella is running towards us and I am not going to deal with that," he told Mia.

She furrowed her eyebrows before she turned to see Bella actually sprinting towards them. Mia did not know anyone could run that fast.

If she had been given more of a warning, Mia would have run but she was stuck there. At least Blake's here, she thought, turning around to see... air. She saw air.

Mia sighed and shook her head in disappointed disbelief.

Bella stopped when she was right in front Mia, her hands on her knees, panting mercilessly. "You... have some... explaining... to... do," she said in between deep intakes of breath.

"About?" she asked, genuinely confused.

At this point, Bella had caught her breath and was able to stand again. "You know what!" she exclaimed.

"Okay? But I don't, though." Mia was bewildered at her curly haired friend's insanity.

"Ugh! Fine. The cafeteria," she specified, clearly irritated. "What the heck happened at the cafeteria!?"

"You mean when my brain went berserk?" she asked, trying to make it sound like a light subject and utterly failing.

Bella's face lightened slightly but she was a very determined and stubborn person. "No. I mean after that. The whole thing with Blake. He totally likes you! How can you not see it!?" She seemed sincerely baffled.

"Because he doesn't like me." Suddenly, a thought popped into her head. "Were you betting on when Blake and I would kiss?" she asked.

Bella blushed in embarrassment and she turned away. "Where did you hear that crazy idea?" she asked, her voice far too high-pitched to sound realistic.

"My sister."

"But we promised we wouldn't tell unless you kissed." After a few seconds, Bella gasped. Mia simply rolled her eyes. "You... you kissed Blake!?" she asked, almost yelling. A few heads turned, annoying the heck out of Mia. People had finally stopped staring at her in the halls. Sure, they still stared at her for a solid five minutes whenever she walked into a room, but they had stopped looking at her in the halls and Bella just ruined that.

"Yep." Mia wanted to be mad but she just wasn't the type of person who got mad easily so she just let it go.

"Woah! We need to talk!" Mia internally groaned. Just because she never got mad, didn't me she didn't get annoyed.

Mia grunted as she flopped onto her soft bed. She had just gotten back from school and oh boy! It had been one heck of a day, that was for sure.

After the lunch incident, she found herself getting stares in every single class and was sure she would've gone into one of her flashbacks again had it not been for Blake who stayed by her side the whole day.

Bella continued to nag her for details on the kiss which was honestly really weird to her. Mia didn't like talking about her romance-if it can even be called that-with her friends.

Anyway, the rest of her day wasn't fun. Now, she needed to do her homework. She didn't love it but it never took long. All it homework was was memory so Mia basically got a free pass at it.

Needless to say, she finished her schoolwork in ten minutes.

Mia opened up her computer and went straight to her email. It was automatic but she also had something she needed to do. Taking a deep breath, Mia set her fingers on the warm keyboard and started typing, suddenly realizing how much she loved and missed her mom.

Dear mom

I'm happy you contacted me and accept your offer to meet. I love you so much and I can't wait to see you again.

Will you do me one favor? Tell Alex I say "hello".

Love, Mia

P.S. I haven't told anyone and I won't. I trust you and miss you.

Her heart was beating and the room seemed to be enclosing around her but she pressed the button labeled "send" and shut her computer entirely, trying to focus on other things but she couldn't get her mind off of her mind.

She remembered how amazing she was and suddenly wished she was right there but for now, memories were all she could get. She remembered the day she left and felt a tear roll down her face. Mia didn't deserve to have a mom as amazing as her. Mia wasn't worth her mom's love. She felt herself get encompassed in the memory.

She looked into the eyes of the mother who loved her, Tori, and their dad. She loved her more than anything. "I'm so sorry, dear," her mother's perfect, compassionate voice rang through her ears.

"Why" Mia wondered.

"Why what, darling," she asked. Mia felt a tingle of happiness rush through her veins at the name. The love and adoration she felt for her mother was more than she could express in words.

"Why do you have to leave?" she asked. She wasn't mad but she was sad. She would miss her mom and wanted to understand her reasoning.

"I fell in love with someone else," she explained simply.

"Do you still love me?" Mia asked.

"Of course, honey. I just found a better life, that's all."

Mia felt a tear slip down her face. She's right. She's worth more than this life, Mia thought. "I understand, mama. I'm going to miss you, though."

"I know, sweetie. I know," she told her, wrapping Mia in a warm and caring embrace.

Mia knew that she couldn't stay there. Mia needed to move.

Luckily, her dad walked in only seconds later. "You have a doctors appointment."

"I don't remember that," she told him with scrunched eyebrows.

"Yeah, I may have forgotten all about it up until five seconds ago," he admitted sheepishly.

Mia laughed. "We should get going then," she told him, gesturing to the door. "Can you help me?" she asked.

"Sure," he told her.

They walked down the stairs slowly, his arm on her back. Once they reached the bottom, Mia got into her wheelchair. "So," she started. "What's this about?"

"You need to get your bandages," he admitted. She grimaced. "But that's not the only thing!" he told her brightly. "Dr. Clarkson is going to see if you can get your crutches early."

Mia almost choked. "Are you serious!? Because if you aren't that is so not cool!"

"I'm serious," he laughed. "Oh! Also, Blake and his father, famous actor Michael Payson," he said smugly. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that he had met and talked to someone famous. "Are going to be there too. I need to thank them and Blake really wanted to go. I think he likes you." Mia groaned. It seemed that wherever she went, she couldn't get out of talking about her non-existent relationship with Blake.

"He does not."

"Then why did he kiss you?" he asked.

Mia's eyes almost bulged out of her eyes. "Where did you get that?" she asked, trying to sound convincing.

"Tori," he told her shamelessly.

"I'm going to talk to her later! Right now, let's go." She rolled out of the house quickly, not wanting to stay in that conversation any longer.

"We are not done with this talk!" he yelled behind her, trying to catch up. She had found out that she had the ability to go fairly fast, especially going down hill. Luckily, their driveway was slightly tilted giving Mia the advantage.

She got in the car quickly as her dad put the wheelchair in the back before getting in the front seat and driving off.

Her dad's car was fairly nicer than her's with leather seats and a working air conditioner. Just because it was cool in the car did not mean that she wasn't going to stick her head out the window.

She opened the window as soon as the car started and stuck her head out the window. She instantly felt relaxed. The feel of wind on her face gave her energy. She could smell the ocean and the palm trees. She heard all of the sounds of traffic but it wasn't stressful. It made her feel alive. It made her feel free. As if, in that one moment, no one and nothing could control her. Nothing could hurt her. She was finally safe. She closed her eyes against the wind as her dad got on the freeway.

Mia's mind started to wander as she let herself loosen up. She thought about Blake somewhat but tried to steer clear of that. She found herself starting to think about her wounds and felt happy.

In the past few days, she had noticed some of her wounds had begun healing and even some of the less intense burns had even started to fade.

Not only that, but she might even be able to get crutches! She felt her joy from all the past days join in her that day and felt like she could do anything.

She opened her eyes and saw that some of the cars around her had started looking at her. It wasn't like her to be confident but her happiness was controlling her, not her head so she kept her head out the window and smiled even wider when she realized that she didn't care what anyone thought.

While she was thinking she failed to notice that her dad had turned on the radio. Another surge of happiness filled her when she realized that it was Enchanted by Taylor Swift, one of her all-time favorite songs. Her dad was about to change the channel but she stopped him. "No! I love this song!" she told him, a wide grin spread across her face.

He laughed but kept it on. Ignoring the looks she got, Mia started singing. She wasn't a good singer but it was so fun and she loved the song.

"I'll stand forever!" she yelled. "Wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you!" she sang merrily. "Please don't be in love with someone else. Please don't have somebody waiting on you! Please don't be in love with someone else. Please don't have somebody waiting on you."

When the song had finished, Mia was flustered and very out of breath but happier than she had been in months. The only thing that could make me happier, she thought, would be if Blake was here. She knew that it was true but it was also embarrassing. She felt a blush penetrate her cheeks but ignored it.

She looked around and saw that they were already at the hospital. Mia slid back into her seat and patiently waited for her dad to get the wheelchair from the back.

When her dad arrived at her door, she opened it and hopped into the wheelchair. She took a deep breath and made her way to the door, happiness filling every inch of her body at the prospect of getting out of her annoying wheelchair.

A/N 35,000 words and 87 pages! I'm freaking out! I have never written anything this long and am honestly really proud of myself. Even if this book has been poorly written and some people don't like it, I have worked hard on it. I created my own world with my own characters. I have a whole book series planned out. Yes, series. I plan on writing at least three books and this book isn't even halfway done! It's honestly really crazy but I'm so excited. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If so, I would really appreciate a vote! Thank you all again for reading.

Bye beauties

Xoxo - Abby