Mia sighs quietly as she flushes the toilet and hands the cup to her mom. She gives Nora a tight lipped smile as she washes her hands. "Uh...and where are you going?" Nora asks. Mia dries her hands off and grabs her bag as she passes her mom. "There's sometime left before school starts, I'm gonna hit Monet's." Mia replies.

"Not until I check your urine--

"Ew...You could just say pee." Mia retorts. As she leans against the wall. 

"Mia..." Nora says in a warning tone. Mia raises her hands in a surrender manner. "Sorry..." Mia mumbles. She leans against the door and picks at her nails as Nora checks her pee.

"Okay your good to--"

"Bye." Mia says as she leaves to Monet's. Mia walks into Monet's and orders a coffee. "Um excuse me...but is there any chance I could get a...application to apply for a job here?" Mia asks. The barista looks at Mia with a skeptical look on her face.

"You want to...apply...here?" She asks Mia's question again. Mia sucks in a a small breath, creating a squeaky noise in her throat.

"Uh...yeah? Is that a problem or--"

"No...it's not, it's just...you're Mia Walker...I wouldn't expect you to..." The Barista inhales and chuckles as she turns around and grabs a paper.

"You can fill it out and turn it in anytime you want." The Barista states. Mia gives her a soft smile. "Thank you." Mia rummages through her wallet, but the Barista shakes her head. "Oh no, it's on the house." The lady states.

Mia looks up at her and opens her mouth to deny the lady. "Please, you're going to be working here...might as well get used to it." The Barista shrugs her shoulders and wipes the counter.

Mia smirks and walks away. As she picks at the coffee cup she sits down and looks at the paper. "What positions of responsibility have you held?" Mia asks aloud. She takes a sip of her coffee.

"Strange seeing you here, drinking coffee." A voice says. Mia feels her heart thump against her chest. She looks up and meets those familiar ocean eyes. She inhales and smiles, "Oh yeah...I mean what did you expect me to be drinking. Alcohol?" Mia chuckles. Clay tenses up and Mia sighs.

"Sorry...I'm terrible at jokes." Mia states. Clay chuckles and sits down in front of her. "Are you applying for a job here?" Clay questions.

Mia looks down at the paper and smiles, "Yeah...I am, I just wanted to try and make my own money for once in my life." Mia chuckles. Clay smiles softly at her and Mia looks up at him, "W-What?" Mia gets out. Clay clears his throat and shakes his head. "N-Nothing--"

"Okay, stop...what were you going to say." Mia says with a chuckle. Clay shrugs his shoulders as he takes a sip of coffee. Mia raises her brows, "Alright...okay..." Mia sips her coffee and looks at him.

"Today is...Zachs day, are you going?" Mia asks Clay. He sets down his cup and shrugs his shoulders, "I...don't know, yet. Maybe?" 

Mia smirks, "Well...if you do...need someone...I'll be there so...you won't be alone." Mia gives him a small smile. 

"Thanks Mia...you look nice today." He says. Mia raises her brows at the last thing he said. "Clay Jensen...did you just...compliment me?" Mia asks with her flushed cheeks.

Clays heartbeat quickens and he smirks, "Uh...yeah, I did...I mean...yeah, is that bad or..."

"No...no, it's not. You look nice today too..." Mia says quietly as she looks down at her drink. Clay looks up from his cup and smiles. Mia looks up at him and opens her mouth, "Would you like to...ride to school with me?" Mia asks, changing what she was going to ask once she looked into his eyes. 

Clay exhales, feeling slightly disappointed, "Yeah...I would like that." He answers. Mia chuckles and nods her head once, "Cool."

~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    

Mia sits at lunch all alone and sighs as she doesn't see Tyler or Cyrus around. "Mia!" 

Mia looks up and sees Clay waving her over. Mia bites the inside of her cheek, she grabs her tray and sits next to Alex; across form Clay. "Thanks for pitying me, guys." Mia says with a chuckle.

"W-We weren't pitying you." Clay says. Mia chuckles as she sets bag down. "Yeah okay, so...the girl who overdosed and was just sitting alone, because the two people she eat with ditched her, wasn't just being pitied?" Mia gives Clay a smile and looks at Tony and Alex. 

"It makes sense why you were pitied I mean..." Alex sarcastically states as he looks at her. "This is like a cry for help." He says. 

Mia snorts and laughs. Clay looks at Mia laughing and he smiles. Tony notices Clay looking at her and he smirks. 

"So what did your doctor say, Alex?" Clay asks. 

"I'm sorry. I tried. But they're not gonna let me testify." Alex states. 

"Shit. Did the doctor say why?" Clay asks. 

Mia raises her brows, "Wait...why would Alex need to testify anyway?" Mia asks them. Clay and Tony look between each other. 

"Well because of the tapes--"

"Alex! How about maybe I could try to help you on convincing the doctor?" Clay interrupts. 

Alex looks at Clay weird and so does Mia. "I'm confused...what is it with these, tapes that you guys talk about? I mean, Jessica asks me about them a while ago, then Courtney, and I overheard Mrs. Baker talking to Jessica about them...I feel like I'm out of the loop about something and...I don't mean to sound like a drama queen but--"

"Trust me. You're not being left out of the loop." Clay says. Mia looks into Clays distant eyes. He looks up and all color leaves his face. 

He stands up, "Justin." He slightly whispers. Mia raises her brows and turns around. Her face becomes as colorless as a whiteboard. "Holy Fuck." Mia says as she stands up. She begins to hear her heartbeat in her ears.

She inspects his image and one thing goes through her mind, 'Drugs' 

He walks up to Jessica as everything begins to get quiet. 

"Hey, Jess. I missed you. Can we go somewhere else to talk, alone?" Justin asks. Mia looks at the two with kitted brows as Jessica rejects him. 

'What happened with them?' 

"I came back for you. It's the only reason I'm here. If you want me to stay, I promise you I'm here for good. Look, if you want me to go, I'll go. Forever, this time." Justin says with pauses and stutters.

"You said that before." Jessica scoffs.

"I-I tried to go away. I tried to forget about you. I...I tried so fucking hard. But I can't stop thinking about you." Justin adds.

Mia feels her breathing heavy as she hears the pain in Justin's voice. 'How could I be so selfish? During all my time in rehab, I didn't think once about Justin. What about Bryce? Did he know that Justin was even gone?' 

Mia looks to her brother and sees Stress and irritation written on his face. 'I don't fucking get it...how could I be so clueless?' 

"Yeah, I think about you, too." Jessica states. "And I wish you were dead." She adds.

Mia inhales from the harsh comment. 'Things must've ended pretty bad for her to wish death upon him.' 

Justin stands there with more vulnerability than before. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you more." Justin apologizes and starts to walk away. 

He makes eye contact with Clay and Tony, and Mia felt anger in that moment. 'They fucking knew' 

He looks at her and a sigh leaves his mouth. He stops walking as he sees Bryce. Mia notices the vulnerable quickly change to anger inside Justin when he looks at Bryce. "You." He says. 

Out of nowhere Justin fell and Mia inhales. She runs towards him to check on him. Clay and Tony look at him. 

"We got to get him back to my house." Clay says.

"No, I can't do this anymore. Okay? I'm out." Tony says.

"What do you mean you're out? There is no "we," okay?" Tony retorts.

"What the fuck is up with you?" Clay jabs back at Tony. 

Mia scoffs, "I'll help you, if Tony doesn't want to help then he doesn't have to help." Mia says with slight panic and anger in her voice. Clay looks into Mia's eyes and knows he's going to to have it.

He nods his head. "Okay, thank--"

"Yeah, whatever." Mia cuts him off. 

As Mia helps Clay get Justin up she whispers, "Okay, Justin. Just use your legs, please." Mia says to him.

"No, you are not helping them." Bryce says.

"Get the fuck out of the way Bryce." Clay hisses.

"How about you make me, Jensen." He retorts. 

"ENOUGH!" Mia shouts.

They quiet down and Mia looks at her brother. "I don't fucking know what happened with you and Justin. But I still consider him a fucking brother and I'm going to help him. Now...fuck off!" Mia and Clay shove past Bryce and help Justin out of the school.

Clay and Mia get Justin into the back of her car and she huffs. "You in...now." Mia orders Clay as she walks over to the drivers seat. 

He closes the back door and gets into the passengers seat. "Mia--"

"Oh no...we are not talking now...maybe when I'm less angry." Mia says.

Clay closes is mouth and nods his head. "Not out of the loop huh?" Mia whispers a few seconds later.

"Not out of the fucking loop?!" Mia chuckles.

"Listen, I know you're mad--"

"Yeah, I'm fucking mad! I'm mad that you knew that Justin was out there, I'm mad you didn't tell me, I'm mad that I didn't even notice him gone..." Mia wipes her face as she keeps driving with one hand. 

"Mia...I knew that you had so many things you already had to worry about and...this being the other thing...it would just be...too much." Clay says to her.

Mia chuckles, "Well...thank you for trying to care for me, but...I can do that myself, thank you very much." 

Clay nods his head hesitantly and Mia notices. "What?" She asks harshly. Clay tenses up and Mia inhales, "I'm sorry... I meant, what are you troubled with?" Mia asks in a fake polite voice. 

Clay shakes his head, "Nothing, just...I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He says honestly. Mia sighs and nods her head, "Me too. But...at least I know now, right?" Mia looks to him and Clay gives her a small smile.

Mia returns her focus back to the road as Clay feels a pit form in his stomach about everything else that he has kept from Mia.

~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    

After Mia and Clay got Justin home they went back to school. Mia heard people talking about the trial and Mia took her phone out to look at the website and she felt her heart stop. 

She touches her trembling lip as something courses through her veins. Was it jealousy? Was she jealous that her best friend didn't tell her about Losing her virginity or was she jealous that she never had that kind of relationship with Hannah? Mia inhales and as the bell rings she stands up and runs out of the classroom.

"Miss Walker--"

"It's Mia!" She yells back. She didn't know whether she was jealous or not, but she knew one thing. Zach was hurting and no one knew, except for one person and that one person is now gone.

Mia kept running until she saw Clay yelling at Zach. Mia sees Zach getting into his car and Mia gets there as he drives away. "ZACH WAIT!" Mia yells. Zach ignores her and keeps driving.

Mia inhales and looks at Clay. "What did you say to him?" Mia asks.

Clay scoffs and Mia almost punched him in the face. "You know...I know you loved Hannah, but...you're not the only one who loved her or cared about her. You weren't the only person who was hurt when she died, Clay!" Mia raises her voice at him. She points down the parking lot, where Zach drove off to.

"That guy, he cared about Hannah...fuck, he maybe even loved her--"

"No. He didn't, if he did then he wouldn't have bragged to everyone in court!"

"He wasn't bragging, Clay. He was telling the truth. They ask questions and they tell the truth. We all loved Hannah, okay?" Mia says trying to be done.

Clay nods his head, "Yeah you're right...but still...nobody loved her enough." He spits at her.

Mia inhales as she feels wounds open up again from that Fight they had at her house. "You know what, Clay? Fuck you!" Mia scoffs and walks to her car. 

~    ~    ~    ~     ~     ~     ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~     ~     

Mia sits down on her bed and finishes her homework after she's done she takes a shower and starts to get into bed. Someone knocks on her door. 

"Mia?" Her mom calls out.

"Yes mom?" Mia questions. 

"Do you keep up with the...blog on you friends Case?" Nora asks.

Mia nods her head, "Yeah, why?" She asks.

"Nothing...it's just, I read about today and...I just want you to know that Zach Dempsey didn't tell our lawyer everything. But you and Bryce are going to have to--"

"I'm not testifying." Mia says simply as she starts to cuddle up in her blankets.

"W-What?" Nora pulls her blankets back and Mia shivers. "You could go to jail--"

"I'm aware, and wouldn't it be Juvie--"

"Mia. You c-can't it's not right. In jail or juvie they have so many things that you've been trying to get off of and I don't want you to--"

"Mom, it's going to be--"

"Too many people have watched you get hurt to just waste your life again!"

Mia closes her mouth as she hears her mom raise her voice. Nora inhales and covers her eyes. "It wasn't just, your family at the hospital Mia. You had friends there." Nora said in a calm tone.

Mia bites the inside of her cheek, "I-I'm aware of that, mom. But  what does that have to do with--"

"Your friend...Clay Jensen. He was there...he came to visit you, everyday. He left something for you everyday, I didn't know what it was but..." Nora goes to grab it and pulls it out a charm bracelet. 

Mia laughs loudly but covers her mouth. "I didn't...I didn't think he remembered..." Mia says quietly. Nora tilts her head as Mia grabs it from her hand.

"Is there a significance?" Nora asks. Mia lightly brushes her fingers against the cold silver and smiles softly. "Both of our eye color, reminds us of the ocean...I would call him ocean eyes all the time, then he would call me ocean 2.0...it was our thing." 

Nora smiles softly as she hears her talk about him, "It seems like he means a lot to you." Nora states.

"Yeah, but...he can be a real piece of work sometimes." Mia whispers with a chuckle. 

"So can you..." Nora touches her daughters arm. Mia looks up at Nora. "If...you don't want to live for...us then...live for him sweetie...please." Nora pleads.

Mia opens her mouth and holds her mothers hand. "M-Mom...I love you guys, okay? I just...irritation runs in this family. And...it hurts when I see that, you seem to be more involved with Bryce's life than...mine. And...me, trying to end my life, none of you were the reason okay?" Mia burns her ocean eyes into her mothers eyes.

"I love you, Mia." Nora states.

"I love you too, Mom."