Finding Mia

I

'I can't have my face on tv,' Neil said. Mia grabbed his cheeks and inspected his face, then pulled at his hair to see if his roots were growing back in red. They weren't.

'Neil, sweetie,' Mia said. 'Your father's in prison, and his people aren't organised enough to make an attack on you. You can go,' Neil sighed and looked down at the floor. Mia slid the contract over to him, crossing her legs in front of her.

'What about you?' Neil asked, fake brown eyes looking into Mia's real ones. 'Will you go home?'

'I already told you, little rabbit,' Mia smiled. 'I'm not going anywhere unless it's following you. It's been that way for the past eight years, hasn't it?' Neil smiled the smallest amount. 'There he is, the cousin I know and loathe,' Neil rolled his eyes and looked to the contract. 'I'll find a way to follow you. I always do, don't I?'

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Being picked up from the airport by a member of Neil's new team was the last thing Mia wanted. So she stayed behind and got a taxi into campus. She didn't intend to meet the Foxes any earlier than she had to, and Neil could handle himself on his own for a while.

There was a chance that Neil's driver thought he was being followed - he was - but he didn't make a detour on his way to the apartment complex he stopped at. Mia continued on driving, though, and told the taxi driver to stop at where she'd learned was the team nurse's house. Once on the pavement outside, Mia brought her things up to the front step and knocked on the door - common courtesy was taught where she came from, believe it or not.

The door clicked on the inside and swung inward. A woman stood there, looking slightly confused, but with a smile on her face. Mia also smiled and stuck out her hand. The woman looked down at it and then back to Mia's face. 'Hi, you don't know me, but I was wondering if you knew where I could find David Wymack. My name's Mia, I just want to talk to him about something.' The woman still seemed confused. 'It's about his new recruit, Neil Josten.'

'Of course,' The woman said eventually, snapping out of her trance. She didn't shake Mia's hand, instead moving so Mia could step inside. 'Come inside, dear.' Mia smiled again and picked up her bag, ignoring the fact that she had been ignored. People usually took her hand, at least. The woman did none of those things. 'I'm so sorry it's a bit of a mess. My name's Abby, by the way.' Mia turned and smiled as she put her things down in the entrance hall.

'Lovely to meet you, Abby.' Mia said. 'Is Coach Wymack here?' Abby hummed and told Mia to follow her into the dining room. She did, and found a man sitting at the table, pouring over files. When he saw the two females walk into the room, he closed the files and looked up, almost guiltily. Mia's smile stuck on her face the entire time.

'David, I'd like you to meet Mia,' Abby introduced, standing in between her guest and friend like a middleman. 'She says she has something to speak to you about Neil Josten.' David stood and looked between the two smiling women.

'Alright,' he said eventually. 'Follow me.' David walked out of the room and back down the hallway to the front door. He stepped outside and Mia followed, closing the door behind her. David pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, and Mia's nose crinkled. David noticed and put them away.

'Sorry, I'm not judging you,' Mia said, putting on an American accent. One she hadn't needed to use in a few months. 'I just have some messed up stuff up here with fire,' She trailed off, pointing to her head. 'Anyway,' Mia looked around and then back at her cousin's new coach. He was looking at her expectedly.

'You wanted to talk to me about my rookie?' He asked. Mia nodded. 'You know him or something?'

'Or something, yeah,' Mia said. 'Listen, you need to put me on your team as an honorary member. I won't be a cheerleader, but I know fuck all about Exy. I'm only here because I need to look out for Neil, which is why I need to come to all practices and games, and I need to be in the loop about everything that's going on, even though Neil will undoubtedly tell me himself.' Mia paused, taking in a deep breath. 'You got that?'