Fixing You

01. Better Than That

"Hey, wake up."

Mia groaned as she felt someone patting her back. She rolled over and the sunshine greeted her as Hazel yanked the curtains open. Mia frowned, staring at Hazel while squinting to the brightness of the room, "What is it...?"

"It's not funny, Mia." Breathing heavily, Hazel paced around the room. Her words sounded like dejavu as Mia recalled hearing them from Aiden the other day. Hazel stood beside the bed and glared at Mia. "Wake the fuck up and sit straight you... whore!" she snapped.

Mia sprung out of bed, shocked. Hazel has never been that angry before, she's not that kind of girl who cuss at people - at least never at Mia since they have became friends. "Why are you so angry?" she asked, glancing at the clock and realizing it's only seven in the morning.

Hazel sat on the edge of her bed and grabbed the plastic bag on her desk. She tossed it at Mia's face and blurted out, "Take the tests. Aiden didn't remember wearing a condom. You're so fucked up for fucking my boyfriend, Mia. How could you do this to me? I fucking trusted you."

Mia felt blood rushing up her cheeks and she scoffed in disbelief. "Wow...he just-- he just have to tell you that, didn't he?"

"It's because you refused to talk to him!" Hazel seethed. "I swear to God, Mia. I hate you."

Mia shook her head, "I'm sorry, I was not in my right mind."

"I knew this was going to happen because you keep on going to his room for comfort and I didn't say anything because I trusted both of you," Hazel cried. She buried her head into her pillow and sobbed.

Mia gulped. She stood up and grabbed her phone and took the pregnancy test kits with her to the bathroom.

Hazel cried over the betrayal they committed. She realized that Aiden's behavior had started to change around her since last week, but she chose to turn a blind eye on it. Aiden exploded a month after having only small talks and silent treatment with her - only to admit that he messed up. He told her that he slept with someone a month ago, and after arguing over an hour in his car, she forgave him because it was a mistake, after all. He convinced her, almost crying, telling Hazel how sorry he is for cheating on her.

But then Mia surfaced into the conversation. It broke Hazel's heart to find out that the woman he slept with was Mia. Two of the people she trusted the most decided to betray her. They went into another argument, all the time having Carter sitting around in the room, and Aiden blurt out saying that he 'might have forgotten' to wear any protection.

The thing is, he wasn't drunk when he took Mia to his room. It was clearly intentional on his side while Mia was drunk.

"This is what you want, right?"

Hazel cracked her eyes open as soon as she heard Mia's voice. She looked at Mia and saw the distressed look on the girls' face as she held out the test results - all three returned negative and Hazel couldn't be more relieved.

"I might be a whore but I'm not stupid. The last think I'd want to have is a child in this fucked up world. I'll overdose on Plan B pills if I have to," Mia told her. "I'm sorry, I won't talk to Aiden ever again. It was really a mistake, Hazel," Mia muttered softly. While Hazel was staring at the single lines and the negative sign on the test kits, Mia left the room with only her phone in hand. She really needed some fresh air to clear up her mind.

Mia went for a walk to the campus park, strolling along the lake at the heart of the student's residency. She came to a stop as she reached the middle of the small bridge crossing the lake. Mia sighed as she can still hear Hazel's voice ringing in her ears. She felt guilty for what that has happened. It's just the fact that Hazel started dating Aiden overwhelmed her more than she expected. He started to go out less and when Mia went to parties, he would go out on chill dates with Hazel. Mia slowly lost his attention.

They have been best friends through high school and he's the best partner in crime for her. Aiden always said yes to her plans even when she wanted to go to the club as an underage. He even bought them fake IDs and would take care of her. At one point, Mia was convinced that he had feelings for her but she wasn't ready for anything serious and didn't want to ruin their friendship. With a lot of things going on around her, Mia pushed the matter of feelings aside and decided to enjoy life as is.

When they went to the same college, Mia met the innocent Hazel. She's a balance to her messed up life, like a sister Mia never had. Since then, the three of them started hanging out together. Somewhere around spring break, Hazel told her that she might have feelings for Aiden. Mia thought it was funny to spill the secret to Aiden, until she realized the joke was on her when they ended up dating each other.

Mia had a hard time adjusting to the fact that her best friends are dating while she's still going out and casually sleeping with strangers on the day that Aiden is not around to take care of her. She felt lonely and she missed hanging out with them.

"Why are you in college?"

A voice startled her and Mia dropped her phone from the shock. "What the f--" she gasped in horror, staring as her phone disappeared into the lake. Great, now she lost her phone too.

"I'm sorry, it's my mistake!"

Mia turned around and realized that the guy was no longer standing next to her but was running down the bridge while taking his shoes off.

"No, wait...!" She couldn't stop him as Carter walked into the lake, half of his body already submerged in the water. "Oh, my god... this is so embarrassing!" Mia gasped as she looked around and people were staring at him, some even laughed.

"Found it," He surfaced after a moment of swimming around, holding the phone in his hand.

"Get out of the water. People are staring," Mia whisper-yelled. She paced down the bridge, picking up his shoes and met him at the other end. "You didn't have to do that," she said, failing to hold her laughter in as she looked at the drenched guy.

"No, it's my fault for sneaking around and startling you," he scoffed, wringing his sleeves.

"Sorry, what's your name again?" Mia asked, shaking her dead phone with hopes that it can be fixed. She gasped in relief when she noticed it was still on.

"I'm Carter," he introduced himself again.

Mia gaped at him, "Thanks Carter, you've made my day."

"And I'm calling it a day," he replied, frowning at his state of misery.

"It's not even eight yet," Mia pointed out, "I'm so sorry I ruined your day... And what was your question?"

"I'll ask you the question later," Carter cleared his throat, "I'll pick you up at nine, if you want."

"Wait, what?" Mia frowned, "Where are you going?"

"I'm heading out, alone, to look for books and I'm wondering if you wanted to tag along." Carter explained. He glanced around at the other kids who were on their way to class and were distracted by his state.

Mia stared at him and she wondered what goes on inside his head or what was there up his sleeves other than the lake water. They never really talked before but he's asking her out...? Mia ran her fingers through her hair, "Can I be confused this time?"

"I'm still not hitting on you," he pointed out, shaking his head, "But I do want to talk to you."

"Oh," Mia hummed. Once again, Mia. The world doesn't revolve around you, stupid. She nodded, "Okay, see you at nine."

"And oh, wear something... appropriate."

"What?" Mia was slightly offended by what he said. Has she been wearing inappropriate clothes?

"I'm not judging you but... don't wear clothes to attract bad guys," Carter blurted out, "Short skirts, crop tops, sheer and loose shirt that makes it looks like you're not wearing any pants - I know you can do better than that."

"Wait, I'm confu--"

"See you later," he smirked as he left her behind. Mia turned around and went the other direction, back to her dorm room. She was utterly confused and the fact that he asked her to hangoit with him didn't sit right with her.

He's definitely up to something.