At Midnight

Chapter 4

"How are you, Mia?" my uncle, Charlie asked.

" I'm doing alright." I spoke into the phone as I stared at myself in the mirror.

" I can't visit this weekend though, too much work to do." He responded, sounding a little disappointed with himself. He blamed himself whenever he couldn't visit and I didn't like it.

" It's okay. I have to go, bye." I said, as nonchalant as possible.

" Bye kiddo! Hey I love you, you know that right." I could feel him smiling over the phone.

" Yeah. Love you too, bye. " I hung up and set the phone down on the sink. I took another piece of tissue and wiped away my ruined mascara.

I didn't have any motivation to re-do my make-up so I changed into sweats. It wasn't like I had anything important to do that day. Well, if school was included, then yeah, I should be worrying because it was noon and I was extremely late. But I was skipping again so to hell with that.

Wow, with my attitude it wasn't a surprise that I was failing almost all of my subjects.

My mother was hardly around so it wasn't like the school could do anything about it. The teachers tried to discipline me at first but they gave up eventually and after realizing my 'circumstances', they started giving me special treatment.

They had tried calling my parents in the past but my mother was always busy and my father was unreachable. Even I didn't know what the hell he had been doing for the past seventeen years of my life. The only things I had to remember him by were the tears that my mother had shed when he signed the divorce papers and the empty house. He never visited or called us.

Uncle Charlie was the only family member that cared about me. He was the only one that took time out of his hectic schedule for me. He treated me as a daughter and I wished that I didn't worry him so much. Like my mother, he was wildly successful in his career but a failure in marriage. But, of course, he had to live all the way on the other side of America, in Orlando. It was hard for Uncle Charlie to be there for me physically but he tried his best.

My extended family members were God knows where doing God knows what. They were all too busy that they lost touch with their own flesh and blood. Either that or they didn't give a single fuck about anyone but themselves or that they hated me.

I missed Uncle Charlie. I wanted him to be here with me so badly but I knew that it would never happen. He had a family of his own to be there for and the option of moving to San Fransico was impossible.

But sometimes, when I couldn't sleep at night, I would imagine his family moving in to live with me. And maybe my mother wouldn't be as busy as before. Then, it'd really feel like a real family. Yet, that would never happen, not even in a million years. Damn you wishful thinking.

Just then, I heard a loud knock on my window. I prayed that it was just the twigs hitting on the pane but it didn't stop after a few minutes. I groaned in annoyance as I trudged to open the window. I was a mess but I didn't care anymore.

" You've been ignoring my calls, Miss Roden and being the caring and lovable friend that I am, I have come by to check on you." Ashton simply stated.

" How'd you know that I wasn't in school?" I questioned, hoping that it would distract him from my puffy eyes.

" I saw that your car was still in the garage." He shrugged.

" Stalker." I teased. He gave me a weak smile and then I noticed that something changed in his eyes. It was the first time I saw Ashton upset. Something was bothering him but I didn't know what.

" Hold on." I told him as I went up to my room to change out of my sweats into something more decent looking. I figured that I should do at least that for him. I rushed down the stairs and grabbed my car keys. Climbing out of the open window, I grabbed his hand and dragged him into my car.

" Where are we going?" he asked, a little off guard by my sudden urge to actually get out of the house.

" It's a surprise." I grinned.

+++

" It's nicer at night though." I explained to Ashton as we sat down on one of the many benches. Our feet crushed the brown and red leaves that blanketed the ground.

" Why did you bring me here?" he asked, confused as to why I had dragged him to the hill that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge.

" You need to sort things out." I replied. He raised an eyebrow and I felt obligated to further explain myself. " This is where I go most of the time to clear my head. Its quiet and people hardly come here. It's a great place to be alone."

" Don't get me wrong, I feel honored that you brought me to your secret hide out and everything but what makes you think that I needed to sort things out?" he asked me, trying to hide his hurt.

" Your eyes." I answered.

He stared at me for while before turning away. He clasped his hands together and pressed them against his temple, closing his eyes. After what seemed like forever, he finally regained his posture and looked at me with his piercing brown eyes.

" I'm worried." He sighed. " About a friend."

" What's wrong?"
" You see, I have this amazing friend but I'm afraid to ask her something and I'm not sure if it would affect our friendship but I really need to know." He muttered.

" You should ask your friend. You do have good intentions, don't you?" I told him.

" Why were you crying?" he asked after a moment of silence. He looked at me and tried to analyze my face for answers in case I wouldn't budge.

I was taken aback but maintained a straight face. I hadn't expected him to ask me about it. I wasn't ready to tell him, or anyone. He was staring at me intently, waiting for an answer. But I wasn't going to give him one. So, I just stared at the bridge, thinking of the ocean and the height of the bridge.

" It's okay not to be okay." He comforted me.

" I'm okay." I smiled.