Mia stared out the car window, watching as each drop of rain collided with the glass. Tiny droplets joined with the others surrounding it, and together they created a larger raindrop. Two more small drops joined in, and the droplet grew too heavy to sit still. Down it slid, weaving a trail of water through the other raindrops until it reached the bottom of the window.
Then it disappeared.
Mia watched the process repeat again and again, and she counted how many times the raindrops fell. She would do anything to keep her mind off of the people she was leaving behind. The miles slowly rolled by as the rain streaked down her window, but not even her mindless activity could keep her from thinking about the one thing she loved most.
She leaned toward the window and breathed on it, creating a foggy barrier between her and the outside world. She lifted a trembling hand and drew the outline of mountains, the same ones she'd woken up to for all seventeen years of her life. Her heart ached for those mountains at the mere sight of her drawing.
Mia dropped back into her seat and let out a sigh. If it were up to her, she would have never left. Mia would have moved into the mountains themselves before she ever chose to leave them.
Her mother's blue eyes appeared in the rearview mirror, and she raised her eyebrows.
"I know what you're going to say, and it won't make a difference," Mia said before her mom could speak.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
"Sorry doesn't take me back to Boulder."
"I promise I'm only doing what is best for us."
"Best for you, you mean." Mia looked away from her mom and returned her gaze to the raindrop covered window. "Staying in Boulder is what is best for me."
Mia's mother, Sandra, had accepted a job in Atlanta with a Fortune 500 company. Mia had lost track of how many times her mother had told her that the new job was going to be what was best for them. Give them a better life. Mia huffed and rolled her eyes. Tearing her away from everything she knew and loved was not what was best for her.
"I know it's hard leaving Jonathan and your other friends, but just think about all the great technology we have that allows you to keep in touch." Her mom turned on her blinker and brought the car to a halt at a stop sign. She glanced up in the mirror again. "You can Skype with Jonathan every evening after school if you want to."
Mia sank farther down in the back seat so that her mother couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. "That's not the same, and you know it."
Mia's mother turned the car onto the next street, and the twinkling lights of a dozen grounded airplanes filled the windshield. Mia's stomach twisted as her mom drove them ever closer to the Denver Airport. As soon as she stepped onto the plane, there was no coming back. Her mom might have tried to convince her that they would come back and visit for a week during the summer, but Mia saw through that lie. Her mother hadn't taken any vacation time since Mia was six, right before her father left.
Mia's mom pulled the car up to the rental car drop off and got out of the car. She started unloading what few belongings they had, but Mia didn't move. She crossed her arms and remained in the backseat with her seatbelt still buckled. Her mom wasn't the only one who could be difficult.
"Come on, Mia," her mom called from outside.
Mia didn't acknowledge her. Instead, she pulled out her phone and checked her notifications.
Empty.
Mia's twisted stomach tightened, and her fist clenched around her phone at the sight of the blank screen. Not a single friend had contacted her since she announced her. No well wishes, no miss yous, no goodbyes. Mia turned off her phone and tossed it across the seat. What good were friends if they abandoned you at the first sight of difficult? As much as she hated leaving, Mia had thought she and her friends could still talk after she moved away. Instead, they acted as if she was already gone during their last week of school together.
Mia looked down at the turquoise braided bracelet around her wrist. Jonathan didn't ignore me though. A small smile broke through Mia's angry expression as she admired the bracelet he'd given her after two years of dating. Jonathan had taken her hiking, and when they had reached the top of the mountain, he gave her the bracelet. She hadn't taken it off since, and that was five months ago. The once bright color had begun to fade, but Mia didn't mind. She believed it was a testament of how long they'd loved each other.
The opening and closing of the driver's door woke Mia from her daydream, but her mom wasn't in the driver's seat. A tan skinned and dark haired woman turned around to look at Mia. "Your mom is waiting by the curb."
Mia reached across the car, retrieved her phone, and jumped out of the car. As soon as her feet hit the parking lot, the women cranked up the car and drove off.
"Were you just going to let her drive off with me?" Mia shouted at her mom.
Her mom shrugged. "You didn't come when I called." She bent down and picked up her travel bag and suitcase and headed off for the shuttle bus.
Mia glared at the back of her mom's head as she picked up her backpack and suitcase and followed. She handed her bags to the driver and walked past where her mom was sitting and took the seat in the far back corner of the bus. If only she could have gotten plane tickets with the same seating arrangement.
When the shuttle reached the airport, Mia retrieved her bags and followed her mom from a distance. Once they were through customs, Mia rushed to take the last seat that faced out to the Colorado mountains, ignoring her mom's disapproving look as she searched for a seat elsewhere.
Mia narrowed her eyes in an attempt to make out the snowy mountain tops in the darkness, and she could barely see the white peaks against the night sky. She could still hear the soft crunch under her feet as she trekked through the knee-high snow. Mia rested her chin on her hands and vowed that one day, she would return home.
Alone.
Ring, ring.
Mia jumped at the unfamiliar sound and scrambled to get her phone out of her pocket. The screen showed a picture of Jonathan standing tall and proud on top of their mountain. Mia grinned.
"Hey, baby!" Mia answered.
"Hey," Jonathan's voice replied. "Have you left yet?"
"I'm waiting to board the plane now. Why?"
"Oh." The phone went silent.
Mia's heart beat quickened. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Well...I..."
"Spit it out already!" Mia shouted. She froze when several people on both sides of her jumped. "Sorry," she mouthed to them. Mia got up and walked over to the floor to ceiling windows, trying to get a little privacy.
"I love you, Mia. I have always loved you since we met in ninth grade," Jonathan continued.
"And I love you." Mia tried to hide her smile from her mother, who was watching Mia from her seat a few rows back.
"But...you're leaving now."
Mia's smile faded, and she tightened her grip on her phone. "What are you saying?"
"I...I just don't think I can do this. You know, long distance."
Mia felt like the room was spinning, and her legs swayed beneath her. "This is a joke, isn't it? Another one of your pranks."
She heard a sigh come from the other end of the phone. "This isn't a joke. I think it's time we move on."
"But...we..." Mia tried to respond, but she struggled to form the words. "We haven't even tried!" she finally shouted. More eyes turned toward her, but she didn't care. "I haven't even left yet, and you're already breaking up with me? But you promised—"
"I said a lot of things, Mia, and I probably would have kept those promises," Jonathan replied. "But that was before your mom decided to move you to the other side of the country."
Mia's knees buckled. A middle-aged man nearby jumped up from his seat with his arms outstretched, but he wasn't fast enough. Mia hit the floor, and she stared at everything but saw nothing. She faintly heard the man ask if she was hurt, but she couldn't move.
"Mia?" Jonathan's voiced called. "Mia? Are you there?"
The last three years flashed before Mia in her mind. Five hundred and forty days of high school sharing jokes, secrets, and kisses, three joint family vacations, two Christmas together, and countless hiking trips suddenly grew dim in Mia's mind. Three years of her life devoted to Jonathan. Wasted.
"Mia?"
"You're a jerk," Mia whispered.
"I'm sorry, Mia, but I don't see how else we could make this work."
"That's because you were too lazy to even try."
"Now, Mia—"
"Don't! I won't listen to your excuses. I don't want to talk to you ever again."
"But we could still—"
"No!" The words caught in Mia's throat. She'd never wanted this, but he gave her no choice. "You said you wanted to move on, so go."
Mia ended the call before she could change her mind and ask Jonathan to forgive her. She let her phone fall in her lap before she did something stupid like throw it again. Not that it would matter now. With Jonathan gone, her notifications would always remain empty.
A slender hand lighted on Mia's shoulder, and she instinctively jerked back. She looked up to see her mother standing over her with the middle-aged man and an older couple nearby. Her mom's all-knowing eyes searched Mia, and Mia pulled her legs in against her chest and hid her face between her knees.
"What happened?" her mom asked.
"It's all your fault!" Mia yelled, but her voice was muffled by her legs.
"Mia, what are you talking about?"
Mia jerked her head up and narrowed her eyes at her mom. "Because you had to move all the way to Georgia for your 'dream job,' Jonathan wants nothing to do with me!"
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."
"You don't really care," Mia said.
"Sweetheart, of course I care."
"Flight 342 is now boarding," a woman's voice said over the speaker system.
Mia forced her legs to move and slowly stood up, using the window to support herself. She carefully took one step and then another until she was sure her legs wouldn't falter. She picked up her belongings and joined the line of people getting ready to board Flight 342.
She looked down at her wrist and saw her faded bracelet still wrapped securely around her arm. Tears stung her eyes, but she forced them back. Mia refused to mourn over Jonathan. He didn't deserve it. She pulled on the bracelet, and the braided cord dug into her skin. She bit her tongue to keep herself from crying out, and she kept pulling. The bracelet gave and then finally snapped.
Mia marched over to the trash can and held the bracelet over it. She hesitated. Did she really want to do this? Did she really want to throw away her life in Colorado? Her life with Jonathan? Mia furrowed her brows and glared at the old bracelet. She was willing to look past the distance and make things work, but no one else was. Not her best friends, and certainly not Jonathan.
Mia threw the bracelet in the trash with more force than was necessary. If they were determined to forget her, she would forget about them.
She joined her mom in the line just as her mom was handing the women their boarding passes. The woman scanned their passes, and mother and daughter boarded the plane and took their seats in silence.
Mia never heard the shuffling of people as they tried to find room for their carry on. She never heard the chatter of a hundred voices as they all eagerly awaited arriving at their destination. And she never heard the flight attendants deliver their safety speech.
She simply watched out the plane window as the runway rushed by. She watched the wheels lift off the ground and the world angle away below them. And she watched the mountains disappear behind the clouds forever.
*Thank you for reading the first of my untold stories! What did you think? Did you like this as a one shot, or do you think it should be a longer story? What did you think about Mia's character?
I welcome all constructive feedback and ideas of how I could potentially ad to this story, so let me know if you liked it!*