Under the Stars

31. Anything less

Chapter 31: Anything less

Mia's POV

*****

I felt guilty for the rest of that day. I would have never imagined how important my messages were to Theo. He could have gotten into even more trouble by reading them, and yet he kept checking to see if I sent him something, while I never did. 

That was all I could think about for the duration of our school party, and despite Sophie's attempts to make me feel better, I still felt horrible about it. Theo was important to me, and the only reason why I wanted to write those messages for him was that so he would be able to realise it. Yet it seemed to have done the exact opposite. 

"I'm sure he's not going to be upset with you if you explain the misunderstanding," Sophie said as she bit into her pizza. 

"I know he will," I sighed. "But I still feel bad. I could have made him feel better while he was grounded, yet all I did was make him feel worse."

She smiled pityingly at me as Jack and his girlfriend Jade sat down next to us, Logan and the rest of Sophie's friends quickly following suit. The last thing I wanted was to be surrounded by Sophie's friends in that moment, knowing exactly what they were going to be talking about. 

Nice dancing Mia, but maybe you should have been more graceful.

I would try another hobby if I were you. We're saying this because we care about you, of course. 

People's appearances was all they ever talked about. They were shallow, and I could never stand it, especially not in that moment. 

"I liked your little dance, Mia, it was cute," Susan said. 

I rolled my eyes at her and clenched my fists, trying to keep myself from pouncing on her. What I hated more than them straight up telling me how bad I was was them mocking me. 

"I thought she was great," Jade said as she stole a fry from Jack's plate before he looked at her with a smile. 

A small smile formed on my face as I heard her say those words. Jade and I hadn't talked much ever since we drifted apart, and it was nice to see that there wasn't any bad blood between the two of us. 

"I second that. You're a great dance, Mia," Jack told me with a smile making Justin groan. 

"Ugh, just get a room already," he said, making Jack snap his head at his cousin, glaring at him. 

"What's your problem?" Jack asked him, clearly annoyed with Justin. "You've been on my case all day, just mind your own business." 

Tension suddenly surrounded the table as our eyes were glued on the two of them. Jack and Justin were like the male version of Sophie and I. They were close friends, and it was clear that they cared for each other. That was why it was so weird to see them fighting that way. 

"You know what? Forget it," Jack sighed as he noticed all of us looking at him before getting up from his seat and walking outside.  

Jade looked at us, her face burning red because of what had just happened. Apologising to us, she quietly got up and followed Jack, leaving all of us in an uncomfortable silence before Susan started laughing. 

"It's about time that you put him in his place," she told Justin, who did not seem to happy with her in that moment. 

"Yeah, now I wonder who'll do the same to you," I told her as everyone looked at me with widened eyes. "Are you ever going to get tired of messing with people just so that you can feel better about yourself? You're gorgeous, Susan, you can have all of the friends and guys you want, but you're never going to get any with that attitude of yours."