Ethereal Love

Chapter 15

A few days had passed since it was Christmas and it was Mia and I's last day at home before we headed back up to Manchester to celebrate new years. We wanted to spend the day with Malia so we all drove to KFC and ate takeout in a lonely car park just opposite us and all sang, gossiped and did the typical things girls all do together. As I was diving into my popcorn chicken, I saw Malia and Mia singing their heart out to ABBA's Dancing Queen. I couldn't stop laughing at them, Mia was sitting in the middle seat in the back of the car whilst Malia was in the passenger seat and I was in the driver's seat. Malia swung her head back and used her straw as a mic meanwhile Mia was pretending to play the drums and singing the chorus. The song came to an end and Malia finished what she'd call a 'free concert' off with a dramatic pose, one arm straight in the air whilst the other is bent and the straw used as a mic close to her mouth.

The next song that came on was Line Without a Hook by Ricky Montgomery, a beautiful song that we all sang our hearts out too. Malia set up her phone and recorded such a beautiful moment with us all and posted it on her story.

As the lyrics said:

She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a boy

He's singing, 'She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a line without a hook'

Oh, baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you.

I had noticed that Mia had changed them slightly:

She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a girl

I'm singing, 'She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a line without a hook'

Oh, baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you.

As she sang them, from the corner of my eye, I caught her looking at me as she sang it. I didn't feel anything when she did, which was nice but unusual as she could literally touch my pinky and it'd be bi panic but I felt nothing. The only thing I felt was how much I missed Iago. I can't wait to see him soon. Mia caught me looking back at her and I saw her quickly look away, I smiled and changed the song to hot girl bummer by blackbear before things could get too awkward. We ate our food and went for a drive, I spoke about Iago, Malia spoke about her hot dentist and Mia spoke about that girl she met at Felix's party a while back - Ivanna. We all had a blast talking about people who have caught our eye and those we admire. When we next looked at the time it was already two o'clock in the afternoon! We rushed home because Mia and I needed to pack so we could leave tomorrow morning.

I walked straight upstairs and began to pack all my things, it got quite hot so I took my sweater off and continued to pack just wearing my football shorts and my Nike sports bra. I heard a knock at the door, it was Mia - "Hey, is everything okay?" I ask,

"Yeah, I know things are difficult for you right now because you miss Iago and he's being really off with you but-" Mia stopped talking mid-track of what she was saying,

"But what?"

"I don't want things to be really awkward but I really like you. I have for a while; since we first kissed actually. I don't want to get in the way of things with you and Iago, in fact, I don't really know why I'm telling you this. I'm sorry." Mia left my room and rushed back into hers, I tried to chase after her so we could talk but she shut me out. I stood outside her door knocking it repeatedly begging for her to let go of her door and let me in to talk but she didn't move. I walked back to my room in shock and continued packing. Mia likes me, she actually likes me. I'm fine with that because I thought I liked her but I just hope she doesn't make things awkward because I don't want to lose our friendship over this.

Once I had finished packing, I text Mia saying:

'Hey, I know you're probably frustrated with yourself for telling me how you feel but I am glad you did. I liked you too, I realised this when we first kissed. I have liked you for a while but this would be wrong - I'm with Iago. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner that I liked you but I was really confused about myself and I didn't know whether I was overthinking the situation or if I genuinely liked you. I don't want things to change between us because of this x'

Mia had seen the message within seconds of me sending it but I didn't receive a reply. Instead, I had a soft knock at my door, Mia pushed my door open and rushed into my arms, "I am so sorry for everything Maddy. I really am. You've been so great to me and I think I'm just not used to having that level of support from someone. Thank you for everything."

I looked her in the eyes, held her face and said, "Don't be silly, you shouldn't apologise for how you feel about people. You can't help the way you feel about people, the body chooses what it wants, not the mind. I just don't want things to change between us. I feel like it'd be silly." Mia smiled and took my bags downstairs. I followed after her and sat in the living room next to mum, I snuggled up to her and released a dramatic amount of emotion. Mum was really confused about what's going on because I seemed fine earlier but I'm worried about Iago, this whole situation with Mia was needed but I didn't need it too. I needed to hear it because now I'm aware she likes me but I didn't need it because I'm confused with where my relationship stands with Iago because he's ghosting me big time.

"Have you tried calling Iago's dad or any of his friends? They might know where he is or if anything has happened to him." Mum said, confused herself.

"I was going to call his dad but I didn't want to be the obsessive girlfriend you know?" Mum nodded but insisted I try and call either his dad or a friend. I hugged mum and then called Andrew, Iago's dad.

After three tries, he finally picked up:

MADDY: Hey Andrew, I really don't mean to be a pest but is Iago okay? He hasn't responded to any messages or phone calls of mine over the past few days.

ANDREW: Hi Mads, it's not my place to go into detail but he's not in a good place. He moved back home with me and he's stayed in his room for the past four days, maybe?

MADDY: Oh okay, should I come and visit him tomorrow? I come back to Manchester tomorrow, maybe I could try and cheer him up?

ANDREW: That sounds lovely, I'll text you my address. Thank you for checking in. I hope you had a lovely Christmas.

I hung up and told mum what's been going on. I didn't bother messaging Iago again because I thought that by giving him space, he'd maybe appreciate that and when I turn up at Andrew's tomorrow he would hopefully be surprised.