She Saved Me | Tom Riddle

One Step Foward

Hey y'all. This is definitely a filler chapter that is less focused on Tom and Ava. Maybe that will be a nice change for you guys, maybe not. But I thought it would be great to include our side characters a little more.

Oh, to finish the title...and two steps back (lol)

Listen: Venus In Furs by Pat Robitaille

46| one step forward

As final exams got closer, tension seemed to peak between everyone. Students were stressed enough with assignments and that only put more pressure on their extracurriculars. Friend groups especially were tested during this time. One friendship, already strained with constant disagreements, was Liam and Mia's. Their normal bickering kicked up a notch when Liam disregarded Mia's itch for prioritizing homework over spending lunch with their group. She practically blew up at him for even questioning her. Things only continued in the same way throughout the day, which made things far more awkward for their friends.

Eventually Tom convinced Ava to let them be and go off on their own. Allison didn't last nearly as long later in the afternoon when they attempted to all meet in the library. She tolerated twenty minutes of endless comments from Liam that only served to irritate Mia before deciding to study elsewhere. An actual argument started shortly after, which prompted Tom and Ava to leave as well. They knew their absence wouldn't have been noticed anyways.

The next day Liam made it his personal mission to bother Mia as much as possible. Well, he only decided that after she berated him at breakfast over his messy uniform. He asked her pointless questions in every class and then followed her to the library where she had hoped to study peacefully. He had every intention of making her feel the way she made him feel.

"Would you stop bothering me," Mia snapped as she turned down the history section.

"I thought you wanted to help me stay on track with classes," Liam said with a shrug.

Mia scoffed and tried her best ignore him as she looked through a random book. But when he didn't leave, she turned around to look at him. "I offered to keep you focused on your studies, not hold your hand through it."

Liam shrugged, "same thing."

"No it's not," Mia groaned out. "Merlin's beard you are so infuriating," she whispered harshly.

Letting out a laugh, Liam stepped out of her way when Mia pushed past him. "Such a prima donna." He decided to give her a little space as she went down the next aisle over.

"Prima donna," Mia muttered to herself while pulling out a few different books, "idiota exasperante."

Liam smirked as he poked his head around the the aisle as Mia started back his way. She flinched hard enough to nearly drop the stack of books she was holding. "I heard that," he commented.

"Good," Mia snapped.

Before she could move around him, Liam grabbed the toppling books from the top of Mia's pile. "I don't know exactly what you said, but it sounded rude." He dropped the books on a nearby table and smirked when he took notice of Mia's glare. "Come on you can't be mad, I just helped you."

Mia's glare became more intense. "I didn't ask for you to."

"And you say I'm the difficult one," Liam stated.

Slamming her books on the table, Mia finally vented to him. "Because you are!" She took a step towards him, attempting to keep her yelling to a minimum. "You don't listen, you don't take school seriously, and you're constantly pestering me." Each thing she listed was emphasized by her poking his chest. Liam listened with a straight face, and let her finish. "Why can't you just grow up," she asked incensed.