lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

14.

June 2013

It was another sunny Wednesday in Monaco. It was half-past noon, and Pia wasn't at school again. Skipping school wasn't anything new to her. Ever since she started hanging out with Théo and his friends, it was a kind of ritual for her.

At first, she really didn't like him, but he was the only one who showed interest in talking to her, and she desperately needed someone to talk to when Charles was away. Charles warned her about Théo. He never really liked him. He was skipping school, smoking, and drinking. It was something that Charles despised. She didn't really like him at the beginning too, but she was so tired of those judgemental faces from her classmates. Pia knew that they were talking about her behind her back. They were talking about her mum and dad. Gianna was a whore by their words, but her dad wasn't any better. He wasn't a man enough because he should deal with the situation differently. He should've done something and not just been silent. Obviously, Pia wasn't any good as well. They had an opinion on every single thing in her life, and she was so tired of it.

So, when Théo came to her desk one day and invited her to hang out with him and a couple of his friends, she didn't hesitate. She was so sick of everything that it was a no-brainer. Furthermore, Anthonie was always as well, so she could be with them as long as she wanted.

At first, she refused to smoke or drink with them. She knew how unhealthy it was, but they told her how it would help her cope with all those feelings, so she eventually agreed. She was surprised when she found out that it actually helped. Alcohol made her think less, and cigarettes calmed her down. But what was crucial to Pia was that she finally felt like she fit in. She didn't feel left out.

"Josie? Do you see the same thing?" Jules asked Joanna while looking directly at the youngster just a few meters away from them. They were both looking at petite Italian, dressed in yellow tartan trousers and a black top. She almost gave the impression that she could be a member of the mathematics club in her school, but the opposite was true.

"I guess, I do," she said casually. She didn't really care, but she was well aware that Jules did care about it.  "Let's just get her out of here," Joanna said, signalising to Jules that he should stop the car. She quickly marched over to the youngster.

Pia was so surprised by the fact that her role model was next to her that Josie could easily take a cigarette out of her fingers, looking at Pia provocatively.

"Smoking is shit," she said right after she took track of the cigarette. Then she just simply threw a cigarette at the pavement and stepped on it. She glanced at Pia's new friends. All of them with cigarettes in their fingers, but she didn't care about them. Joanna didn't know them, and she didn't see the potential in them as she did in Pia.

"Just get into that stupid car and stop wasting your potential," Joanna said unbothered. She knew that Jules would be the one lecturing her about this a whole day, so why should she bother?

"I'm not talking to you now. Let's just head over to Joanna's, and then I will talk," Jules briefly informed Pia before she even managed to greet him. He was quite clearly pissed off, but that didn't seem to bother Pia.

"Oh, just fuck off, Jules," Pia said annoyedly to the Frenchman because she didn't care about his smart pontificates. That caused Jo to look at the youngster through the back mirror with amusement on her face. This girl was really something.

"Hey, Seb, I'm sorry to disturb you during your break, but I think that I should let you know that Jules and I caught Pia smoking in the park with her friends... Well, it's not my job... Look, she isn't my child, Sebastian. I don't have a responsibility for her... Hey, hey. Calm down. I'm pretty sure that Jules will take care of that." Pia was listening closely to Joanna's phone call with Sebastian until Jules disturbed her.

"Are you even listening to me?" Pia could tell by the tone of his voice that he was furious. He lectured her last five minutes about smoking, and then he realised the Pia didn't even pay attention to him.

"Sorry, what?" Pia asked with amusement in her voice. She wanted to let Jules know that she didn't care about his pontificates in the slightest.

This response left Jules speechless. At first, he was angry with Pia because of her smoking, but as the whole situation progressed, he became to be worried. He assumed that Pia would be disturbed because she got caught, but instead, she simply didn't care. She was blithe about smoking. She didn't bother to listen to him. She treated the whole situation with such arrogance he couldn't believe it. This wasn't the Pia he met a few years ago in Italy. He couldn't recognise the girl who was sitting right in front of him, and he doubted that Charles would.

Jules headed to Joanna's terrace because he couldn't handle the atmosphere inside any longer. Joanna was still on the phone, so Pia had time to explore Josie's apartment a little more. It was just the way Pia imagined it. It was modern and pretty, but it didn't feel like home. It was almost clinical. The only thing that made the whole apartment feel more human were a few photos and trophies in the living room. Pia knew why this apartment looked the way it did. She was fully aware that as a driver, you didn't need a homely and welcoming apartment because, in the end, you didn't spend much time there. Pia was convinced that their house would look the same or maybe even worse without her mother in it. Gianna was the one who made that house feel like home. It was a bit ironic for Pia because, in the end, Gianna was the one who ruined that home.

Pia immediately realised that Joanna had ended the call with Sebastian because the silence filled the apartment. It was peaceful and yet so disturbing.

When Joanna noticed that Jules was on the terrace, she approached Pia. "Hey, I get that you're angry, and you have every right to be, but-" she wanted to continue, but the youngster sitting across from her disrupted her.

"I highly doubt that you get it," Pia opposed her. Joanna saw herself in Pia. She saw how hurt Pia was. Jo also saw how stubborn and unwavering she was. She wouldn't ever ask anyone for help. She would rather pretend that everything was great because she wanted to avoid any kind of confrontation. So, there she was. Joanna had a feeling that she was looking at her younger self, but she didn't know how to approach her.

"Look, princess," the disdain was seeping through Joanna's voice. "First of all, don't disturb me when I'm talking to you, and second, cancel your pity party. It's not like anyone cares about it. You either swim, or you drown. That's how the world is," she was so straight to the point. Her approach reminded Pia of her father. Pia believed that they would just let her drown because she didn't learn how to swim. Little did she know Anthonie, and Joanna couldn't be more different. Anthonie did this because he wanted to see you struggle, and he didn't want to help you, but Joanna just knew better than anyone that life had not come with instructions. She had to learn everything on her own and in a tough way, and she saw no reason why Pia shouldn't do the same.