ETHAN
Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel impatiently I give out a huff in frustration. They're late again. Seriously I don't know why I agreed to give everyone a lift today, I really don't want to be late. My brother Samuel is in the passenger seat next to me playing with his phone, I can't help but sigh out again. I'll give them two more minutes then I'm leaving. I don't care if Phoebe is Sammy's girlfriend.
Just then Caleb pulls up in front of me and blocks me in, he always fucking does this. Caleb throws me a smug look in his rear view mirror and I just flip him the bird making Sammy chuckle. My mom is sitting next to Caleb in his passenger and she throws me a disapproving look over her shoulder for swearing at my brother that makes Sammy laugh even more.
Right at that moment the Collins front door swings open and Joanie, Phoebe and Laura finally head out and make their way down the driveway.
Come on, come on, come on. I don't want to be late today, not on my girl's big day.
Joanie yanks opens the back seat of his Caleb's car with zero fucks to how hard she slams it close which makes me grin, yeah thats right Caleb she's your fucking problem now brother. Since Mia and I got back together five months ago Joanie has switched all her attention to Caleb and no matter how many times he shoots her down she just never gives up. Caleb mouths to me 'HELP ME' in his mirror before I give him a little wave and he pulls away grimacing. Phoebe and Laura jump into my back passengers seats and I pull away also.
Finally we're on the road!
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I park up at my old High School and glance at the time with relief, five minutes to go till the doors open. Thank fuck we're not late or i'd be unbearable! I quickly jump out the car and open the back door for Laura and then help usher the others towards the main hall with just a few minutes to spare. Pride hits my gut when I see the large sign above the hall's entrance signally to what's inside- The Seniors Final Year Art Exhibition.
This exhibition means everything to Mia, it's where she will get her final Art grade from which will help determine if she gets into her preferred schools or not. I'm desperate for her to join me at Stanford, but I know the acceptance rate is high and she's been struggling with some of her other grades. We've worked on those together to bring up her grade average, but this exhibition really is make or break for her. Mia has been super secretive about her final art project, not even I've been able to see it.
The clock hits One O'clock and the door swings open, I'm eager to get inside until...
Ah Fuck, I forget about her.
"Welcome art enthusiasts! I'm so happy you've been able to make it to this wonderful exhibition. I'm sure you will be very proud of what the students have produced this year. To make it a bit more special i've added some of my own pieces around the room just to make it that little bit more professional shall we say...they are for sale... if anyone would like to purchase any of my pieces please do come and see me directly," Miss Waters says in a sing song voice and I do my best to avoid her eye contact, I don't want to get stuck talking to this woman when Mia is inside.
"Oh Ethan! How nice to see you again, you're still nice and strong I see, would you be a dear and help move..." Miss Waters starts but I'm quick to cut in.
"No, sorry. Bad back from football...but my brother here i'm sure can help," I say with a grin shoving Caleb forward.
"Dick face," Caleb mutters at me before I give him two thumbs up. Caleb scowls at me as Miss Waters leads him away and I can't help but laugh out loud as I finally enter the hall to see what my beautiful girlfriend has been working on.
The hall is busy with excited parents and families who are just as keen as me to see the exhibition. My eyes scan the room for Mia, but I can't see her anywhere, I look at the others who all have the same puzzled look apart from Sammy who has a big smile on his face. I look at him questioningly but he says nothing so I head further into the hall past number art pieces.
I'm pretty sure I caught sight of a naked sculpture of me when I pass Danny's corner and decide to move quickly on hoping to god my mum doesn't see it, that is not a conversation I want to get into today with her.
As I head further into the exhibition I spot a queue forming near the back of the hall. As I get closer I can see that a large section of the hall is actually curtained off with a small section that opens as a door where the queue of people are going into. Sammy joins the queue with his hands in his pocket and a smug look etched on his face.
"What the fucks going on?" I murmur to him and he laughs. Sammy steps aside and I see a sign post behind him, I look down and study the details on it. There's a large black and white photo of the six of us all dressed up as pirates in front of the treehouse, it was the first day we all met after we became friends and in all honesty I forgot that this photo existed. I quickly scan the writing above it.
'More Than Just Neighbours' by Mia Collins.
I look up with confusion when Sammy pulls open the curtain and lets our families inside. As we shuffle inside my eyes have to adjust to the lighting and my eyes grow wide.
The room is bathed in darkness but at the centre of the room the treehouse stands in all its past glory with shafts of light beaming onto it and through the windows and the door from carefully placed lights on the floors and walls. Even the handmade sea glass wind chime that Mia made when she was eleven is hanging up in its rightful place at the window. When you first look at it from the front it looks to be fully rebuilt, but as you walk to the side of it you can see that it has been deconstructed cleverly and it's like a giant 3D jig saw that you can walk around. I shoot Sammy a look and he grins back at me. Yeah this is definitely some of his handwork to help construct all this and I give him a pat on the back as I wander closer to take a look.
Mia's many forms of art work cover all the inside walls and they've been labelled and explained, more black and white photos of the six of us have been added of the times we played together growing up and I can't help but smile at all the displays as the memories all start to flood back.
This really is incredible. I scan the room watching peoples reactions and I can tell everyones just as blown away as I am by the exhibit.
"Hey," the familiar voice I've been waiting to hear all day catches my attention and I spin around to see the most beautiful woman in the room slowly walk towards me with a shy smile on her face. In three large strides I pull Mia up into my arms and crush my lips to hers making her gasp with surprise. It's not a long kiss, I don't want to make a big scene on Mias big day so I begrudgingly slowly drop her back onto her feet and pull away, slightly amused to see a dark pink blush hit Mia's cheeks.
Oh yeah I'm going to show her just how much I can make her blush later tonight.
"This is truly something baby, honestly I couldn't be more proud of you," I whisper to her and Mia beams back at me happily with my compliment.
"Do you think it's enough to get me into College?" She whispers back nervously, scanning the crowds now also.
I pull her back into my arms and gently stroke her face so she looks back up to me, "Mia, there is nothing in this world you can't do."
YOU ARE READING
More Than Just Neighbours
Teen Fiction"Do you touch yourself Mia?" he whispers. I blush with embarrassment, but I can't lie to him at this moment. He's back in control. "Yes,"I breath out quietly. "Do you touch yourself thinking about me?" he questions further. No playfulness on his lip...
