Mia the Magnificent (23 page)

“Hey,” Tim said, turning his back on me and shooting the ball from center court, “I can’t start a precedent of you being right, now, can I?”

Tears welled up in my eyes as his words sunk into my brain. I couldn’t believe I had fallen for his lies once again. How gullible was I? Tim had never loved me. The only person Tim had ever loved was himself!

Struggling to pull myself out of the flimsy lawn chair, I choked on my anger. “Just for a second, I thought you’d truly changed. But you’re still the same arrogant, self-absorbed jerk you’ve always been. I came all the way over here—on
crutches
—to talk to you, and it turns out that all you care about is being right. I hate you, Tim Radford!”

“Good!” Tim said, clutching the ball so hard I thought it might explode in his hands. “Because I hate you, too, Mia Fullerton! You’ve ruined my life. Before I moved here, I was happy. I’d kissed a few girls. It worked. Then you came along and changed everything! All I wanted was you. Do you even know what that was like for me? To want someone so much that I didn’t even
want
to date anyone else?”

“You didn’t want to date anyone else?!” I spat. “Then what do you call Alyssa and Cassie? What do you call Felicity in Maine?”

“Distractions!” Tim replied. “When I got to Maine, I missed you so much I almost went out of mind! I was way too young to feel like that, so I went out with Felicity to prove to myself I didn’t need you to make me happy. By the time I realized no one could replace you, you’d already broken up with me.”

“For good reason,” I said. “And you asked out Cassie as soon as you got back!”

“I know, but I still figured we would work things out,” Tim said.
“But when I saw you kissing Eric, I knew I had to get over you once and for all. So I kept seeing Cassie.”

“How convenient for you,” I replied, forcing myself not to get swept away by his words again.

“Mia, you’re not listening to me!” Tim threw the basketball onto the court. “I never wanted to hurt you. I was just so confused about how much I liked—no, loved you. And I tried so hard to fight how I felt, but I couldn’t. So I finally got the courage to tell you backstage tonight how much I care about you, but you never said you loved me back!”

“OK, once again you have me totally confused,” I said. “So, which is it? Do you love me or hate me?”

“I guess a little of both,” Tim replied with a sigh. “It’s kind of twisted.”

“To say the least,” I replied. “But, unfortunately, I think I know exactly how you feel.”

“You do?” Tim walked over to me. “Are you saying you have feelings for me—I mean, other than hatred?”

“I don’t know how I feel about you anymore,” I said as my fiery anger began to melt away. “Most of the time I
do
hate you, but then there are other times—”

“That you might still like me?”

I slowly nodded.

A wide grin spread across Tim’s face as he pulled me into his arms. “So, we can get back together?”

As I looked into his gorgeous, dark, chocolate eyes, every part of me wanted to say yes. I mean, he was Tim. He made my life exciting. But he also made it excruciating. And I knew I couldn’t go through that kind of pain again.

“Tim,” I said as I gently pushed him away, “I can’t get back together with you.”

“Why?” Tim sputtered. “I love you and you love me—”

“Which is why I can’t risk getting my heart broken by you a second
time,” I said, holding onto his hands for support. “It would be better for both of us if we just stayed friends.”

“Friends?” Tim said. “Like, people who don’t make out with each other?”

“Yeah, exactly like that,” I said as I reached for my crutches. “I think it would be good for both you and me to take a break from dating anyone for a while.”

“But what fun is that?” Tim asked.

I tucked my crutches under my armpits. “I don’t know. I think we can have a lot of fun together being single. We can study and play basketball, and since I won’t be driving anywhere for the next two years, we can also have fun while you chauffeur me around wherever I want to go.”

“Oh, joy,” Tim said as he sank into a lawn chair. “So, after we have all this ‘fun,’ do you think there’s a chance we’ll ever get back together again?”

“Tim, when it comes to you and me, I can’t even begin to guess what’s going to happen in the next ten minutes, let alone a year from now.” I took a step forward. “But no matter what happens, I can guarantee it won’t be dull.”

With that, I crutched my way back to my house, alone. I didn’t look back.

I got my first taste of acting in eighth grade when I enrolled in the Junior Theatre Program in Davenport, IA. After my debut performance as Queen Snooty, I was hooked!
Mia the Melodramatic
wouldn’t have been possible without all the experiences Mary Flueher Nighswander and Bonnie Gunther provided me, first as an actor and later as part of the stage crew. There aren’t many people who can say their high school jobs allowed them to hang out with their friends while painting sets, building props, sewing costumes, directing children’s plays, and dressing up as a clown!

I would also like to thank my incredible writers’ group: Jan Blazanin, Becky Janni, and Sharelle Byars Moranville. Their encouragement and critiques have saved me time and time again. I also have a secondary writers’ group that consists of my husband and two children. Their insights and honesty are invaluable to me, too.

The Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators (SCBWI) continues to be a wealth of information, and I would like to give a special acknowledgement to the amazingly talented members in the Iowa chapter.

Thank you to my friends and family, and to dedicated readers of the Mia Fullerton series. Your wonderful comments and praise have brightened my world in ways you will never know.

Lastly, I would like to thank Bruce Bortz, publisher of Bancroft Press, and his incomparable assistant, Harrison Demchick, for their help with this book, and with their continuing belief in Mia and me.

Eileen Boggess is the author of
Mia the Meek
(Bancroft Press, 2006) and
Mia the Melodramatic
(Bancroft Press, 2008). A former middle school teacher with a Master’s degree in Middle Level Education, Eileen enjoys exploring the humorous side of the topsyturvy teenage years.

A native Iowan, Eileen currently lives in Urbandale, Iowa with her husband, two children, and greyhound named Onyx. In addition to running the Urbandale Food Pantry, she is presently working on several young adult manuscripts.

For more information, please visit her website at
www.eileenboggess.com.