Mia's Heart (The Paradise Diaries) (2 page)

I
gulp, then stare at him again.

He’s
got sandy-blonde hair peeking from under his hat and what looks like dark brown
eyes.  He’s wearing a button-up blue and white checked cowboy shirt with
the arms ripped off and Levi’s that look like they were created just for
him. 

Wow.

Just
wow.

He’s
like a handsome alien creature here in Caberra, where the average guy wears
board shorts and flip-flops and carries a surf board like it’s an
accessory.  And it intrigues me. He looks like the kind of guy who is no
stranger to hard labor and I bet a dollar to doughnuts that he’s got calluses
on his hands.

My
heart flutters.

And
so I imagine myself reaching in, wrapping my hands around it and squashing it
like a bug.

Because
a girl like me doesn’t get all fluttery over a boy. 

Any
boy.

Not
even the tough, good-looking ones.

And
he is that.

Wow.

He
hasn’t noticed me yet.  I don’t know why, unless the brim of his cowboy
hat impairs his vision.  Although to be fair, he is momentarily distracted
by a horseshoe crab.

I
watch with interest as he kneels beside it and examines it, his face only a
foot or so from the little beast.  He acts like he’s never seen one before
as he reaches out a finger and tentatively pokes it.  It lies still and I
wonder briefly if it is dead and has been washed in by the current.

He
pokes at it again, probably wondering the same thing.

And
then the thing lurches into life, scuttling in a haphazard direction directly
at man-boy.  Man-boy jumps backward in surprise, landing directly on his
chiseled backside in the wet sand.  The crab continues scuttling toward
him, probably disoriented, and man-boy continues to scramble backward, kicking
at the crab.

In
his cowboy boots.

I’m
dying with laughter and I am not quiet about it.

This
is literally the funniest thing I’ve seen in awhile.

Man-boy
looks up and sees me laughing and glowers at me, which makes me laugh all the
harder. 

My
bad mood has been lifted at the sight of this cowboy’s boots digging into the
sand trying to escape a harmless horseshoe crab.  For that, I should thank
him.

So
I do.

I
get to my feet, brush off the sand and make my way over to him.  I offer
him my hand, which he takes and I pull him to his feet.

He
smiles and his grin is slightly crooked, which I actually find endearing.
 He’s not gorgeous in a perfect way, he’s gorgeous in an interesting
way.  He’s got sexy stubble gracing his jawline and his eyes
sparkle. 

He
is even better looking up close and I smile back.

“I’m
Mia.  And you’re afraid of horseshoe crabs.”

I
speak in Caberran.  Man-boy looks puzzled and holds his hands up.

“I
don’t speak Caberran,” he says apologetically in English.  So I repeat
myself in English.  He smiles again, crooked and mischievous. 

“I’m
Quinn. And no, I’m not. I’m not afraid of anything.”

I
start to laugh, then freeze.

“Quinn? 
As in, Reece’s friend from Kansas?”

He
grins again, cocky, self-assured. 

“The
very same.  Quinn McKeyen.  And you must be Mia, Reece’s friend from
Caberra. What a small world this must be.”

He’s
got a charming American accent.

And
I might die. 

I’ve
heard all about this guy.  He’s the one who Reece used to have a crush on,
the guy who used to date Reece’s friend Becca and who has come here to Caberra
in the Foreign Exchange Student Program to live in Dante Giliberti’s
house. 

I’m
such an idiot. Whether or not I want to get all fluttery over him, I have to
admit that his crooked grin is fairly panty-dropping.  I can’t crush on my
best friend’s old crush.
Can I?

But
as I stare at him, at this man-boy with the chiseled country-boy body, his
crooked grin begs to differ.

He
raises an eyebrow.  “You are the same Mia, right?”

I
nod, willing my voice to begin working again. What the eff is wrong with me?

“Yes. 
I am.”

He
nods, his cowboy hat dipping in an attractive way.

He’s
like a retro Marlboro commercial. 

But
younger.

And
hotter.

Holy
freaking cow.

“Well
then.  It’s nice to meet you,” he nods again and I notice that his eyes
are warm and chocolately.  I’ve always preferred blue eyes.  But I am
changing that stance as of right this minute.  Brown is my new blue.
 I’m sure of it.

And
then he turns around and walks away.

Wait. 

Did
that just happen? 

I
start to call after him, but then decide not to.  I’m not going to be one
of
those
girls, the kind that chases after a good-looking guy simply
because they’re good looking.  And Quinn is definitely that. 

Good-looking.

Very,
very good looking.

Awesomely,
amazingly good looking.

I
watch his strong, wide shoulders sway as he disappears over the sand
dunes. 

And
later, after I return home and go to bed, I dream about his milk-chocately
stare.

Chapter
Two

To:
Reece Ellis >
[email protected]

From: 
Mia Giannis >
[email protected]

Subject: 
HolyFreakingHotGuy

Reecie,

Soooooo. 
I met Quinn.  Holyfreakinghell.  You didn’t tell me that he is so
effing hot. 

Shame
on you.  A girl needs some advanced warning for something like this.

-Mi

********

To: 
Mia Giannis >
[email protected]

From:
 
Reece
Ellis >
[email protected]

Subject:  
Seriously?

Mi,

Seriously? 
You met him already?  School hasn’t even started. 

But
honestly, I had a crush on him for years—did you really think I’d crush on an
ugly guy?  Not hardly.  Also, Dante is way hotter. Just saying. 

XOXO,

Reecie

********

To:
Reece Ellis >
[email protected]

From: 
Mia Giannis >
[email protected]

Subject: 
Night and Day

Reece-

Dante’s
not better—Dante’s just Dante.  He’s different from Quinn.  Like
night and day different.  Quinn’s got calluses and a cowboy hat and
holyhell, his biceps!  I’ve gotta go fan myself.

I’ll
have to talk to you later.   How
is
Dante, anyway?

Love,

Mi

PS

Please
come back soon.  I miss you.

********

To: 
Mia Giannis >
[email protected]

From:
 
Reece
Ellis >
[email protected]

Subject:  
I miss you too.

Mi,

I
miss you, too.  I think we’re coming back for Christmas break.

And
like you said, Dante is Dante.  He can fit in anywhere. 

Regarding
Quinn, you should get to know him.  There’s a reason that I used to be so
totally in love with him—he’s a pretty good guy.  I’ve known him since we
were in diapers.  And yes.  He is hot.

XOXO,

Reecie

PS

What
color are the stripes now?

********

To:
Reece Ellis >
[email protected]

From: 
Mia Giannis >
[email protected]

Subject: 
No joke.

Reecie,

No
freaking joke.  Tell me something I don’t know. 

Love,

Mi

PS

The
stripes are blue.  

I
run my fingers through the blue streaks in my hair and sigh before I close my laptop. 
Life sucks without Reece and Dante here.  This year will freaking suck
without them here.  Going to school will suck without them here. 

But
today’s the day.  And there’s nothing I can do about it. 

Except
get my butt into gear and take a shower.

And
get ready for the first day of school.

I
sigh again.

Hell.
 

Chapter Three

The
Piranhas are circling.

I
watch them casually as my leg dangles from my open car door. 

They
are brightly colored, all with razor sharp teeth, all swarming in for the
kill. 

And
they all have something in common.  All of them think that they are better
than everyone else because they have rich or important parents. Big deal. 
So do I. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

I
should know.  My life sucks.

In
fact, I sort of hate my life.

Actually,
not sort of.  I do.

And
I can’t make myself get out and join them, not yet. 

Because
they might not be actual piranhas, but they may as well be.

The
superficial girls are batting their eyes at cocky and arrogant boys, there is
endless flirting and way too many noses in the air.  Each one of those
girls would stab me in the back quicker than they would even look at me. I know
that. And it’s all too much to deal with before breakfast. 

Thankfully,
the second bell hasn’t even sounded, so I still have some precious alone time
for just a few minutes more.  I don’t have to deal with these freaking
barracudas yet. 

“Hey
Mia,” a cheerful voice interrupts my solitude.

So
scratch that.  Alone time is over.  But at least I haven’t lost it to
a barracuda.

“Hi
Gavin,” I turn and find Gavin Ariastasis. 

As
one of my best friends, I trust him because he’s from the same exact position
in life that I am in. Almost exactly.  His father is Caberra’s Minister of
Interior, while mine is the Minister of Defense.  Our lives are seriously
effed up because of this.  In fact, we might as well have our own little
effed up club where we air out our own little effed up issues.

“Are
you ready for our last year?” I ask absently, as I watch the fray in front of
me.  There’s a certain first-day-of-school energy in the air today.

He
laughs in response.  Gavin is always laughing, actually.  He’s one of
the happiest people I know.  The world is a joke to him, a comedy, a play.
And he’s always in the center of the stage. But I like that about him. 
Everyone likes that about him.  He doesn’t take anything, including
himself, too seriously.

“I’m
ready for anything.  Always,” he announces to me. 

One
of the things I love the most about Gav is that he is so freaking cocky and
self-assured. But he pulls it off in a likeable way, unlike most of these other
cretins. That’s why he’s so likeable.

I
laugh and stare up at him.  He’s good-looking in a very Caberran way. He’s
dark-haired, dark-eyed and carefree. And tan because he’s always out in the
sun.  Like many of the other Caberran boys, he is a surfer. He was born to
live in the sun.  His eyes are almost always sparkling at some unsaid
joke.  But for some reason, I’ve never been attracted to him even though
he’s gorgeous.  I don’t know why because it would be so convenient. 

But
I guess hearts don’t care about convenience.

“I
see you’ve altered your uniform,” he observes.