Page 57 of Just My Luck
Zara raced into the outdoor shopping plaza where the Juicy Java was located. Scanning the outdoor tables, she spotted her sister slumped in a chair, scribbling furiously in her journal.
“Hey, kiddo,” she said gently, as she claimed the chair next to her. “Are you doing okay?”
A sob racked Mia’s body. She wore her favorite fishnet fingerless gloves and a black tank dress. The streaks of tears on her face were dark from her eye makeup.“What’s wrong with us, Zara? Why can’t we be like everyone else?”
“Well…maybe because no one is like everyone else?”
“Ha ha. You know what I mean. Our dad’s in prison. You’ve had sixteen million different jobs. My mom’s in a cult.”
“Cult might be a strong word,” Zara said carefully. She wasn’t her stepmother’s biggest fan, but she didn’t like to criticize her.
“If you tell me it’s an intentional community and that makes it okay that she left us, I’m going to murder…this bagel,” Mia ended weakly. “I don’t want to murder you because then who would take care of us?”
“Right. Good point. Thanks for having mercy on me.” She scooted her chair closer to Mia’s. “I know it sucks to be a Morrissey sometimes, but we have our good qualities too.”
“Like what?”
“We have pretty eyes, everyone says so.” Zara winced at that example. Think of something better. “We’re adaptable. We’re imaginative. We’re good at surfing, whether it’s waves or disasters.”
“Ugh, why do you always have to ‘look on the bright side’?” Mia’s air quotes looked more like claws. “Who cares about our eyes? I just want to be normal! Do you know what Amy called me? She said I was a trash bag surfer freak.”
“Ouch. What were you two fighting about?”
“Some guy she likes. I guess he likes me but I don’t even care about him. He’s a jerk who sends his buddies nude pictures of his girlfriends.”
Oh God. The things kids had to deal with these days. “Please stay away from him, I beg you.”
“That’s what I told Amy but she didn’t want to hear it.”
Zara ached for her little sister. So many troubles piled onto her young shoulders—her mom’s departure, her father’s conviction, the bullying, and now this fight. “Listen, Mia. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. With everything going on, you’re hanging in there like a champion. Honestly, I admire you.”
“You do?”
“I really do. Things will get better. I know it feels like this is your life, for good, but everything changes. It’s the one thing you can always count on.”
“So you’re saying things could get worse?”
Zara laughed despite herself, and after a moment, so did Mia. Her expression lightened just a bit.
“I’ve been thinking I should go back to school. I kind of miss it.”
“Really?” After a beat of surprise, Zara asked, “What about the bullying?”
“I think I can handle it better now. I just needed some time. Lincoln…well, I don’t know, we talked about it some. He gets it. I guess he was kind of an outcast growing up.”
When had that conversation happened? “Hm. I’ll have to give that manny of ours a raise.”
Mia snickered. “So, what do you think?”
“It’s completely up to you, Mia. I’ll support you either way.”
“So you don’t need me to babysit Eddie?”
Yes. But Zara kept that to herself. “We’ll figure it out.”
“I bet Lincoln would stick around. He obviously likes you.”
Zara was saved from responding by the buzz of Mia’s phone from inside her bag. She tugged it onto the table and rummaged inside. She’d made it herself out of a burlap rice bag, and added a crossbody strap made from a leather belt. Mia loved to up-cycle. Imaginative. Adaptable.
