Page 26 of Prospect Year

Reaching the top floor, he found Mia sitting on the floor to his right, tying off the bottom ropes of the chairs she had been working on for some time now. “Hey Mia.” She glanced up from her work with a wiggle of her fingers, then returned her attention to the ropes.

Across the room, Amber still faced the window. He eased to the table behind her and pulled out a chair. “Never seen you lost to the world. What’s up?”

“Do you ever wonder if you made a wrong decision?” Amber asked, still staring through the glass pane.

“All the time,” he answered. He jerked his head toward Mia’s snapping fingers. She waved her hand in the air. “Mia says she has too. Everyone does from time to time.”

Amber turned, tilting her head. “You always seem so confident. Both of you.”

Mia turned, her forehead wrinkled and eyes wide, shaking her head.

“But you never hesitate. You don’t let anyone get to you or discourage you, even when they can’t understand you. You push on. That time in the grocery store when those jerks thought you were deaf and made fun of it, you ignored it. I wanted to light into them.”

Mia’s face transformed and her hands began flying through the air in jerky movements mixed with various formations of finger movements.

“Whoa,” Amber called out, throwing up her hands.

“I do believe she is cussing up a storm,” Lola laughingly guessed.

Mia grinned, throwing a thumbs up.

“I didn’t mean—” Amber began only for Lola to cut her off.

“Not at you,” he said. “About the assholes at the grocery store.”

“Oh,” Amber replied, moving to sit at the table with Lola. “I’ve saved up a little money. But I need a job that pays enough for me to get on my own. There’re very few things I qualify for. And those that I do, will leave little time for studying to get my diploma. When, or if, I pass and get it. Then what? Will it be enough? I have no family left that I can depend on for support. I mean, what if I should have stayed where I was?”

Mia stood from her spot across the room and joined them at the table. Softly, she touched Amber’s hand and shook her head.

“Where’s this coming from?” Lola asked.

“I had an apartment, my car, a part-time job, friends. And I had the club. It may have not been the ideal situation, but Ace always made sure I never needed for anything. And the guys weren’t bad. Well, most of them.”

“If you were happy there, you would’ve never considered making a change. Change is not always easy, but most of the time, it’s worth the struggle,” Lola told her.

“I guess you do understand, huh?” She looked at Lola. Her eyes were sad and empty.

“Yes, I do.” I moved to an unfamiliar state to face the very club that tried to kill me. And here I am, joining them. He laughed inside at the facts that he couldn’t share.The only family he had and had been able to trust his entire life sent him here, into the lion’s den. It was a struggle every day to either trust and become a lion or fight them and be eaten alive.

“I think all three of us are here because of circumstances beyond our control to some point. I’m at this point in my life after a string of events I had no control over. Mia is here after her life was unexpectedly thrown off balance. Am I right?” He looked toward Mia for confirmation. With her nod, he continued. “You were thrown into a situation you were unable to control,” he said, addressing Amber again. “You’ve grown through that and made the choice you did. You made that choice. No one made it for you. As far as support, you have us. We’re here for you, and I know London will support any decision you make and path you decide to take. Get that diploma you’ve been wanting. Then make the choice of what to do. Put the past behind you. Just take one step at a time.”

Amber fell silent and dropped her chin onto her arms propped on the tabletop. He imagined she was rolling around the advice in her mind. After a moment, she looked up and grinned toward Lola. “You going to put your past behind?”

“What do I still have of my past?”

She reached toward him, running her fingers through the ends of his blond hair falling over his shoulder.

He laughed. “Point taken. I guess it’s about time for it to go. I can’t fight who I am any longer, can I? Or who I resemble.”

“I can fix that for you,” Amber offered excitedly. “Not sure about cutting it, but I can match your natural color and cover up that blond fiasco. That’s not new to me.”

Mia touched his arm. When he turned, she moved her fingers like scissors, then held her hands apart a short distance, then moved them farther apart.

He straightened, combing his hand through his long hair. It was only hair. It would grow back if he didn’t like it. And the harassment from the club, that was a daily occurrence for one reason or another, so showing up with short, dark hair in place of the long bleach job would only be a new target for teasing.

“I think it’s time to go.” He gave a nod. “Short and natural. Can you cut hair?”

Mia pressed her palm to her chest.

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