Asphyxiate, Hold, Release

The sun was setting as Mia laid alone on the rooftop of Starlight Academy, using her backpack as a pillow as she mindlessly puffed at a cigarette. She inhaled deeply, held the smoke in her lungs, and then slowly allowed it to escape from her throat. The smoke rose toward the sky as it slowly shifted to the colors of dusk.

Then the calm was abruptly disrupted by a cheery pop song that seemed to come from nowhere. It was Mia’s phone. With a small sigh, she dug into the pocket of her fluffy pink coat and pulled it out.

“Hello?” Mia rolled onto her side and closed her eyes as she listened. It was just one of her friends calling—inviting her to a party. Normally she would jump at the opportunity, but today…

“Sorry. I’m not in the mood…I don’t know. I’m just not…Invite me next time, okay? I’ll see you later.”

Mia hung up the phone before her friend could protest further and shoved the phone back into her pocket. She was just…tired. While she claimed to not know what was bothering her on the phone, but that was a lie. In her short time at the Academy, she seemed to have gained some sort of…negative reputation that she happened to overhear some students discussing.

Mia. You know, the slutty redhead.

Mia sneered as that voice popped back into her head. It was weird for her—she was so used to fleeting from one place to another, that she was never somewhere long enough to have any sort of ‘reputation’. What did she even do? She hadn’t slept with anyone at the school—or even the damn island. She wasn’t particularly interested, either.

It was obviously a stupid lie, and apparently even in a school for supernaturals she wasn’t going to get away from stupid human-like opinions—but she couldn’t help but be bugged by it.

So she laid alone on the rooftop and smoked. She just needed to be alone for a while, and get some fresh air…you know, after the cig.

When Mia suddenly heard a voice behind her, she quickly sat up and snuffed her cigarette on the ground. It had to be too late though. Surely the other girl saw the smoke and could smell it even from where she stood. Mia knew better than to smoke on school property, and yet there were just some days where she couldn’t care. Well, until she was caught.

Mia rose from the ground and brushed herself off. Underneath her fluffy jacket, Mia still had her school uniform on—but had accessorized with some tights with an elaborate galaxy pattern, a pair of black ankle wedge boots, and a few small accessories that matched the theme of her tights. Even though she had rejected the party invitation…she still kind of looked like she was going to one.

“Alright,” Mia said with a sigh as she stood up, placing her hands firmly on her hips. “What do I have to do to convince you to not tell the faculty I was smoking up here?”

Mia blinked when Claire said so casually that she wasn’t going to tell anyone. Really? She didn’t want to go the blackmail route? Wow.

“Oh…well. Thanks for that,” Mia replied with a small sigh of relief. She managed to go a whole day without getting in trouble. But now who was this girl? She seemed awfully happy to randomly meet someone on the rooftop…

Mia dug the toe of her shoe into the cigarette to make sure it was thoroughly out on the ground.

“My name is Mia,” she said as she became less tense, knowing her little secret was ‘safe’ for now. “And you are?” she cocked her head to the side with a grin on her face.

‘Heh, thanks—nice to meet you too.”

Between Claire promising not to tell on Mia smoking on the rooftop and just her general niceness, Mia could already feel her mood improving. Rather than a party or being stuck alone with her thoughts—maybe just hanging out with one person was what she needed.

“Since you’re roaming around up here, I’m guessing you have some free time?” Mia asked as she bent over to grab her bag and swung it over her shoulder. “Wanna hang out for a while? We could go get food or something.”