It felt like Carys had been stabbed when he saw Mia sitting beside Tony when he appeared for the classes the next day.
She was dressed in all black, which she often was. She had a slight smile pasted on her face, which was a scarce sight for Carys.
Standing by the entrance of the class, Carys adjusted his bag strap on his shoulder and finally walked towards the both of them. Tony looked up at Carys and cleared his throat.
Mia looked at Tony and then followed his vision, which led her to Carys standing in front of them.
"Carys, man, I heard about that shooting," Tony said with little to no remorse.
Carys just looked at Mia, who had already left the conversation by burying her head down into the book laying in front of her.
She wore a black sweater, and her necklace was dangling from her neck. She then pushed a strand of hair behind her left ear, which was now left exposed to Carys' vision.
Mia had a total of three piercings in her left ear. She had three on the right ear too. Carys had counted them when she came over last week.
Carys had always found Mia's mannerisms unique. A matter of discussion, too. She would seem cold and introverted. However, on the contrary, her eyes were the warmest and most welcoming eyes Carys has ever seen.
"We were discussing the project. The due date is coming." Tony said after about a second. All this while, Carys has not once looked at him. Tony has noticed this too.
Ever since Carys had walked up to him and Mia, he never once tore away his eyes from Mia. It was a sad scenery even for Tony.
Tony recalled Mia screaming in her room yesterday after she shut the door on him, Samantha, and Leo. There was a pain in Mia's voice, and the exact source of that pain was nowhere to find. They could just sit there in the silent living room and listen to their leader growling like an animal in pain.
"Can I join you guys?" Carys had finally asked. Although Tony knew that this was coming, he was still taken aback due to Carys' determination.
Tony obviously knew what was happening there. Mia had taken an oath to stay away from Carys as much as she could because closeness with Carys meant Mia almost blowing off her cover.
On the other hand, Carys was adamant about making Mia talk to him even if it meant that half of the time, he will be talking to himself.
"Sure…" Tony answered and looked over at Mia. He expected at least a little reaction from his leader, but he also knew that breaking Mia was like making a way through a rock mountain.
Carys put down his bag and took a seat right next to Mia on the empty bench.
"Are you okay?" Carys asked as soon as he sat down on the cold bench. He looked at Mia, who was still busy with the book in front of her.
Mia took a second before replying, "What would happen to me?"
"I mean, of course, nothing could happen to you. But you were injured pretty seriously yesterday." Carys managed to whisper the last part.
He knew that Mia hated being in the highlight, so he skipped telling anyone the details of Mia saving him at the shooting. Mia herself had left the scene as soon as the news reporters arrived at the spot.
"I wasn't," Mia replied. Carys had known her to be a person with a few words, but today she felt like a person with zero words.
"You were. Right there on your ribcage. He hit you pretty hard." Carys said and pointed at the right side of Mia's body.
Mia immediately caressed her body on that specific spot. It hurt a bit, but she was quick to not let Carys see that silent wince.
"No," Mia said, and looked away.
"I left you a voice note and also left you several texts." Carys decided to drop the subject of Mia getting hurt. He knew that Mia would not admit that her ribcage hurt.
"I saw that," Mia replied, turning the pages of her book.
Her head rested on her palms. Her hair danced in the air whenever there was a strong wind outside of the classroom, sneaking into the room through the big open windows.
"Would you like to join me for lunch today, then? I kind of expected a reply." Carys said and waited for Mia's reply to the question.
"I am not sure about that," Mia said, eyes still not meeting Carys.
Mia had made a promise to herself. When she was getting ready for school, she looked into the mirror in her room and promised that she would not be involved with Carys anymore. Carys was just her target, and she had to kill him.
She had to kill her target.
She had to kill Carys.
Carys is her target.
"Why?" Carys questioned. You couldn't push him away. He was not someone who could be ignored. He had a presence and right now, this presence was invading Mia's space.
"What is that question? What do you mean, why? I am refusing to get lunch with you." Mia finally had to face Carys. She had to be involved in those blue eyes.
Mia saw Carys' pupils dilate as soon as she looked into them. Does that mean that Carys saw darkness in Mia, or was it the opposite of probable reason? Mia could not comprehend, and she didn't even want to.
Mia hated this exact feeling that Carys gave her. The feeling of falling from a hill, Mia didn't like being not in control. She hated it when her fate lay in the hands of others. Carys made her feel weak, he made her feel miserable.
Carys was in control of Mia, ever since the first day he talked to her. Mia knew it.
"You said that you will grab lunch with me and now I am inviting you over." Carys almost complained. "What changed?" He asked.
The thing that changed was the fact that Mia had saved Carys from dying. Mia had never been this utterly confused in her whole life. She was worried about Carys when she saw the robber put his rifle right on Carys' forehead. She was desperate to let him out of that damn gallery. She was not being herself. Because of him, she played it safe.
"Nothing. You are forcing me to be at your house at this point." Mia spoke and finally closed her book with a thud.
Tony, who had been witnessing the entire conversation, was now worried about Mia losing her temper in the middle of the class.
"I will wait for you tomorrow Mia," Carys said, and stood up. "I am not forcing you. I am inviting you over. My parents are very thankful to you and they really want to meet the girl who saved their son's life. I cannot say no to them, so I will wait for you." He finally walked out of the class and vanished from Mia's eyes, just like that.
"What is wrong with him?" Mia turned to Tony, and he just shrugged.
"You can consider it, though," Tony spoke after a second. Mia raised her eyebrows at him.
"Remember when you failed to plot that audio tracker in their house? This could be your redemption. Leo said that tracker could help us in the long term." Tony explained after observing that there were little to no students left inside the classroom.
Mia thought about it for a second and then said, "Maybe you are right."
This was a new chance given to her. She could easily go and plant that tracker in the Jones residence and now that she had saved their son's life, it was much easier for her to actually do it. She was almost positive that this time it was achievable.
"If we have that audio tracker installed in their house, we can access it anytime and we could also give it to Robert for some extra cash and shares. We could even get their business information through that." Tony said with excitement in his voice. He had the plan already in action.
He and Samantha were already perfecting the audio tracker to record even the slightest sounds. The thing was as small as a box of matches and was easier to install. Mia just had to put it under a couch or table and it was got to go.
Mia still seemed lost in her thoughts. Tony shook her by her shoulders and asked her again, "Mia, what do you think?"
Mia looked over towards her friend and finally gave him a nod, which meant that Mia has decided to go for lunch that Carys had organised for her.
Installing the audio tracker was not the demanding part of this mission. The demanding part was to sit there and act like a saviour when Mia was more of a false God.