The warm glow of the morning sun beamed through the thin bedroom curtains. Mia's head pounded from the night before, and her back ached as she'd slept on concrete. As her eyes fluttered open she looked around. There she was lying on the floor of her friend's room, fully clothed and with as much makeup on her face as she had on before she left her house earlier the day before.

"Am?" Her voice was stuttered and she slurred her words slightly.

Her mouth felt dry like she'd been out in a desert with no water for days on end. But that wasn't the worst thing, a horrible taste clung to the roof of her pallet. It had a strong meat taste, maybe beef or pork. The idea that she'd consumed meat or something she thought was meat, turned her stomach. Brown filth like mud coated her hands and her nicely manicured nails were filthy and chipped.

She quickly tried to stand, but every inch of her body ached all over as if she'd been hit by a car or something. Mia clung to Amelie's bed, and carefully managed to pull herself to her feet. A bad feeling stirred deep within her stomach. Whatever she'd eaten she felt certain she'd see again, very soon. She took several deep breaths, again and again. Sometimes this made the sick feeling go. Mia perched herself on the end of the empty bed. She assumed Amelie had gone down to breakfast with her family, and decided to leave them to it.

Oh no! Oh, dear. There was that feeling again. And this time no amount of deep breathing was going to get rid of it. By the time Mia ran out into the bathroom, she couldn't control it. One cough and up it came, it splatted a foot or two in front of the toilet, with at least half covering the posh roll-top bath.

That was it. No more. Instead of waiting around and apologising for the mess she'd made, Mia carefully and quietly nipped down the stairs and out of the front door. She hung her coat over her arm and hurried down the road. Her head throbbed as if a drum beat repeatedly inside her mind. The more she walked the more her stomach twisted and turned, as it made some of the worst gurgling sounds she'd ever heard. A shimmering coating of sweat covered her forehead and clung to her dark hair. Her legs began to feel as if the bones were no longer there as they struggled to keep her upright. She reached out her hand to grip the front garden walls of the houses on her friend's street as she struggled to walk a few minutes back to her own home. Having already been sick once, the last thing she wanted to do was be so ill again and in public of all places. Mia wasn't stupid, she knew what she had to do, and whether she liked it or not, home was the safest place right now.

Her eyes began to close as if a force dragged her eyelids together. They felt heavy as if weights were attached to every lash. She blinked, once, and then again quickly. Mia knew she had to keep going, maybe a rest would do her good. She moved slowly, each step more difficult than the last, in the direction of a bus stop and a cold, hard metal bench nearby where she could rest for a moment. Mia inhaled deeply as she headed in the direction of the bus stop. She placed her bag down on the bench and sat beside it.

Mia sat quietly. Her headphones in her ears she listened to a bit of music to pass the time, just long enough to feel a bit better. But again, her eyes felt heavy, and her breathing became shallow until all darkness clouded her vision.

"Hello..."

A soft voice whispered as Mia felt a hand on her shoulder. Their touch was just enough to wake Mia from her deep slumber. She blinked and rubbed her eyes as the midday sun beamed down obscuring her sight. Mia looked at the lady who stood in front of her with a small tear in her eye.

"You're Donna Meadow's daughter aren't you?"

The voice was soft with a drizzle of care and just a hint of a slight Welsh accent. As Mia gazed up, a kind face she knew well came into view. She ran her fingers through the lengths of her hair to move the strands of darkness out of her eyes.

The lady stood in front of her, just a foot or two away. Mia moved up a few inches and gave the woman enough room to sit down.

"Mia?" Mrs Summers, "Are you alright?"

Mia shook her head and rubbed her forehead. "I don't feel well," she said, "I felt bad last night and I've been sick this morning."

"Oh dear, yes you do look a little peaky. I was just taking Timmy for a walk and saw you here. How is that mother of yours? Would you like me to call her for you? I meant to pop in and see her last week but one of my sisters' Lilian, took a tumble and I've only been home a day or two."

"She's fine. And no, please don't phone her. I'll be okay. I just felt a little weird for a moment. I'll be fine soon."

The subject of her mother was the last thing Mia wanted to discuss. Over the last few days and weeks, she'd often found herself arguing with her or blaming her for the things that went wrong in her life. Messing up her exams because Mum came home from the pub so pissed out of her head that her loud singing and loutish behaviour woke Mia up the night before she was due to sit her GCSEs. Mia blamed her for getting a low mark and now being forced to resist them when all of her friends were doing their A-levels and thinking about which university they wanted to attend. How could Mia do anything with having a Mum like Donna?

Her thirteenth birthday was a huge celebration in most families and in Mia's as well, how could anyone ruin it? Donna found a way.

It was Brian's turn to cook, but he had gone abroad on a stag weekend with some of his skanky mates from the Job Centre. Maz, Baz, Gaz, Faz, and Waz, the less said about them the better! So with him away and with Mum still waiting to receive her latest payment of out-of-work benefits, as she was claiming them at the time, decided to reheat the curry from two nights ago. Big mistake! Huge mistake! Massive smelly run for the toilet so you don't crap yourself, mistake! Mia's thirteenth birthday was spent in Accident and Emergency at the General Hospital lying in a bed in a kids' ward on a drip. Mia never really did anything for her birthday again after that. If only she knew her dad and knew more than just his name. Then maybe she could have at least one parent that wasn't a complete cock up.

She thought for a moment, and found herself wondering about Mrs Summers'. The woman had lived next door to Mia and her family for as long as she could remember, and longer, for all she knew. She was the cousin of her late grandfather so was closer to family than just a random neighbour or family friend. Before Mia was born the house where she lived used to be owned by her grandparents, actually it still was. When Grandma married Mr Leedon she moved out of their property and in with him, where she lived now. Mia wondered...

"Mrs Summers'?" Mia spoke quietly, with a croaky tone to her voice, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, Mia."

"Who's my father?"

"If I remember rightly Horace and I were on a Mediterranean cruise at the time. We got home and then your grandma told me that your mum had given birth to you. I was really surprised, I didn't know she was seeing anyone. I recall thinking how sad my nephew would be as he was rather fond of young Donna."

"Nephew? I never knew you had a nephew."

"Oh yes, I have five brothers and four sisters, so lots of nieces and nephews. Jimmy is Monty's middle son. He stayed with me over the summer holidays while his parents went away on a jolly. For some reason, he wasn't allowed to stay at school. Jimmy went home a week before we went on the cruise."

"I'm sorry I asked. I'd better get going."

Although her legs still felt weak, and her head still throbbed Mia forced herself to stand up and carefully putting one foot in front of the other, started to walk in the direction of home.

She felt as if she'd been walking for ages. Her mind felt muddled and the feeling of sickness still clouded over her like a nasty shadow. Her pace quickened and her legs ached but she knew she had to keep going. Eventually, the sight of her street came into view. She could see the brightly coloured wheelie bins that sat on the side of the pavement ready to be collected.

The screech of sirens and blue flashing lights flew down Sun Hill Road at top speed. Mia stopped and watched for a second, slightly stunned by the sight. She kept watching as the emergency ambulance slowed down and came to an abrupt halt outside what appeared to be the next house to hers. Or so she thought.

Mia's footsteps slammed against the hard paving stones as her pace quickened into more of a run than a jog. Her heart slammed inside her chest as the panic quickly set in. The ambulance wasn't outside her neighbour's house, it was parked right outside hers. Her mum waited by the open front door as the paramedics hurried inside.

Mum's face was pale like all the life and colour had been drained from her completion. Mia slowed to a stop.

"Mum? Mum! What happened?"

Mum walked out of the house and placed her arm around Mia.

She leant forward and her voice dropped to a whisper.

"It's Brian. He's had a stroke or a heart attack or something. I can't have the kids see him like this. Can you just take them to Auntie Mary's, please? I'll call you later, babe, when I know what's going on with him."

Mia's heart sank, not only for the situation her family were in but also for herself. She wasn't that close to her younger siblings and as for Auntie Mary, Mia couldn't stand her and with good reason.

"Will! Katie!" Mum called, as two young children walked out of the house. Mum leant down to their level, "Daddy isn't feeling very well, so Mimi is going to take you to Auntie Mary's for the afternoon. She says you can help her brush the cats. That will be fun, won't it?"

William Chandler's eyes narrowed into tight slits. He held his arms tightly in a fold. Mia thought he looked like he could stamp his foot at any moment which she thought was immature of a boy who in a few months would be starting secondary school.

"I hate Auntie Mary! She smells!"

Mum looked at Mia.

"Yeah, and so do you." Mia replied, "But the cats are cute. You like cats. Don't you? We can brush them."

"No, I don't!" William slammed his foot firmly against the pavement. He looked across at his twin sister Katie.

The young girl stood at her mother's side, her arms wrapped around Donna's waist.

"I want Daddy! I want my Daddy!"

"I've phoned Aunt Mary, she's coming to pick you up in a minute," Mum replied. She turned to speak to Mia, "Take them into the garden and wait there with them."

Katie let go of her mother's waist. Mia opened the gate that led into the back garden. Its stiff and unoiled hinges moaned and creaked. Mia gave it a sharp kick to the corner and pulled again to open it. The twins, their faces sad and eyes tearing, followed her and the gate closed.

"Hey, why don't you go and pick some pretty flowers for Daddy?" She suggested. It seemed like a good idea for several reasons, first, it gave her siblings something positive to do during a stressful situation, and most importantly for Mia, it gave her some much-needed quiet for the next few minutes.

She'd had the most extraordinary few days, first with the family tree project and then with her family's strange reaction to anything connected with her father. All she wanted to do was talk to a friend, a proper friend, not one that would drop her at the hint of a new and exciting boyfriend, like Amelie. She needed to speak to her one true friend, her best friend. The girl who knew her better than her Mother, the girl who she knew better than anyone. 

Mia's fingers flew across the keyboard as she sent a text to her friend.

Are you back yet?

The words on the screen of her new phone read Laura typing, and a speech bubble popped up with a few little dots that moved across the screen. Mia drummed her nails on the garden table waiting and waiting for a reply. Moments later her phone pinged. A text from Laura.

'Yeah babe, I'm unpacking.'

Mia couldn't stand it, she hadn't had a decent conversation with her for ages. She phoned Laura's number and waited for her to answer. Within a few seconds Mia could hear her friend's voice loud and clear.

"Are you okay, babe?"

"No. Not really. My family are being right knobheads at the moment. Seriously, I'm sick of them. My mums being a pain in the arse about my dad. She won't tell me anything. I've even asked my grandma about him and she's like no help! I don't know what to do... tell me what to do?"

Laura ummed and ahhed for a moment.
"You know, his name should be on your birth certificate. Mine has my mum and my dad listed his occupation and his address. Have you ever actually seen yours?"

"Err, well, err..."

For the first time in what felt like forever, Mia found herself stuck for words. Why didn't she think about her birth certificate? Surely she'd seen it somewhere before, right?

"Right! Sod this unpacking shit, I'm coming over and Mia Hunter, we are gonna find that certificate even if we die trying! Are you ready?"

"See ya soon then."

End of chapter three
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Authors Note

What is Mia's family keeping from her? What do you think happens in chapter four? Let me know your thoughts and opinions.