The Maiden

Let's travel back to the mushroom day Tia and Joel had, after all, it was one of their last good times together, before he ended up going to jail, Tia lost her best friend, then he ended up back in his home state, in the end, and without Tia.

During this day, when what turned into a 2 person event, ended up being a day of tripped out teenagers on the lose, everyone Puked, it was disgusting, remind you, this is Tia's first time experiencing anything of these sorts.

The day started at Joel's and ended at Tia's friend Craig's apartment, with Tia in tears. Every day Joel and Tia had before that, Tia had problems with her mother, but to Joel, that was all there was, but it went deeper than that, Craig knew that, but he was also a hooligan, like Tia and all her friends at the time, and killing off pain was just something needed to keep the time until June, good and happy.

With her father fixing everything wrong in her life, car wise, everything wise in Tia's mind, she adored her father. Tia was the happiest she had been since she moved 800 miles away from her father at 7. Therefore up until the end of the mushroom trip day, Joel seen a new side of her, a side that Craig helped go away, before she even met Joel.

While Tia's previous crush, who is a couple years older drove her car, she was worried and she didn't want to sit up there with him, (that is what he was hoping for) after seeing him for the kind of person he was, her crush couldn't be more past tense. Joel ensured Tia it would be okay and he would be up there, he didn't understand why Tia didn't want to sit in the front seat of her own car, instead in the back with a high school friend, and a random girl while everyone in the car was high on mushrooms. They had some stops to make apparently. This kid she knew from high schools house was one of them. While freaking out already in her mind, but also having a good time, the random girl, who Chris (the friend from high school) was sitting in between, started mouthing words to Tia and was scared or something, and Tia was far from, and freaked out about the way her face was moving and the energy was trying to change. That is when the car full had to go to Chris's to drop her off, she wasn't feeling the whole situation and was tripping out. Everyone trips in their own way, plus everyone, but the past tense crush is only 16, maybe even 15. The past tense crush, Shane was 18.

Everyone stopped and relaxed at Chris's and where this girl was finally going to stop killing out the good energy. After hanging out there for what seemed like a long time, Chris had a cat, and Tia always heard that you can transmit hallucinogenics through skin, with animals, but she pet the cat anyways, then Chris put it's face in the dusty part of the mushroom bag, and sadly they heard later, that the cat died. Was it true, who knows they never went back their, but still at least it died tripping, happy and in a good place.

After dropping off the girl, Tia convinced Chris to come with them, since Shane was being all chummy with Joel, Tia needed someone as well. Yes, that's right, Shane took away Tia's day of tripping with her boyfriend, then tried to third wheel her, however Joel was very attentive to Tia, so it turned out Chris went with them for no reason, other than to be with people in the same mind frame as he is. The day's timing sucked, they all stayed away from Tia's apartment complex, since she had 3 rats (sisters) out there, just waiting to tell on Tia about something. While they stayed away of that part of town, the day flew by and they told Craig, who wouldn't come and trip with them, they would go see him that day, and they stayed true to their word. Since Craig was a better friend to Tia and now to Joel, and later became best friends with Shane.

Getting closer to the apartments Tia lived in as did Craig, the tripped out teenagers decided to drive through Wendy's, since they didn't eat much of the day, and to waste some time. Joel, Shane, whoever was driving at the time, had to change with Tia. It was time for Tia to get behind the wheel of her own car, tripping a little still and it scared her, even though the trip was wearing off.

Earlier that day, while Shane beat Tia to Joel's place, now had to go and shower to get ready for the day.

As Joel and Tia were driving to the highway that led to his house, right in front of the county jail, just one of 3 jails in this small city. That is another story, but as her luck went, it was in front of the county jail, with many police everywhere.

She couldn't hold it in, until they got passed the jail, and she had to pull over to throw up, and then a police car was driving by, with throw up all over around her mouth, she needed something to wipe it off before looking Joel's way and away from traffic, Joel couldn't see her like that, she was thinking, but with nothing to wipe it off, unless she turned around where there were some napkins. The pressure felt high, the police car is slowing down, and Joel's on probation and Tia's eyes are popped, she had no choice but to look at Joel, with throw up all over around her mouth. All he did was wipe it off. Tia felt embarrassed and Joel had a good way of making her feel better about her insecurities that didn't hide as well as her emotions.

On their way back to Joel's house, since that's where they had to meet Shane, while trying to keep their jobs, it is just one day and they have worked there forever, felt like family, plus they were essential to a dynamic that made customers want to come in. Keeping their jobs didn't work well, they both lost them, but for this experience, it seemed worth it to Tia.

Tia was prone to get grounded at any time, so they had to seize opportunities when they could.Tia had to throw up again at the sandwich shop, obviously shook up, Joel drove back to the house, she wanted to tell Joel about Shane and his intentions are not good, but without proof, she thought she would seem crazy, or maybe she did and Joel didn't believe her, even though, being Shane's new friend, Craig seen it to.

The day was coming to a close and Shane had to go back to the backseat with Chris, Joel in the passenger seat. Since they were no longer on the side of town, that Tia felt free in and now back in town that if a boy was seen driving Tia's car, the news would get back to her mother and her mother would be delighted to tell her father.

As driving through Wendy's, Tia's car made a sound, it always made a sound, but these mushrooms made Tia feel vulnerable and the bad feeling mixed with the next encounter, with her mother (thank god Tia was driving) the high pretty much seemed gone, the intense part anyways. Tia's mother stopped her to ask her, what she was doing. A question she already knew, if Tia was driving to the entrance of the apartments to Craig's house, she was probably going to Craig's house. "Going to Craig's house to hang out, then taking Joel home and then I'll be home." is how Tia replied to her mothers obvious question." make sure your home by 9pm" Tia's mother, who was not as easy going as a lot of the moms Tia knew, let her drive off and she was headed out herself. Tia was glad she might not even have to see her mother for awhile, maybe she wont even be home at 9pm.

That encounter didn't stop the vibes of how amazing that day was, but over and over in Tia's mind, she had to return to her reality, which added to this time bomb that exploded in front of Joel for the fist time. As they walk into Craig's house, Tia is already beginning to cry and she can't even help it. Tia hates when people see this side of her, many don't even know it exists, like Joel didn't until that day. Craig only knew, because he would help her kill the pain, they were friends for a year or 2 before Joel came into the picture.

Unable to describe why she was crying, she looked for Craig to fix whatever was going on with her, like he did often. This time, Joel took over and thought he broke Tia's brain, with these mushrooms. He went on and on, Tia is waiting for Craig to but in and say she was fine, because she was, she felt that way more often than not, it just doesn't come out when she's happy and doesn't have to think about things, and seeing her mother as she was coming down, along with the noise her car made, (which her father would fix immediately) a couple of Tia's walls fell from being on the mushrooms, and Tia couldn't keep them back. What wasn't Tia crying about at this point, who really knew (Tia did). Basically she's crying and cannot stop. It's the same thing when one laughs, when it's not the time to, holding it in is impossible. He didn't know her brain has been cracked and a tad broken since she was 7, then again at 11. By the time she met Joel, him and his mushrooms were what was keeping her from crying more often than not, he was far from the reason Tia was crying.

Craig drove with, Tia, Joel and Shane, so Tia could drop them off at home and go back to exact reason she was crying, as time showed before, it was no secret that Tia;s mother caused her more problems, than solved any and Joel was happy to take Tia away from someone that he seen hurt the girl he loved, many times.

That mushroom trip, did begin the events that led up to Tia spitting out her feelings, that make her seem even more of an, "ugh, what did I get myself into" not Joel though, he gave her his phone when her mother grounded Tia from the phone, after their subway boss called Tia's mother and told her how Tia has been smoking weed, sleeping at Joel's (even when she was enabling it all) and now Tia had no job and that just gave her mother a reason to control/ground her.

There is some time in between these events, that'll be saved for a different time.

It was an average day, Tia woke up, showered and raced to Joel, then like every average month, they went to his probation meeting. Tia took him too often to not notice that this one was taking too long. it was always in and out. This time she could just tell something was changing, and when he walked out of that probation office in handcuffs, Tia's world shattered right then, handing Tia all his belongings, telling her to let his mother know,and he'll be out in a few days, at the most, and that he loved her, is what he told Tia.

Tia drove home in shock, balling after everything she tried to avoid this exact thing went in vein. Her everyday life just changed and although Tia is not new to change, to this feeling of change she was. Plus she had to deliver the bad news to his mother.

That day, Tia was hysterical and her mother didn't understand why. In her eyes Tia had many guy friends, other friends, and June was coming up and it was time for Tia to go to her fathers house, the month she's waited for since they moved. Tia's mother wondered why Joel, who got her arrested, smoked weed with, was worth all the tears she was crying.

For the first time, in a long time, Tia's mother showed her compassion in many ways, she bought Tia a pack of cigarettes and allowed her to process what has happen, instead of forcing her to get a job right away, not to mention her mother thought she was leaving for her fathers. When she didn't, that's when Tia's mother knew, Joel meant something to her, that no one else ever has. it effected Tia more than expected.

Joel was Tia's everyday, worked with and spent every moment out of work with person and now hes gone, just gone, still talks and writes him, but that was nothing compared to having him by her side, her mother allowed Tia to grieve the loss of someone important to her. Tia still hoped that he would get out in a couple days, like he promised her. Turns out it wasn't just a couple days, or weeks, not even a couple months, but from June to December, and they stayed close up until the end, and Tia never went with him to his home state, where he picked up with the ex he left there, just like Tia had to move on. They never seen each other again.

A few years, and a marriage plus divorce later she looked for him, and he was in his home state, in jail. Tia didn't care, she wrote him anyways, to tell him about the last few years of her life, wonder what happen in his life. She had a son, a career and just experienced something for the first time, and the man she had a son with, didn't feel like he was a friend of hers anymore. Therefore she wrote the person she hoped she still had a friend in, since they had some weird things happen. Shane's intentions finally showed and on messenger once, Joel hurt her feelings to the point of telling him, she slept with Shane, knowing it would hurt his right back. Shane hung around, until he finally got Joel to do something that would for sure revoke his probation, there was bad blood between the 2, hoping she still had a friend in him she knew wouldn't judge her. She did, he wasn't mad anymore, neither was she and probably wished Tia was there for him then like she was back in time, but since something so small broke up something that to Tia was her everything, she didn't think he would even respond, but he did, and happily. She responded once or twice, but the last letter, got sent back, it already took 2 weeks for back and fourth, when it used to take a couple days. The second letter she had so much to say, it couldn't be contained in a lick-able envelope, so she had to put scotch tape on it, well apparently that isn't allowed in adult jail. What a bunch of different rules they seem to have. He continued to write Tia, however she had so much going on in life, being a single mother, having her sons father always around, dating a couple other guys, had a couple so called friends she spent her time with and was trying to pursue an Associates in Communications at the time, she didn't have any time to entertain something, she could never have again. Why bring back to life someone that broke her heart, even as just a friend, Tia wasn't ready to open a can of worms that she waited for him once when she was 17, for him to come get her, he said he was on the way, and she's never seen him again, and when she asked for a picture of him, since a monster took away all her memories of him, he sent something that without the picture of him, really meant nothing.

To this day, they still haven't seen each other, face to face while reminiscing about what was and what could of been.

Everything works 2 ways is what Tia finally learned, and if he didn't want to make the effort, neither did she, and he knows why. Turns out, being infamous to Joel, happen to be a curse to Tia.