Can You Hear the Ocean? - Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Once Leila had taken a shower and changed out of her sand-soaked outfit, she put on something more comfortable and took a seat on the couch, figuring she could watch an episode or two of something on Netflix before heading over to her family's house for dinner.
Her eyes drooped slightly as she sat in front of the television. Running around with Mia had tired her out, just as it had done when they were children. Fuji found a comfortable seat on Leila's lap and purred softly as Leila stroked his fur. Leila let her eyelids slowly shut and took a deep breath, feeling herself drift off to sleep, when suddenly, a text notification startled her.
Fuji quietly stirred and climbed off Leila's lap to go sleep in the corner of the couch while Leila reached for her phone. Ashlynn had sent a text to her friends' group chat.
Ashlynn: Leila when were u going to tell us about the new girl ur seeing?!
Elena: LEILA UR SEEING SOMEONE?
Leila herself was confused and responded with the following text: I'm not seeing anyone tho??
Ashlynn: I stopped by the shops today to grab a bite to eat and saw u sitting on the beach with some blonde girl I didn't know
Elena: OMG LEILA!!!!
"Oh," Leila murmured to herself before responding the following: That wasn't a date. I ran into an old friend from elementary school recently. We've just been hanging out.
Ashlynn: Just "hanging out"
Leila could practically hear her redheaded friend teasing her from afar. She angrily typed back on her phone: It's not like that! Besides, she has a bf.
Elena: You'll just have to sweep her off her feet then
Leila: Omg you guys are obnoxious
Ashlynn: What's her name? I wanna stalk her on Instagram
Leila: Her name is Mia, and she doesn't have any social media. I already checked. Like I said, she's an old childhood friend and there's nothing romantic happening between us!!!!
Elena: Whatever you say ;)
Leila groaned to herself and silenced her phone afterwards, not wanting to be bothered by her friends anymore. She forgot that any female acquaintance she made were a love interest in her friends' eyes. Besides, it was as she said, Mia had a boyfriend and—Leila wasn't sure why she was letting herself dwell on these thoughts. Instead, she reached for her things and headed to her parents' house for dinner.
Leila's father had decided to grill burgers outside. She, her parents, her brother, and Shannon sat outside under the shaded patio while the scent of grilling meat filled the air. Leila leaned back in the chair cushion, once again trying not to fall asleep. Her mother placing a glass of lemonade down beside her jolted her awake once more.
"Didn't sleep well last night?" her mother asked.
"Slept fine. I'm just tired from today," Leila said, rubbing her eyes. She reached for her lemonade and began guzzling it down, hoping the sugar would wake her.
"What were you up to today?" her mother wondered as she took a seat on the chair next to Leila.
"Oh, I met up with Mia actually. We got some coffee together last weekend, and she texted me again this weekend asking if I'd want to go down to the beach," Leila explained. "We ended up walking a lot. I always forget how tiring it is walking through the sand."
Gavin set his beer down and stared at Leila, confused. "Mia? Who's she?"
"Is she your new girlfriend?" Shannon guessed.
"No!" Leila shouted, almost a little too loudly. She'd even gathered the attention of her father at the grill. Leila's fingers dug into the hem of her sundress. "No. It's Mia Cunningham who I went to elementary school with. I think I forgot to tell you all I had run into her besides Mom."
"Oh, that blonde girl, right?" her father asked from the grill.
Leila nodded.
"I didn't know you'd met up with her!" Leila's mother exclaimed. "You didn't tell us about it last week."
"Must've slipped my mind," Leila murmured as she sipped on her lemonade. It felt strange telling her family, she thought. She supposed just for a little while, she wanted to keep her reunion with Mia a secret, though she was unsure why.
"Is she the one whose mom died?" Gavin questioned. He received nods from the others. "But I thought she moved to some other state. You were distraught about it for weeks."
Leila felt heat rise in her cheeks. "I was not that distraught!"
"She cried for two weeks straight," Gavin whispered to Shannon.
"It's hard losing a friend," Shannon retorted back to him, clearly not as amused.
"You know, I never thought it was quite right that David made them move after Alicia died. It must've been difficult for Mia to move to another state and go to a new school so soon after her mother passed away," Leila's mother complained.
"So they're both back in town then?" Leila's father asked.
Leila stiffened, realizing she had not shared some of the important details Mia had relayed to her since she had failed to mention their coffee outing the week prior.
"Mia's dad died this spring," Leila explained.
Silence hung over the air.
"That's unfortunate to hear," Leila's father said, turning back to the grill. "I know you didn't like him much, Vivian, but I always got along well with David."
"What happened?" Gavin asked.
"Mia told me it was a drunk driving accident," Leila explained. She glanced up, realizing everyone was looking somber around her. "S-Sorry to bring the mood down! Mia moved back recently after going to college in New York."
"Poor Mia," Vivian Sutherland said. "Is her father buried out here?"
Leila shrugged. "No idea."
"Jonas, do you remember we used to take flowers to Alicia's grave sometimes?" Leila's mother called to her father. "You'd come with us too at times, Leila."
Leila thought back, then remembered. Those trips were hard, especially because she still naively thought that she would one day see Mia's mom cooking in their kitchen. But the house had been sold at that point, Mia was gone, and one of the few last tangible things of Mia that Leila could see was Mia's mother's grave, which wasn't all that uplifting. Still, Leila remembered going with her mother to pick out flowers once in a while to bring to the grave. Leila's mother often commented that, with Mia and her father gone, someone had to look after the grave. For a while, they had, but then the seasons passed, and Leila knew for certain she hadn't visited since she was fourteen or fifteen, around the time she stopped all contact with Mia completely.
"Was Mia's mom the one that made those really good brownies?" Gavin asked.
"Yes," Leila's mom confirmed.
"I always liked it when Mia came over 'cause she'd bring those brownies with her," Gavin said.
"It was always fun to bake with Mia's mom," Leila said, now lost in her own memories. "Before she got sick, she'd always be baking something new and would let us help. One time, Mia turned on the stand mixer too fast and flour went everywhere," she said, giggling some. "Once her mom got really ill, we didn't bake with her anymore, but somehow or other Mia would always show up with her baked goods every once in a while."
"Alicia must've made a bunch and frozen them," Leila's mother thought. "She was such a sweet soul. Definitely gone too soon."
"I'm happy to hear Mia's back though," Jonas said as he moved the cooked burger patties onto a plate. "She must've finally decided to come home."
Leila nodded, though she knew herself that Mia didn't have much of a place to call home anymore, not when none of her family lived in the area and she was living with a roommate she met online.
"Well, if you ever want to bring her over for dinner, we'd be happy to have her back," Leila's mother said. She stood up, ready to assist Leila's father in assembling the burgers, but Leila grasped onto her wrist.
"Mom? Do you remember where that gravestone was? I think it'd be nice if I brought some flowers to the grave," Leila said.
Leila's mother smiled. "I'm sure I can remember. We should get some flowers from the florist shop downtown."
Leila let go of her mother's wrist and nodded. It had been a long time since she had paid her respects to Mia's mom. It was about time she visit again.