4

MIA'S POV

"Baby, wake up." Anna gently shakes me, making my arms kind of soar. 

When Anna takes her hand off of my arm and looks at her hand, she gasps, then looks at my arm. Damn it. The makeup is on her hands. She sees the scars.

"Mia..." Anna sits next to me. "Is this why you wanted to leave home?" I don't say anything. I just nod. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry."

"Why?" I ask, tears welling in my eyes, but I don't let them fall.

"I left you in that orphanage. If I would have kept you, this wouldn't have happened," she cries.

"Don't cry," I whisper. 

"Why aren't you mad at me? Be mad at me, Mia. I deserve it!" Anna puts her head in her hands.

I don't say anything. I just scoot over and hug her. She hugs me a little too hard, making me yelp in pain.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I assure her.

"Well, we have a plane to catch," Anna says, standing up and wiping her tears away.

"Plane?" I ask.

"We're flying back to LA today. And you're coming with me," she tells me.

I just nod and stand up, grabbing my backpack. Anna grabs her suitcase and we head out of the hotel, checking out of the room. 

We get into a car and we speed away from the hotel. I take one long look at everything around me, knowing that this is the last time I'll be seeing it.

We arrive at the airport, but before we get out of the car, Anna turns to look at me.

"Do you have any sunglasses?" She asks. I just shake my head. "Put these on." She hands me a pair of sunglasses.

"What's out there?" I ask, noticing all of the flashing lights outside.

"Paparazzi," she answers. "Now, don't talk to any of the people out there. Just keep walking, okay?" I nod, looking out the window. 

The men who drove us here let us out of the car and Anna holds my hand as we walk into the airport, being followed by the people with cameras.

"I don't like this." I hold onto Anna's arm and we make our way through the airport.

"I've got you," Anna whispers.

I hold onto her until we board first class on the plane, finally escaping the flashing cameras. 

"Tell me about you," Anna says, turning to me as the plane is in the air.

"Um..." I stutter. "I really like acting and I like to sing too."

"You're so my child," Anna laughs. "Instead of public school, I want you to do online school because when people find out you're my child, school will be hell for you."

"School's already hell for me," I mumble. 

"What?"

"I don't have friends. Only one," I tell her. "Thanks for rescuing me from this shitty life." I cup my hands over my mouth, realizing what I just said.

"It's whatever. I don't care if you swear," Anna laughs, making me chuckle a little too.

"Okay."

"And, we can't tell anyone about this yet," she explains. "We have to formally introduce you to the world, okay?"

I just nod. I lay my head on her shoulder and slowly drift off to sleep.

-

We land in LA around five. It's a whole other climate than Arizona. The air seems fresher and it's not nearly as hot.

Anna takes my hand and we quickly exit the plane, then get our luggage from the baggage claim. As we are lead through the airport, more guys with flashing cameras are following us, but this time, they're yelling too.

"Anna! Look over here!"

"Anna! Who are you with?!"

"Anna! Who's the kid?!"

"Anna!"

We finally get to the car and the security guys put our bags in the car as Anna and I sit inside, waiting to be taken to my new home.

"I can't believe I'm here with you," I tell her.

"Me neither." She brushes some hair behind my ear. "It's really you."

I just smile at her. Anna's security guards get back into the car and we start to drive away, leaving the flashing cameras behind.

"Are they always like that?" I ask, motioning to the paparazzi.

"Yeah. When you're famous, it's kind of what you sign up for," Anna laughs.

"Does it ever get tiring?" I ask her.

"Oh, all the time."

We both laugh, then I look up to see us pull into a big house.

"Welcome home," Anna smiles.

"This is your house?" I ask in amazement.

"No," Anna smiles. "This is our house."

We both get out of the car and are handed our bags by the security guards. Anna tips them before we head inside.

I look around in amazement. There's a big kitchen with an island in the middle, a living room with a long couch and a flat screen TV, then a few other rooms that are just closets and a bathroom. 

"Let's go upstairs." Anna leads me up the stairs. 

I open one of the doors on my right. There's a queen-sized bed, a flat screen TV, a bathroom, and a walk-in closet. 

"Is this your room?" I ask.

"Yep," Anna answers.

I move on down the hall and open another door that leads to another bathroom. Then, I open another door that has a queen-sized bed, a TV, a bathroom, a walk-in closet, and a bay window. The room is kind of bland and has no color, but it's pretty big.

"This will be your room," Anna tells me. "We can decorate it however you want tomorrow."

I walk into the room and sit down on the bed, just looking around. Anna sits down next to me.

"What are you thinking about?" Anna asks, looking at me.

"Thank you," is all I say before falling into her arms.

"I'm glad you're here." She wraps her welcoming arms around me. "What do you want for dinner?" Anna asks.

"Anything is okay," I answer, realizing my grumbling stomach. I haven't eaten in two days.

"Mac-n-cheese?" Anna stands up.

"Sure."

She walks out of the room and I put my stuff away in drawers and my bathroom stuff in the bathroom. I walk around the room, examining everything. 

An hour later, Anna calls me downstairs. I walk down and she hands me a bowl of mac-n-cheese as I sit at the island. I devour the bowl in less than five minutes.

"Woah. Slow down," Anna chuckles a little.

"Can I tell you something?" I ask cautiously. She just nods. "When I lived with those other people, all they gave me was a piece of bread and a cup of water everyday."

I see some tears fill Anna's eyes, but she won't let them fall in front of me. "Do you want seconds?"

I eagerly nod my head and she takes my bowl from me, then comes back with another full bowl, which I finish a little slower.

"Thank you," I smile when I finish.

It's about ten now, so we both go upstairs and I change into pajamas. I slowly climb into my new bed and lay my head down. I just look at the ceiling for a little bit. 

I can't sleep, so I decide to walk over to Anna's room.

"Hey, babe. Can't sleep?" Anna asks when she sees me in the doorway. I shake my head. "Come here." She moves over.

I climb into bed and lay my head on her chest as she wraps her arms around me, just like she did the first time we met.

"Goodnight." Anna kisses my head.

"Goodnight," I smile.