Willa & the Extraordinary Internship

CH. 30

Maryam's life was topsy-turvy and she didn't like it. No longer did things fit in their neat little pigeonhole, especially not herself. And definitely not Willa. From having two best friends, she now only had one, and Maryam felt the loss keenly. Willa wasn't picking up the phone, answering her texts, or even acknowledging the "likes" Maryam gave Willa's Instagram pictures.

The latest one was a blurry photo taken with a cellphone camera; Willa's computer with an open Word document, black lines of text scrawled like parallel rows of black ants. Nothing was legible. Willa's caption said only "Editing the book!" followed by a thumbs-up emoji.

Should Maryam comment on it? Should she drive to Willa's house like a psycho stalker and bang on the door until she was let in?

"Stop caring so much," Cyn groaned, letting her head dangle in her hands.

Maryam looked up from her phone, expression guilty. She and Cyn were at a hole-in-the-wall sushi joint just a few blocks away from Cyn's house, and in between bites of her cauliflower tempura, Maryam had been surreptitiously checking her phone.

"I can't help it," she admitted, watching as Cyn took a deep gulp of water. She wished she could be as unaffected as Cyn.

"She was my friend too, but she screwed us." Even as she said the word "us", Cyn jabbed her thumb at herself.

Maryam felt a twinge of misgiving. Willa didn't screw me over, she thought. When did Cyn and I become a we?

"I just wish things were normal again." Maryam wiped her greasy fingers on a scratchy napkin before balling it up. "I can't believe she just lost it on me. Like, you wouldn't believe some of the things she said."

"Um, I would," Cyn said pointedly, frowning at her friend. "You've only told me this story a million times since last week." She sighed, swirling her straw in her tall glass of ice water. The half-melted chips made sharp clunking noises as they hit against each other.

"Don't you miss her?" Maryam couldn't help but ask, a little aggrieved with how little Cyn seemed to care.

Surprised, the blond blinked, hand frozen in mid-stir. "Of course I do."

"We should do something about it," Maryam insisted vehemently.

"Such as?" Cyn resumed stirring.

"Such as going to her house and insisting she talk to us." Maryam was now convinced that this was a good idea. It had to be, right? It would prove to Willa that Maryam cared about her enough to make an effort, and if she brought Cyn along, they could all talk things through like grown-ups. "We should do it now."

"So..." Cyn drawled, "you want to effectively throw a tantrum on her driveway until she relents?"

Taken aback, Maryam stared at the girl sitting opposite her in the dimly-lit booth. "I wouldn't put it that way."

"I would." Unrepentant, Cyn noisily slurped the rest of her ice water.

"Then don't come," Maryam snapped.

"You're my ride!" Cyn's eyes widened. "Besides, I don't know what to say to her." She fidgeted in her seat. "Look, can't you do this without me? I don't need to be there."

Irritation bubbled under Maryam's skin. In a tight voice, she said, "But you're the one who caused this."

"Like hell."

"You did." Growing bolder, Maryam stared Cyn down. "You treated her like shit. What you did with Luke, adding him on Facebook and talking trash about Willa? You really think that had nothing to do with what happened?"

"She didn't break up with me, she broke up with you. Therefore, what I did with Luke isn't on trial here. Can we just pay up and go?" Cyn made a point of glancing at her phone. "I need to get home before the natural light starts to fade."

Filming a new YouTube video, Maryam guessed. "But it's all connected," she said earnestly. "Everything. You, me, Willa."

"Don't get all 'circle of life' on me now," Cyn groaned, trying desperately to catch the eye of a passing waitress. "I'm actually dying for some froyo - do you want to get some? I know a place downtown that serves an amazing mango one."

"CYN!" Maryam hissed. "Listen to me."

"What? I am."

"No, you're not. You couldn't care less about Willa."

Now it was Cyn's turn to hiss. "Fine, I'm not listening. But only because I'm sick to death of hearing Willa this and Willa that. She's not your friend anymore, move on!"

Stunned, Maryam leaned back against the soft headboard of the booth. "Move on?" she echoed. "That's your advice?" She couldn't believe this. She had hoped that Cyn would have understood. Would have helped. Instead, she had washed her hands of Willa, like she was a dud friendship that hadn't worked out and who ultimately didn't matter. She was now just someone to sweep under the rug or make into the butt of a joke when you needed to break some tension.

"People leave." Cyn's eyes hardened. "People always leave. What are you going to do? Cry about it?" She imparted this with the voice of someone who had seen it all, done it all. Like there was no room for error in her pronouncement. She finally caught the eye of a waiter and mimed a check-signing motion to him. "Maryam, you gotta learn this." Cyn gentled her voice, speaking softly and carefully. "You shouldn't want anyone in your life who doesn't want to be there." Hammering the point home, she repeated, "People always leave."

Maryam, sensing this, wondered if it had anything to do with Cyn's father, who had left their family years ago. She chewed her lip, mulling over Cyn's words before she finally came to a conclusion. "But," Maryam said, voice small, "sometimes they come back."

Author's Note: This is another 1/2 chapter, but rest assured you'll get Chapter 30.5 this week! :) Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to vote. :)