The Story of Mark and Mina

Chapter 9

"He's such a jerk Mina!" Anna yelled at me, I cringed.

We were walking towards the school, so I could get some stuff at my locker. "What did he do Anna? All you do is tell me he's a jerk without giving me a reason as to why he's a jerkface."

"Did you not see what he did? He thinks that he can waltz back in my life after all this!" Tears were brimming in her eyes and she wiped it before they could drop to her cheeks.

I hastily grabbed a tissue from my pocket and gave it to her.

"Mina...I liked him a lot...I liked him so much. I told him I liked him...and he rejected me...but that didn't make me hate him...I hated him because his girlfriend at the time told him to never speak to me...and he did it. He threw away years of friendship for that girl."

I paused, making a connection to Mark and Anna's trouble with...that particular girl, "was she the previous manager?"

Anna nodded in surprise, "yeah. How did you know that?"

I shrugged, "lucky guess, I just don't know why Luke would date such a terrible girl. She seems horrible."

Anna scoffed, "terrible is an understatement, but Luke was worst. He complied, Mina. He didn't even argue with her, he loved her too much for that. Everyone knew how much he adored her but...to ignore someone you were friends with just to make them happy, makes me wonder...were we even friends?"

"Why didn't you tell me any of this Anna?" I felt like a terrible friend that was helpless. I hated feeling that way. I couldn't do anything now because...it was all in the past and where was I? Completely oblivious to this! Anna was always good at covering up her emotions, the more she smiled the more she didn't want you to worry about her...I ignored any suspicion because I didn't want her to think about anything painful but the moment she cried I regretted everything.

"I didn't want you to worry, Mina. You have enough on your plate to worry about my love life. I lost a friend. Big whoop, everyone loses contact eventually."

"But he did it in such an assholic manner!" I said indignantly.

"He did, didn't he?" Anna laughed, the traces of her tears were slowly gone, "I don't want to forgive him because I'll fall for him all over again. He was really sweet before all this, he'd made me laugh when I'm down, make stupid jokes...I don't want to give him a second chance to break my heart."

I nodded, "I can understand why you want to avoid him at all cost...I guess I can't invite you to the spring camp."

"Spring camp?"

"Yeah the team has this spring camp and they're short in helpers, so they were hoping I could invite a few of my friends. I only have two friends really, you and Lily."

Anna paused, "so I won't see you during the spring break?"

I nodded, "yeah, I was hoping we could hang out all week there."

My best friend's lips lined as if she was considering the offer – turns out she was.

"I'll go."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Even with Luke the jerk?"

"Even with Luke the jerk."

I looked at her worriedly, "Anna, don't force yourself."

"Well, if I get to spend time with my best friend, I'll do it. I can avoid one nasty pest in a sea filled with other hot guys."