Love Maze

Chapter 4

Anya and Faith were in high spirits. They climbed the stairs two at a time, Faith chattering away about all the things she had planned for them to do.

Once they were inside Faith's room, Anya dropped her duffel bag onto the floor and looked around. The Hamiltons were like a second family to her, and this room was almost as familiar as her own room with its walls painted a shade of pale blue.

"I'm going to get Pepper!" Faith announced, dashing off to find her pet cat.

The door swung shut behind her, but it was opened again almost immediately. Raven slipped inside quietly, a plate of sandwiches in her hand. Anya took one with a murmur of thanks, and proceeded to gobble it up. She was starving. Raven waited patiently as she ate, tapping away on her phone screen.

A thought began to form in Anya's head. Faith's sister was pretty good at advice; the last time she had shared her wisdom, Faith had ended up winning the school art competition.

"Raven?" Anya asked hesitantly. "Can I ask you something?"

The other girl looked up, nodded and slipped her phone into her pocket. "Sure. What's up?"

"Well, what if, hypothetically, a girl meets a guy in another country and falls in love with him?"

Raven nodded like she understood. "It's not unheard of. But I doubt that's all you wanted to ask me."

"No, you're right," Anya said, taking a deep breath. "So what if this guy broke the girl's heart because he's already in a relationship? And what if she spends every day after that pining away for him, unable to move on? Hypothetically, of course."

"Right," Raven smiled mischieviously. "Hypothetically. Well, if I was in that position, I'd probably know that I have two options: force myself to get over him- either by dating other boys or engaging myself in activities- or by contacting him and confronting him about my feelings. Sure, he may still reject me, but atleast I've got closure."

Anya was deep in thought. "So I need closure? You're positive about that?" She asked doubtfully.

"I thought it was a hypothetical situation." She could hear the smile in Raven's voice.

"It is," she assured the other girl hastily. Before she could say another word, though, Faith burst back into the room, a yowling cat in her arms.

"I hope I could help, Anya," Raven said, smiling as she softly shut the door on her way out.

But all Anya felt was bitter disappointment. There was no way she was going to contact Zayan. No way at all.

I guess that means I'm going to have to distract myself so I can move on, then. Good thing I'm at a slumber party.

"So!" Faith's loud voice interrupted her thoughts. "What do you want to do first?"

Anya shrugged. "I don't really know. What do you suggest?"

In reply, her best friend tossed the disgruntled cat to the floor, picked up a pillow and threw it at Anya. "PILLOW FIGHT!"

Anya grinned widely and ran after Faith, armed with the pillow. All thoughts of Zayan evaporated from her mind as she lost herself in the game.

Three hours, two more pillow fights, a homemade facial and several bags of candy later, the two girls found themselves jumping on the bed as if it were a trampoline, laughing madly, and on a sugar high. After one final leap, they collapsed on the bed beside each other, Faith singing at the top of her voice. Anya covered her ears and winced. "You sound like a dying cat. Can you please shut up?"