Love Maze

Chapter 20

"So," Aiden said, crossing his arms and leaning forward with interest. "Tell me everything. What's wrong?"

They were at the Chinese restaurant, facing each other with a big bowl of food between them.

"It's so complicated," Anya sighed, rubbing a tired hand across her face. "I'm not sure I know about it myself."

"Maybe you should start with what that whole argument was about," Aiden encouraged.

Anya looked at him in surprise. "You heard that?"

He nodded with his eyes downcast, biting his lip. She realized in dismay that Nikki had expressed her dislike for the boy currently sitting across her, nervously awaiting her answer. He had probably heard the whole thing, and she immediately felt terrible.

"Well..." She hesitated. "I'm not really sure. I don't know what brought it on, but it seems like Nikki doesn't exactly approve of us... going out on dates." She carefully avoided using the word 'relationship'- she wasn't sure what exactly they were doing just yet.

"Why do you think she doesn't approve?" Aiden asked softly. "Did I do or say something wrong without realizing it?"

She shook her head in frustration. "I have no idea. You've been perfectly nice to her whenever I've been around." A lock of hair made its way down to her face and she pushed it back impatiently before continuing, "What I don't understand is what they were discussing before I came in. What decision did Faith make for me? And why did it bother Nikki?"

She looked up at him hopefully. "Did you happen to hear what they were saying before I showed up?"

To her disappointment, he shook his head ruefully. "Not really. I only started to listen when I heard you barge in. Anya..."

She looked at him expectantly.

"Why does it bother you so much? You can't expect everyone you know to approve of us. I'm sure they'll work it out between themselves soon."

"That's not it," she explained. "My friends are keeping secrets. Nikki refused to tell me anything. How am I supposed to help if she doesn't tell me her reasons? What could be so bad that they won't even let me know about it?"

Aiden reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Don't worry. Things will get better. I'm sure she'll tell you once she feels ready to."

"I guess you're right..." She shrugged. "I just hope they know they can tell me anything without worrying about hurting me."

"Of course they do," he smiled, absentmindedly tracing light patterns on the back of her hand with his finger. "They're your friends. They know you best."

They ate in silence after that. When the bowl was completely empty and their stomachs couldn't possibly take in more food, they quietly paid and left for home. The walk back was a short one, and when they were in front of the guest bedroom door, Anya turned to Aiden with a slight smile.

"Thanks for talking it out. I feel much better now."

He nodded, and she quickly made her way up the stairs once he had gone in. Softly shutting the door behind her, she looked around the room. It was at times like this, when her mind was in chaos, that her precious sketch pad proved to be most useful to her. When she looked at the blank paper, it was like her mind was also wiped blank of all thoughts except for whatever it was that she wanted to draw. It was a good way to calm herself down.

But where had she kept the book? She was quite sure she had brought it with her. Her searching eyes fell upon her suitcase which was tucked away behind a bunch of boxes on top of Nikki's wardrobe. She had put most of her luggage in a corner of Nikki's closet, so her aunt had probably stored the almost-empty suitcase on top of the cupboard to save space.