Love Maze

Chapter 23

(Unedited) double update as an apology for posting so late <3

It had been exactly 75 minutes since Anya had left the park. So far she had been unsuccessful in finding her way back, and the network wherever she'd ended up was terrible. She lifted her phone up above her head in frustration, attempting to catch a signal for what she felt was the tenth time.

Somehow, she had wound up on an empty street and not a single person was in sight. The quickly darkening sky gave her ten times the anxiety she had felt initially. She shuffled forward, the last bit of hope left in her slowly trickling away.

She wandered further, her first aim being to find signs of life. Minutes later, that was exactly what happened. As she tiredly turned onto yet another street, she saw a couple of people walking around, along with a few stores lining the street.

She grabbed her phone and held it up again. Jackpot. Her network had returned in all its glory, and she quickly punched in a number. A familiar voice answered.

"Anya. Finally. Where have you been? I thought you would've gone home by now."

"Zayan? Why do you have Faith's cell phone?"

"She accidentally left it behind when she went home from the pizza place, and I had a few errands to run before going home so I haven't had the chance to give it back. Why would you ask about that first, though? Are you even home yet?"

"No," she admitted ruefully. "I, er, got lost. Where is everybody else?"

"I don't know. I think they're eating out tonight. I thought you'd be with them."

She didn't know what to do with this new piece of information. She felt slightly betrayed by the fact that nobody had told her of their dinner plans, but she didn't want to bother them by asking them to come pick her up. She brought the device back to her ear.

"Zayan? I need you to do me a little favour..."

******

"You didn't need to come all the way just to pick me up," she argued. "I would've found my way back if you'd done what I asked you to do, and just given me the directions."

"Nonsense. Why would I do that? I needed to make sure you got back safely." Zayan leaned back against the back seat of the cab they sat in, shaking his head.

She couldn't help but grin. "Well, you're sixteen, aren't you? You could've driven here-"

He was shaking his head again. "This isn't New York, genius. We can't drive till we're 18. I don't know how they let people begin driving so early, anyway. Sixteen is just too young. It's stupid."

"You're stupid," she mumbled under her breath, but she was smiling.

"Is that seriously your answer to what I said?" He teased. "I'm stupid? Tsk. What are you, twelve?"

"On a scale of one to ten, yes- I am definitely a twelve."

"Could you get any cornier?" He was laughing. "This is why I said you're too young to drive."

"Oh shut up!" She snorted. "You're sixteen too."

"Never said I was ready either, though," he grinned.

She hit his arm.

"Ow!"

"You deserve it," she gave him an evil smile.

"Stop smiling like that. You look like the evil queen from Snow White."

She stopped smiling immediately.