Anna Begins [Paul Lahote]

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Anna

I was all kinds of twitchy the next day, my eyes swiveling everywhere trying to see if Felicity was anywhere around as Alex and I walked through campus. It'd been over twelve hours. I'd slept on it. I was ready to pretend the whole thing with her friend never happened. But I figured the odds of her doing the same were slim to none, so I wanted to avoid that confrontation as long as possible.

"You're ridiculous," Alex muttered, a small smile on his lips.

I scoffed at him. "No one asked you."

His smile grew, then something caught his eye to my side. I was about to look over when he said, "Hey, Felicity."

I jumped practically an entire foot off the ground, spinning in the direction he was looking. Of course there was no one there. "You're an asshole."

"Love you, too, sis," he laughed. "But really, she's nice. Not like she's going to bitch you out for something her friend said. She'll probably apologize, then want to move on just as much as you do. Don't worry so much."

If only it were as easy as not worrying so much. I couldn't control how my brain worked. How anxious this made me. How nervous. If I could simply decide to get over it and that actually work, I'd have done so in a heartbeat. But that wasn't the way I was.

So when we parted ways, I was still fidgeting away trying to appear calm while also keeping as aware of my surroundings as possible. This worked well enough for me for the beginning of the day—until I had to go to gym. Which I shared with Felicity. And where we'd probably end up partnering up for some sort of sporty activity, thus leaving lots of time to chat. For her to bring up the day before.

My stomach churned as I walked reluctantly into the gym. I quickly dressed out and went into the gym without seeing her.

But as I sat against the wall, she finally appeared.

And walked straight toward me.

Please, please, please don't throw up, I thought to myself as my stomach flipped. I hated this. It wasn't even that serious. My reaction was stupid. Alex was right, I was ridiculous. But I felt sick anyway, and now I was sweating. I pulled in a deep breath.

"Hey, Anna," Felicity said as I blew out a big gust of air.

"Hey," I said quietly, unable to manage anything more.

Apparently she took my response to set the tone of my mood toward her, as opposed to my overwhelming anxiety for the situation. Logical, since she didn't know me at all. She rushed out, "Anna, I am so sorry. Paul...he was tired. He wasn't thinking. He'd just got done with a double shift and was practically dead on his feet. And, well, if you knew Paul you'd probably understand better. But he's crass on a good day. Bone tired the way he was? He had no filter. Didn't think his words through. And he knows it—he knows he said something stupid and he's sorry. I swear, Anna, he's so sorry. That's why we tried to talk to you yesterday." She paused, pulling in a deep breath as her eyes widened. "Not that we hold it against you that you didn't want to. We get it, and you had every right to be upset." She paused again. "Not that you need my validation for your feelings, or anyone's...I'm making a mess of this."

Somehow her rambling did what I didn't think was possible—it calmed me down. I even let out a short, relieved giggle. "It's really not a big deal. I overreacted."

She shook her head immediately. "No. You didn't. He was a jerk. And he knows it. He wants to apologize to you, as soon as you're comfortable with it." She bit her lip. "Though he'd probably appreciate it being sooner rather than later. He feels terrible."