Anastasia

14

"Be good enough to forgive someone, but don't be stupid enough to trust them ever, again."

"So, how did it go?"

"We didn't get groceries for my mom. I shall leave it at that." Ana sat down beside Danielle, laying her books in front of her. Sighing, she lowered her head, resting on her arms. "I didn't study yesterday, and we have a CT today. On yesterday's reading. Plus, I returned to my dorm at 2am." she said accusingly. Danielle raised both eyebrows at her. So it's my fault? her eyes seemed to say.

"But I...enjoyed myself." she added, begrudgingly. A memory resurfaced from yesterday's event. Her face fell.

Danielle could sense the change in her best friend's mood. Frowning, she placed her hand on hers. "Hey, are you okay?" Ana hesitated; she didn't want to bring up his name. His name drags along many other ugly memories. But she was her best friend; she knew she could trust her with everything.

"I...I saw him yesterday."

"Who?"

"The guy who upholds the exact definition of shit; that bastard, of course."

"Oh, Matthew? That butthole. Those words are really unhealthy for a pretty mouth though." Danielle said with amusement. Ana stared back at her with a look void of emotion. Very funny.

"Right. What happened?" she asked.

Ana shrugged. "I saw him when I was on my way to my dorm. He was drunk. Awfully drunk. I didn't exchange any words with him. Thankfully he didn't see me, though. I wouldn't want to talk to him. I just ignored him."

"Ignore who?" Zachary piped in, plonking himself beside Ana. He looked from Danielle to Ana and back; the girls have fallen silent. The girls shared a look.

"It's a girl thing." Danielle spoke with finality. Zachary didn't seem to get the hint, and he pressed further. "I don't mind. I'm a pretty open minded person."

"It's not meant to be shared." Danielle explained, her tone flat, as if she was warning a three year-old to stop poking her at the waist before she explodes.

"Oh. Right. Okay." Zachary said, pretending to distract himself by folding his jacket. Ana gave Danielle an appreciated nod, and sighed in relief inwardly. She tore the plastic wrapping of her plastic straw and poked it into her juice box, savoring the acidity of her cold pressed orange juice. She remained silent, waiting for Danielle to change the topic, as always.

"So, how did yesterday go for you?" Danielle asked Zachary, whose head shot up almost immediately.

"It was amazing!"

"It was nice." They said in unison. Zachary's face lit up, but it only lasted fleetingly when Ana responded differently. Ana glanced at Zachary and regretted saying her point of view on yesterday's outing; she should have kept her mouth shut. Danielle looked at the both of them in confusion.

"'Nice' and 'amazing' are two distinct extremes of happiness." She stated.

"Well, my definition of 'nice' is not what you think." Ana said, hoping that Zachary would understand the hint she was dropping.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Zachary laughed. "Anyway, I'm going to my next class soon. Bye." He quickly got up and blended in with the rest of the students scuttling like mice for their next class.

Danielle glanced at Ana. "That was unexpected."

Ana shrugged; Zachary was the least of her worries at the moment. Her mind was still preoccupied with what had happened yesterday. Danielle placed her hand on Ana's, bringing her out of her own reverie.

"It won't happen again. I promise you that."

"How will you know? What if -"

"There we go again. Your 'what if's. The world will not conspire a plan to make it happen. If it does, I will be there to fight with you. Till the end." she said it firmly and fiercely. Ana knew Danielle always means what she says, and the way she spoke with so much valiance it scared Ana what Danielle might do to live out her words.

"Thank you, Danielle." Ana said gratefully.

"Wolves always have each other's backs." she winked, patting Ana on the arm lightly. She smiled. What did I ever do to deserve such a bestfriend?

"I should apologise to Zachary." Ana said, collecting her books. "Right. Off you go." Danielle clapped her hands once, marking the end of their conversation for the day until they return to their dorms. They exchanged goodbyes before Danielle left, leaving Ana staring into space to collect her thoughts and sort herself out before the next lesson begins. Leaving the cafeteria, she sucked in a breath to calm her beating heart, while a thousand thoughts swirled and clashed in her head as she thought of a way to apologise to him.