Anna Begins [Paul Lahote]

Chapter Six

Anna

Dinner at Grandpa's was nice, uneventful, and passed much too quickly. I wished it could have dragged some—and I told myself it was because I enjoyed my grandfather's company (which was true) and not because I was beyond nervous about hanging out at Felicity's the next day (which was also true). Grandpa laughed as I hugged his brittle body a tad too long before we left.

"I'll see you soon, Annie," he told me as he patted my back. "You live so close now."

I mustered as good of a smile as I could in return and agreed. Regardless of my anxiety going haywire, it was nice to be near Grandpa instead of states away.

The next day at school passed even quicker than dinner, something I didn't think was possible. Wasn't school supposed to be mind numbing and boring? Since when did the hours fly by? But sure enough, the school day was over and I was expected to meet Felicity in the parking lot to ride home with her. Except instead of going to my home, we were going to hers—her apartment. Where we'd hang out with a couple of her friends. And I'd have to be sociable and not a lunatic.

My palms were sweating as I walked to meet her.

She apparently spotted me first because I heard her call, "Anna! Over here!"

I turned to find her waving at me from beside her car. Was I smiling at her? It felt like a grimace.

Felicity studied my expression as I got close. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Nodding, I sighed. "Just nervous." I bit the inside of my cheek, unsure if I should say more to explain myself.

She gave a reassuring smile. "Don't be nervous. It'll go great! Jacob and Paul already think you're awesome."

I snorted as I climbed into the car. "Oh, they do?"

A faint blush stained her cheeks. "Jacob...well, Jacob kind of loves me? So he's glad for me to have a new friend that I'm excited about."

"That's sweet." It was cool she had such a nice boyfriend.

"And Paul, you'll understand when you get to know him better, but there's kind of no way you can go wrong with him. He's probably ten times more nervous than you, so no worries."

I said nothing in response this time, since I highly doubted she was correct. No way was that big, beautiful guy with those shining eyes and perfect everything more nervous than me for this confrontation. It was the definition of impossible. But I didn't want to argue or make Felicity feel bad—or bring attention to the true scale of my nerves. I kept my hands folded in my lap so she wouldn't see them shaking.

The ride to the apartment complex was full of Felicity babbling about our plans and me staring out the window practicing my deep breathing. When we got there, it took everything in me to not drag my feet as we headed inside. To not make up an excuse to go home.

Felicity led me to her apartment, and we entered through the unlocked door to Paul and another guy, who I assumed was Felicity's boyfriend, bickering.

"It's called options, asswipe," Paul said as Felicity quietly pressed the door shut.

"Obsession is more like it, and it's weird," Jacob argued.

"Oh, like you weren't—"

Felicity rushed forward then, cutting off the rest of whatever Paul was going to say. Apparently she was done being entertained by the boys' spat. "We're here!" She stepped up to Jacob and they hugged. I felt awkward watching them, so I shifted my eyes away.