Found Along The Way

Chapter Four

Anya lay awake on her bed, thinking. Thinking of Daniel had turned the sweetness of being asked out so very sour. She looked to her right where Lina was sleeping next to her, and sighed. Anya and Lina had always worked together as the perfect pair. Anya would take care of Lina and keep her in control, and Lina would bring out the fun in her and help her lose control. Lina probably wouldn't wake anytime soon, so she rolled over and closed her eyes. She'd had enough of that for one day.

Anya had met her in 5th grade when she transferred to Lina's school (due to her mother's work), they didn't talk much at first but Anya always used to gaze at her stunning, brown eyes and jet black locks of hair from across the room. She was always an introvert and never thought she'd stand a chance at being friends with someone as cool as Lina, but voila, opposites can attract. Over the years they became inseparable and helped each other through crushes, love and heartbreak. Anya loved her best friend with her whole heart, and she really couldn't live without her. The majority of 'outrageous' acts Anya participated in (which happened to be very few of course, this is Anya we're talking about.) Were encouraged by Lina and her care-free attitude, that she found hard to resist. TP-ing houses, prank phone calls, etc. Those were all typical Friday nights to Lina up until age 19 when she found her love of writing. Anya had convinced her to stay inside for a night instead of the usual 'partying and getting drunk' ritual.

"This has to be the most boring thing ever."

"Well you made me prank call that pizza guy last week so it's only fair we do something I like tonight."

"It's like you're an old married couple, but with yourself..."

Lina laughed out loud and Anya sat there smiling at her best friend's stupid joke. How dumb it was didn't matter to Anya, because it came from Lina, and her occasional stupidity had charm to it.

"Come on, let's find something you like. That doesn't include alcohol."

The girls played chess, learned origami, watched TV, but none of it interested Lina. She was as bored as a nineteen-year-old party girl sat inside making origami dragons. Exactly as bored.

"I could write a book about how bored I am."

"Do it!"

"That was a joke Anya."

"I'm serious, write about how bored you are. That's a thing right?"

Anya shoved a notebook and pen into Lina's hands.

"Ok weirdo..."

Lina started writing, and she seemed to actually enjoy it. When Anya looked over 30 minutes later she was still going. This was really weird, and not like her in the slightest. Lina had found something she enjoyed, and it didn't include getting drunk and loud. You could say Anya felt proud she'd found her a new hobby, finally she was the one doing the influencing, and it was far from chaotic.

Over the next year there was an obvious decrease in crazy nights out, and a brilliant increase in creative nights in.

Most Friday nights became full of Anya painting and Lina writing in the living room, and eventually they were joined by Daniel who would play his guitar in the background. It was a new kind of ritual, and it was bliss.

But in the end things would tend to come back to Anya's room and a hungover, sleeping Lina.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah she'll be fine, I'll just make sure to give her a glass of water when she wakes up in a few hours."

"You're a really good friend to her."

"Thanks, and I'm sorry she ruined our second date."

"Oh it's fine, honestly I just appreciate being out of that dirty diner. I definitely wouldn't give that a good yelp review."

"Who uses yelp in 2016?"

"Daniel Bennett uses yelp in 2016."

The two of them laughed and Anya sat next to him on her blue couch.

"You're really cool."

A look of complete admiration was shared between them, and Daniel leaned in to kiss her.

Their lips touched, his hand met her waist, and her hand met the side of his face.

Whoa.

Lina had described kisses to her before, but most of them were intoxicated with bartenders at 1 A.M. There were a few magical ones she experienced, and couldn't wait to tell Anya about. The descriptions seemed to match up perfectly with what she and Daniel had just shared. It really was magical. Anya wanted to tell Lina about the night so badly.

"Oh my God, Lina."

"Stop yelling so loud..."

But of course she was hungover.

"Sorry Lina"

She whispered, while opening the bedroom curtains the tiniest bit.

"It's ok, what's going on?"

"Daniel kissed me!"

"Oh, my god!"

"Lina it was magic, I feel like I'm high."

"My girl's all grown up!"

They both laughed and Anya fell back onto the bed looking at the dull, cream ceiling, that didn't seem so dull back then. Everything was glowing and perfect, and that's how she felt. She'd had kisses before, just not like that.

Lina's first 'real' kiss had a somewhat different outcome. It was her 15th birthday and a guy (who she'd been conveniently crushing on for 2 years) was there at her huge celebration. Jorge Valentino. The hottest in her year. He was tall, smart, had perfect hair, perfectly white teeth, and always smelt amazing. Lina brought up the courage to grab his hand and lead him outside where they were alone. She was drunk for the record, a thing she usually was whenever she did something like this. He'd always known she liked him, and wasn't sure how to approach the situation, but here it was. She leaned in, and they kissed. It was wonderful to Lina, and all she'd ever wanted, but you couldn't say the same for Jorge.

"Lina..."

"Yes?"

She looked up at him, completely lost in those wide brown eyes.

"I'm gay."

...

"Shit."

And of course, heartbreak ensued.

Anya would help Lina through that heartbreak, just as Lina would help her years later. They shared everything, and couldn't imagine sharing it with anyone else.