Found Along The Way

Chapter Five

You could say it was your average art class, for about 15 minutes before Lina burst in completely out of the blue.

She greeted Amanda and weaved through the art students with the occasional "Sorry!" and "Oops"

Until she reached Anya.

"Um, lady, why didn't you tell me?"

"Nice to see you too... And tell you what?"

"Lucas! He asked you on a date?!"

"Oh yeah, well he only asked if we wanted to get a coffee sometime so it's not that big of a deal. And it was like 2 weeks ago because we've been busy so we only just decided on a day-"

"Are you serious?! He texted me about it and he made it sound like a pretty big deal." Lina said, cutting off her best friend's typical rambling.

"He told you?!"

"Yes Anya! He really likes you, and I quote, 'can't wait to see you'."

The thought made her heart pound, in excitement and in panic.

"Oh wow."

"Right? So... tomorrow after writers class?"

"I guess it could be... I'll ask him..."

"I'm so happy for you!"

And she was just as happy, but the unease couldn't help but sit in the back of her mind.

It played around her head for the rest of the day, and the next morning. So much confusion and not knowing what to do. Anya was typically indecisive so when she texted Lina about it, she wasn't surprised.

Lina was probably the only person who could get Anya to make her mind up, aside from Daniel of course.

He always took her irrational or confused thoughts, and rationalized them. Like when she had to decide between as simple as a green and blue dress, Daniel didn't know the first thing about fashion, but he knew a million things about Anya.

"Which one do you feel most comfortable in?"

"The green one."

"Then wear that! You'll look beautiful."

"What do you feel most comfortable doing?"

"Staying home, and cancelling the date... saving myself the inevitable heartbreak"

"Do the opposite then, the whole point of this date is escaping your comfort zone. You're going, and if Lucas breaks your heart one day I'll break his neck."

And that was Lina's way of helping her decide.

So she didn't really have a choice, and that was a good thing to be fair.

Anya stood looking into the long mirror in her cramped room, adjusting her outfit for today's writers group, and what was happening after. A blue denim skirt, a long-sleeved white top, and her red bow tied around her curls. She felt good. But it didn't matter what she wore, or how good she felt. Because her thoughts would always come back to how Daniel would love how cute she looked that day.

There was a knock at the door, it startled her at first before she remembered it was only Lina picking her up for writers group. Damn, this whole date thing had her on edge.

Her anxiety built with the time in the group, both she and Lucas shared sweet yet nervous looks in anticipation, it was good to know he looked as nervous as she did.

By the end of the class everyone gathered their things and began to leave, Lina could almost hear Anya's nerves.

"Girl keep it together. You're gonna meet him by the door and go to the coffee house, no big deal, breathe."

Anya nodded, letting go of Lina's hand and walking toward the door.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"You look really cute."

Hearing those words made Anya quake inside, it was like adrenaline was rushing through her body.

But somehow it also made her feel almost nauseous, it was sickly familiar. Like the words of Daniel all over again. He was endlessly admiring her hourglass figure, soft curly hair, piercing blue eyes, everything about her. She'd always compared her body to her slim, tall best friend Lina. But Anya was the most beautiful girl in the world to Daniel.

"Thanks, you look..."

Fuck, of course now she couldn't find the word. Hot? Inappropriate. Sexy? Definitely inappropriate.

...

"Handsome..."

Oh geez, that pause probably offended the sweet guy, the last thing you should do is hesitate on someone's appearance... she knew that now, a little too late.

"Thank you." Lucas said with a slight smile. Anya hoped to god he didn't think she thought he looked bad.

Crap, now her thoughts were getting tangled.

They walked mostly in silence to the coffee house, Lucas tried the occasional small talk line, such as

"It's nice weather these days.", "So where are you from?", And the one Anya anticipated most,

"How do you know Lina?".

In this short conversation Anya learnt that his parents were Venezuelan, and he'd met Lina in writers group when it first started.

Things were going smoothly you could say... maybe...?

Well, as smoothly as her first date in 9 months could possibly go.

It was short, sweet and just what Anya needed. After some time talking and getting to know each other, they got up to leave and approached the door. Anya looked for Lina who was at the far end of the parking lot waiting for her, when Lucas grabbed her hand. She looked at him with surprise, waiting for him to say something. But she realised he wasn't going to say a thing, and instead he leaned in...

"Oh no. You didn't run away from him trying to kiss you, you moron!" Lina attempted to stifle her laughter which resulted in her and Anya both bursting out laughing.

"I didn't see it coming! And I haven't kissed someone in months so what the hell could I have done?"

"Let him kiss you!" She laughed. "Never-mind girl. It was a first, and I'm proud of you."

"Thanks lady."

And she was right. It was a start.