Found Along The Way

Chapter twenty-six

School for Anya was just as exciting as it was two weeks ago on the first day, but by now she'd settled into it, the excitement drifted into drive for her work and she was thriving. Anya finally knew the names of all 12 of her classmates, who were all just as passionate about their work as she was. She'd made friends with three in particular; Caleb who she'd clicked with on the first day, Lilly who was a quiet girl with a dark bob including blonde streaks, that were louder than the girl herself, and Taya who was unbelievably kind hearted and beautiful, her makeup constantly flawless on her dark skin, and curls framing her face gracefully. In the excitement of their new friendship they'd decided to take a trip to Florida, a 'bonding trip' as Caleb called it. Taya was driving, they'd taken the black convertible her parents had given her for her twenty-first birthday. Her long, kinky-curly hair flowed in the wind behind her as she drove, and the sun glistened in her eyes. All four of the young adults were bubbling with excitement, wearing their favourite summer clothes and looking forward to what the weekend held.

"So what are we doing first?" Lilly asked, checking the list they'd made the previous day.

"Sleeping, PLEASE." Taya joked.

"You can sleep, I'm going to find and hook up with a hot Florida man." Caleb cut in, adjusting his hair in the car mirror, and winking at his reflection.

"Well Anya and I have to finish our essays that you brainiacs have already completed." Lilly admitted, rolling her eyes.

"Hey I thought we said no working on this trip!" Caleb objected.

"Well Caleb babes, if we don't work we'll be getting a mental beating from Mr. Green."

Lilly was right, Mr. Green was a ruthless perfectionist. He taught the class art theory and was training them all to be A-plus intellectuals. This came easily to Caleb and Taya, but not as much to Anya and Lilly, who were not his favourites. It was funny to see the bickering between Mrs. Woods and Mr. Green since their opinions differed on many things. Mrs. Woods loved to explore with creativity, breaking art rules and conventions. Whereas Mr. Green disliked that thoroughly, and was strategic with his boundaries and rules, never straying outside of the lines.

"Ugh, boring. But okay."

The hotel they arrived at was perfect, the large window overlooked the beach which now had the sun setting in the background. The sky was alive with orange, pink, and purple blended out among the clouds.

"God, I could just paint this." Anya said, adoring the view.

"Me too." Lilly joined in, leaning her head on Anya's shoulder. Caleb had even averted his attention from doing his makeup to perfection to look at the beautiful sight before them.

"We have to go down there tomorrow guys." Taya said, zipping up her shiny purple dress for the nightclub she and Caleb were heading to that night.

"Definitely." Lilly agreed, "Wait- Taya I thought you were tired." She added, only just noticing what she was preparing for.

"Eh, I feel fine, and I don't want Caleb going out alone."

"Fair enough." Lilly said, grabbing her laptop from her bag and sitting down on one of the large hotel room beds. Anya and Lilly wished they could go clubbing with the other two, who had said their goodbyes and gone off for their night on the town, but of course their work stood in the way.

"If we get this done quickly we could get ready and go join them?" Lilly suggested.

"Maybe... how many words are you on?"

"Twelve hundred, you?"

"Nine hundred." Anya sighed. "I don't think Mr. Green likes me. I was at the top of my class in college but I'm nothing now compared to Caleb and Taya."