Chapter Twelve- A not so pleasant surprise
Anne woke up early the next morning. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she remembered last night' events.
She grinned widely and sat up in her bed, looking over to Marcela's bed, who was still sleeping. Anne jumped off of her bed and walked over to Marcela.
"MAR!" Anne yelled and Marcela's eyes opened wide.
"I was having a nice dream, thank you very much," Marcela croaked.
"Forget that," Anne said happily. "It happened." Marcela blinked at Anne and suddenly hugged her tightly.
"You and Wayne? Anne Potter is finally dating Wayne Garr?" Marcela squealed excitedly. "Oh, Anne, that's so cool, that's so-"
"Secret," Anne said as she saw one of their roommates stir. "Wayne wants to wait sometime until it goes public, you know, so people won't think that he's jumping from one relationship to another."
Marcela stared curiously at Anne, but recovered instantly. "Okay, I'll keep it secret," Marcela grinned. "Oh, Annie, I'm so happy for you."
"Which reminds me of something," Anne said. "I'll talk to Chris. That git has to know what he's losing."
"Don't bother," Marcela said sadly. "Maybe he thinks I'm just like Meredith. I've had like a gazillion boyfriends."
"Five to be exact," Anne said. "And you're not like Meme at all. She's a, well, she's pretty easy. Oh, Mar, you and Chris do have a future."
Marcela smiled and nodded. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he's just in denial."
"I'm sure he is," Anne said encouragingly. "Now, let's go down and meet the guys."
Later"What? I mean, what?"
Chris was staring in disbelief at Anne as they sat alone by the lake. "Oh, Chris, give me a break," Anne sighed.
Chris focused on the grass, which he started pulling. Anne stared at the lake and blinked. "You're mad at me. You think I'm stupid."
"No, I don't," Chris said quietly.
"I'm telling you, Wayne doesn't want people to think that he's jumping from one relationship to another," Anne said.
"Well, excuse me, but that's what he's doing," Chris retorted. "If I, in a parallel universe, dated you, I wouldn't hide it just because people might start making conclusions. That's idiotic."
"Well, you're not Wayne," Anne snapped.
"You're right," Chris sighed. They remained quiet for a while, until Anne decided to break the silence.
"And you have no right to judge me," Anne said. "You're messing around with Marcela's feelings.
"I'm not messing around with her feelings!" Chris blurted. "I mean, I was pretty shocked when she told me she liked me, I mean, I never thought she would actually make a move."
"You selfish git," Anne snapped.
"I'm not selfish," Chris protested. "And just so you know, I'll ask her to be my girlfriend. I just had to think about it."
"Well, go ahead, do it," Anne said scathingly. "Not that I care."
"Sorry, but like a minute ago it seemed like you did," Chris snorted.
"You know what? Let's stop this annoying bickering," Anne said half-heartedly. "I'm tired."
"Of course you're tired," Chris mocked. "You went strolling with Wayne in the middle of the night."
Anne crossed her arms and glared at Chris. "Okay, I'll stop," Chris shrugged and Anne gave him a quick kiss in the cheek.
"What was that for?" Chris asked in surprise as he rubbed the spot Anne had kissed.
"Because you're such a jerk," Anne grinned. "But you're still my best friend, so-"
"Ha," Chris snorted. "If we were in a parallel universe, that bickering would be considered true love."
Anne and Chris stared at each other and Anne felt her stomach lurch. "But as I said, it would be in a parallel universe," Chris said, looking into Anne's eyes.
"Yeah, well," Anne broke the eye contact and stood up. "A parallel universe."
Later"Hey," Wayne said as they met outside the Charms classroom. Anne grinned at him knowingly and Wayne kissed her on the cheek.
"How are you?" Wayne asked lovingly.
"I'm fine, thanks," Anne said, lowering her head in embarrassment. "This is weird."
"You've got a free period right now, don't you?" Wayne grinned. Anne stared at him and grinned back.
"Anne!" Chris was running over to her, carrying a heavy-looking book.
"What now?" Anne sighed exasperatedly as Wayne looked away.
"It's just that you forgot the OWL study guide on your desk," Chris said, handing Anne a heavy book. Chris eyes lingered for a moment in Wayne and he walked away.