Anya pushed open the double doors of Degrassi Community School and trampled through the metal detectors, trying to get through the large throng of students. Places where Owen could be sped through her mind. His locker? The weight room? The Boy's Locker room? Running out of time before class started, Anya decided to rush to his locker, figuring he was done with his morning weight training and grabbing his books.
She was determined to talk to him now, not wanting to wait until lunch to see him. For some reason, Anya thought that the longer she delayed talking to him, the more he would hate her.
She finally reached Owen's locker, but he was nowhere in sight. Standing up on her tippy-toes, she tried looking over fellow Panthers' heads, with no mop of messy brown hair in sight. Defeated, Anya walked a few feet over to her locker, sulkily grabbing the books she would need for her next three classes. The bright lights of the hallway were causing Anya's head to throb, resulting in her squinting at her locker. Well this sucks, Anya thought, hanging her purse on a metal hook.
Before slamming her locker door shut, Anya caught a glimpse of a series of pictures Anya and Owen had taken in a photo booth at the movies. While Owen thought it was a very cheesy and cliché thing to do, Anya was a classic romantic and a sucker for cute clichés. While her and Owen hadn't been dating long, they really seemed to have chemistry together. Anya studied the pictures, noticing how comfortable she looked with Owen's arm around her. She smiled at the picture of him giving her a peck on the cheek, making her more determined to fix things with him. Closing her locker door ever so lightly, given that Anya's head couldn't handle the crashing of metal, she spun on her heel and headed to Biology.
Spotting Holly J Sinclair and Fiona Coyne sitting in their usual seats in biology, Anya slipped into her chair behind Holly J.
"Hey, you!" Holly J chirped, turning around in her seat. Her red hair was adorned with a blue headband, and a string of pearls encircled her neck. Degrassi students had little leeway when it came to their wardrobe, but students always managed to add a few personal touches to express themselves. While Holly J pulled off the preppy look with ease, Fiona, who sat to Holly J's right, was a glam goddess, taking fashionista to a whole new level. With bright blue eye shadow to compliment her boring blue polo, and an intricate blue and yellow head wrap on her cascading brown hair, Fiona would turn anyone's head, male or female.
"Hey guys," Anya said, holding her face in her hands as her elbows rested on the desk.
"Don't you look…fantastic," Fiona added sarcastically, giving Anya a full body scan.
"Well, I look how I feel," Anya quipped, not wanting to hear it from the two of them. She loved them to death, but today, Anya felt like being anti-social. Plus, she knew they would bring up the one thing she didn't want to talk about.
"So?" Holly J said excitedly, wanting to hear good news. "How did your talk with the dean go? Did you get into Hasselt, Ms. University?" she asked enthusiastically, a huge smile on her freckled face, expecting the best of news from her friend.
Ugh, I knew it Anya thought, dreading telling Holly J and Fiona the truth.
"Yeah, spill it girl!" Fiona urged, practically jumping up and down with excitement.
"Look, I really don't feel like talking about it," Anya complained, looking at her biology notes to show them her lack of interest in the conversation.
"You ok, hun?" Holly J asked, her eyes filled with concern.
"Not really. Look, I didn't get in, and I really don't feel like getting into the nitty-gritty details, k?" Anya answered, her eyebrows raised as a warning sign to Holly J to not pry further into the subject.
Before Holly J or Fiona could reply, the teacher began the lesson, prompting the students to pull out their journals and begin scribbling down notes on osmosis. For once, Anya was thankful for their biology teacher's dry lesson, because it kept her from talking about her messed up, or lack of a future. She really did not want to explain that she didn't get in because she was high during the interview, or that she went to a club, yet again, and was on coke, yet again. She didn't want to lose Holly J and Fiona's respect. She knew she already lost Owen's and possibly her mom's. She couldn't handle losing her best friends too.
Once biology was over, the three girls slung their bags on their shoulders, leaving the classroom. Anya was headed to English, Holly J to Government, and Fiona to Theatre.
"Lunch in the caf later on?" Holly J asked Anya and Fiona.
"Uhh, can't. Gotta study," Anya lied. She had to look for Owen, but she felt bad for blowing off her friends.
"Boo," Holly J teased. "Fi?" looking at Fiona hopefully.
"Sorry, I can't either! I'm meeting up with Eli to discuss the play. I'm keeping busy, busy, busy! Rain check?"
"Fine," Holly J dragged, looking disappointed but being a good sport by adding a smile. "For once I don't have a Student Council meeting, and you two are turning into me!" she teased.
"Sorry! Definitely later," Anya promised. She smiled t Holly J, not wanting to give her the impression that she didn't want to hang out with her. Holly J really was a good friend, and didn't deserve Anya's bad attitude.
"I'll hold you to that, missy," Holly J said, while turning away and heading to class. The three parted ways, and Anya walked over to English.
It seemed to take years to get through all her classes before lunch, but finally, the lunch bell rang, and Anya eagerly ran out of the classroom in search of Owen. Walking into the crowded lunchroom, Anya's nose was bombarded with the smell of French fries and pizza, causing her to feel sick to her stomach. Her brown eyes searched for Owen, suddenly spotting him eating with Drew Torres and a couple other buddies from the football team.
Their eyes met across the room, but Owen quickly averted his gaze, clearly showing Anya that he was not interested in talking to her. She took a deep breath and marched past all the lunch tables to where Owen was perched, using every ounce of courage she had to open her mouth.
"Hey," Anya said, making sure her tone showed just how sorry she was. Owen put down his ham and cheese sandwich, rolling his eyes.
"Hi," was all he said.
"Owen, can we please talk?" Anya pleaded, trying not to look at his friends who were obviously curious as to what was doing down.
"Fine. Five minutes," Owen replied, getting out of his seat and leading Anya into an empty stairwell so they could have some privacy.
Every step that Anya took seemed to echo in her head, nervous that Owen wouldn't have it and would break up with her. He didn't sign up to deal with a druggie, and she knew that, so she had to convince Owen that she wasn't a druggie and was still the girl he fell for.
Anya gulped as the two stood facing eachother, Owen prompting Anya to speak.
What do you guys think so far? I felt so cruel ending the chapter at that point, but I figured it would keep you on your toes! Comments are always welcome! =D