Chapter 3: Second Chances
Anya's palms were sweating. Her nerves were getting the best of her. Her mouth hung open, but words didn't come out. She was searching for the right thing to say to Owen, but nothing was coming to mind. Meanwhile, Owen was just looking at her, waiting for her to say something. His feet shifted and he let out a sigh, clearly losing patience.
"Did you drag me from lunch to accomplish anything, or did you want us to have a staring contest," Owen asked, a hint of hostility present in his voice.
"No…..no, I wanted to talk." Anya cleared her throat and clutched the locket her mother had given to her, a habit she acquired whenever she was nervous. "I wanted to apologize to you. I feel like you've given me more chances than I deserve lately, but I'm coming to you for one more."
Owen simply looked at her, his angry eyes drilling into hers. He didn't want to hear her apologies.
"It's gonna take a lot more than apologies, Anya."
"I know, I know," she replied. "I haven't been myself lately. If you hadn't noticed, my life has slowly been falling apart. That guy I had told you apart is leaving for Africa and isn't the least bit interested in me, which really hurt me at the time but I'm now over it, I have no university to go to in the fall, so my future is shot, and my mom now hates me. In all this, you're the only one I can think of who can make it all better."
"The way you acted in the club the other day. It was a side of you I hadn't seen," Owen protested.
"That was just a kneejerk reaction. I couldn't handle one more person telling me what to do, so I retaliated. I shouldn't have," Anya answered, averting her gaze to the floor.
"That's not the only reason," Owen responded. Anya looked at him, knowing what was coming. "Cocaine."
"Yeah…" was all Anya could muster. What else could she say? She knew it was wrong, so there was no way she could defend herself. "I'm stopping. I know I did it a couple of times, and yeah, it felt good at the time, but it's turning me into something I'm not."
"That's what a lot of addicts say, but then they go right back to it. A kneejerk reaction." The way Owen repeated Anya's phrase stung, as if he was throwing back whatever she told him.
Owen put out his hand and motioned his fingers toward him, as if he wanted her to give him something.
"Give it," he commanded.
Not needing clarification, Anya slowly opened her mom's locket and pulled out a little bag of white powder. She knew it didn't look good that she was carrying the drugs on her person as she was trying to convince Owen that she was done with it. She quickly placed it in Owen's palm. Looking all around him to make sure nobody was watching, he stuffed the bag into his pocket.
"Please, flush it," Anya said. "I want it gone."
"Will do," Owen said seriously. A slight smile crept on his face, indicating to Anya that he was ready to start fresh.
She smiled up at Owen and threw her arms around him. The two kissed, filling Anya with happiness. She was so relieved that he forgave her. For a second there, she thought he was going to walk away, still disappointed in her even though she just spilled her heart out to him. But the goodness in Owen had shown through. Holly J and Fiona were so wrong about him. Outside of the tough guy demeanor that Owen gave off, he was really a sweet guy, and when he cared about someone, he really cared. He wasn't fake about anything, which was something that Anya needed. Dr. Chris had been so fake with her, leading Anya on for so long. Sav had even been fake at the beginning of the year, telling her that he wouldn't hide her from his parents, and literally a minute later, acted like she was something to be ashamed of and hid her away. Owen had nothing to hide, and Anya didn't want to hide anything from him.
Their lips parted, and Anya, still on her toes, whispered a quiet "Thank you" to Owen.
"Your welcome," he responded with a smile, his arms around her waist.
Anya and Owen, hand in hand, began walking towards the cafeteria. As they walked, Anya couldn't help but beam. This was the turn-around she needed. Finally, somebody was forgiving her. Somebody was giving her the chance she needed. They reached the table that Owen had been sitting at, and his friends made room for Anya. Although all seemed well and things were turning around, Anya couldn't keep her mind from slowly focusing on Owen's pocket. This shocked her.
Anya, stop it, she urged herself. Cocaine had done nothing for her well-being. In fact, it ruined her college career, and had potentially ended her relationship. Anya had to cut it out of her life for good.
But then, why couldn't she stop looking at his pocket?