FicWad

"Why has that guy over there been staring at you since we walked in?" Janelle questioned as she and Ana took a spot in line at a Starbucks on Fifth Avenue.

Shrugging her shoulders, Ana eyed the menu, biting at her bottom lip. She had no idea but joked, "Maybe I'm just too beautiful for him to pull his eyes away?" stealing a glance back at the table where he was seated with a girl; he looked oddly familiar, but awkwardly strange.

Excusing himself from the one-way conversation at the table, he scooted his way near Ana in the shrinking line, hoping to catch a prolonged glimpse of her before making an irrational decision to take the chance. After assuring himself it wasn't just a coincidence, he took the leap, bluntly interrupting the girl's casual conversation, "Why do I feel like I know you?"

Startled by the voice booming behind her, Ana spun around on the balls of her feet to find herself face to face with the creeper from the table in the corner. But without thought she cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, posing the same exact question in return.

Tugging at the corners of his lips, a smug smile broke through and with an overly confident but casually nonchalant shrug he answered, "Well ... not too be boastful but, I am sort of famous."

Ana allowed a laugh to escape before blowing him off, "Well sorry to break it to you buddy, but I don't often find myself associated with mildly infamous pre-teen icons." Turning back to the counter and blowing him off, she began to place her order.

"Your name, miss?" The cheerful teenage boy behind the counter questioned.

"Ana" The arrogant stranger answered from over her shoulder before she even had the chance to open her mouth.

"Thanks, it'll be ready in a few" The boy boomed and inquired, "Hey, aren't you that guy from that band?"

Ana turned to the stranger as he shook his head. "Don't lie" She whispered, a smile playing across her lips as she recalled his face, and most importantly, his attitude.

"Are you running away again?" The question ran through her mind at the same moment he asked it, knowing it was an inevitable hurdle she would have to bear. "Although New York is a lot closer than Miami."

"No Pete, I'm not running away. Not that its really any of your business, but I'm visiting my family for the holidays." Ana answered the annoyance thick in her voice.

"Who is this guy?" Janelle questioned, returning with their drinks.

"Why won't you answer his phone calls then?" He spat the tone right back, "You're running away, I'm not stupid, you don't have to lie to me."

"Why do you care? I really don't believe that it has anything to do with you." Ignoring Janelle's question, Ana grabbed her drink and continued toward the door.

"He's my best friend, it has everything to do with me." Pete informed her matter of factly, "You're destroying him, why don't you care?"

"Maybe he's destroyed me, have you ever thought about that?" By now they were outside of Starbucks, the girl Pete had once been sitting with, now joining.

"It's been almost 5 years, don't you think that its time to get over it?" Pete's voice was rushed and persistent now, the volume rising.

"What are we fighting about?" Janelle questions, her inquiry once again going unnoticed.

Ana was shocked at what she had heard, how could he know that, how could he think he knows anything at all? Turning to face Pete now, her eyes searched for an answer and confusion spread over her features.

"Patrick tells me everything" He now more calmly explains.

"Who's Patrick?" Is that the one you always talk about?" Janelle continued to rant, causing a smile to play on Pete's lips now, he had won,"Will someone please tell me what is going on?"

"Who is this?" His lady friend now inquired.

"The girl who's breaking Trick's heart." Pete informed her, with the arrogance still present in his eyes and his voice.

"Trick" Janelle reiterated out loud to herself, "Yeah, that's him."

"What do you want from me, Pete?" Ana pleaded with a sigh.

"To give him a chance, why is that so hard?" He shrugged.

"It just is ..." Her eyes darting to her feet, kicking absently at the sidewalk.

"That isn't an answer."

"To me it is; I would expect you to understand. It's just hard."

"But why?" Pete's voice raising once again.

"Because! Maybe ..." She was shouting now, drawing the attention of bystanders in the street, "maybe I'm afraid, okay?"

Pete was out of words now, and with a frustrated sigh Ana turned and began walking away, a confused Janelle following quickly on her heels.

"You can't run away from it, Ana!" Pete called out to her, finally conjuring up the words to say as she stormed away. "You know that as well as I do."

"What the hell was that about?" Janelle questioned, nearly jogging to keep up with Ana as she stormed toward their hotel. There were tears in Ana's eyes, some being held back and some flowing over her cheeks.

Reaching the hotel less than a block later, she stopped short before entering and finally responded, "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Taking a deep breath, the girls pushed their way through the glass doors of their hotel. Wiping away the last of her tears, Ana momentarily took her gaze off of her walking path and with a thud, her body collided with another.

"Fancy running in to you here" A nearly familiar voice rang through her ears, looking up Ana found a tall dark man in front of her, running his left hand absently through the lock of curls adorning his head, a ridiculous smile plastered on his face.

Grumbling under her breathe, Ana decided that today just was not her lucky day.

"Hey ... don't I know you?" Another familiar voice called out.

"Yeah, sort of" She mumbled softly, offering a mostly forced, half smile. The sound of her voice caused Patrick's head to pop up, needing to match her face with the voice, his heart jumped to his throat when he saw her standing there, a mere two feet in front of him.

"Ana" His voice now breathed from behind her, and before she could even turn to face him the tears were once again streaming down her face. "Please Ana ..." His voice was soft, and gentle as she finally turned around.

"I'm sorry Patrick" She mumbled an apology through her tears before storming off toward the elevators.

"Wait, that's Patrick?" Janelle attempted to verify as she chased after her distraught best friend.

Rushing into an arriving elevator the tears were rushing down her face faster than she cared to wipe them away, leaning her head against the wall of the elevator.

"Care to talk about it now?" Janelle inquired, lighting up the 7 button with a touch of her finger.

Ana nodded, "Do you want the lifetime original movie version or the TV Guide channel summary?" She inquired as the doors of the elevator glided shut, trying to shine light on a depressing situation.