Trust

Part 1

That moment when you realize you should have just not woken up that morning hit Anya a long time ago. She is far beyond starting the day over, however, and has resorted to finishing her day the quickest as possible. She has suffered too much, given too much, to allow herself to have a breakdown now. She paid the price for caring too much, and she had been blindsided by the consequences. Though her heart is no longer breaking for the man who dumped her, she still feels the effects of it being broken. She has tried to piece her heart back together, but it has been a long and slow process by herself. Glad that she is no longer cynical of love, Anya focuses most days on just taking the next step forward. If she could go back in time and change anything, she would have never agreed to date Nicholas. She would have turned around and walked away and kept herself far away from his attention. Maybe then she could have saved herself from the pain he caused. Maybe then every day would not be a struggle.

"Stupid bracelets," Anya mumbles to herself as she struggles to button the cheap plastic around her wrist. She briefly debates on just throwing the entire box in the garbage and get a stamp, but this is not her event to plan and she is therefore not in charge. Taking a deep breath, she calms the anger and anxiety she feels, knowing any second people could start filing through the doors. The metal chair next to hers scoots across the cement floor while giving an awful squeal. May is her co-greeter for the dance, taking the entry fee while Anya does the bracelets. Her green eyes fix Anya with a hint of worry. Knowing she does not want to talk about her feelings this second, Anya distracts her by holding up her wrist. May, of course, snaps the bracelet easily in a swift motion that makes Anya believe that perhaps they should switch places.

"Are you ready, Annalise?" May questions with a smile as the double glass doors open.

Her happiness is infectious, and Anya cannot help but smile in return, despite the nerves of having to see people and make small talk. "As I will ever be." For the next half hour, Anya stumbles through snapping bracelets and loses count after a hundred. She is finally getting into a rhythm now, though the only stragglers are coming in now.

"Anya." She hears her name, and though she is puzzled by someone calling her a nickname that has been lost on her ears for years, she is more shocked by the voice that hits her like an arrow to her heart. Noah. She does not doubt that voice. She never expected to see him again. Slowly, Anya pulls her gaze up to meet his. He looks just as surprised to see her as she is to see him. His mouth pulls into a crooked smile, but she cannot seem to look away from his haunting eyes. That gaze takes her back to years before, to a time when she was happy, or believed to be anyway. The second time she ever saw him, they were on vacation in the Caribbean, and she remarked that the color of his eyes is like the ocean, the same teal, blue-green color. She remembers being there, and the calmness of the water while sitting on the balcony talking to him. She wonders if he remembers her as she remembers him. There are many things she has forgotten, but she could never forget about him.

Anya met Noah only a few times over the five years that she dated his younger brother, Nicholas. He was always rebellious, fun, and adventurous but also loyal and soberingly mature. Even though she had been dating his baby brother, Noah always seemed like a big brother to her as well. There were a few times, however, that she felt something for him that was not brotherly at all. It did not help with the way he was always looking at her, and Nicholas never liked those gazes either. Noah was the black sheep of that family and the only one who truly seemed to care she was there. She never understood why he cared when the rest of his family did not. She sent him a birthday present only once after Nicholas left her, and that was because she had already bought it. The last she knew of him he was in medical school, and completely cut ties with his family.

Although they were related, Noah and Nicholas were complete opposites. If a person stared at them long enough the resemblance could be seen, but that is all. Nicholas was always the people-pleaser, with his parents being at the top of the list of people he wanted to please. The only rebellious thing he did was dating her. When everything ended, and she reflected on their entire relationship, she has high suspicions he only dated her to get attention. He liked the attention, good or bad. He was the hometown athletic superstar, the class president, golden boy, youth entrepreneur, and straight-up chip of the old block.