Willa & the Extraordinary Internship

CH. 35

"Don't look now," Cyn hissed, her voice loud and aggravated. "It's Willa."

Of course, Maryam looked.

"I said don't look!" Cyn protested, scandalized. "Ugh." She screwed up her face in a frown and ducked behind a tall rack of wallets.

The two girls were shopping and even though their taste in fashion was as different as their taste in men, Maryam was letting Cyn dictate style to her. Cyn's arms were free so she could rifle through clothing with ease, while Maryam's arms were copiously weighed down like a pack mule's.

Distracted, Cyn picked up a wallet, glanced at the price tag, then tossed it on top of Maryam's growing pile of clothing. "Here. I need a new one."

Maryam was barely listening. Willa was walking next to an attractive brunette boy. His hair was just a little on the shaggy side and unlike Cyn's last boyfriend, his pants didn't sag down far enough to reveal the label on his boxer shorts.

"That's Nate," she told Cyn, even though it was obvious the blonde couldn't care less.

"What?" Cyn paused in the middle of flicking her finger over faux crocodile-skin wallets. She glanced up, scowl growing when she saw Nate put his arm around Willa's shoulder as the two browsed shoes. "So what?" Dismissing them, she returned her attention to the wallets. "Let's go try this stuff on."

"Wait," Maryam said. "Let's watch them."

"That's so creepy." Cyn hauled some items out of Maryam's arms. "You do what you want. I'll be back."

It was almost surreal to see Willa with a guy. The two of them seemed happy, grinning and chatting to each other, but they were too far away for Maryam to pick up any words. She glanced around her in all directions before she shoved the rest of the clothing onto the shelf as far back as it would go. She didn't like them, anyway.

"Hey," she said before she remembered that Willa probably wouldn't be happy to see her.

Both Willa and her boyfriend stopped mid-sentence, their faces matched with surprise. Then, Nate's arm tightened on Willa's shoulders. "Hi." He glanced down at Willa, a question in his eyes.

Prompted by Nate, Willa's lips broke into a reluctant, "Oh, hey." She didn't smile.

"How are you?" Maryam asked desperately. Holy shit, this was awkward.

"Fine."

"I'm Nate." The boy cleared his throat. The hint was clear: who the hell are you?

"I'm Maryam." She summoned up a wavering smile.

She knew the second that he heard her name that he knew who she was. Flushed with humiliation, she just stood there while Willa and Nate stood there staring at her like they were waiting for her to leave.

"I'm going to go grab us some food," Nate said finally. "I'll meet you in the food court. Panda Express okay?"

"Fine." Willa was still staring, unblinking, at Maryam.

"Nice to meet you," said Nate, giving Maryam a lopsided half-smile. "Bye."

"Bye," Maryam echoed, watching his retreating back.

The muscles on Willa's face were taut and frozen, still not springing into a smile. "So how are you?" she asked, the words reluctant and flat.

Maryam knew that Willa was just being polite, but she launched onto this opportunity with everything she had. "I'm good," she said earnestly, the words slipping over her tongue. "I've missed you." She waited an expectant beat before realizing Willa wasn't going to say it back.

"So," Willa said, shooting an awkward look at Maryam's feet, "I better meet up with—"

"Nate," Maryam supplied with eagerness.

"Right." Willa's lips pulled downward. "See you."

Maryam watched as Willa turned around and beat her retreat. After so many days of Willa dodging her phone calls and attempts at contact, she couldn't let her best friend just leave. "Will you?" she blurted.

Willa stopped, turned around. "Will I, what?"

"Will you see me?"

Willa faltered. "I don't get what you mean."

"It's just"—Maryam waved her hands in the air—"I don't think you plan to see me around. Or anywhere. This whole not being friends anymore thing? It's kind of anticlimactic. I don't know what I expected. But this is really awk, Wils. Really awk." She bit her lower lip, worrying the flesh with her teeth.

"Want us to throw down?" Willa raised an eyebrow. "Cus I really don't think I'm up for a fight in the middle of the department store."

"I'm just saying that it doesn't have to be this way." Maryam swallowed, hard, before taking the plunge. "I want us to be friends again." It was weirdly intimate, saying that. It was like those awkward adolescent days when you had to say things like "I have a crush on you" to a boy, had to be totally candid and lay yourself open to the ridicule of his gangly, pimpled friends just in the hopes that he would feel the same way.

Willa's face went slack and her shoulders sagged. "Maryam..." she said, then broke off, staring at a spot behind Maryam's head.

Maryam turned - there was Cyn, face radiating surprise.

"You guys are talking?" Cyn's mouth was open in disbelief. "Guess you didn't stay enemies long," she said, smirking towards Willa.

"We were never enemies," Willa responded automatically.

"Can we sort this out?" Maryam asked, ignoring Cyn. "Please?"

"Look, guys." Willa cleared her throat, avoiding Maryam's hopeful gaze. "I don't hate you. But I'm not ready to be friends again. I don't think we were so great at it the first time."

"Don't worry, Willa, there's more fish in the sea," Cyn snarked. "More people to steal stories from."

"Shut up," Maryam hissed.

Both Cyn and Willa's faces radiated shock. It was the first time Maryam had ever said anything like that to Cyn. It felt terrifying, but in a good way.

"How's the book?" Maryam tried again. She shouldn't have, she knew. It was a sore spot, since it was the book that had caused all the drama between them, but she was getting desperate for ways to keep Willa there, to keep her talking.

"It's fine." Willa paused. "I got an offer to get it published."

"That's great!" Maryam said, injecting an overflowing abundance of enthusiasm in her voice at the same moment Cyn made a rude sound of disgruntlement.

"Yeah." Willa hooked her fingers together in front of her so it looked like her hands were primly clasped. "I've got to go." She didn't wait for Maryam to say goodbye, just turned and started walking.

"What did you have to say that for?" Maryam demanded, rounding on Cyn with a furious expression. "I was getting through to her."

"No," Cyn enunciated clearly, snorting. "You weren't. Now you shut up and help me find a lipstick to match this dress."

Author's Note: Cyn is still as outspoken as ever! Are we starting to see some dents in the Maryam-Cyn relationship? Let me know what you think!