Heart Strings

Nothing and Everything

Arya pulled her head out of the book she was reading. She looked around briefly.

"Where is this girl?" She whispered aloud. Then buried her mind in the words on the page.

She had been waiting for Misha for nearly forty five minutes and there was no sign of her. Her lecture finished at eleven o'clock, it was now eleven forty three.

She stood up from the table she was sitting at and walked to the counter of the coffee shop. At this time there were only a few people dotted around the room, all of them lost in text books and revision notes.

Ah...exam season.

"Can I get a hazelnut hot chocolate please, with no cream and extra Coco powder." The short girl with chocolate brown eyes and long eyelashes smiled and pressed the necessary buttons on the till, after telling Arya the total, she smiled and turned to start preparing the drink.

Just before Arya could enter her card into the machine, she was interrupted by a shrill voice screeching across the coffee shop.

"Don't you dare pay for that yet!" Misha stood in the doorway, soaked from head to toe in an array of different coloured paints. Arya turned back to the girl at the counter.

"Sorry can I add a latte with a double shot of caramel please," before turning back to her colourful friend, "I know you were going for a new look and all, but is this really necessary?"

Misha threw a harsh state in her direction before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

"This, my dear girl, is what happens when I run in to the people that make life hell."

"You unleash your inner skittle and release the rainbow?"

"No silly, I cover her Jimmy Choo outfit it permanent red oil paint in the middle of the art campus and start a paint war..."

"Oh lord what trouble have you gotten yourself into this time."

"I had to cut through the art campus to get here and ran into Carly, she threw a tantrum and started talking crap to her Barbie doll friend about me and when a not so nice comment about you came out, she regretted it when I ruined her outfit." Misha was almost breathless with excitement by the time she was finished and had clearly been working on her impression of the Cheshire cat because Arya had never seen a grin as wide.

"This is why I love you." Arya took their hot drinks and they sat down, ready to go over notes for their psychology exam next week.

****

"So when are you seeing lover boy again?" Misha's voice rang clearly from Arya's en-suite, followed quickly by the crazy girl herself, putting her now damp hair up into a high ponytail.

"If you're talking about Nathaniel, then I don't think so, he still hasn't spoken to me since I bumped into him at the gym." Arya tried her best not to sound disappointed.

"I know things will work out between you guys, I mean, from what happened before, you guys were meant to be together, life just got in the way for a while. But don't message him first. Make him beg for it. My girl doesn't chase after some guy!"

Misha had a point.

But Arya couldn't help but think that maybe she should do a little chasing. This wasn't just any guy. He had once been her best friend and knew her better than anyone.

"I've had enough talking about boys. We have tons of food and good movies. Let's get to it."

****

As the night drifted on and eleven o'clock drifted around, Arya could hear the subtle snores of Misha drifting slowly up from the air mattress.

The movie they were watching had finished a while ago and the television had automatically switched itself off.