Again thanks for all the feedback and of course a big thanks to David (XOXO).
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It was lunch at school and I was waiting at the oak for Anna, nervously wringing my hands together. When we had met earlier that day Anna had not said much and only saying that she wanted to wait until lunch when we could really talk. So here I waited.
I didn't have to wait long as I saw Anna walk my way. She locked her eyes on mine and my stomach fell at the sight of her sad face. I was not going to be receiving good news.
"Hey," she said as she sat down next to me under the oak.
"Hey," I replied. I was still wringing my hands together in my lap and Anna reached over grabbing my right hand. Softly she stroked my hand not saying anything.
I looked over at her after a while and she looked up from her hand stroking mine. "I rang my father last night," she blew out as if she had been holding her breath in. She looked so tired; it must have been a long night.
"What did you talk about?" I asked in a small voice.
I gave Anna an empathic look and squeezed her hand. "Me going to live with him," she practically whispered not looking at me.
It was what I had expected, though it still felt like a thousand knives being inserted into my heart. "What does your mum think about it?" I asked.
Anna released my hand. Not looking at me she ran her hands through her long blonde locks, avoiding the question.
"You haven't told her, have you?"
Anna looked over at me, her eyes starting to well up. "No," she choked out as a tear slid down her perfect face.
"Anna, it's ok." I scooted closer to her and placed my right arm around her shoulders. Anna let her head fall on my shoulder as she started to sob.
We stayed like that for a few minutes, Anna sobbing into my chest and me holding her, not wanting to let her go.
"I'm going to tell her, she's just been so busy..." Anna said trailing off into thought.
"How about I help you tell her?" I asked.
She looked up at me with wonder in her bleary blue eyes. "You would do that?"
I was surprised she even asked. "Of course, I would do anything for you Anna. I love you," I said looking at her adoring eyes. Right then I knew that not only did I love her as a best friend, but that I also had a love for her that would never end.
Anna smiled. "I love you too," she replied and out of nowhere in the middle of school she gave me a quick tender kiss on the lips. "I'm going to miss being able to do that," she added.
"Well there's always the holidays." I smiled down at her.
"I never thought about that," Anna contemplated, running her hand up and down my thigh mechanically.
"Plus we can always call, email and webcam." I kept thinking about all the ways we could keep in touch. Maybe with all the technologies these days it would feel like we were never apart.
"Yer," Anna sighed. "Still not as good as the real thing though." She ran her hand just a little further up my thigh and beyond my school skirt.
"Anna," I scolded her. "We're in the middle of school I don't think we should be doing that here." I slid my hand down and grabbed hers just before she hit my panties.
"Spoilsport," Anna huffed out.
She pouted at me, but I just ignored her. She had been avoiding some very big questions. "When are you leaving?" I asked, getting down to the nitty gritty.
Anna huffed again. "Dad wants me to be packed and ready to leave by next Tuesday, that way I've only missed two weeks at my new school."
Next Tuesday was only a week away. I never imagined it to be so soon. It was all happening so fast, my brain couldn't keep track of it all. And now that she was definitely leaving I didn't think it wise for us to get into a relationship and potentially ruin a perfectly good friendship. Did long distance relationships actually ever work? The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Anna.
"That's not very long," I thought out loud.
Anna sat up and out of my arms. "It's a bad idea," she said out of nowhere. "I'm going to tell dad it isn't going to work, I'll get a job so mum doesn't have to work all the time and we won't have to be apart," Anna rambled.
"Anna stop!" I said grabbing both her hands. "You have to do this for you, so you can be a fantastic doctor some day. You're not going to achieve that here," I tried to persuade her.
Anna deflated a bit. "I can still do that if I stay here to finish high school though. I don't have to go off to Sydney to do that," she stated matter-of-factly.
"Anna," I said softly squeezing both of her hands in mine. "Are you still going to get a free ride through university though if you stay?"
Anna's head bent down. "No." Then lifting her head again with a grin said, "but if I get a scholarship, that won't even matter anyway." Why did she have to make this conversation more difficult than it already was? She was not going to win.
"Even so," I said. "But, what happens to your mum then? If you take up your father's offer she would finally be able to get some rest." Anna made a move to open her mouth, but I interrupted her, guessing her new line of thought. "She's not going to let you get a part time job, Anna. As long as you're here she is going to make sure she works herself into the ground providing for you and you know it." I hated to be the bad guy in this situation. I could tell Anna knew all this, she just needed someone to convince her without a doubt that she was making the right choice and that was my job, as her best friend. My feelings for her be damned!
"Plus you've already told your dad you're coming and I know how you hate to go back on your word." She just gave me a deathly stare. I knew her too well for her own good.
