Her Worries

"Would you stop laughing at me!", Grace shouted with an annoyed look.

"Oh, cmon! like you can blame me for this, Mika replied from the other side of the table. She has been giggling and laughing since then. "I'm even surprised you got it right now! I thought Nate would spend his whole life just trying to make you understand this".

"Why would he do that? Wait! does he know about this?!", Grace yelled.

Mika's mouth was too busy with the big bite of the double cheeseburger she had stuffed inside. So she just shook her head in denial.

"Then why?", Grace started eating her.

Mika gulped down her cola. "Um- because he loves you?", Mika frowned like 'are you serious?'.

Grace was dumbstruck for two seconds. Then her laughter covered up the silence, "Oh dear! you crack the worst jokes".

"I'm serious you know", Mika got annoyed.

"Yeah right. You need to stop overthinking Mika", Grace picked up her drink.

"Overthinking!? Have you seen that guy around you!?", Mika almost jumped from her seat.

"Oh, Mika!", Grace started patting her head. "He's a nice guy! It doesn't mean he loves me".

Mika was annoyed to hell with this goofball. For a second she wanted to kick her ass off, but again she couldn't. "Fine, fine. I'm not gonna say anything".

"Speaking of the nice guy, what's up with you and Noah?", Grace shook the ice in her cup with the straw.

Mika blushed up right at that second, "w- wha- what d-do you mean?".

"I think that face explains what I mean. Cmon, you know you can tell me", Grace replied with curiosity even though she knew what it was.

"Well- I- I DON'T KNOW!", Mika yelled as her face transformed into a tomato.

"Umm, you keep on running away from him, so maybe you can explain that?"

"I- I don't! He just happens to be around when I am running", Mika turned her face away, unaware that it was a very bad lie.

"Alright, let's cut the chase", Grace moved her body forward to reach her eyes. "I know you are attracted to him. More importantly, he is exactly your type! I mean look at him! Isn't he the one you have been trying to find all along?!"

Mika was dumbfounded. She even opened her mouth to argue against but didn't have anything.

Grace smirked at her, sipping her drink like one big winner.

"Okay fine! So what!!", Mika snapped.

"So why do you keep on running away?"

"I- I don't know. Every time he comes closer, my heart starts beating fast", she placed her hand on her chest. "It feels like it's on the verge of explosion. I feel the urge to be close to him. It's- It's a little scary",

Grace smiled at her. She is a little innocent cat after all. She moved her hand ahead and started patting her head, "it's alright. No need to rush", she said in her most sweet and gentle tone.

"Really?", Mika asked with her cute confused kitty eyes.

Grace nodded. She knew it was hard for Mika too. She has a tough time being close to people. But seeing her try so had to be honest about her feelings made her utterly happy.

"Oh, by the way, here!", Grace handed over a packet to Mika.

"Hmm? what's this?", Mika asked. As soon she took a peek inside, her eyes sparkled. "Th- This! Is it that one!?!", she asked all fired up. When she took it out to have a good look, it was a sling bag with white fluffy covering and a cat face on it.

"OH MY GOD! WHERE DID YOU GET IT!!", she couldn't control her excitement. "I told you about this being out of stock like months ago. Even I had forgotten about it".

"Well, I saw this in one of the stores we passed by", she replied scratching her cheek in amusement. "So when I told you that I dropped my purse in the store, I went and got this".

"How did I not notice it?", Mika said as they started leaving.

"Well, because you being a shopaholic got us a bunch of stuff", she pointed out the bags in her hand. "Just one bag didn't make a difference".

Mika chuckled in nervousness, "oops".

Grace sighed. 'That's how we are', she thought.

"By the way, what the heck is Ryan doing here?", Grace asked as they were getting inside the cab.

"You got me. I mean we didn't use to talk regularly. He was just a good friend to me. But from the last two weeks, it was like he vanished", Mika scratched her head. "He said he'll be busy with some of his work. I mean it wouldn't have startled me if he had just called, but that freaking guy is here! In our college!"

"Wait, what?", Grace frowned. "Oh god, our life won't stop sucking right?"

"yeah, I think angels and spirit guides are bored, so they are like – hey! Let's do something fun and make their life even more of a comedy".

"So what's his plan?"

"I don't know. He said he's going to be here as a student for masters. But actually it's not that bad, I mean we can spend time together face to face now", Mika raised her shoulder.

"Ugh! You want to do a bad thing, go eat some chili with a cake", Grace fell back to her seat. "I hate that guy".

"Hey, he's not that bad. I mean even you like him at some point".

Grace moved her face towards Mika without coming forward from her seat, "I said I like him as a human. I hate him around you!", she frowned

"Whyyyyyyyyyyy?", Mika sang in a long tone.

"Do you really wanna go down that road again? Where I list each and every moment you cry?", Grace looked at her with a death glare.

"No ma'am", Mika looked down hastily. She knew that the past she and Ryan had as a couple in a relationship is definitely not something very pretty.

"Look I know that relationship was there for you to learn something. And I don't have any problem with that", Grace held Mika by her cheek. "But I can't ignore the fact that this guy is responsible for making the girl I love, most cry".

Mika giggled as she rubbed her cheek on Grace's soft hands. "Thanks for being here"

"Where would we be if not with each other?", Grace smiled.

The next day, Mika dressed up her doll in her new clothes. A white frily lace dress, with the cutest sandals. "Wow, I'm surprised they still had this in stock. A design so pretty is supposed to be taken away the first day", she said while Mika was doing her makeup.

"Well, they were out of stock. It's just that your size is so small, no one ever fits in them", Mika smirked.

"Don't remind me of that", Grace cried on the tragedy.

"Hey don't move!", Mika shouted.

Too much makeup never suits Grace. Mika always tries to keep it as less as she can. She turned her back towards her to style her hair. On this day she went for a messy side ponytail, showing off her bangs. It was a struggle to get Grace bangs. Mika went for a strict plan to make her damaged hair good and smooth while making her natural curls last. In the end, her work paid off. Grace was so happy on the day of her haircut she hugged Mika the whole day, without caring that summers were going on.

"Here done", Mika exclaimed as she stood there proudly.

Grace's jaw dropped, her eyes started sparkling. This was exactly how she wanted to be.

While Grace was having breakfast, Mika went ahead to get ready herself. She put up the cutest crop top she got the previous day. Her shorts went so well with the top that she actually reflected the cute and mischievous cat she is. Her two ponytails with pink and blue-dyed hair made it sparkle even more.

"How do I look?", she went in front of Grace with her eyes of 'praise me!'

"You look like the cutest girl I've ever seen", she patted her head.

"fu fu fu fu", Mika giggled in pride. "Hey, what's that?", she asked pointing towards a file.

"Oh, this? I got an email last night saying that the clauses for our site are expiring in a week so we should sign a new one", she handed over the file to Mika.

"Ohhhh", Mika turned the pages.

"Read this too while you have breakfast. Since I'm not in the art class as you, I'm free during the first lecture. So I'll drop by and to the office and get the documents verified".

"Okay, but would that period be enough? This is a lot of work", Mika said while her eyes were on the pages.

"Yeah. It's Saturday, I'm just going to campus for french and club practice", Grace sat in front of Mika.

"Oh yeah! Then why don't you wait for me? We can go together", Mika proposed.

"The office doesn't have a rush during those hours, so it's more convenient", Grace replied while still typing on her laptop.

"That's true. Alright then. Just ping me when you're done", Mika handed over the file. "Here! It's good enough, I've signed where it was required".

"Okay", Mika put it inside her tote bag with her other stuff. "Oh yeah! Did you check the account for income?"

"Yeah, it's crazy. I think our shopping bills are covered!", Mika giggled.

"Alright then, I'm heading off!", Grace headed towards the door.

"Be careful!", Mika shouted back.

But this peaceful start ended up with a chaotic mess.

SIGH~

"You know it's the thirtieth sigh of yours in the last two minutes. Do it once more and I won't hesitate to punch you in the face", Noah said coldly, without taking his eyes off the laptop.

"But!", Nate sang in a long lapse, "it's the second lecture already! Where is she?"

"We live in an advanced world, there's a thing called the phone, and then there's a thing called texting. Combine them together and get off my brain", Noah frowned.

"Stingy", Nate pouted. "I already did that, but she didn't respond".

"Ask Mika, she has her art and illustration class today. She's obviously on the campus".

"Oh yeah! let me see about that.

N - Hey Mika! Contact me as soon as your class is over -

M - Hey? -

N - Is your class canceled? -

M - No. I'm texting you because you wanted me to -

N - What about class? -

N - Nevermind. stupid question. Hi-five to so many things we have in common! -

M - What do you want doofus? -

N - Act a little cute, would you? -

M - I can act cutely and say 'bye-bye!' -

N - No, wait! -

M - just say what you want -

N - Alright, where's Grace? She should be on campus, right? -

M - Yeah, she should be. She shouldn't be around any pervert so, isn't it working perfectly? :) -

N - Hey, what does that mean!? -

M - It means that the guy who was kissing Grace with his shirt off should not be around her. -

N - That was an accident! I can explain! -

M - Alright. Explain it to yourself then. I have no intentions of hearing you out -

M - Can I go now? -

N - Hey at least tell me where Grace is! -

M - No, I'm enjoying it this way -

N - Hey, I remember I got some limited edition chocolates from Zendee's as a gift -

M - Wha! What!!? How?! -

N - I just helped them with some of their hacking problems. The BIG box was a gesture for gratitude -

M - How lucky! I wanted them but they ran out of it in just half an hour -

N - Well... -

M - What? -

N - Since it's a BIG BOX, I was thinking about sharing HALF of them with someone -

M - Wait- Where are you going with this? -

N- I can give you the share if you want -

M - I WANT THEM! YES YES YES! -

N - Then tell me where Grace is -

M - No freaking way! I'm not going for this deal -

N - Are you sure? Because since it was a gift, I got the ones with different varieties -

N - Milk chocolate -

N - Hazelnut swirl -

N - Caramel filled -

N - nutty surprise -

M - Alright alright!!! I'll tell you! But I want one of every kind you have -

N - No worries. There are two pieces of every variety. And not to mention I've got like forty of them -

M - Alright. Don't go back on your words. You know it would be dangerous -

N - I know -

M - She's at an office for resigning the clauses for our site -

N - So why isn't she picking up calls or replying to her texts? -

M - She must be at court right now. These documents are quite complex. We have to get legal approval too. -

N - Damn. I thought you just slept and eat. I didn't know that you were this big of a thing -

M - Huh! No one ever does. Well if you're done, I'm going -

N - Hey, wait! -

M - Ugh! now what? -

N - When will she be back? -

M - I don't know! I told you what I knew. Just be ready with those chocolates -

N - Fine -

"Ugh, this girl!", Nate frowned. "Hey are you going somewhere?", he saw Noah picking up his stuff.

"Yeah, I completed some forms for my final transfer details. Gotta drop them at the office", Noah pointed out some pages.

"Alright. Welcome to our university I guess", Nate took a seat on the couch.

"You are a funny guy", Noah made his way out.

"Wasn't the office right after Mika's class?", Nate whispered to himself. An evil smile came on his face, "what a nice day for them".

"Alright then, I hope I can get each and every one of your paintings by Monday, those who have submitted it can check the score tonight", the professor declared while Mika was yawning in the back, not giving a single crap about what was happening.

To fate's way, Noah and Mika came out of their room at the same time. Mika could have gotten out early with all the other students. But given that her lazy ass wasn't ready to move she started getting out five minutes after class was over.

As soon as Mika steps her foot out of the door all her yawning is gone. Her heart starts racing again. She felt the energy going through her feet reaching directly towards her head. Noah stepped out of the room right in front of her. For a second that she stood there, her legs were shaking, she felt low on energy. Her eyes watered up and cheeks flushed.

Noah felt a familiar presence in the air. He turned to his left where he saw the cute cat already looking at him, trembling and all blushed up.

As soon as their gaze met, Mika's heart couldn't take it anymore. Without even knowing, her feet moved. Within that moment, she vanished from his site completely.

She was again in the same classroom where she was lazing around peacefully. The only difference was that she was wide awake and there was no human to be seen.

Mika clenched her chest and panted heavily. She could feel the heavy heartbeat through her palm. She was a little relieved that she escaped. She was trying hard to explain to herself that Noah didn't even notice her, so it's alright.

Suddenly she heard footsteps coming from her behind. Her fear didn't let her turn around. She stood there hoping for some miracle. But as soon as she heard the lock at the door, this was not just her imagination anymore. She turned around as slowly as she could. As she did she saw Noah, standing in front of her.