This Heart Still Feels

"Your latte is ready," the cashier called to you.

You smiled, "Thanks," You grabbed your latte and carelfully brought it to your mouth to take a sip from the top. With your free hand you grabbed a ten from your pocket and handed it to the cashier, "Keep the change,"

"Thank you," she said in her british accent. You smiled back at her and sat down at your table, where you already had a hot bagel with melting cream cheese on it. You looked around at all the other people talking with british accents. You had already been living in London for over two years now after moving from the U.S. but the fact of being there still surprised you. You had been accepted into a great college in London and decided to study there for theater arts. For the first few months you stayed with an aunt and uncle, your mothers brother, and moved out when you were able to afford your own place. Now you were living the life and loving every minute of it.

"Excuse me," a voice said from behind you. You turned and looked up to a short woman, no older than you, with frizzish brown hair and glasses, "Can I sit with you? All the other tables are taken,"

"Sure, sit down," you smiled.

Her green eyes gleamed as she pulled up a seat, "Thanks. I thought I would have to eat standing up."

You laughed, "It's no big deal," You looked at her face and just stared for a minute. After taking a bite of her muffin, she looked up and noticed you staring at her.

"What?" then she gasped, "oh my god, please say I don't have another zit," she panicked sarcasticaly.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" you asked, holding in your laugh.

"Gee, I don't know." she shrugged, "Did you ever have hot lesbian sex with me?"

"Hmm." you pondered, "funny sarcasm, average figure, likes lesbo sex,"

"You know I love that," she laughed.

"Okay, tell me if this sounds familiar," you stood up straight and cleared your voice, "Equus!" you squeaked.

"Equus!" she repeated with a higher squeak.

"Oh my god, it's YOU!" you suddenly got excited.

"Deana?" Teresa voice got louder. The two of you then jumped out of your chairs and ran around and embraced each other.

"Oh my god. Teresa!" You said loudly, "I can't believe it's you."

"Just like the first time we met, huh?" she laughed.

"Yeah, only you're not dating Tom," then you looked back at her, "You're not dating Tom, right?"

"No, he's still gay," She gave you a big smile and sat down again, "And what happened to you? You getting an accent or what?"

"When you live in England long enough, it sticks to you like a virus," you said, proving her point with the slightly british accent you were gaining.

"The tall height kind of threw me off," Teresa stated, "but I knew I recognized those color changing eyes. They weren't so green before when I first came up," you laughed, "So how have you been doing?"

"Great," you told her, "I'm doing really well in my classes. I've got a great apartment, a good job. What else is there to say?"

"That you're engaged to Dan Radcliffe?" she asked.

"Nothing has changed, has it?"

"Nope, I still need a life," she grinned.

"How many time do we have to go over this," you explained to her, making it like old times, "You do have a life. It just so happens that it's a very bad one."

"Whatever," Teresa rolled her eyes.

"So what about you?" you asked her, "You still dating Jack?"

"No, we broke up a few months ago,"

"Awww," you pouted and made a heart with your hands, an old sign you guys had with your friends, "I still luv you," you said in a pouty voice.

"You do?" Teresa asked surprisingly, "Consider you stopped calling a month after you moved out from your uncles place."

You sighed, "I know, but I was really busy with school and all," you explained, "and you know how much it cost for long distant phone calls, and right now I can't really afford to pay for twenty of them per month."

"You still could have written,"

"I know." you said, "and I'm sorry."

Teresa kept a straight face, "Well..." then her expression popped up into a happy one, "Okay, I forgive you."

You smiled, "So how is everybody? It seems like forever since I've heard about them,"

"Good," she said, "Of course, not as good as Ms. College girl over here,"

"Come on Tree," you said, "I'm not the only one who went to college."

"But one of the few who actually stayed." she said quietly as she took a drink of your latte.

You gave a confused expression, "What do you mean? Who dropped out?"

"Well, Mary tried for awhile, but quit because she had her bitchy attitude about everyone and was fed up with people putting her down." Tree began, "And then Samantha had to drop out because she got pregnant." you gasped at this part, "I know. And let's just say for a lot of us staying in college was a big issue."

"How is Raven?" you asked.

Tree hesitated, "Good, I guess... She never went to college if thats what you mean, but she's doing okay. She's writing poetry for this one magazine. Doesn't give much pay, but they take work from non-college students."

"And that's how she's making a living?" you asked worridly.

"Pretty much." she said sadly, "A lot of us offered to help her. We offered money, jobs, places to stay, but she refused them all."

"Same old stubborn Raven," you smiled weakly.

"She misses you," Tree said after a moment of silence, "or at least that's what she said to me the last time I saw her. But then again, I haven't seen her for about a month or two, and a lot can change then,"

"Yeah, I know,"

She looked up at you, "We all missed you," she said, "For awhile you had us worried."

"About what?"

"Well, you never called",she began, "the only way we knew what was going on with you was through your parents, and you know how accurate their information is," you smiled at that comment, "And all they would say was that you were doing fine. Everyone was getting the most disturbing thoughts about what had happened to you,"

"I'm sorry," you repeated your apology, "I guess it was a little hard for me to pick up the phone and see what had happened to you. I mean, you, Tree, I had no worries about, but it was everyone else almost." you sighed, "You know most of us left eachother to a bad ending at graduation. I just didn't want to have someone tell me the fight was still going on and that it ruined everyones lives. I mean the last I really heard about what was going on everyone was still fighting, and that was four months after I moved" You took a breath, "And now I meet you and although their news isn't exactly the worst news, it isn't the best either,"

"Yeah," she sighed, "It was actually partly you that brought everyone together,"

"How did I do that?"

"Well once you stopped calling," she explained, "one of those rumors going around about you was that you had slipped into a depression because everyone was still torn apart. I didn't know if it was true or not, but I told them if hurting you was worth fighting still, then that would lie on their hands, and everyone just started getting along."

You grinned, "You always had a way with words, Tree."

Tree smiled, "I speak good."

you laughed, "So how did you end up in London?"

Tree swollowed the last of her muffin, "Well, I went to this arts school Chicago, and this dude came over and offered a scholorship to this school in London to a student that they chose, and I got chosen."

"Wow. How lucky are you" you said, "So where are you staying?"

"In a hotel for now," she said casually, "Today, I'm actually supposed to be looking for a place to stay,"

"So which college are you going to?"

Tree looked as if she was about to answer and froze. Her eyes shifted from one side to the other, then back and she leaned over and rumaged through her bag until she found a piece of paper. "Hocking College,"

Your eyes widened, "That's my school." you squealed.

"You're lying!"

"No I'm not!" you nearly shouted, "This is perfect. Now you can stay with me."

"I can barely wait to move in," she said happily, "Are you sure it's alright to stay with you?"

"I'm positive." you said. You picked up your latte and finished what was left of it and tossed it in the trash. "Come on, lets go,"

Tree gave you a puzzled look, "Where are we going?"

"To get your stuff," you said as-a-matter-of-factly, "You're the one who said you could barely wait to move in."

She leaped up and grabbed her bag, "Then what are we waiting for. Let's go."