She woke up alone. She quickly got up, and knocked on Joel's door. He answered, Benj was in there too... and he was crying. She didn't understand... she went over and sat next time him. and he grabbed her and couldn't stop crying... Joel didn't know what to do so he left the room to make sure that his mother and sister weren't up to hear all of this.
"Benj boy, its okay, don't cry for me, I've done enough for the both of us, trust me", she forced herself to smile and he dried his eyes.
"Annie, it's just that I was so mean to you when we were kids, always picking on you, and teasing you, I never understood why Joel was always so nice to you, always on your side, I used to give him hell for it at home, and now I feel terrible.. Annie... Joel and I love you, you know that, right? I dont want you to ever think that your life has to go back to that... if you ever need a place to stay, you have me, I don't care where I am you call me, okay? I want you to promise me right now that you will", he was in tears again.
"Benji...", was all I could say. Be was my best friend, I couldn't bare to be a nuissance to him if I ever did need him but I promised anyway, and we went to tell Joel that everything was okay.
It was still early, so they all went out to breakfast in the first time since... they were still in school. She asked them when they were leaving, but she knew already.. she just wanted to make sure she used the time she had left with them to it's fullest, she knew that she couldn't stay in Waldorf for the rest of her life, waiting around for something to happen... she had to take charge.
"Benj... You've been to New York... what's it like?", Annie asked him on the way home, she'd been hoping for that to be her escape route, she'd heard so much about it, and she figured that as big as the city is, she would be able to find a job being a hairstylist somewhere...
"Oh its great, Annie, but I can honestly say that I've been almost everywhere, and there is nothing like Waldorf.. you are so lucky to be able to stay here all the time... with your friends, your fam...uh.. you love your work and you have a great job", he couldn't believe it. He actually almost said it.
Annie noticed what he how almost said and she gave him a funny look, then she just laughed and said, "You don't get out much, do you?", she was joking, she knew they got out alot more than she did, but she wasn't complaining about that, she was just ready for a new life, so she decided the only way she could do that was if she moved to a new place, with new people, new experiences...
"Um... Annie? why did you want to know about NY?", Joel asked. He knew Annie way to well. He knew she was planning on leaving... when she made that sarcastic remark when Benji was talking about how great Waldorf is.
"Well...", she knew she couldn't lie, she was always bad at that, they would see right through her. "Actually, I was thinking about leaving Waldorf for a while... see what esle is out there... you know?"
Benj and Joel glanced at each other. They both smiled, and in unison they said, "Annnnnabelle! Come with us!"
She just looked at them and had her whole 'I don't wanna slow you guys down' speech, so they decided on the pouty faces.. they knew she couldn't resist the pouty faces. "Pweeeeeeese?!" Joel said. Annie just looked and laughed.
"Okay, Okay, I'll go, but when you get tired of me and send me packin', don't say I didn't warn you", she laughed, they all went back to the house and packed.
"Hey, um.. Annie?", Benji asked, "I know you're in a tight spot now with money and everything... so if you need anything, don't be too shy to ask". She just looked at him and rolled her eyes. She had a plan, she hadn't told them yet, but she was planning on it when they got close to NY.
By the time they had finished packing, it was dark, I guess spending all morning goofing off didn't help their tight time schedule, but they pulled it off, and they all slept in Joel's room catching up and watching SNL reruns on Comedy Central. Annie used to sneak over to watch SNL every Saturday night when they were growing up, and she missed watching it with them, she missed being around them. She was literally beaming, she was a changed person, and she knew what she had to do.