Changes

2

Ryder and Zac are waiting on the bottom of the stairs. Finn is sitting on the ground by the door, laughing as Apollo licks his face.

"Where's Micah?" I ask as Apollo trods over to me. I crouch down to scratch behind his ears.

"He said to go ahead." Zac says, standing. "He'll catch up."

I nod, and we go out the door. The porch is huge, and the driveway stretches all the way down to the big gate at the end. I haven't been in the garage, due to my fear of cars. I haven't been in a car for four years. Ever since He crashed...

"Jake, c'mon." Finn says, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the driveway. It's not dark yet, but the sun is slowly going down. Ryder and Zac are ahead of us, and Ryder is holding Apollo's leash.

At the bottom of the driveway, I see Lio and DJ.

Lio is my best friend. He has thick, wavy black hair that hangs in his face, and smooth, light skin. He's had plenty of boyfriends, but DJ has lasted the longest. Also, Ace. He's dating them both, though I haven't seen Ace in a while. He's Jackson's brother, and looks a lot like him.

DJ has dark hair that's tied in it's usual short ponytail. He's lean and tall, and clearly muscular. When Lio lost his job a couple weeks ago, DJ offered to let us live here.

"Hey, Jake." Lio says, smiling as he comes over to me. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." I tell him. That seems to be a constant answer. "Where'd you guys go?"

He rolls his eyes. "DJ said we were going to the beach, but he brought me to Fine Dining again."

DJ owns a very successful business he inherited from his parents. He's constantly spoiling Lio, who pretends to hate it.

"Where are you guys going?" He asks me.

"Park," I say. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," He says. "Later."

The park is a two minute walk from the house, so we get there soon. There aren't that many people here today, which is nice. There is a group over by a tree, talking.

We walk and talk, mostly Finn doing the talking to me. Zac is walking ahead with Ryder, and they're talking about something I can't hear.

When we pass the group by the tree, one guy catches my eye.

"What's wrong, Jake? I thought you loved me."

I flinch, and Finn frowns.

"You okay?" He asks.

I swallow, glancing back at the group. The guy watches me, and I move closer to Finn. "I don't know."

"What happened?" He asks, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"That guy..." I murmur. "He used to...I...he's my ex, I think."

"Oh." He says, glancing back. "Did something happen?"

"He..." I swallow, licking my suddenly dry lips. "No."

"I-I do love you!"

"Prove it then."

I close my eyes, and take a deep breath. That was years ago. I'm fine. Everything's fine.

"Jake."

I open my eyes and notice we stopped. Ryder and Zac are in front of us, concerned looks on their faces. Apollo's sniffing at a tree.

"Yeah?" I say.

"Are you okay?" Zac asks softly. "You zoned out for a minute."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say.