The Journey Taken Together

Chapter One

**Dedicated to teenagebookworm_**

(Officially edited)

~Thea~

I walk out of the mountainous building in glee. The summer sun shines brightly in my face as I feel a hand on mine. With a quick glance to my right, I notice Dennis beside me.

"Aye, bro," I hear a male voice yell to my left. I peek over my shoulder and see Steven join us on the staircase.

As I proceed down the staircase, I begin to feel anxious, but happy at the same time - anxious to start college and happy to finally be out of the hell hole we call high school. I glance at Dennis, and a sly smile comes across my face as our fingers intertwine.

Steven grips the hand rails as he smiles and laughs, while we continue our conversation about spiking the punch at the upcoming party. Steven our best friend, the 'best man', and the one who brought us together, is our glue.

"What's up bro?" Dennis laughs as we reach the end of the staircase. Steven jumps off of the last step and falls. He gets up and tries to shake off the embarrassment, but I just giggle and wrap my arms around him.

His face turns red and I look at him. "What? Can't take the heat?"

"Well . . . uh . . . just remembering the good times," he says and I grit my teeth.

"Is that supposed to be an insult, Spiderman?" I spit out.

"Nah, just remembering how you spilled juice on yourself during lunch, and my good buddy over here introduced me to ya," he teases and I punch him in the chest.

"Come on now! We have been friends for a long time. Can't you be nice to me just this once?" I whimper and a smirk is brought upon Steven's face.

"Nope, I have known Dennis longer. After all, we did meet on the first day of sixth grade. I didn't meet you until the last few months," he explains and I pout.

"Yeah, but I hung out with Thea more, bro," Dennis says, making me laugh.

As kids, Dennis and I would always play soccer together when we were bored. As we grew older, we started doing other things, such as going to the movies, or simply just hanging out at the mall.

"Ready for the party?" Dennis asks, looking down at me.

"Are you sure you want to go with me?" I tease, sticking my tongue out at him.

"I sure am," he says, kissing my head gently. As we stroll out into the parking lot, Dennis gives me a soft kiss on my cheek and looks down into my eyes. A storm of butterflies flutter inside of my stomach as the blood rushes to my cheeks.

We approach his car. He opens the door for me, and I slide in. Dennis reaches across my lap and buckles my seatbelt for me, and then he gets in, eventually buckling his own.

I turn up the radio and roll my window all of the way down. He smiles over at me, causing me to giggle. He slides his hand over to mine, and I look down at it. I blush and think about taking it. I decide to hold his hand, and he squeezes mine. We aren't dating, but I have a feeling that he likes me a lot. The only problem is, I really like this other guy named Daniel Bachman.