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3

Alex pulled up next to the sidewalk with ease. He'd always been the better driver out of the three of us, and today was no exception to the fact.

"I'll be like five minutes guys, you can come in if you want?" I leaned forward from the backseat into the space between my friends. Marla had her seat reclined and sat comfortably with her feet rested up on Alex's dashboard, much to his dismay; complete and utter anguish evident all over his face.

"We all know it'll be at least ten, Bradway, go. We'll wait in the car. Besides, I need to protect Bessie here from Marla's goat feet." Alex's laser blue eyes shot an irritated scowl at her. Marla raised an eyebrow in reply and refused to move her feet following his feeble attempt to flick her on the shins.

"Really? Goat feet? Is that the best you've got?" She folded her arms behind her head and smirked cheekily.

That was my cue.

I could never remember exactly when the three of us had become friends. Marla and I had known each other since kindergarten, that I was certain, but whenever I thought back, I struggled to pinpoint the exact moment that Alex had turned our dynamic duo into the tenacious trio we had become.

Staveton was a small, close knit town with a population of 3,328. Alex's family had moved here when he was six and they'd been the hot new gossip for the first few weeks after he'd enrolled in the only primary school in town.

The three of us just seemed to gravitate towards each other, so I guess that's why I could never remember. Like Marla, he'd always been there. Even as we, and everyone and everything around us changed with time, our friendship remained constant. Reliable. Unwavering.

That's why it shocked me so much when Alex had asked her out; and why it confused me even more when she'd said yes.

Our entire group dynamic changed over night.

I sighed quietly to myself. "Good luck with that." Pushing the door open, I quickly jumped from the truck and immediately felt tiny droplets of rain fall on my shoulders. It wouldn't be long before my hair turned into a frizzy mane.

"I'll be two seconds." The door slammed shut behind me and I glanced over my shoulder, briefly gazing through the driver's window.

The way they looked at each other was hypnotic. They'd been together for way over a year now, and unlike every other high school couple I'd known, they just seemed to fall more in love with each other every day.

I'd never seen them really argue, never heard them bitch or complain about each other, and I'd never noticed either of them drift or question their feelings.

It was completely unfair. High school relationships weren't meant to last longer than six months. Well at least, here in Staveton they never did.

For me, seventeen seemed to young to properly commit to anything. And the teenagers of Staveton High proved my theory correct with questionable consistency.

I mean, the whole concept of high school dating was stupid really. I didn't even know where I wanted to go to College let alone who or what I wanted to fall in love with.

I mean, if Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens couldn't make it together for God's sake, then how could I expect little old me to fall in love with someone who I knew would most likely break my heart after meeting someone cuter at a party, or smarter at College or faster in the swimming pool.

Dating just seemed like an inevitable waste of time and pain, and Mum hated me for thinking like that. Although, I think dad was secretly relieved.

My parents were high school sweethearts, sickening, I know. Even now, after 20 years of marriage, they were just as in love as they were the day they first met.