Late September

Chapter One

I started falling for my best friend's boyfriend in late September. Well...he wasn't technically her boyfriend but there were as close as you could get to that without actually being official. Of course, like any completely sane best friend would do, I didn't act like anything was different and I stayed out of his way.

A couple of weeks ago, it was a friday night and I asked Olivia if she wanted to go to the school basketball game. Not that I cared about our team, because quite frankly, we sucked, I just didn't want to be home on a friday night.

On the way there, Liv was asking her mom for "permission" to date Ethan. Her mom kept making fun of her because she was boy crazy. And as much as I would have liked to back up Liv, I couldn't have agreed more with her mom. As we pulled into the school parking lot, Olivia's mom turned towards her.

"So, is this Ethan guy going to be at the game?" She asked with a little bit of attitude in her voice.

We were both already halfway out of the car but I still heard Olivia tell her mom no. That answer probably made me almost as happy as her mom. I was looking forward to night just for us.

We were almost to the door and out of the corner of my eye I saw a shadow move from underneath the overhang of the roof. Then the shadow waved to Olivia and she waved back.

I leaned in towards her, "Who was that?" I asked.

"Ethan." She said. Even though it was dark, I could tell she was smiling. Her voice gave it all away. My mood dropped about 50% but of course, like always, I acted like nothing was wrong.

Once we got in I could see that Olivia looked the happiest I'd ever seen her. Sure, I was still mad but I figured I could put up with one night of third-wheeling. We got in the gym and chose our seats. Not that it was that hard, the bleachers were almost completely empty. Almost immediately, Olivia leaned into Ethan's body. I looked over and noticed that they were both staring at me. I had no clue why, they had no reason to look at me. I turned and tried to focus on the game even though I hated basketball.

A little while later, I saw a few of my other friends walk in and I was forever grateful.

"Alicia! Rachel! Sit with me!." I called out to them, desperate for some new company. They waved and made their way up to the empty spots next to me. Behind me I could hear Ethan and Olivia whispering and giggling. Occasionally I would look at them and either find them kissing or looking at each other like there was no one else on the planet. Particularly, me.

Instead of watching the rest of the game Alicia, Rachel, and I talked or complained about Ethan and Olivia being all gross and mushy.

Alicia and Rachel were really the only other friends I had who had never had a boyfriend. I sadly, was part of that forever single group. I tried to talk to boys, I honestly did, they just never seemed interested.

"Autumn," I turned around at the sound of my name. Olivia was looking at me with a smile. "Did you forget I was here?" She asked. She sounded generally confused. I almost laughed right in her face but I stopped myself.

"No but clearly you forgot I was here." I meant it to sound like more of a joke but I realized that it really wasn't I meant what I said. I look up a little and saw that Ethan was staring at me with a smirk. I think I made a face, but I don't remember. Olivia looked like I really hurt her. Oh well, she had hurt me. I was just a little prop so that she could lay up against Ethan.

"Aw come on Autumn, it hasn't been that long since we got here." I could tell that her mind was racing to find another excuse but I wasn't going to wait.

"Liv, we're in the middle of the fourth quarter and you have barely noticed me all night. Next time you want to hang out with your...your...whatever he is, ask Taylor to be your prop, not me." I could see that her face was starting to turn tomato red. It always did whenever her mood was anything but happy. I sighed. "Look , my mom is still going to take you home. Just meet me in the car after the game. I'll give you five minutes to say goodbye. I'll tell my mom you had to go to the bathroom." I told Alicia and Rachel that I was going to sit in the hallway for the rest of the game, they insisted on coming with me. As we walked away, I could hear Ethan tell Olivia he could take her home if she wanted. I let out a little laugh and shook my head.