Seasons Change

Prologue

Kelsey offered a sly smile as she shrugged. "We talked this morning, but I didn't feel the need to ask him where he was."

I grinned, rolled my eyes at her thoughtfulness. It was apparent that she didn't feel the need to ask him how he his trip to Ohio was.

"Anyways," Kelsey stood from her chair. "We should get all of this stuff outside. People will be here shortly."

_-_-_

"Babe," I asked sweetly, leaned up on the tip of my toes to give Ben my best puppy dog eyes. "Would you mind grabbing me a soda, please?"

Ben looked down at me, taking his attention off of the large plasma screen TV that was currently playing a preseason NFL game. He shot me a goofy, lopsided smile. "The usual?"

I grinned, nodded my head like a spoiled child that always got their way. "Nothing better."

Ben slid his hand out of my own, turned in the direction of the house. Glancing at me over his shoulder he called out, "One root beer coming right up."

I couldn't help the smile plastered to my face as I watch him walking away. How had I gotten so lucky to find such a sweet guy like Ben?

"Hey Faye, long time no see." A familiar, cheeky voice pulled me from my thoughts.

A large smiled pulled the corners of my lips as I spun and engulfed him in the world's tightest hug. "Too long," I huffed as I breathed in the sweet scent of Dylan's cologne. His toned arms wrapped around my torso, and I couldn't help the giddy feeling that erupted inside of me. It had been a couple of months since the last time I'd seen him in person. Facetime just wasn't the same; I'd missed my best friend. "You really should visit your mom more often, neighbor."

Dylan pulled away from the hug, a sly smirk on his face. Man had I wished seeing that. "Maybe I will now that you'll be off at college," he teased.

I rolled my eyes at his jab. "Ha. Funny."

"One root beer, as requested." Ben stopped on my side; his hand held my can of soda. I turned towards with an appreciative smile before I leaned up to give him a quick peck on the lips before I took the can from his hands. "Thank you."

Ben's attention was quick to switch over to Dylan. "Hey man, how have you been!?" The two greeted each other with the iconic boy handshake half hug that every guy seemed to do.

"Football wasn't the same without you as QB. Not gonna lie, it sucked not playing along side you my senior year."

Dylan smirked. Ben was only fueling his already large enough ego. "Maybe it wasn't the lack of me as QB as it was you not catching footballs in the end zone." I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at Dylan's unexpected teasing. Ben complimented him and he just had to respond with teasing. "You never could catch when needed."

Ben laughed, not at all phased by the teasing like I would have been. "As if. We both know that I caught just about every one of your endzone passes."

It was nice to see that my boyfriend and best friend were still just as good of friends as they were before Dylan left for college. I don't know why, but it wouldn't feel right to date someone if Dylan didn't like them. His opinion shouldn't have an affection on my decisions, but it did.

"I'm going to let you two catch up while I go find Kelsey," I said, breaking up their friendly banter. Ben and Dylan both offered a nod to show that they heard me before continuing with their conversation as though I had already left.

I found Kelsey sitting off by herself on the edge of the pool; feet dangling in the water. Her eyes were trained on something in the distance as though she was deep in thought. "You okay?" I asked as I approached and took a seat beside her.

Kelsey jumped slightly as the sound of my voice brought her back to reality. She turned her head towards me and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."

I frowned. It was hard for me to believe that everything was fine. If everything was fine, then she wouldn't have been sitting on the edge of the pool all alone. She would have been in the middle of all the action soaking up the last few hours she had before college.

"You're lying."

That was all it took for Kelsey to admit what was really wrong. She let out a long, frustrated sigh. "I got a text from Austin that he can't make it. Something about packing for school."

That didn't seem right. What guy in their right mind would blow off his girlfriend to pack when he could be at a party? Austin was an organized guy. He should have been packed by now. "Is everything okay between you two?"

"Of course," she answered quickly, almost as though she had anticipated I was going to ask her that. "Why wouldn't it be?"

I shrugged. "It was just a question, Kels."

There was clearly more to the situation than what Kelsey wanted to tell me, so I figured it was best to just drop the subject. When she was ready to tell me more, she would.

I jumped up to my feet and grabbed onto Kelsey arm, pulling on her to get up. "Come on," I said as I turned back in the direction of Dylan and Ben."

"Why?" Kelsey asked, as she reluctantly rose to her feet.

I grinned as the two boys noticed Kelsey and I headed in their direction. Both of them shared matching looks of concern.

Dylan quirked an eyebrow. "What are you two up to?"

"Kelsey is bummed that Austin can't make it so I thought we could play a little game to take her mind off of it."

Kelsey bit her lip, "It's not that Austin can't make it."

I rolled my eyes. She was trying to make an excuse, but I knew better than that. Something had to have been going on between them.

"Well, he isn't here," I mumbled, trying my best not to come off as rude. "I'm just trying to help you get your mind off of it. Clearly, you aren't having fun like you should be."

After a minute Kelsey sighed, caving in. "Fine. What do you have in mind?"

I smirked, my eye flickered onto Dylan and Ben. "We are going to play a couple rounds of chicken in the pool."

Dylan raised his eyebrows. "When did Ben and I agree to this?"

"Oh come on," Ben grinned, nudging his friend in the side. "It'll be fun."

"Please," I pleaded, my hands grabbed a hold of Dylan's arm as I gave him the puppy dog lips. "Do it for your sister?"

He sighed, rolled his eyes as he shook my hands off. "Fine, but I will win."

Kelsey smiled for the first time. "There's the competitive spirit."

I smiled. After today it would be weeks maybe even months before I'd see anything of these same faces. Within that moment it made me feel extremely grateful for Kelsey putting on this party for me to have one last get together with all my high school friends.

College was right around the corner, and I was about to have to take it on without any of my current friends.