© 2016 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

The Buddies Rule

Chapter 1

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The phrase, you wouldn't know, defines my entire existence.

The majority of my life, I've been keeping a secret. I had kept it to myself for so long, that I wasn't sure how to even tell anyone about it. By this point in the game, I was beginning to feel like I was living a lie. It wasn't a big lie, and it really only affected me, but it was a lie nonetheless.

When people talk about falling in love with their best friend, you're almost conditioned to believe it can happen to anyone. You want that belief to become a reality, especially to you, because of how great it could be. I can see it. Falling for the one person you trust with absolutely anything. Loving that special guy or girl that you've never looked at in that way before. Though, this belief is almost too good to be true. It holds you back from realizing just what the truth really is. This truth means that even if you're in love with your best friend, they may not love you back.

I got my information strictly from experience.

Chase Davids, the ultimate in the category of a smart, sensitive guy, who cares way too much about science for his own good. I can see him now, sitting right next to me, resting his head against the back of the couch. His brown spiky hair, his hazel eyes that shine as he looks at the television.

His strong hands were currently wrapped around the remote as I fought to get a hold of the object. He almost never worked out, but his biceps were still there. He even had a six pack from god knows where.

"Can you stop that?" He laughed, a rough laugh that came out quickly as he pulled his hands away from my own once again. I could feel my cheeks growing red along with his stare. He scanned me up and down, a smirk resting on his face upon him catching me in my embarrassed state. I still had a tight hold on his hands, the remote was still clasped in between us as we fought.

"I really don't want to," I teased, my body being jerked to the side when Chase tugged the remote away once more. I flipped onto him, my back slamming down onto his lap as we sat on the couch in the living room. My legs were sprawled out and my arms were raised up too high. My hands, more like my fingers, were gripping hard around the covered remote. Chase was still holding it just above his own head. His smirk only got bigger as he looked down at me.

"We always seem to end up in situations like this." He rolled his eyes and nodded to himself. Within seconds, I felt the remote plop down onto my stomach. A wide smile played out on my face before my fingers clasped around the remote.

"I want to watch-"

"I already know." He cut me off, sending me a small smile as he let his right arm hang loosely around my waist. I pursed my lips together to hold back my grin as I rolled into my side, my upper body was still lying across Chase's lap.

"And you're okay with it?" I whispered, biting my lip. My index finger guided us through the many channels until we ended up on the one I had been looking for.

"You know I'm fine with it." Chase shook his head, poking my side gently as I tossed the remote onto the coffee table in front of us. The television was merely ten feet away from the table and couch, so the audio was great for the movie.

"Good." I smiled happily as I settled into my new spot on the couch. Chase leaned back, pulling me up with him as he allowed my head to rest on his chest. He reached back behind himself to get the blanket from the back of the couch. It wasn't too cold, but I wasn't complaining about sharing a blanket with him, either. Chase laid the blanket out across his lap, throwing the far edge over my legs.

We fell silent, each of us watching intently as the movie continued to play out. It was a musical, not in the conventional sense, and it wasn't deemed a classic, though it was to me. High School Musical definitely defined a generation. Even if Chase and I had just missed the majority of the marathon. I was happy we were able to watch the last bit of the third movie, though.

"He's right." Chase laughed quietly, his words almost missing my ears. I could feel a frown take form on my face, my sight jumping back to my best friend. His lips were pressed into a thin line, while his eyes were still concentrated on the screen. I still couldn't place exactly where his words were going.

"What?" I prodded, my eyebrows popping up a bit higher. He turned at the sound of my voice before his face softened slightly.

"Nothing." Chase chuckled, shaking his head as he snaked his arm tighter around my shoulders. I would have let it go under normal circumstances, but Chase's face just looked weird. Something was off about him, and I had to know what.

"Don't just brush it off." I laughed, gently punching in his stomach. "What were you talking about?" Chase's eyes narrowed towards the screen with my words. The scene had just changed on the television, leaving each of us in our own thoughts as the movie continued on in the background. Chase shook his head, the man finally turning to look back at me.

"It was what Chad said." Chase started, referencing the main character's best friend in the movie. I knew this musical like the back of my hand. "The part about leaving the girl behind when they left for college." I nodded, feeling a frown taking form on my face as he continued.

"So," I paused as I backed away from Chase, "you think he should just break up with the girl, and forget about her because they're moving away from each other?" I concluded, getting a sure nod back from Chase.

"Yeah." Chase spit out nervously. His eyes were bouncing around from one side of the room to the other. He never once looked me directly in the eyes. "I mean, it's stupid. I just thought it would have been a good idea in their situation." Chase rambled on, only making things worse for himself.

"What about in our situation?" I whispered, my left eyebrow raising in suspicion. His words were eating away at my insides. I hated even thinking about losing Chase, but this?

"Bree, it's not the same-"

"I know." I interrupted him quickly, holding my right hand up to stop him. "I'm just saying, hypothetically, if I would have chosen to go to another school, far away from here, would you have just forgotten about me?" I spelled out for him. I crossed my arms over my chest as his mouth opened and closed repeatedly. He was speechless, I could tell that much.

Chase shook his head once more, throwing the blanket off himself and placing his hands on either one of his knees. He was pissed. I almost never saw him like this. "If I'm being honest, no. I wouldn't have just willingly dropped you. I could never do that, Bree. We've been best friends since forever." Chase reassured. I could feel the edges of my mouth curving into a small smile. He covered very nicely. "But, if I'm still being honest, I think we would have grown apart," I spoke too soon.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force out any of the thoughts that I had just had. I needed a new point of view. I didn't need to think like him exactly because knowing me, I would never let that happen. I could never picture a time without Chase standing right beside me. But nonetheless, I didn't want to fight with him. It sure seemed like it was headed in that direction, though. Especially if I let him keep running his mouth.

"Bree." Chase sighed, the feeling of his hand being placed over my arm bringing me out of my own head. I opened my eyes, instantly seeing the regret he had for his words within them. "We've been friends since we were five. That's been over fifteen years ago." Chase laughed. "I don't think we would have grown apart for very long. We would have picked up right where we left off." I nodded, my insecurity showing through as he reached out for my hand.

"But what about-"

"What about nothing, Bree. That was hypothetical. We won't ever know how we would have handled that, or how it would have turned out." Chase sighed. "You know what I am happy about? The fact that we didn't have to go through that. We're here, living together, and going to school together." Chase rambled again. "I can't see myself losing you anytime soon." Chase finished on a high note, leaving me with a smile on my face. I could feel a few extra words threatening to leave my mouth before my phone buzzed at my side.

I reached over, lifting my phone up from the couch to see a new message from one of our other best friends. Actually, one of our two most annoying best friends. But I mean annoying in the nicest, sincerest way possible. It was the kind of annoying in the way that I couldn't live without him.

Hey. You two get your schedules yet? Alan and I got ours like... Two hours ago. Send pics!

Lewis

I rolled my eyes before tossing my phone onto Chase's lap. I jumped up off the couch and ran to the kitchen. The kitchen was just to the left of the couch. This apartment was quite large for two people, but it wasn't very spread out, either. The kitchen was very small, being just next to the living room. The dining room was just behind the couch, along with a window overlooking the rest of the city. To the right, was the hallway that held our rooms and the one bathroom for the place.

When Chase and I had gotten back to the apartment earlier, we'd thrown our things on the counter, not wanting to deal with school for any longer than necessary. Only afterward had we thrown ourselves onto the couch. I swear we had been there for the good portion of five hours before Alan and Lewis had even tried to contact us. I had been expecting their text or phone call for the majority of the day.

Alan Green and Lewis Doolan had been our first college friends when starting the new school year at Berkeley last year. Chase and I would each be juniors this year, while Alan was a senior, and Lewis was a sophomore. The two boys had been best friends since the end of elementary school and hadn't left each other's side since. Even despite the small two-year age difference between the two. Now in college, it was the four of us. At least it had been for the last year, anyhow. In ways, it still felt like the four of us had been friends from the start.

I pushed my right hand deep into my backpack until I found the two small of folded slips of paper at the bottom of my empty bag. Chase had mistakenly allowed me to care for his schedule this afternoon. I bit my lip as I hopped back into the living room, watching as Chase turned off the television. I took a seat on the armrest of the couch next to Chase, the man himself holding up my phone for me before I tossed him his schedule.

"We all have bowling together, right?" Chase asked absentmindedly as his eyes scanned over the slip of paper. I could feel my own nerves skyrocket as I glanced over my schedule. Thankfully, at least Chase and I would have our one blow-off class together tomorrow morning. The rest of our days would be filled with classes focusing on either one of our majors. Those of which Chase and I had picked from the opposite sides of the spectrum. I would be majoring in English and minoring in creative writing while Chase would be majoring in business and minoring in technology.

"All I can tell you right now is that I'm in it." I laughed, gaining a small smile back from Chase. "I'll ask Lewis in a little bit. I'm getting tired and we have to get up early for school tomorrow." I mused sleepily as my eyes began to burn. It was nearly eleven at night. I wasn't usually tired this early in the evening, but given the hour when we had to get up, right now seemed like the perfect time to get some rest.

Chase nodded as he pulled the blanket off his lap. In one fluid motion, he had gotten up off the couch and was on his feet. He held out his hand to me to help me up. I could feel myself wobbling as I rose up from my spot, my feet meshing down against the couch cushions before I lunged down onto the ground. My nerves settled as I stuck the landing on the cool, hardwood floor beneath my feet. I had never been the most coordinated, but I wouldn't consider myself completely clumsy, either.

"Get some sleep, Bree." Chase chuckled as he dropped my hand. "We'll both need it for tomorrow." I nodded, feeling my mind begin to race over the multiple ways the morning could play out. I always got unreasonably nervous before the first day of a new school year. Chase gave me one final smirk before he began to lean in. The boy then pressed a simple kiss to my left cheek. It was over as quickly as it had started. I could feel my face flush as he pulled away. There was a sort of small twinkle in his eyes in the dim lighting of the room. With that, he turned on his heel and slowly made his way out of the living room.

I stood completely still in my spot as I watched him walk down the hallway towards his room. I could still feel the warmth of his lips against my cheek that had been there only mere seconds ago. His footsteps echoed throughout the apartment as he walked back to his room. The door finally shut behind him, this truly leaving me to myself in our small apartment living room. I shook my head, reaching down to pick up my phone and schedule off the couch. I took a small step towards the standing lamp at the right of the couch, flipping the switch on the pole before complete darkness overtook the small room.

My phone brought back the light as yet another text from Lewis came through. He probably wouldn't give up until I showed him both Chase's and my own schedule. I narrowed my eyes towards the screen as I blindly walked back to my room. With every word, I grew more and more confused.

Somethings up with Alan. I really can't keep this to myself anymore. Is there any way we can talk alone before bowling class tomorrow? Chase really can't know.

Lewis

My frown worsened as I kicked my door shut. This couldn't be good. The four of us almost never kept secrets from one another. The biggest secret I had ever kept was my feelings for Chase. But even Alan and Lewis knew how I felt. I sighed, looking up to see the moonlight had taken over my dark room. The purple paint on my walls was illuminated, giving my room a cool glow as I lifted my phone up once more.

Yeah. I can get rid of Chase for a little bit. Just tell me when and where. I'll meet you in the morning.

Bree  

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