Three's a crowd

22

Summer was flying by in the blink of an eye. Between lake trips, parties, and trips with Riley the days had manifested into weeks, passing quicker than the small second stick on a clock as it ticked by.

In Riley's true form he had helped me combat my fears again, taking me to the mall to shop on more than one occasion. To put it simply he had forced me to the mall several times, first keeping us in stores with only exterior exits and then venturing us further inside.

He had also been helping me learn some self defense moves with Kyle. I had been fortunate not to run into Carl since that first time but I knew that if he was back, there was always the chance he would be coming back to school and I wanted to be prepared. I couldn't allow myself to be afraid of him anymore.

Of course this had led to me and Ava taking self defense classes in Riley's yard, which had brought us all closer together. Well, it had brought me and Kyle closer at least. Riley and Ava had always been friendly, but she preferred to sleep with all his friends so there would always be some tension there that was past ever being fixable.

Kyle though, he had opened up in a whole new light to where I could honestly say we were friends. Riley even actually seemed to enjoy him hanging out with us even when we weren't training and we had all actually became a lot closer because of it.

It was strange to have someone around all the time that wasn't me or Riley. It had been us against the world for so long. Sure we had other friends that we would see or talk too, but on a permanent scale I typically just saw Riley. Now though, I saw Riley and Kyle, sometimes even Ava hung around after practice.

She wasn't much for staying around too long, she never had been. Of course she was my best friend and while we enjoyed doing the occasional girly thing together, typically she was more of a lone wolf. 'The more of yourself you give to others, the more power they have to break you!' She would always say.

Not that she was wrong in anyway, but I often wondered what she had been through to make her feel that way. There was nothing she had ever mentioned that would suggest she needed to guard herself, it was just something that she did.

I was laying in the grass out of breath after sparring with Kyle. Riley was inside getting everyone some water since it was hotter than Satans lair out here.

"Come on Britt, let's go again!" Kyle said holding his hand out.
"I need a break!" I sighed throwing my arm over my head.
"You're not going to get a break in real life if someone attacks you!" He rolled his eyes and I did the same in response.

"Britt I actually need to leave early, well actually now." Ava announced not waiting for a response before she walked out of the side gate of the yard.

"How do you keep up with her?" Kyle asked folding his arms in front of his chest.

"I don't try to control her and she doesn't control me."

"Seems more like neither of you want to talk about anything other than the superficial shit!"

"Well you don't know what you're talking about. We just keep our friendship simple." I defended myself.

"Fair enough!" He threw his hands in the air in a mock surrender.

That's when Riley finally walked out with a small cooler filled with water bottles.
"What's going on? Where's Ava?" He asked.
"She had to leave." I replied getting up and grabbing a water from the cooler. "Can we wrap this up for today? I'm exhausted!" I begged him.

I knew what I was doing. Kyle may not be ready to call it quits but Riley never could resist me when I pouted. It was a weakness, just like mine was when he begged for anything, especially when his eyes would glass over slightly in pleading.