Things Changed

Chapter 3

Finally everyone was in the car. Eric was driving and Max was in the passenger seat. Kevin and Jacob had drove separately, so it was just me and Jaz in the back seat.
"We should've rode with Kevin." I sneered locking eyes with Eric in the rear view.
"Stop being a bitch, Maya." Max scoffed.
"Shut up." Jaz scoffed.
I pulled out my headphones to block out all the arguing. It was always the same when we'd hangout. Arguments after arguments. It was pointless to hangout with Max and Eric. For a few years now, I had avoided hanging out with them, and honestly I hoped they'd never want to hangout with me or my friends since I always told them no. I was a homebody, but I'd often go to the library just to sit and read. I liked being alone. It was comfortable and quiet. I've always been very independent and I hated being around a lot of people. Jazmine, Kevin, and Jacob were my only friends in college.
*flashabck*
I had met them on orientation day for freshmen. We had to group up and introduce ourselves to people. I was standing alone when I was approached by this tall, beautiful girl. She had dark brown hair, but in the sun it shined cherry red. She had deep brown eyes and a nose piercing. Behind her there was two boys. Both were very attractive. She approached me with the brightest smile.
"Hi! My name is Jazmine. This is Kevin and Jacob." She spoke referring to the boys standing behind her. "Would you like to be in our group?"
"Um... sure." I spoke shyly. I was supposed to be here with Max and Eric, but they had left me as soon as we'd entered the doors of the school. I hadn't seen them the whole time, so ultimately I was alone. I hated that feeling. When Jaz and the boys had approached me, I felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe I wouldn't be alone for the entirety of college. We sat down at a round table looking at each other.
"I'll start. Hi! I'm Jazmine. I'm 19 and I major in digital design. I love vanilla coffee and seeing the sunsets. I hope we can be friends."  She chirped happily.
"I'll go next. Hi! I'm Jacob. I'm also 19 and I major in musical arts, like guitar." He spoke softly pointing at the guitar next to him. "I really like dogs and volleyball. I hope we can be friends." Jacob was quite tall with brown hair. He had the prettiest smile. He seemed like a genuinely nice person.
"Me next? Oh. Um Hi! I'm Kevin. I'm 19 and I also major in musical arts. I really like Beyoncé and mint chocolate chip ice cream. I hope we can all be great friends."  He smiled looking around the table. Kevin was tall and muscular. I had noticed he had a tattoo on the back of his forearm. I couldn't make out what it was. Kevin seemed approachable. He seemed easygoing and funny. Sitting here with these 3 around the table, I knew I wanted them as my friends.
I was snapped out of thought when Jaz spoke. "It's your turn." She spoke softly.
"Oh. Um I'm Maya." I stuttered. " I'm 19 and I major in digital design. I like reading and listening to music."
They stared at me. It made me nervous.
"From this day forward we're going to be great friends." Jaz spoke confidently. I admired that, but from that day forward we were inseparable. Eating lunch together every chance we got, going on adventures at midnight to see what we could get into, and making the funniest memories I had ever made. I loved my friends. I really did. They've helped me so much and I'm grateful for them coming into my life.
*end of flashback*
I didn't notice that we had already made it to our destination. Jaz touched my shoulder and pointed out the window.
"Look!" She spoke in awe.
Eric had drove us to an amusement park. I loved amusement parks. It was the one place that could silence anything going on in my head for hours. We hopped out of the car and seen Kevin and Jacob walking towards us.
"We have to ride every ride!" I chirped running to them and grabbing their hands.
"I think she's excited." Kevin joked looking down at me.
"I'll pay." Eric spoke suddenly causing me to turn and look at him.
"No changing your mind!" Jacob giggled while dragging Jaz and I towards the entrance.
We got our tickets and headed inside. I looked around in awe.
"What should we do first?" Eric asked looking at everyone.
"I wanna do that one." Jaz said pointing to gigantic ride in front of us.
"I am not going on that." Kevin gulped.
"Me either." The other boys agreed.
"Well I say. Let's do it!" I beamed.
I grabbed Jazmine's hand and ran towards the ride.

Eric's Pov:
When Maya heard my comment earlier, I didn't expect for it to ruin her whole mood. I'd look in the rear view mirror quite frequently to see what she was doing. She was looking out the window and it seemed like she was lost in thought. I felt bad. I knew she loved amusement parks and Max had agreed that we should go there today. The car was silent the entire drive except for the music on the radio. It was awful. My goal today was to try to fix whatever happened for Maya to hate me, and so far it was a complete shit show.
We were all waiting outside the car for Jacob and Kevin, when I saw Maya take off running to them. She looked excited. It made me feel like I could still turn everything around.
"I'll pay." I spoke. I expected her to have a comment, but all she did was stare at me.
"No changing your mind." Jacob spoke dragging Maya towards the entrance.
Once I paid and everyone had made it inside, we stood there trying to figure out what to do next.
Jaz had mentioned she wanted to ride the biggest ride in the park for the first one, and the boys and I were not about to ride that. It looked awful. Needless to say I was scared shitless. I watched as the girls ran towards the ride. Maya looked excited. I hope she has the best time. I was smiling to myself when Max hit my arm.
"What are we doing since they ran off by themselves?" He asked
"I don't know man. You pick." I said looking at my phone. I decided to text Maya where we were going and where to meet us later.

Eric:
We're going to ride other rides. Meet us at the funnel cake stand near the entrance at 4pm.

Maya:
Ok. We'll see you guys at 4.

After I sent that text me and the boys set off to find the fun.

Maya's Pov:
While waiting in line I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
"It's Eric. He said to meet back at the funnel cake stand near the entrance at 4." I told Jaz.
"Well let's have the funniest time ever!" She said excitedly.
When we finally got on the ride and it was amazing. The wind on my face and the adrenaline in my body made me forget all the things causing me pain. When we got off the ride, we stood there for a minute catching our breaths.
"What do we do now?" Jaz asked.
"I don't know. I say we ride every ride we can." I shrugged.
"Let's go then." She giggled.
It had been an hour and we had rode 4 different rides. The boys were no where to be found and we couldn't care less. We were having the time of our lives.
"Jaz. I'm hungry." I whined.
"Let's text the boys and see if they wanna find something to eat together." She stated.

Maya:
We're hungry and going to eat. Do you guys want to eat with us?

Eric:
Yeah sure. Where are y'all at?

Maya:
In front of the Twister. We'll wait here for you guys.

Eric:
Ok. We're coming.

Not long after I seen his text, we heard my brother's voice.
"Bro that girl was seriously so hot. Why didn't you ask for her number?" Max practically yelled.
"She wasn't my type. Plus she wasn't just looking at me. She was practically drooling over all of us." Eric scoffed.
Eric was known around the town as the hottest guy. Every girl wanted him, but only a few girls got him. Eric has only had like 4 girlfriends the whole time we've known him. Some relationships were short, but one relationship was extremely long. Aria. They had been on and off for 4 years. She was awful, a complete bitch. Every time they broke up, I watched his heart break. His eyes couldn't hide the pain, even though he had the biggest smile on his face.
"Eric! We're over here!" Jaz yelled while waving her hands in the air to get his attention.
When he heard his name he finally seen us. Soon enough we were all standing there trying to decide what to eat.
"Guys please just pick something." I groaned. I was so hungry I was starting to get irritated.
"Let's just eat here." Jaz pointed at the nacho stand near us. We walked over and sat down at the tables outside the food truck.
"What does everyone want?" Eric asked "I'll go order."
"Maya and I want a large nacho to share and 2 large dr peppers, please."
"We just want 2 small nachos and 2 large waters." Jacob said referring to him and Kevin.
"Just get me whatever you get. Oh and get me a water." Max said.
"Will do." Eric said as he walked to order.
While waiting for Eric we heard someone approach him and say.
"OMG! Eric! Long time no see babes!"
I turned around and saw her. Aria. She was approaching Eric with her famous fake ass smile. I hate her. Watching them together made an unknown feeling rise in me. I hate both of them. Why do I care?

Eric's Pov:
I heard Aria say my name. I turned to see her and her awful friends.
"Aria. Why are you here?" I asked feeling a ball of pressure rise in my chest.