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Prologue

"Maddox baby, come on..." Flynn pulled at the hand of his girlfriend, practically dragging her out of the bar.  Only two months into college, and the couple had been to numerous parties, with Flynn being the show fur to Maddox on multiple occasions.

"Spencer is so going to kill me for this.." The teen muttered, hooking his seatbelt and pulling out of the parking lot and heading to the dorms.  Maddox mumbled inaudibly, slowly leaning forward onto the back of the passenger seat. 

The couple pulled into the college campus after a short drive and parked; Flynn helped the girl out the car and into the housing unit, taking the elevator instead of the stairs.

He walked her to her room, taking out the key card from her purse and inserting it into the slot.  He opened it and walked her in, hearing footsteps behind them.

"Dude, you got yourself a handful with her," the purple haired teen laughed, crossing his arms.  A blonde hair girl followed behind him, opening a door to a bedroom and turning on the light.

"Hey Al, you think you can get her undressed.  I can help you clean her up if you want," Flynn scratched the back of his neck and bit the inside of his cheek.

She nodded and smiled, hoisting up her roommate and taking her into her room.  Flynn turned to his brother Spencer and let out a nervous laugh.

"Lighten up Flynn, it's college.  We aren't watched by mom and dad like we used to be." His brother smiled, recalling the moments when they got busted for sneaking out.

"Yeah," the red head rubbed his arm.  "I'm gonna stay here and make sure she's okay." He looked to his girlfriends dorm room and gently smiled.

"Well I'm gonna head, I got an 8 am in the morning," the two bro hugged and fist bumped.  Flynn smiled at his brother as they exchanged goodbyes and Spencer walked out the door.  He would be heading back to Oglethorpe College, one of the most prestige colleges in the state.

Flynn stood in the door frame, as Maddox crashed on her bed, all the makeup taken off and being changed into shorts and a hoodie.  Alex smiled and walked out, giving her best guy friend a smile as a warm gesture before heading in for the night.

Flynn went over, and got her book bag ready for morning classes.  He kissed the top of her head and headed back to his dorm, being overrun by sluggishness and dread for classes in the morning. He unlocked the door to his room and headed to his separate bedroom, as his roommate Cody, was already turned in for the night. He turned on the lamp at his desk and sat down, staring at the picture frame. 

He smiled; that picture frame held one of the last photos of the friend group.  The Hickley siblings: Gavin, Gabriel, Spencer, Flynn, Susie, and Hannah, as well as their best friends: Maddox, Molly, and Alex. It was taken the day before they all left for college at the small pizzeria their parents owned downtown.  A good thing was the group always stayed in contact.  It was hard seeing each other when everyone was at school across the state and Hannah was starting her senior year of high school.

He went into the bathroom, rinsed off in the shower and got out, drying off his dripping wet hair.  Wrapping the towel around his waist, he finished his night routine, changed his clothes, and looked in the mirror.  His old black track tshirt from highschool was getting too small for him— but who even still wore clothes from their high school?

He stared at a picture on the mirror: it was from him and Maddox's year and a half anniversary.  They had a picnic on the rooftop of his house, watching the sunsets as that was his girl's favorite thing to do.  He smiled at the memory and shut off the light.  Setting an alarm, he plugged up his phone and laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He totally dreaded his 8 am class, and he was pretty sure they had a pop quiz over "The Road", which he failed to read and had Susie give him a rundown of the plot three times in the last week. 

Pushing away the thought, he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, wanting to stay in the stillness for as long as possible.