Thank you to ungerlover for Rebecca Kelly! I've loved this character since Wedding Rule 😜 PS: miss you pal!

Highest rank on the hot list over the last two weeks - #260 in Chick Lit

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© 2016 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

The Buddies Rule

Chapter 10

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One thing that I think about all too often, is my past. Not just my own past, but everyone else's. Every action that we've taken, every option that we've turned down, and every person that has come into our lives, have shaped into who we are today. If we were to make one different move, one little mistake along the way, we wouldn't be the same people we are today.

It's those kinds of thoughts that float into my mind at times like these. Whenever I don't have Chase by my side, I tend to think the worst. I tend to remind myself of how different my life would be without Chase. It's not only the good that he's brought into my life, but the bad too. Anything that he's added to our relationship, is something that I will never be ready to live without.

That being said, I'm now living in a world without Chase.

Indirectly losing my best friend of almost fifteen years has taken its toll. The hardest part of this whole thing, and definitely the weirdest part, has been the fact that he's still here. It's not like he's gone forever. Chase has just taken himself out of my life, and I don't know how to get him back.

"Bree?" A voice called from across the quad. I could feel my chest tighten with the familiar ring of that voice. It was the very voice that used to bring me comfort, that now brought me sheer anxiety.

I spun around, my sight settling quickly on my best friend. "Hey, Chase," I sighed. The last place I thought I would run into Chase at this hour, would have been the Berkeley campus. Especially considering how early his classes were supposed to end today, and yet, this is the one place that I found him.

"What are you doing here?" Chase asked as he made his way over to me. "I thought your classes ended at twelve today."

"They did, but Lewis wanted me to meet him at the auditorium at four," I brushed off. I crossed my arms over my chest before narrowing my eyes on the paper in Chase's hands. The small, crumpled up and lined piece of paper had a number written out on it. But it wasn't the number that caught my attention, it was the name. "Who's Rebecca?"

Chase's body stiffened with my words, the mere sentence sent him onto the defense. "Rebecca Kelly. A girl that I met at lunch. She wanted to meet up tomorrow morning to show me some photos she had taken." Chase issued as a gentle red color quickly covered his cheeks. "It's really nothing."

Nothing? Sure. If it was nothing, then he would have just met her. Chase had known Rebecca since the year before. He'd barely known her, but still. "It doesn't sound like nothing," I laughed. "Why don't you want to tell me about her?"

"Maybe because you won't tell me one thing about Zac or Alan," he hissed without warning. I pursed my lips together to refrain from snapping back at him. We'd already gotten into one fight within the last twenty-four hours. I didn't want another in the center of campus.

"So this is a date, then? If you're willing to compare her to Zac."

"And Alan," Chase mused with a smirk. "You didn't even flinch when I mentioned his name along with Zac's."

"Because of our friendship with Alan," I hissed. "Rebecca's a different story altogether."

Rebecca Kelly. That was the very girl he had been staring at on the first day of school. I couldn't remember her name then, but she was evidently important enough to Chase that she'd come back into his life. She was the one person that I knew had enough power to take Chase away from me. I hadn't even met the girl, but it seemed as though she already had Chase wrapped around her little finger. I hated her without even knowing her.

"Okay, fine. Go out with her, and stay mad at me while doing it," I mocked. "But I need to go meet with Lewis," I said before I stalked off in the direction of the auditorium.

"Are you guys gossiping about how Alan and I ruining the group, again?" Chase yelled after me. "Or have you figured out that you're doing that all on your own. We were all fine before this!"

"Shut up, Chase!" I shouted over my shoulder.

Chase wasn't even worth it right now. There was no reasoning with him. He'd practically gone rouge. I didn't even know who my best friend was anymore. So instead of thinking about it any further, I simply kept walking off towards the auditorium.

As I made my way through the auditorium doors, I could feel my nerves ease. I instantly caught sight of Lewis, who was conveniently standing just below the edge of the stage. "I was starting to think that you bailed on me," Lewis called. I could see a smirk planted on his face from all the way up here.

"I'm too cool for that," I teased back.

This portion of campus, the auditorium, was huge. Everything about it was state of the art. The reasoning behind this? Both my father and Chase's always gave their money to the arts when they donated. This was namely to compensate for those donors who always lobbied for the sports programs. This meant that the auditorium on campus was immaculate.

I slowly made my way down the isle that led up to the stage. Lewis smiled happily as I stopped just next to him. "Now," I paused before tossing my bag on the ground below us. "I have something to tell you."

"And what would that be, malady?" Lewis asked as he fell back into one of the plush auditorium seats.

"Lots of things," I replied. "But one, in particular, is, I can't do the play."

Lewis' smile dropped immediately off his face. "What?!" He yelled back in shock. "This is one of those times where I actually need your help! I've been helping you with everything since school started!" Lewis whined.

I rolled my eyes and hopped up onto the edge of the stage, continually swinging my legs back and forth off the edge. What Lewis wanted wouldn't have been so bad if he'd asked me a year ago. Back then, everything had been fine. The four of us had just been a group of friends.

But factoring in our current situations, I wasn't exactly thrilled to be going along with Lewis' little scheme. There was something going on behind the scenes that Lewis wasn't telling me about. I knew that much.

Lewis looked up at me hopefully as I shook my head. "No. I already told you that I can't do it. But if I do, I'm going to need something from you." I insisted, trying to stay firm for once in my life. When it came to the people I cared about, I could be a real pushover. "I'll do the play if you tell me what you know about Chase and Alan."

"Ah, you found out about their secret romance." Lewis baited with a smirk. "I told them it was only a matter of time-"

"Cut the crap, Lewis," I groaned. "Those two were fighting last night, and I don't know what it was about. By the end of the night, Chase was mad at me for basically causing the whole thing."

"And what makes you think I can help?"

"You're one of the guys. They tell you things that they're both too scared to tell me. All I want is a little help figuring this out."

"That's one thing I can't help you with," Lewis concluded before he stood up from his plush auditorium seat below me. He took slow steps forward so he could look me right in the eye. "This runs too deep. They'd never forgive me."

"Sure." I scoffed before flipping my hair over my shoulders. "Stay true to the two guys that are trying to break up this group. Do you know how important it is to both you and me that we all stay together-"

"I know, Bree." Lewis cut me off as he held a hand up for me to stop.

"Then tell me what Chase and Alan were fighting about last night!" I said, my voice raising in octave with my anger. I wasn't about to have all of our friendships thrown away over some stupid fight between the two. "I know you're in on it, and I know this goes back beyond what happened last night."

Lewis laughed lightly before leaning back against the stage. "Just because I'm in on it, doesn't mean I have to tell you about it."

"Yes, it does," I grumbled before I slammed my hand down against the stage. "If you want me to do this for you, then I need to know. I won't agree to play Alan's love interest in your play with everything that's going on!"

The whole reason I was here with Lewis, was a little issue that had arisen at lunch. Lewis had asked both Alan and me to star in the short play he had written for his screenwriting class. The only problem was that Alan and I would be playing love interests. There was also a kiss on the line.

But there was one thing holding me back from saying no to Lewis. If he was able to put the whole thing together by tomorrow, actors and all, then Lewis had the chance to premiere his play to the whole school and alumni next month. This could be huge for him.

I could see Lewis' face scrunch together as he thought through my bargain once again. It was for the play, after all, and I knew how important this was to him. But something, or rather someone, was holding him back. "No."

"Yes, Lewis," I corrected. "I really thought I could get things to go back to normal with Chase before that fight last night. I don't exactly think a potential kiss between Alan and I would help my relationship with Chase."

"Well you owe me," Lewis reminded. "After what I did with the buddies rule. I worked my ass off that weekend. And for what? So you wouldn't have to feel uncomfortable around the guy you're in love with and the guy that's in love with you?"

I let my sight drop to the ground as his words hung in the air of the empty auditorium. "You helped because you were just as scared as I was," I whispered. "You hate the thought of losing them, too."

Even though the four of us had only been friends for the last year, it was a group of people that I couldn't see my life without. We were that cliché group of friends that everyone either loved or hated. We could stay up all night talking, and we usually stuck by one another through anything. It didn't matter if something had changed between us because at the end of the day, that's what we were to one another.

Lewis was just as terrified of losing them as I was. "I know. But I really need this."

"And if it was anyone else playing my love interest, I would do it in a heartbeat. You know that. But because you chose Alan, and I can't do it. There's too much riding on this."

"Bree." Lewis sighed, the man spinning around to look at me once more. "There's more riding on it for me. I really need your help this time. If I can't find actors to be in my play, by tomorrow, then they won't run my play. If they don't run my play, they I can't transfer into-"

"The short filmmakers class, I know," I finished for him. I could feel the guilt slowly piling up on my shoulders. To Lewis, this had somehow turned into something more than just losing our best friends. This was his future on the line. "But can't you just enlist some of the actors from your current screenplay class?"

Lewis simply shook his head. "All the good ones are taken, and I can't waste my one shot on people I don't trust. You and Alan, I can trust. You'd both take this seriously, and you guys really don't have that big of a course load for this semester," Lewis reasoned. "Especially since you just dropped journalism."

I hated being put into positions like this. Not that random opportunities like this came up often. But Lewis' spot in his next film class was on the line if I didn't go through with acting in his play. As much as I wanted to know what was happening between Alan and Chase, I needed to do this for Lewis.

"Okay." I caved, watching as a grin slowly spread across Lewis' face. "But, you need to make it clear to Alan, and Chase, that this is strictly acting. I don't want this to get in the way of anything." I ordered, pointing a finger sternly in Lewis' direction.

The man nodded vigorously as he held his hands up in defense. "Absolutely. There won't be any confusion under my watch."

"And," I paused. "You need to tell me what's going on with those two, by at least the end of the play. If you don't, I'll botch the last performance."

With my words, Lewis' pupils had grown at least ten sizes. "When I met you, I didn't think you would be this cunning."

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Bree and Alan are the leads in Lewis' play?! He just might be up to something...

But don't worry, there should be an even bigger twist coming up in the next chapter, along with the start of the play!

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