Michelle Holmes sat in the last row of the rollercoaster, stiffly nodding at the stranger who was sharing the compartment with her. The other teenage girl didn't look too pleased to be separated from her own friends, either.
As Michelle eyed her friends and their respective boyfriends who filled up the rows before hers, she bit her lip and ran her hand through her light blonde hair for the millionth time that day.
"What am I even doing here?" she muttered to herself.
It had been a complete mistake to come today.
She hadn't been aware that all three of her friends would be bringing their boyfriends along, turning this group outing into a triple date and leaving her as the odd one out.
Sheer optimism that maybe it wouldn't be so bad had been the only reason she'd hung on this long.
When the rollercoaster started moving, she felt the familiar pull in her stomach.
At least they took pity on her single self and let her choose most of the rides.
She was planning to repeat all the rollercoaster rides until the nausea made her forget how hard she was third wheeling her friends today.
"It's too much for me," Hailey Thomas said sweetly, holding out the giant cloud of purple cotton candy she'd just gotten, courtesy of her boyfriend. "Can we share?"
"Sure," Ryan said, stuffing his wallet back into his pocket. "I'll eat whatever you can't finish."
She beamed at him as he took a bite out of it. "Thanks, babe! You're so sweet."
Michelle merely looked down at her own stick of blue cotton candy, politely not rolling her eyes. Instead, she tore a generous chunk out of her cotton candy and shoved it into her mouth. She really wanted to make gagging noises, but it would only serve to upset her friends.
They were great friends when they weren't bringing their boyfriends along on every outing.
She just didn't get it.
Why were they bringing their significant others along for no apparent reason all the time?
They wouldn't be okay with it if she brought along a random friend—she'd tried it once—so that she wouldn't be third wheeling everyone, so what made bringing a boyfriend okay?
At least Michelle had known her classmate Denise for over three years. Hailey had just gotten together with Ryan two weeks ago, and everyone was happy to have him join them!
"Hey, Michelle! What are you doing? We're taking a photo! Get in here," Autumn Stewart said enthusiastically, waving her over.
Everybody was already huddled in front of the giant water fountain in the center of the amusement park, waiting for her.
"Sure," she drawled. I'll be right there to ruin your couples picture.
She immediately regretted the sarcastic way in which she'd said it, but nobody seemed to notice. Sighing, she strode to Hailey's side and posed with a smile she didn't feel.
When the kind stranger had finished taking the photo with Autumn's phone, she returned it to her.
"Ooh, it looks good! Send it to me!" Sylvie Collins said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
With one glance at it, Michelle already knew that she didn't want it on her phone. Everyone looked all couple-y, and then there was her, the random extra that was as good as a photobombing character.
She missed the days when it was just her, Hailey, Autumn and Sylvie, just hanging out and relaxing in each other's presence.
Annoyed, she plucked off another sizable piece of her blue cotton candy to eat.
At least candy would never get a boyfriend and make her feel left out.
"Hey, you've been sighing since you started your shift. It's been four hours," Caledon McKnight said, sparing her a glance away from the drip coffee he was making. "Are you okay?"
Although he was also a junior in Waterbrook High, they rarely interacted in school due to being in different friend circles. The only times they got to talk to each other were here at Ray and Parker, a small café where they both worked part-time. To be fair, their shifts often coincided, which meant that they saw each other at least once a week.
In response, Michelle heaved another enormous sigh.
"No," she said. "I'm not okay."
"What happened? You're not normally like this." He was focused on his pouring.
"I went out with my friends yesterday, and they all brought their boyfriends! All of them! I spent the whole day third wheeling them."
Michelle poured the steamed milk into the latte, gently creating a pretty heart foam on the top of the drink. Business was slow today, so she took her time. For the last hour, they had only received three orders, and the last two orders had just been placed a few minutes ago.
When they started making the drinks, the customers who had ordered them for takeout were already midway out the door, apparently planning to come back later.
At the moment, the little wooden tables and chairs set around the café were almost entirely unoccupied.
"What, really?" Caledon sounded a little more interested now. "Man, me too."
Beginning to warm up to her rant, she said, "I wouldn't even care if it was just that one day. But yesterday was the last straw. Their boyfriends tag along every time we go out together. And if that wasn't bad enough, they're hanging out at our table half the time during lunch period, too!"
"Seriously," he said, surprising her with the vehemence in his voice. "And they can't just act normally—they have to flirt and be gross about it the whole time."
She stared at him. "Wait, you too?"
"Yeah, my friends somehow all got a girlfriend not long ago," he said, removing the coffee filter and pouring the coffee into a takeaway cup, "and now they're always together. Can't go a single lunch period without seeing them. It's like I'm not even in the room sometimes."
"I feel you," she said, nodding vigorously. "And then this one time, I brought a classmate along because I was so tired of being a third wheel, and my friends acted like I was the strange one! Like, hello? You're the ones having your boyfriends tag along for no visible reason all the time!"
He laughed. "Wow, why didn't I think of that?"
"Why do their boyfriends always have to come along? I just don't get it!"
"You're telling me," he said, rolling his eyes. "Their girlfriends tag along for everything! Last week we were supposed to go cycling. They didn't say anything about bringing their girlfriends. Then I show up, and what I do see? Every single one of them brought their girlfriend along."
"I would've been furious if I were you," she said, her mouth falling open in a wide gawk. "Imagine them all cycling in pairs, and then there's you, cycling behind them all by yourself on a wide path, when it was supposed to be a group thing."
"I don't have to imagine it." He gave her a wry smile. "I already lived through it."
"I'm so sorry," she said, scrunching her face up in a sympathetic gesture. "But don't worry, you're not alone. I had to sit with a total stranger yesterday on a rollercoaster ride because the seats were in pairs and, of course, my friends all sat with their own boyfriends."
Caledon shook his head. "Too relatable."
She fitted the plastic cap over the takeout cup the latte was in and set it aside. "I'm so tired of sitting there awkwardly while they all sit in lovey-dovey pairs."
"Same."
"I want a boyfriend," she grumbled, wiping down the metal countertop. "Then I can have someone to bring along on our group outings. Which are apparently group dates now, by the way."
"I want a girlfriend," he complained, restocking his almost empty stack of takeout cups. "I'm sick of third wheeling them all the time. At least I'd have someone to talk to when they're busy being mushy with each other."
"I want to know what it's like to have a boyfriend," she continued. "Then maybe I can start to understand why my friends are so crazy about theirs."
Every single one of her friends, without exceptions, had been exhilarated when they announced the news of their new boyfriend to her. Michelle just couldn't see the hype.
The question of why they behaved as if having a boyfriend was the best thing since sliced bread was something she really wanted answered. Aside from simply not wanting to be a third wheel anymore, Michelle had to admit that she'd been increasingly curious about what it would be like to have one.
"Me too."
For a second after Caledon had uttered those words, an almost piercing silence fell over the two of them.
Then they turned their heads sharply in each other's direction.
The craziest—but insanely genius—idea had just entered Michelle's mind.
She had never locked eyes with Caledon this long before. He stared back at her with an equally intense look in his brown eyes. Could it be that the exact same thought had just occurred to him?
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" they both said in unison, gaping at each other.
"You want a boyfriend, and I want a girlfriend." The words came slowly out of Caledon's mouth. "I could be your boyfriend."
Michelle spoke a lot faster. "And I could be your girlfriend! I'll accompany you on your group dates if you come along on mine."
"That's exactly what I need!" he said, returning her smile. "I can't believe I never thought of that before."
Excitement rushed through her veins as she set down the cloth in her hand.
"Yeah! Me too," she said. "I hadn't even thought of getting a boyfriend myself."
She almost couldn't believe it. She was actually going to have a boyfriend. She could finally stop being a third wheel, and she could finally learn why her friends were so excited when they first got into a relationship.
"So, we're really doing this?" she said.
"Yeah, of course," he said. "Let's make it official right now."
"Perfect." Michelle rubbed her hands together, realized how much of a cartoon villain it made her look, paused, and then placed them both behind her back instead. "As of right now, we're officially in a relationship."
He nodded, the wide grin on his face reflecting hers.
As if the thought had just struck him, Caledon said suddenly, "We're going to catch a movie after school on this coming Friday. Are you free to come with me?"
"Sure! We'll go together."
"We should talk more about this later," Michelle said. "You know, figure out how we're doing this."
"Yeah, we should. We can discuss it over dinner later?"
She checked the clock for the time, beaming when she saw that it was already four. Both of their shifts were ending in an hour.
"Okay!"
She couldn't wait to tell her friends about it tomorrow.
Each time one of them announced that they had a boyfriend, the others practically congratulated her. They were going to be so happy for her.
