Cian leapt up into the air as the band practice came to an end. Mark had a grin plastered on his face as he walked up to Cian and embraced his pal. He patted him on the back before giving him a firm handshake. "We rock! We nailed it!" Cian exclaimed. They had just finished having their band practice and were buzzed from the thrill they got from it. "Like I keep telling ya Cino, we're the bomb and we're gonna show this town what we're made of. Right Shane?" Mark, who was talking to Cian directed his question to Shane. Cian and Mark shook their heads as they turned back only to see their friend, Shane sitting close to the window of the room lost in his own little world. Obviously, he had his eyes on something or someone out there. And the two can already guess who that 'someone' was.

"Oh Shaney, zoning out again on us are you?" Cian piped up as he got to where he was, Shane hadn't yet snapped out of it. Mark rolled his eyes heavenwards as he joined the two guys.

"We're never gonna get used to this. As long as Shane still pines away for your cousin Jacqueline, believe me Cian there's no way in hell we can get him outta this zoning out habit."

But then, Cian nudged Mark to shut up and concentrate on what Shane was looking at. "Ooh, that doesn't look too good" Mark added as he witnessed the scene outside a few distance away.

*****************************************

Jacqueline tapped her feet almost impatiently as she kept looking at the time on her wristwatch. She's a blonde-haired creamy fairskinned girl of five foot six. The cheerleader of Summerhills Sligo highschool. She was wearing her hair in a ponytail as the wind blew the stray strands of her hair to and fro whilst she swept them back every few seconds. She had on, blue denim shorts and her long slim legs stood out in utter perfection, her shirt was a pink skimpy shortsleeved tank top which exposed her taut flat tummy. Her right hand was piled high with her ton of notebooks.

"Hey babe."

Jacqueline's face rose at once when she heard that voice. It was Jake, her boyfriend. "You're late again Jake." She told him in pure annoyance. Jake let out a huff.

"C'mon babe, not this again, I don't know why I always keep having this same argument with you over and over again. Just know this Jacque, I do what I want when I want it and however the hell I want it. If I want us to meet up, it's gonna happen at my own time, my TERMS okay? And you don't get to question my whereabouts or my decisions. Like seriously, who the heck do you think you are? You're just my girlfriend!"

Jacqueline's face screwed up in fury, her sapphire blue eyes flickered a dangerous light as her anger took over.

"Right! She spluttered, you're right as always. You have the last say in everything. Well since that's how this relationship is going to be, and like you said, I'm just your girlfriend (she stressed the girlfriend in air quotes) I guess we'd better break up right now since it's obvious you don't have a little bit of respect or regard for me!" She retorted angrily and then with her chin thrusted up in defiance, she turned her back on him and started walking away briskly. Jake's mouth dropped open in shock at what she'd said. He went after her in a haste and stopped her from walking any further away from him. He gripped her hand but she pushed his hand away and crossed her arms, anger clearly written all over her face. Jake put his hands up in the air as if he was surrendering to her in defeat.

"Okay, okay, my bad. I shouldn't have said that . Wasn't supposed to happen, and you know how I get sometimes right? So you should know I didn't mean any of those things and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Hope we are okay now?"

Jacqueline shot him a glare. He'd always been saying those same words and yet no improvement on his part

"C'mon babe, say you forgive me. I'm sure you're dying to?" He leaned an inch close to her ear and Jacqueline moved back from him as if bitten by an ant. Jake was starting to get really infuriated by her reluctance to accept his 'apology'

If left for him, he would have ditched her for someone else but he had his reputation to uphold. He was the famous footballer of Summerhills highschool and for that same reason, he felt it was vital to date a girl equal to his status and it just so happens that Jacqueline had to be the one, after all she was the most popular girl in their school from the cheerleading squad.

"Babe, I'm waiting!" Although, this time his voice held a threatening and impatient note of warning to it. Jacqueline did notice and was about to call him out on it, but decided against it afterwards. It was exhausting after all, this constant loop of disagreements they always seem to keep having. Instead, she uncrossed her arms which she had folded stubbornly across her chest and put them by her sides.

She forced a convincing smile on her face as she stared at his face. "I guess it's nothing, I forgive you. Let's go now. Shall we?"

Jake could do a victory-dance with his smugness, he always gets his way in the end. And it's undebatable! End of! But on the outside, he kept his cool and simply gave her his best swoon-worthy grins.

"Sweet! And this'll be the last time it'll ever happen again." He said to her appearing mock-serious. And he wasn't great at keeping promises, one thing that Jacqueline had noticed from him from the get-go. He reached for her hand and held it in his, then got closer and kissed her firmly on her lips.

"Let's go shawty." He said finally, and the two walked away together hand in hand, talking.

***********************************************

"Ouch! That must hurt." Cian, was the first to break the silence when he watched the two (Jacqueline and Jake) walk away from their window. Mark smacked him upside down on his head. "Stop that!" He cautioned. Cian yelped. "Oww! What the hell was that for?" He grunted, grimacing at Mark.

Shane, by now had walked away to another corner of the room. The two friends noticed that and felt concerned once more. When Shane saw his two best friends coming over, he pretended to be packing up his stuff into his backpack, hoping they wouldn't notice his crestfallen mood but he should have known better that his friends by now could read him like a book. Mark was the first to speak, "Jake's a dick. He doesn't deserve Jacqueline. I dunno why she chose him. If I had my way, she would have been better off with Shanie here. Whatcha think Cian?" Mark asked Cian. Cian nodded in agreement, "I second that Markie, but y'know how my cousin is. She's hard-headed, just like me. I guess it's the genes. Honestly, if it were up to me, she'd be dating Shane by now."

Shane by now decided to speak up, "Hey guys, it's alright. Don't talk as if I ain't here. I get your point and that's the same thing I want for me, for the longest time now anyway. You guys already know that. Ever since we were all kids, I've had a crush on her. I mean it's different now, we used to be close back then but when she left Sligo for a bit with her parents, I guess we kinda drifted apart. Now she's back, she's popular, she's in a relationship with the most famous guy in our school who's also a footballer. It's complicated. I gotta respect that she's in a relationship right now and let her be. It's

not as if she would look twice my way this time around. I'm just a simple regular guy, her childhood friend. She's not gonna take any notice of me tho. She's way outta my league right now. A lot has changed over the years."

Cian and Mark could only gaze at him as if he had grown two heads. The two can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that Shane refused to believe he was desirable, and that wasn't even the half of it. Their friend had so many talents, but he wasn't the one to brag, that's why Shane's mom would always call him 'Mr. Modest' or 'the cool, calm, collected one'

Mark shrugged offhandedly as he approached Shane. Cian did the same, he hung his left arm round Shane's shoulder.

"Look Shane, I know how you must feel. This is my cousin we're talking about here. And I've got 100% faith in you that you're gonna take good care of her if the situation was different, 'cause you're my best friend. I mean, we literally grew up together, it just sucks that this is the crappy situation you gotta deal with all the time, and you know I would definitely turn everything around to make this easier for you, just that the ball isn't in my court here. It's left for Jacque to decide what's best for her, 'cause I'd totally kick whatshisface's ass if he dare messes with her. At the end of the day, she's still the one who gets to decide.

What I do know for sure buddy is that you're gonna be fine alright? You've always got us, me and Mark. Never forget that." He assured him firmly. Shane cracked a smile at his words. It's not often that Cian is vocal about his feelings but it meant a lot to hear that from his friend. "Thanks Cian." Shane said to him. Cian cleared his throat dismissively, "That would only be one time, dude, so since we've already gotten that outta the way...." Mark interrupted him by clapping

"Alright guys, enough. Next, we're gonna start crying like girls. Let's continue our practice. Shall we?"

The three friends bounced back to excitement and returned to their respective instruments to resume their practice.

"In five, six, seven, eight...."

The band kicked in, full force and Shane started hitting the drums with all enthusiasm.

***********************************************

Mae would call them 'the triplets' or 'the three musketeers'. Pete would call them 'Sligonian best buddies'. And anyone looking at them could already tell why. Shane, Cian and Mark all lived in a small town, grew up together, went to the same school, had almost the same hobbies and each one of them had deep respect and affection for the other. Many of the young lads and lasses of their town envied their unique never-ending friendship wishing to have what they had. Mae is Shane's mom, a petite woman of five foot three with brunette hair and had the biggest smile ever, the kind of smile that crinkles the corners of her eyes. Everyone who knew Shane would always tell him he had his mother's smile and that was because, whenever he laughed or smiled, the corners of his eyes would crinkle. It was one beautiful giveaway that nature and his mother's genes bestowed on him. Whenever he faked his smile, it was always easy to tell because there would be no traces of the crinkles on his face.

Pete was Shane's dad, an averagely tall man with brownish-grey hair. Anybody looking closely at Peter could easily tell that he was a 'stud' in his youthful days due to his physical build. He had hazel green eyes, which Shane had inherited from him. Turquoise green and very expressive depending on his moods.

Shane on the other hand loved both his mom and dad to absolute pieces. He had his father's heart, soft and kind, a heart full of love to give. Shane could sit in a corner and get drowned in his deepest thoughts for long hours. That was one habit he still couldn't desist from. Both Mark and Cian found it annoying sometimes but they're slowly starting to get used to it. Sometimes Shane ponders why he's like that and from which of his parents he might have inherited that zoning-out trait from, but he felt it could be from his father's side. His dad may come off as tough as nails but he also feels things too deeply, something which Shane had already witnessed from the love he constantly showers on his mom every single day of his life. He could recall countless times when his dad gushed about Mae to him like a lovestruck puppy while they were doing a couple of chores at their horse stables back then when he was younger. Little Shane would always appear confused by Pete's 'exaggerations of love' if he would call it that, towards his wife and would always ask him why he's like that with his mother. Pete would simply chuckle and say, "Oh son, you're too young to understand what love is all about. You're only gonna get it when you're older."

Well now Shane understood. It wasn't like he was naive about love and what it's all about. He understood now that love can come in different 'flavours' There was the love he had for his parents, siblings, his childhood friends , Cian and Mark, Jacqueline too because back then they used to be close. Such love is affectionate and deep