Things were changing. I knew it from the simple words that were said. Three simple words that I knew were going to change everything. I never suspected it, I never thought about it. So when those three words were uttered, I had a hard time believing it.

We broke up.

Three simple words changed my life, my world. My everything.

~*~

"Elliot!" Dad called from the staff room. He walked out, carrying a large pile of freshly—washed towels. He set the pile down right in front of me, causing me to get a whiff of the citrus laundry detergent used to wash it. "Can you fold these for me? I have to finish training someone before we lock up."

"Sure," I said, kneeling down in front of the pile. I grabbed one of the towels and started folding them.

"Thank you," he said with a smile before heading to the training room. I didn't take me long to fold the towels as I had folded them everyday since I started working at the gym my dad worked out. I didn't train anyone since most of the members were more trained than I, but I helped clean up and organize the place, as well as assist my dad with the finance.

After I finished folding the towels, I neatly stacked them on the shelves between the staff room and the boxing room. As I was doing so, I heard cries of anger while a punching bag was being hit repeatedly. I knew who was in the boxing room, and I contemplated either leaving him alone or check to see if he was okay.

Since I finished stacking the towels and I had nothing else to do, I decided to go check up on friend. He seemed angry and my guess was that he was still upset about his recent loss. He was serious about boxing and losing always took a toll on him.

When I walked into the boxing room, Laughlin Wilde had his head resting against one of the punching bags, looking exhausted and a bit hurt. Sweat was dripping down from his curly brown hair as he panted, his eyes closed.

"Laughlin?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"Just dandy," he said sarcastically, moving away from the punching bag as he took of his boxing gloves and threw them on the floor. He sat on the bench, wiping his face with the towel sitting beside him.

"Are you still upset because of yesterday?" I asked.

Laughlin put his face in his hands and nodded. "Yes, because of yesterday, but not because of the fight." He looked at me, curiosity written across his face. "Have you talked to Mary recently?"

"Not since before your fight, why?" I asked, going towards the mini—fridge near the door and grabbing a water bottle. I tossed it to Laughlin, who caught it flawlessly.

He opened the bottle and chugged more than half of the water. "Maybe you should ask her what's going on," he said in a cold voice. Something told me that things weren't that good between him and his girlfriend.

I sat down beside him. "Is everything okay between the two of you? I've never seen you this tense before, even after fights that you lost."

Laughlin didn't answer as he began to pack up his things. He did it in quite an angrily way, throwing his boxing gloves in his bag and zipping his bag up as if his bag was his number one enemy. He got up from the bench and was about to walk out of the room. Before doing so, he turned to me. "We broke up."

Mary and Laughlin broke up? How did that happen? Mary really like Laughlin and Laughlin really liked Mary judging by the way he was reacting.

After I finished processing that the two broke up, another thing popped into my mind. Laughlin became my friend because he was my best friend's boyfriend and he worked out in the gym my dad owned. Would Mary want me to stop hanging out with her ex—boyfriend? Laughlin and I got so close to each other; I went to all of his boxing matches and I even helped him train when he needed someone to spar against. I couldn't just drop that.

Laughlin walked out of the gym, but I wanted to know what happened. I followed him out of the boxing room, calling his name. "Laughlin, why did you two break up?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered as he walked out of the gym.

Since Laughlin didn't want to talk about it, I pulled my cell phone out of the pocket and called my best friend. "Hello?" she answered in her usually peppy voice. Odd, she didn't seem to be as affected as Laughlin was.

"Mary, why didn't you tell me you and Laughlin broke up?" I asked.

Mary's mood immediately changed from optimistic to pessimistic. "Oh, um, sorry I didn't tell you. I really didn't want to talk about it at the time."

"What happened?" I asked. "You two really liked each other. Why did you break up?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence before Mary told me. "He cheated on me." Her voice was quiet and breaking as if she was on the verge of crying.

Laughlin cheated on Mary? That would explain why Mary didn't want to tell me; she must had been really affected by it. "What?" I asked, feeling very shocked at the news. Honestly, I didn't see Laughlin as the type who would cheat on his girlfriend.

"Yeah," she said. "Since I couldn't go to his match, I went to his house to hang out with him. And I, um......I saw him making out with another girl."

"A—are you sure?" I asked, feeling even more shocked.

"What do you think, Elliot?" she asked. "Of course I'm sure! I know what making out is!"

"I am so sorry, Mary," I said genuinely. "Do you want me to come over? We can eat ice cream and watch movies."

There was a bit more hesitation before she answered. "Um, no. I just......I just want to spend some time alone."

"Yeah, okay," I said. "If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to call."

"Okay, I will," Mary replied with a sniff. "Um, can you do me a favor, El? I know he," she said 'he' like it was poison, making me cringe a bit, "is a good friend of yours but seeing you talk to him will just make me more upset."

"You don't want me talking to him?" I asked with a sigh.

"I won't mind you talking to him, but would it be okay if you don't act all buddy—buddy with him?" she asked. "That includes going to his matches?"

I sighed, suspecting that she was going to say that. I just didn't want her to. But Mary was my friend before Laughlin, so I had to respect her choice. "Yeah, I guess. My dad's going to be closing the gym soon, so I have to clean up. I'll see you tomorrow at school. Remember, if you need to talk to someone, I'm always here."

"I know," she said. "Thanks for being there for me."

As soon as she hung up, Dad walked out of the training room with Jerry Winston, possibly the most charming seventeen there was on the planet. Jerry was a tall, blue eyed boy and had such an irresistible smile. Unfortunately, his charm got to me. I've liked him for years.

"How did training go?" I asked Jerry. He was a member of the gym, so he came here a lot. Because he was the top boxer in the city, Dad gave him free training.

"Amazing," Jerry said. "I can't wait for the next match."

"When is it?" I asked.

"Three days from now," he said. "Maybe you should come watch." He was flashing the irresistible smile that made me melt in my shoes.

"Maybe I will," I said, returning the smile.

He gave me a small wave before walking out the door. "Well," Dad said. "Looks like someone fancies Jerry."

"Fancies?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Dad, nobody says that anymore." I started picking up dumbbells and weights that were left on the ground. Dad picked up the heavier ones because even though I worked in the gym, I never worked out in there.

"Oh, fine," Dad said. "My little girl likes a boy, and more importantly, one that I improve of. Nothing like that Laughlin boy."

I sighed. Dad had never been particularly fond of Laughlin, though I didn't know why. "Dad, what do you have against Laughlin? He's a sweet guy."

Dad shrugged. "Maybe because you're too close to him."

"He's my friend," I reminded.

"Or maybe because he's a great boxer," Dad said. "And there's a chance he can beat Jerry and I've spent way too much training to let him lose."

I rolled my eyes as I put the last weight away. Dad loved boxing a lot, but he rarely had time to go to the matches that had been happening lately. Luckily, he allowed me to go as long as someone went with me.

"Don't worry about Laughlin beating Jerry," I assured. "Laughlin is good, but with the training Jerry's been getting, I doubt Laughlin would win." It was quite bothersome watching my friend box against my crush, but I still rooted for Laughlin to win.

"Good," Dad said. "Other than the possibility of Laughlin beating Jerry, he's an okay guy. Okay, now that the gym is closed, we can head home."

As Dad and I were driving home, I couldn't help but think about what happened between Laughlin and Mary. First off, it seemed quite odd that Laughlin would cheat on Mary. Maybe she did something to get him angry because he was known to be hot—headed at times. Would that spark something inside of Laughlin to make him cheat on Mary?

Another thing that bothered me was Mary's request. Sure, Laughlin cheated on her but he was still my friend. There were times where I even felt as if Laughlin knew me better than Mary did. I didn't know if I was going to be able to keep my promise with Mary.

It was almost nine o'clock when we returned to our house. Dad made some tea for us and soon, we were sitting at the kitchen table. "So, how was the match yesterday?" Dad asked. "Wait, let me guess, Jerry won?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, he won. Although, Laughlin is getting better. But like I said before, I just don't think he'll be able to beat Jerry. How's training with him going anyway?"

"Great," Dad said. "I'm glad to be training such a champion. You know, you should let me train you sometime. Boxing skills are great to know when you start dating boys."

"Yeah, it will be great if I want to scare them into never dating me again," I said. "Don't worry, if one of them ever bothers me, I'll give him a well placed kick."

Instead of scorning me like most dads would had done, he smiled proudly. "That's my girl."

"Hey, Dad? I need some advice," I told him. I trusted my dad basically forever, as he had always been there for me after my mom died. "Let's say I have two friends who are, well, currently hating each other and one of them doesn't want me talking to the other."

Dad furrowed his eyebrows. "Where's this coming from?"

"Laughlin and Mary broke up," I told him. "Mary caught him cheating on her and she doesn't want me being all buddy—buddy with him. I trust Mary, but it just seems like something Laughlin wouldn't do."

Dad sighed. "Well, sometimes people aren't what they seem to be."

"So what should I do?" I asked. "Laughlin is a great friend and I don't want to lose the relationship we have."

"Maybe you should just be there for Mary and if Laughlin ever needs you, you'll be there for him," Dad told me. "Just because they aren't together, it doesn't mean you can't be there for the both of them."

I smiled. "Thanks for the advice, Dad." I finished drinking my tea before I placed the teacup in the sink. "I should get to bed. I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of drama at school tomorrow."

Dad stood up from the table and gave me a hug. "Good night, Ellie."

I went upstairs to get ready for bed. I really hoped things wouldn't change for me, Laughlin, and Mary. But the feeling I had told me that I was wrong.