The Spring tells the story of eight friends approaching the end of their senior year of high school. Preparing for graduation should be an exciting time, but as they look forward to college, fall in and out of love, and just try to survive their last days of high school, they discover the old bonds of friendship that held them together are falling apart. Can their teenage friendships survive their final steps toward adulthood? It's a little bit angsty, a little bit funny, a little bit philosophical, and a little bit romantic.

Excerpt:

SITTING in his usual lunchtime spot in the shade of one of the big oak trees that sometimes made the campus seem like such an inviting place, Jason didn’t notice that his body was draped in a random pattern of light and shadow. The warm sun, now at its highest point in the sky, poured down its light, bathing most of the world in brightness. Even the oak trees, with their new springtime leaves now almost fully formed, couldn’t deflect it all, and the sunlight was fragmented into a thousand shards of light, each illuminating a little piece of earth. The sunshine and shade made some blades of grass glow while others remained the same dull green, and insects blinked and sparkled as they buzzed back and forth. The light, both scattered and direct, fell on the clusters of other teenagers eating their lunches in the warm springtime air. Their laughter and conversation created a sense of unity where the sunshine couldn't reach. In this optimistic season, when the rest of the world strove to become as one in the light, Jason alone resisted.

He sat with his back against the wall of the auditorium building. This was his regular spot, chosen because it was in the shade at this hour of the day. The trunk of the oak tree was a few feet in front of him, not close enough to conceal him from his classmates, but near enough to offer him a sense of security and shelter. His backpack that had been slung over his shoulder was now set beside him. He opened the bag of chips that he had bought from one of the vending machines in the gymnasium and quickly popped a chip in his mouth, fixing his eyes back towards the way he had just come: towards the corner of the auditorium, beyond which stood the flagpole and the entrance to the main school building.

He decided that if Keith wanted to act like a jerk, then so be it. Jason had sat in this spot since his sophomore year and he would do the same today. Nothing would be different except that for the third day in a row, he sat alone. Until recently, he and his best friend Keith had always sat in this same place and ate lunch together. But on Monday, they had an argument that quickly turned bitter, and in response, Keith didn’t show up for lunch on Tuesday. He was still on campus, of course (Jason sometimes saw him between classes), but today was Thursday and they hadn’t spoken to each other since their argument. Apparently Keith had decided he didn’t want to spend his lunch hours with Jason anymore.

They had argued before—and sometimes Keith had stormed off in anger—but Jason couldn’t remember a time when they had been apart for this long. Jason thought that Keith was just being stubborn, and Jason knew that if Keith were to return right now, there would be no questions asked and all would be forgiven. A few people came around the corner, either on their way from class or looking for a place outside to sit and eat, but Keith was not among them. Jason ate his chips slowly and continued to watch, and wait, but still there was no Keith. When he finished his bag of chips, Jason got up, threw the bag into the nearest trash can, and returned to his place against the wall. Fine, he thought to himself, if Keith wants to sit somewhere else, that's all right with me.