Page 60 of Our Forever Starts Tonight

“No, mom. It’s not romantic,” I said. “Arden and I are just friends. She’s way out of my league.”

“Ha!” Arden said. “That’s funny.”

A frown crossed my mom’s face. “But she’s so beautiful and she seems like a lot of fun.”

Arden wrapped an arm around my mom’s shoulders. “I like her.”

“Everything you’ve just said is very true. Arden is incredible. I’m very lucky to have her, and believe me if it was something that could work, it’d already be happening,” I said.

“Alas,” Arden exclaimed. “The gods of fate save all of the best women for…” She sighed. “Straight men.”

“Well, even if, I’m glad my Aria found you. You’ve been taking such good care of her. She talks about you nonstop. I’m happy that she could find such a wonderful friend.”

“Believe me,” Arden said, looking over at me and smiling. “I’m the lucky one.”

I grinned. “You really do make me wish I was gay.”

She shrugged. “Nah. You’d bewaytoo overpowered. If you were this beautiful, this smart,andgay, it would just be unfair. Had to nurf you somewhere, kid. Sorry.”

“Okay!” My mom said, clapping her hands and motioning us together. “Come on. Let me be the annoying mom and take some pictures.”

Arden and I squeezed together for a bunch of photos and then loaded into my car and headed out for the dance. It actually made me laugh as we pulled into the parking lot. I had never seen a school at night. The closest I got to visiting school for any reason that wasn’t related to academics, was debate tournaments that took place on the weekends. Seeing my school all lit up for the night with music thundering from inside was a sight to behold indeed.

It wasn’t quite prom, so people weren’t dressed to the nines, but everyone had put on their best semi-formal attire and was filtering through the front door with energy buzzing all around. Sadie Hawkins was traditionally a country-themed dance, but instead of going kitschy with hay bales and blow-up animals, they’d gone for a country chic motif, decorating the inside of the auditorium like the inside of a barn, but one that had been decorated for a wedding or other formal event.

Twinkling lights hung from fake beams, and barn doors stood against the walls in different places for people to take pictures in front of. The typical vault of the auditorium had been mechanically lowered to create a flat surface, and all the seats were gone, folded into the floor. Instead there were tables with school colored tablecloths and floral arrangements on top. There was a band performing on the stage, and the people playing looked familiar to me—I was pretty sure they actually attended the school. For about fifty feet between the stage and the tables, there was a rustic barn dance floor, and to the left and right of the dance floor, decorative barrels and crates were topped with food and drinks.

“Wow,” I said as I walked in. “This is much nicer than anything my old school ever did.”

“When you live in the rich district, this is what your tax dollars pay for,” Arden said with a smile. “Come on. I want one of those lame couple-y pictures in front of the barn doors. I’m feeling nostalgic.”

Arden and I drifted over to one of the photo stations and took a few pictures just the two of us, and then when we noticed more of our friends standing nearby, we invited them for some as well. In another feat of technological marvel, the pictures were automatically sent to our school apps when we scanned a podium near the camera so that we could print them or upload them to social media.

“Oh, I’m having this one framed,” Arden said, holding out one of us with the rest of our core crew from debate. “I’m setting it right on my desk.”

I was flipping between a couple of me and Arden together and my stomach tightened. We looked so happy, and I couldn’t remember any time that I’d lookedthathappy with Lucky. All of Arden’s jokes aside, she was just a really good friend. Had I just been that blind to Lucky’s phony friendship all along?

“Uh, Aria?” Arden said.

“Sorry,” I said, not looking up. “I was just missing Lucky.”

“Well, you don’t have to miss him for much longer,” she replied.

I looked up at her. “What?” She nodded in the direction of the door, and Lucky was wandering into the auditorium in a black button-up shirt and black slacks. “What?!” He was scanning the growing sea of students, and terrified he was looking for me, I grabbed Arden’s arm and snatched her behind one of the barn door setups. “What is he doing here?”

“Creepy,” Arden said. “Do you think he’s like stalking you now or something?”

A shiver ran down my spine. Hadthatmuch insanity been hiding just beneath the surface the entire time. “How did he even get in? You need a school app with tickets!”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Arden said. “Wait…” Her eyes zeroed in, and it looked as if someone had smacked her across the face with a frying pan. “No… I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing, right?”

Following her gaze over to where Lucky was standing, I watched in shock as Hannah walked into the dance and locked her arm in his. He smiled at her and pointed further into the dance, and Hannah nodded and then they set off in the direction of the dance floor.

“He’s here with Hannah?” I said, then I looked back at Arden, who was still staring after them like she was in physical pain. “Arden?”

Arden retreated totally behind the barn doors and slapped herself up against the wall. “Are they dating, do you think?”

Oh…

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