Page 27 of Our Forever Starts Tonight

Taylor would probably tear me to shreds if he knew I was considering actually turning my back on Aria for that reason. I got where he was coming from, I really did, but it didn’t change the fact that I didn’t want to go back to being bullied. I could barely handle it when I was a kid, and that was when the worst anyone could say to me was that I was stupid and scratch me with sticks. Teenagers—people just a handful of months away from being considered legal adults—could do much worse, and I didn’t want to be a part of it.

Besides, I really did feel like Ceradi and the othersweremy friends. They were the pickiest people in the entire world, and though they could choose to hang out with anyone at any time, they chose to hang out with me and that counted for something. Did that truly mean that I had to remain totally uninvolved with Aria? Maybe the situation just required more finesse. If they could just see what I saw—how absolutely astounding she was—there wouldn’t be an issue. They just wanted beautiful, cool people to hang out with, and Aria was both of those things.

At least I thought so.

Eventually, the smell of bacon frying and fresh spices filled the air. Molly was already hard at work cooking breakfast to celebrate myactualbirthday. For as excited as I had been for my party, between what had actually happened and the obstacles I knew the day was going to bring me, I found myself wishing I could just stay in bed. My stomach growled though, begging me to head in the direction of the food, so I threw back my covers and trudged downstairs. I eventually made my way into the kitchen where Molly and Sherelle were both working on different aspects of breakfast, dancing to some music playing over the smart speakers, and laughing at one another's horrible performances.

Sherelle was to Molly what I was to Taylor, so seeing them cheery and bubbly just reminded me of how unhappy with me Taylor was. I never liked disappointing him, but yesterday was the angriest I’d ever seen him get with me.

“Happy birthday to you,” Sherelle started.

“Happy birthday to you,” Molly joined in.

“Happy birthday to Tristan…” They both dove under the counter and brandished silly string canisters. “Happy birthday to you!”

At the exact same time, they both fired off, covering me in mint-smelling foam strings. Both cans hissed as they closed in on me, spraying more and more of the silly string until the cans were blowing nothing but air. For good measure, Molly tapped her can against my head a few times.

“That’s not going to help the silly string regenerate,” I barked.

She giggled at me. “You never know. Stranger things have happened.”

I pulled the strings that were already matting into clumps all over me off and dumped them in the trash. Both of them returned to what they were working on before I entered the kitchen, still laughing at their antics as they went. I opted to move over to the kitchen table and wait for the rest of breakfast to be done.

The table already had a few things on it, alongside the empty plates and glasses. There were different bowls filled to the brim with fresh ingredients like bacon, sausage, ham, green onions, mushrooms, and peppers. Sherelle was making pancakes and Molly was working on some fresh squeezed orange juice. Molly had asked me what I wanted for breakfast and I told her that I wanted my favorite thing that she made, her omelettes. Seeing and smelling the savory ingredients to be mixed in, my excitement for the meal was already going. I couldn’t wait.

“Alright kid,” Molly said. “Take one of those empty bowls and fill it with what you want in your omelette and I’ll get started.”

I smiled. “Aw, yeah.” I grabbed a spoon and started to add in a combo of meats and veggies and then brought it over to Molly. She already had a few different kinds of cheeses freshly shredded and sitting next to the pan she was heating. “I’ll just have all the cheese too, please.”

Molly giggled as she took the bowl from me. “You got it.”

I returned to my seat and started to flick through my phone, seeing all the photos everyone had posted of my party from the night before. Despite how shitty I felt for most of the night, I looked perfectly happy in all the selfies. If Aria saw it, it would probably make her feel worse. Maybe it was a mistake waiting to call and apologize to her.

No. The mistake had been saying that stuff in the first place.

“Where’s Taylor?” I asked, as Molly started on my omelette.

“He went out for a run,” Molly replied.

I winced, already knowing the answer to my next question. “Is he still pissed?”

Molly scoffed. “Yeah. He was ruminating all night, and I don’t think he slept very well.”

Sherelle looked up at me as she stacked more pancakes on a platter. “Literally. He went on and on about it.” She carried the pancakes over to the table and set it down. “I don’t get it, Tristan. Why even be friends with those guys? When Taylor told us the stuff he overheard you saying, I didn’t believe him at first. It didn’t even sound like you. You’re such a good guy. Wouldn’t you want friends who have your same energy?”

“Hannah’s not even that bad,” Molly said. “I overheard you two talking last night. It’s so strange. It’s like you guys get it, but you don’t. Where does this pressure come from to impress people who are unkind to you?”

Just like that, all that sense that Hannah made last night suddenly made less sense. “From the outside, yeah, they look like awful people. I get why you guys think that, but there have to be things about you guys that you all think are fine but other people think are terrible, right?” Molly and Sherelle exchanged looks and remained silent. “See? Exactly. Everyone’s different, and no, I don’t like the things they said about Aria, and I don’t like the things I said even more. People fear things that are different from them, and my friends are big on confidence and all that. I just think they don’t understand how to take someone in who is so confident in themselves when they haven’t put in the level of effort that people like Ceradi have.” I threaded my hand into my hair. “I get it. I know Taylor is disappointed in me, but I don’t know what he wants from me. It was either that, or lose all my friends and become the victim out of spite.”

“You don’t see the problem with that?” Molly said. “That standing up for someone you really care about would cost you all your friends?”

“Life isn’t black and white,” I said. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Molly shook her head. “Fine, but just take it easy with your brother. We have a full day ahead of us and the last thing we need is the both of you in a bad mood.”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I will.”

Not long after that, the front door opened and shut, and a few minutes later, Taylor passed by the kitchen down the hallway towards the stairs. He glanced in, and our eyes met briefly, but then he just kept going without saying anything. Molly was just finishing up my omelette and Sherelle was serving Molly’s fresh orange juice when Taylor walked back into the kitchen, changed out of his running clothes into a simple nice button-up and slacks.

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