Page 6 of Our Forever Starts Tonight

“This is Aria!” Tristan answered for me.

Mrs. Hammerskill’s jaw dropped. “Wow. Aria. I never thought I’d get to meet you. Did you know she was coming, Tristan?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Big surprise for me today.”

“Well congrats.” She held out her phone. “Open your apps. Check in for attendance and enter the ID on the board for the class info.” Tristan did this with ease, but I fumbled my way a little bit. It was hard to think there were schools out there like this one while I was dragging myself through a rundown building with one textbook for every two kids. Once we’d checked in, Mrs. Hammerskill waved her hand. “Pick whatever seat you’d like and we’ll get started after the second bell.”

Tristan held out a hand for me, so I looked across the room and picked a seat in the center row near the back. Tristan sat in the desk in front of me, but quickly turned around to face me. “Tech in the desks. Crazy, huh?”

“It’s unbelievable.” I tapped the desktop and the smartscreen beneath it reacted to my touch. “It’s gonna take some getting used to for sure. At least my mom can be comforted that she made the right choice to give me the, as she quotes it, ‘Best high school experience,’ for my senior year.” I looked up at him and tilted my head to the side. “So… um… have you talked about me before?”

A light pink hue came to Tristan’s face. “Oh… yeah. Uh. Not like creepily or anything, but ya know. You were kind of my inspiration to become tougher and stuff. You’ve come up a time or two.” He flashed a blinding smile at me then. “What can I say? You’re kind of my childhood hero.”

The concept almost brought tears to my eyes. I just thought I was doing the right thing by protecting someone innocent. I had no idea I’d been such an inspiration. “Thanks.”

“So, listen, what are you doing after school? We don’t have practice since it’s the first day of school. Do you wanna grab coffee or something? Continue to catch up?” He did a little half-shrug. “My treat or whatever?”

My eyes widened. Was he asking me out on a date? “Um…”

“Tris?”

Tristan and I looked up, and a disgustingly beautiful woman had entered our space. She appeared to be of Asian descent, with shimmering green eyes, a high-fashion bob cut to her black hair, and full, plump lips. She was clearly wearing makeup, but it was clear she didn’t need it, and had donned a white, frilly crop top along with skin-tight black pants and platform boots. She had her nose and ears pierced and her fingers were tipped with matte black nails that came to a perfect point.

“Hey Ceradi,” Tristan responded.

Ceradi gave me that look I was expecting from Tristan when he first turned up. That disdain, like I didn’t even belong on the earth with someone like her. “Who are we talking to?”

“This is Aria,” Tristan said. “We were friends as kids and I didn’t know she was coming here.”

“How lovely,” Ceradi replied, though she clearly didn’t mean it. “Come on, we’re all sitting over here.”

I frowned a little as I was looking forward to Tristan sitting in front of me, but I knew what to expect when I saw him. Whether or not it felt like it, he was one ofthosekids.

“Okay,” he said, then looked back at me, still smiling. “Think it over and I’ll catch up with you after class.”

“I will.”

Tristan gave me one last cheery smile, then stood up and followed Ceradi away from my desk. He walked over to a small group gathered at the desks nearest the door and they looked much more like the students I was used to avoiding. Along with Ceradi, there was a very pretty, wafer-thin blonde girl, somehow with curvaceous hips and bust, and a few dictionary definition jocks, one of whom was even wearing a letterman jacket. Tristan remained blissfully unaware, but the second Ceradi landed there, she turned and threw me an icy glare, and the blonde and a couple of the other jocks turned and did the same.

Great. Maybe bumping into Tristan was both the beginning and the end of my good fortune.

3

Tristan

“Well, it’s time for another exciting year here at Northwest End High, and for all of you, it’s your last year. I know it’s as exciting as it is sad, but just be sure you study as much as I’m sure you all will live it up!” Mrs. Hammerskill began. “For those of you who don’t know, the deal here is that your first class of your first day is not only your first academic class, but also your homeroom. So take a good look around. Me and these students are going to be the raft that helps sail you through your final year here.”

I used the excuse of looking around to look back at Aria. It was still so unbelievable to me that she was actually sitting right there. It was also unbelievable to me how beautiful she had gotten in the last eight years. Not only was her face still as much of a knockout as it always had been, more so even, but she wasn’t an overly skinny girl like the ones I normally hung out with. There was no problem with either, but if I had a choice, I’d definitely pick someone with curves and substance like Aria.

Hell, I’d just pick Aria.

“I typically take this time to ask if anyone is willing to volunteer to be our class liaison. Don’t worry, it’s not a difficult job. You’ll occasionally run messages for me to other classes or the office, and there are a few times a year that we’ll work as a class and will need to send a representative to a few meetings. Low effort, but looks great on your resume and college applications,” Mrs. Hammerskill asked. Everyone looked around a bit, waiting for someone to volunteer, and then when a few seconds had passed, Aria’s hand went up. Mrs. Hammerskill smiled. “Aria?”

“Yeah. I don’t know the school super well, so what better way to learn?” she replied.

Mrs. Hammerskill nodded. “A girl after my own heart. Okay. Aria it is. Keep an eye on your school app. I’ll send you any responsibilities through there.”

Aria nodded and gave a quick, dorky thumbs up. “Great.”

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