Page 10 of The Forever After Bet

“Are you three playing musical chairs this week?” Mr. Metcalf asks as he walks between our rows.

“Just trying to keep you on your toes, Mr. M.” Jack smiles.

“Are you good, Clark?” Mr. Metcalf asks her.

“Yeah, this seat is great. I don’t have Jack’s colossal head in the way anymore.” Hannah smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

“Hey, I have a normal size head, thank you very much.” Jack huffs, but he’s smiling.

I open my mouth to praise her for using a big word and give her points, but I snap my mouth shut and glance at Jack and chuckle. He shrugs and smiles back. For the first time this week, my stomach doesn’t feel like it’s tied in a dozen knots. My chest still aches, and my heart hurts, but it’s something and that matters. Because I’ll stand in our meadow after graduation and wait for Hannah. I’ll keep my promise. No matter how long it takes.

When I get to the school Wednesday night for the opening night of the musical, Ty and Jack are parked in our usual spots waiting for me. I stopped and picked up Cam. Since the girls are all coming together, Jack and Ty filled Cameron in on what happened last weekend. Since they were all at the diner when Jack got the text message from Hannah. He hasn’t said much to me about it, just that he’s sorry things didn’t work out. And he was with us Friday night when all trudged out to the city mailbox.

“Are you going to be okay?” Cam asks.

“Yeah, Hannah will sit next to Leah or Aubrey. We have five classes together. This will be easy.” Except when Hannah walks in her cute little white dress with little pink flowers and her pink cardigan, my chest aches. I feel like I can’t breathe. She looks beautiful, and I’d give anything to sit next to her during the play.

5. Seat G2

Leah and Aubrey pick me up to go to the opening night of The Sound of Music.

“Let’s stop at McCaffery’s and get June a bouquet. I was going to do it after cheer practice, but it was right during rush hour, and the grocery store gets so busy that time of day. Basically, I was lazy.” I laugh at myself.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Leah says.

“Ooh, we can get some snacks.” Aubrey rubs her hands together, excited. “I love June, but I’m not into musicals, and The Sound of Music is long.”

“It is long, and this week is dragging at a snail’s pace. If I nod off, just elbow me.” I laugh.

At the store, we buy June a big bouquet of pink and white roses mixed with lilies and stock up on junk food. When we get to the school, Leah parks but doesn’t get out. I open my door, but then shut it. “What’s wrong?”

“Ford’s going to be here. Our tickets are all for the same row.”

“I’ll be fine. I have five classes and PE at the same hour as him. Sitting in a dark theater six seats apart will be cake. I'll let you know if something happens, and I don’t think I can handle it.”

Leah nods. “Okay, you seem better today.”

“I think I am. I don’t feel so tense and pulled tight,” I say.

When we walk in, the guys are already there. Aubrey sits next to Cameron, and Leah sits next to Jack. I sit in the middle of the row next to Leah, and Ty and Ford sit on the two end seats. This isn’t how I envisioned going to June’s performance, but I imagined a lot of different things before I opened my mouth and ruined everything. A couple of minutes before showtime, an usher comes up with some girls who claim we’re in their seats. The usher makes Ty and Ford pull out their tickets. She says something I don’t hear and then comes down the aisle. “I need to see your ticket,” the usher says, peering down at me over her bright red spectacles. I pull my ticket out of my purse and hand it to her. “You’re in the wrong seat. You’re supposed to be in seat G2, and he’s supposed to be in G7. You need to move.” She points her finger to where Ty is sitting.

“Does it matter? We’re all here together as a group.” I give her my best fake ‘I’m so happy’ smile, and shrug like it’s no big deal.

“Yes, it matters. You paid for seat G2, not G7. You need to swap seats, or I’ll have to ask you to leave for noncompliance.”

I raise my hands. “Okay, I’ll move.” I follow the lady back down the aisle, trying not to step on anyone’s feet. The girls find there right seats two rows in front of u.

“Hey, Clark,” Ty says, giving me a sad smile.

“Hi.” I wait for Ty to walk into the aisle before I sit in my assigned seat next to Ford. It feels like the universe is screaming at me. I’ve sat next to Ford for the last two days in chemistry, but we both scoot our stools to opposite sides, sitting as far away from each other as possible. There’s no scooting away now. I can feel the heat from his arm radiating onto my arm. I close my eyes, trying to get my heart to slow down. I want to reach over and take his hand, rest my hand on his knee, or lay my head on his shoulder. But I can’t even turn my head and look at him because it hurts my heart.

Cameron nudges me. “Hey Clark, this is for you.” He hands me a bag of mini starbursts.

“Thanks.”

The house lights blink, the chatter in the theater dies down, and everyone rushes to their seats. The opening scene is June on stage by herself singing ‘The Sound of Music’. She’s so talented, and I love that she’s my friend. After the show starts, I relax and settle back in my seat. Ford lets me have the armrest between us, and I rest my arm on it, hanging my hand off the end. A couple of minutes later, Ford’s fingers brush mine. The feeling is electric, rushing up my hand and down to the tips of my toes. I sigh, closing my eyes. Slowly, Ford entwines his fingers with mine. It’s heaven. All he’s doing is holding my hand, and it’s like I’m floating. I give his hand a small squeeze. Ford grunts and then covers it up with a cough. I’m glad I’m not the only one so affected by this.

What does this mean? Is Ford willing to forgive me? And if he is, where do we pick up our relationship? I don’t want to think about any of that. I just want to relish the feel of Ford’s hand in mine. June is singing about favorite things, and right now, this is my most favorite thing in the entire world.

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