Page 22 of The Forever After Bet

“Have you talked to her?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, we have history and English together. We’ve said hi and how are you, but that’s it.”

“You’re doing better than me. Well, kind of. Hannah actually acknowledged my presence today. She looked at me in English and then mouthed hi, in chemistry.”

“You two need to talk,” Jack says. “Especially after Saturday night.”

“I don’t think she wants to talk. We might have a chance of working things out when school’s over.”

Ty groans, putting his head in his hands.

Dammit! Jack looks at me over Ty’s head. “Okay,” I mouth. I pat Ty’s back. “I want to be with her, and I need to know how she feels. I’ll try talking to her.”

Ty looks up at me from between his fingers. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, little buddy.” I ruffle his hair, making it frizzier and messier.

He punches me in the chest in retaliation. I double over and stagger over the bench. “That’s going to leave a mark.” I laugh.

“Will you two clowns knock it off? Come on, let’s go get this meeting over with.” Jack holds out his hand, helping me up, and I help Ty up.

When we walk into Mrs. Hammond’s classroom, someone has erased her whiteboard and written ‘Welcome Volunteers’ across it.

I let out a low whistle. “Mrs. Hammond is going to be pissed.”

Hannah turns around, looking at me, and gives a little nod. She then jerks her head toward Bree and rolls her eyes.

Bree spins around. Her face lights up when she sees me. “Ford, you made it.” She runs up to me, throwing her arms around me. I stand there like a stiff board, refusing to hug her back. “I knew you’d come.” She glances over at Hannah. “Unlike someone else.”

I grab her shoulders, gently pushing her away, and take a step back. “I said I wanted to help.” I give her a tight smile.

“You look so hot in these suspenders.” Bree runs a hand up and down one of them.

“Thanks,” I say, trying not to cringe visibly. I take another step away and sit next to Landon. I wore the suspenders for Hannah. I glance up at her. Her jaw is tense, and she’s digging through her backpack. I glance around and notice a broken pencil on the floor at her feet.

“Hey, Ford, what did you think of the French quiz today?” Landon asks.

“It was hard. I know I missed the last question,” I say.

“Yeah, I thought it was brutal. I totally spaced question three,” Landon says.

“Ma grand-tante se mariee samedi prochain. That one?” I ask.

“Yeah.” Landon scratches his head. “What does tante and mariee mean?”

“It was kind of tricky. Mariee is married, and tante is aunt. The complete sentence was: my great aunt is getting married on Saturday.”

“Dang, it! I got married, right, but I put uncle instead of aunt.” Landon shakes his head.

“Hopefully, you’ll get some points for the question,” I say.

“I didn’t know you spoke French?” Bree says, coming up and leaning against my desk.

“Yep, I’m in AP French with Landon.” I nod my head toward him.

Bree taps her finger on my shoulder. “Say something.”

I glance at Ty, who rolls his eyes, and then glance at Hannah again. She’s sitting on top of a desk with her profile to me. She has her head down, looking at a notebook, but I can tell she’s listening to our conversation. That’s when I notice a dark spot on her neck, and Saturday night comes flooding back to me. She’s covered the mark up with makeup, but it’s worn off. I know just what to say. “H. Je promets que je t’aimerai et te chérirai toujours, que notre amour est censé être. Je t’attendrai, peu importe le temps que ça prendra.” H. I promise I will always love and cherish you. Our love is meant to be. I’ll wait for you, no matter how long it takes.

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