Forevermore

Seventeen

Instead of going to the football game on Friday, I stay home, burying myself in the studying that I'll miss tomorrow when my friends and I hang out.

Every once in a while, the shouts of my brother's friend group downstairs sends frustration coursing through my veins. I don't want to be selfish, but at the same time...I'm trying to excel in my academia here.

I'm taking a quick break when I hear the guys start their way up the stairs

It's not long before I hear my door open and I quickly turn around. My brother's friend group starts spilling in my room and all I can do is watch, wide-eyed as they inspect my belongings.

I recognize everyone from school, though I can only name a few. Ezra, Levi, Malachi, and Corbin. My brother isn't with them, but I doubt he doesn't know.

Congrats, guys. You've succeeded at frustrating me.

My final straw is when a guy I've seen only twice in my life picks up one of my Sanrio plushies from my bed, spinning it around in his hand.

"Guys, now is really not the time," I finally say.

They look over at me like they're only now seeing me.

"You've got a cool room, Indigo." Ezra walks towards me and ruffles my hair. For some reason, it makes my heart skip a beat. I swat his hand away. "We're only interested."

"I thought her name was Indi," a guy says from the chair by my stacks of books. Ugh.

"My name is Indi," I say. My eyes travel up to Ezra's and I shoot him a glare. "Get them out, please."

The corner of his mouth pulls into a smirk. "Would've thought your mood would be brighter given the extra-extra credit."

Mrs. Janko liked our presentation the best. I made our slides so aesthetically pleasing that she asked if I bought them from a website–which is oddly an ego boost. Ezra rephrased all the facts I wrote down using his natural charm and even presented the whole thing, saving me from any public speaking. I'm not sure how he got so good at charming a crowd, but the class was a lot more entertained than most people would be when listening to someone talking about hydrogen bonding.

"Yeah, but I still have grades to work towards." I try to soften the harsh note in my voice, but that's sort of hard when one of the guys is now flipping through the special editions of my favorite books.

"You gotta learn to live in the present instead of the future," he says before turning towards the guys. "Alright! Everyone–" He gestures his hands forward. "–out."

One by one, the group starts leaving. Ezra included.

The only straggler is an unfamiliar guy with blue eyes and black hair that pokes out of his baseball cap. His gaze is fixed on my drawings on the wall to the side of my desk.

"You drew those?" he asks, a reverent look in his striking blue eyes.

"Yeah," my voice is a lot softer now. "Do you like them?"

He nods and meets my eyes. "They're...wow, they're amazing."

I can't help the smile that forms at his compliments. It's always nice to receive approval, especially from a stranger.

"Sinclair!" Ezra's voice shouts from the hall. "Leave before she cuts your head off!"

Sighing, I roll my eyes at the way he makes me sound like a bear. "Thank you... Sinclair."

The guy in my room smiles. "You can just call me Collin." He takes a step back, towards my door. "I hope I get to see more of your art in the future."

And just like that, he's gone.