A Newfound Home - Adopted by Josh Dun

Forty-nine

V I C T Ø R I A
Summer flew by like a breeze.
It was like I blinked and it was back to school.
Josh drove me to school and I waved to him as he left and made my way inside.
I had the same locker as last year, which was luckily close to the front doors of the school.
I felt hands on my waist and smiled to myself as a kiss was planted on my cheek.
"How has football practice been going?" I turned around and looked up at Max, watching him brush his hair out of his face.
"It's been insane. I'm quarterback again and I'm just counting down the days until the season is done." I nodded and reached up to brush a hair that fell into his face again.
"You're gonna do great." He smiled and I handed him my bag to hold while I shoved things into my locker.
"You don't have plans for after school, do you?" I shook my head while setting books on the top shelf of my locker. "Perfect. We're doing something and you're gonna love it." I took my bag from him and shut the locker door.
"Should I be scared?" He chuckled and gave me a quick peck before he hurried off to catch up with friends.
As I started walking away from my locker, I spotted Lily who was marching her way toward me with a clipboard.
I couldn't tell if her look was angry or focused.
"Tori!" I shot her a friendly wave and she stopped in front of me, looking at the clipboard. "There's a dance meeting after school. We're meeting in the gym."
I was about to protest, ready to explain why, but she walked off without letting me speak.
All of a sudden, a flash of pink ran toward me and I was being squeezed tightly.
"Tori! I've missed you so much!" I looked at Ruby as she let go and gave her a proper hug.
"I missed you, too! I'm so happy to be home and that we're both here at the same time!" She agreed.
When we got back from the tour, Ruby was on vacation with her family, the guys were at camp, and Allison was at her grandma's in Montana all summer.
So I spent half my summer watching Max at football practice or hanging with Debby and Josh.
"You'll have to tell me about the tour! I bet it was so good!" The bell rang, interrupting Ruby, so we decided to talk during lunch.
We separated and I headed to class, bumping into a familiar jet-black-haired giant.
"I swear this is how we're gonna start every school year." I smiled and gave Tony a hug, walking to class together.

♡

After school, Ruby and I walked to the gym together where there were four or five other girls.
We sat down and Lily walked over to the coach, handing her a clipboard.
Coach Simons hushed all the girls and began to speak.
"Hello, girls! I hope your first day went well. I first wanted to discuss the new year for dance," she began to go over the rules of dance, dress code, and scheduling.
I was happy to be officially a part of a dance class this year, especially alongside Ruby.
"Now, I will be announcing captains who will be in charge of groups this year. If your name is called, please come stand beside me, and then you will get to pick your helping hand,"
She called out Lily's name, Adria, and me.
I stood next to Lily and Coach Simons told us each grade we were gonna be teaching.
We were also combining high school and middle school together for dance this year, which was why they were choosing us girls to teach younger students.
I chose Ruby for my helping hand and was told I was going to be teaching sixth and seventh-graders.
We were all dismissed and I wandered out to find Max leaning against his car, arms folded across his chest.
"I'm so sorry that took longer than expected. I was being explained a ton of stuff." Max walked around the car and held the door open for me and I threw my bag into the backseat.
"It's cool. I had to talk with coach anyways and my counselor about getting a class changed." He started his car and we left the parking lot.
I told him about how I was picked to teach the youngest girls this year and he congratulated me, turning onto a familiar road.
He parked his car and I climbed out, fixing my hoodie.
"What are we doing?" He took my hand and we started on a trail.
His thumb was rubbing the back of my hand as we walked along the trail, looking around at the trees and everything surrounding us.
"I figured a nice walk would be calming after our first day of school." I agreed with Max and smiled to myself.
We neared a cliff and I realized that this is where Josh took me for our first official outing together.
While the view was breathtaking at night, it was just as amazing during the day.
"I have something for you." I turned around so fast and shook my head.
"I swear to God if you're proposing to me, I'm gonna shove you off this cliff." He held his one hand up in defense and handed me a box bigger than a ring box.
"It's a necklace, not an engagement ring," I opened the box to see both and softly gasped, looking up at him in awe.
He took the box from my hand and took the necklace out, putting it on me. "And now you have me with you at all times." It was his name with a heart in the middle of the A.
"I knew if I got you a promise ring, you would've kicked my ass or had Josh beat me with a drumstick, so I did something a little tamer." I laughed and hugged him.
"It's beautiful, thank you." I looked up at him and we locked eyes.
"I love you, Tori, I really do. And I want to love you for the rest of our lives." I smiled and leaned up as far as I could to kiss him, and he met me in the middle, moving one of his hands to my cheek.
"I love you, too, Max," I mumbled into our kiss and he tightened his grip on my waist, pulling me even closer.