Bastiana has a loving family, two amazing best friends, and a secret.
Over summer vacation, Bastiana and her besties do their best to focus on their bucket list in order to distract them from all the secrets they're keeping from one another. When a...
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"I hate this stupid fucking holiday." I grumble as Ash walks up to our lockers after 6th period. "Why do they decorate everyone's lockers anyway?" I ask as I rip a section of heart-shaped streamers from above my locker, dropping them on the floor.
"Because everyone deserves love, Ry." He grins at me as he bends down to pick up the discarded decorations and presses it to the front of Tiana's locker between us. "And you don't hate it. You just hate the pageantry and the fact that our girl is dating someone else." He sighs.
I look over at the construction paper hearts with our names on them that the spirit committee puts on everyone's lockers for Valentine's Day and sigh.
"You're right." I roll my eyes. "I just can't stand the fact that he grabbed her hard enough to leave fucking bruises and she still forgave him." I grit my teeth at the recent memory.
"I know, Ry." Ash sighs heavily. "I hate it, too. But there isn't much we can do, you know that." He says, turning to open his locker and drop his Spanish workbook inside.
"I know, I know." I sigh, turning to open my own locker and toss my English textbook on the shelf. "I just spent the last 50 minutes reading poems about love and friendship, I don't need you piling on top of that." I pick up my Health II textbook and slide it into my backpack before zipping it back up.
"Hey, I loved the poetry unit in English!" Ash laughs lightly. "And it could be worse. Tiana and I are studying all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets in AP English right now." I wince at the thought.
"'When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.'" We turn to see Tiana grinning at us as she walks up behind us.
"What does that even mean, B?" I ask, frustrated.
"It means that as long as there are people on this earth, no one truly dies, because their words will live on forever. Like the lines of a poem." She smiles softly up at me. "Shakespeare wrote it at the end of Sonnet 18 to remind people that love will always live on, so long as humankind does. Our words will outlive us all."
"Another brilliant insight from the bard and so eloquently said by our favorite girl." Ash smiles brightly at her as she steps forward and opens her locker and he drops his Health II textbook into his backpack.
"Now, if only American History with Mr. Trent was anywhere near as interesting." She sighs and rolls her eyes as she sets her History textbook on the shelf of her locker and pulls out her Health II textbook. "He didn't even use the opportunity to teach about the history of Valentine's Day because it's not American history, it's Roman history." She shakes her head lightly.
"Well, in Spanish today, Mr. Santoro translated some of 'Love Letters of Great Men: volume 1'." Ash smirks at us. "And I learned some new phrases, mi corizón." He winks at Tiana as she shuts her locker and I roll my eyes at him.
