F O R T Y - T W O

For the next couple of weeks, everything continued the way it had before, with a few simple differences.

The gang had all come together, introducing themselves to each other in the privacy of a classroom where every couple could act as they wanted without being observed and used for rumors by other students at the school.

Ramsay and Christopher ended up bonding over mutual sarcastic insults. Ani and Josie were fast friends with their similar experiences with families and siblings. Reggie and Mateo shared an interest in poker and made up a secret handshake with a promise to go to a casino together, screw over everyone else there, and become millionaires once they were both twenty-one.

And even as teenagers with so many differences bonded, it was still Olivia and Emmie that managed to surprise everyone.

The two girls had left most of their conversations about their shared nephew and niece behind and started sharing deep discussions about life. They combined