𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀 ||The Sequel||

CHAPTER 7

Ariana

"Swipe. Swipe. Delete that one."

Tristan glanced up from his phone, his expression puzzled. 

"It's literally the same angle."

"No, it isn't. She moved the camera, look." I flicked his phone screen to reveal the previous photo.

"Check out the background here. There's a car, and now look at the other picture." I swiped back to the new photo. "No car. She shifted positions and got the car in the background. So delete the one with the car. It ruins it."

He shot me a look before slowly shaking his head and deleting the photo.

The hallway buzzed with students chatting and laughing during lunch break. Tristan and I stood by our lockers, flipping through pictures taken by Shay at the parking lot that morning.

Joanna and Josh were chatting nearby, while Shay and Jacob stood between them, lost in each other.

"Stop!" Tristan froze, and I stared at the picture on his phone.

I grabbed it from his hand and zoomed in before groaning. 

"Please delete this. Why'd you even take this? I look terrible." He laughed, leaning closer, and inspected the picture too.

"No, you don't. You look cute."

I wished the ground would swallow me whole. The number of unexpected pictures of me on his phone was embarrassing. Definitely NOT cute.

"I'm deleting it." Before I hit the delete button, he snatched his phone back, smirking at me.

"No, you're not."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Give me that." I reached for his phone again, but he held it high above his head, grinning.

"Go ahead, try and take it."

I stood on my toes, reaching up with one hand and the other braced on his shoulder for support. But the jerk raised himself even higher, standing on his toes too.

"You can't do that!" He kept laughing, keeping the phone high up in the air.

I pressed my hand down on his shoulder, trying to make him lower himself to my level, but the height difference won.

"Miss Blake?"

A feminine voice echoed down the hallway, and I stopped reaching for the phone, leaning to the side to see who it was.

The guidance counselor, Miss James, stood outside her office, peering at me over her glasses. She gave me a tight-lipped smile.

"Could you come to my office for a minute?"

I frowned in confusion. The others looked at me, sharing my bewilderment. I'd never been to the counselor's office before.

I knew we'd be seeing Miss James regularly this year as high school seniors to talk about grades and college options. But it was only the first week of school. Was it already my turn?

Tristan looked at me and offered a reassuring smile.

"What's that about?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Don't know, but I'm about to find out. I'll see you after school?"

He nodded, leaning in to kiss me before I headed to Miss James's office.

"Ooh, someone's in trouble," Joanna teased, and I flipped her the bird before hurrying to the counselor's office.