3Below: The Summer of Tarron

Chapter 1

Aja woke up to a text from Steve, causing her to smile.

Hey Aja so like I know you said you were leaving soon and if you're not gone and you see this message I just wanna say I think you're a really cool girl and I'm glad I got to meet you.

At this point, she just wanted to see him again. He was so sweet, she thought to herself happily, letting out a squeal of excitement. He actually used the right forms of "you're" for her!

Without even a moment's notice, she saw Krel busted the door down defensively, looking around frantically. "What happened?! I heard you making a noise," he asked, still looking around.

"Calm down, Krel. I just saw a message from Steve, and he's being so cute!" She hugged her pillow excitedly.

He groaned, rubbing his eyes. "You woke me up, Aja. I thought something happened, but it's just Staja still being a thing. Are you still going to see Steve now that we're staying on Earth?"

Aja rolled her eyes, but smiled and nodded. "Of course! I can't believe I actually got to have my first kiss with Steve, Krel! He's such a cute oaf..."

"Flisghaag, I unfortunately saw that, and so did the Eli kid," Krel shook his head. As much as seeing his sister lock lips with Steve made him cringe in disgust, it made him happy that she had that lumbering oaf to make her so happy. He wouldn't admit that ever, being it's so sappy and all, but he was glad she found love while they were stuck on this mud planet.

"It was so perfect! I think I want to see him again today," Aja laughed happily, falling back on her bed as dramatically she'd seen the teenage girls do on television when they were in love. Taking her phone, she texted Steve.

Hi Steve! My brother and I will not be leaving soon because our ship will not fly until Krel figures out what to do. This means we will be staying in the Arcadia town for summer, and maybe for next school year. Thank you for being so nice to me! Can I see you again today?

"Do you want to come with us, little brother?" Aja asked him, remembering how upset he was the night before. She didn't want to leave him by himself either, as annoying as he was.

"Not really, but at least I don't have to worry about you sharing our secret with him anymore considering he already knows," Krel said, laughing a bit.

She glanced at him, and was about to talk, but then her phone rang. Assuming it was Steve, she picked it up without even checking the caller ID.

"Steve?" She answered.

"No, it's Principal Uhl. This was listed as a main phone number for Aja and Krel Tarron," their school principal answered.

"Oh. Hello Principal Uhl. Why are you calling?" Aka asked, and Krel looked at her curious as to what was going on. She shrugged, and listened.

"Is this Aja? You and Krel need to go to summer school to make up for your missing first semester. In your paperwork from Birdie, it lists your transcripts for every other school year but this last one."

"Summer school? I didn't know they have school in the summer. My teachers said students don't come back until August," Aja explained, feeling a bit confused.

"Most of the time, students don't usually have summer school, but when you fail or have a missing class, you come during the summer to make it up," Principal Uhl told her, causing Aja to frown a bit.

Was it just going to be her and Krel at summer school? Steve didn't miss his last semester, so he most likely wouldn't be there. Was it bad she was hoping he failed a class?