"Where were you during lunch?" I slow down my pace so Tristan is forced to walk next to me. It's after school and the two of us just got dropped off at the end of our street. Despite disappearing sometime before lunch, he took the bus home and was still being just as quiet as he was this morning. Not that I thought he would suddenly turn into a chatterbox, but he did say more than a single sentence to me yesterday afternoon. 

"So you're keeping tabs on me now?" he asks, the corner of his lip twitching as he tries to contain his smirk.

"Were you giving your presentation during lunch?" I choose to ignore his question. "Which, by the way, was so clearly non-academic considering we have practically every class together."

"Yes," Tristan returns to his one-word replies, but that smirk remains on his face.

This is so frustrating. Could he at least give me just a little more than that? I kept it open for him to tell me what his presentation was for, but it seems like I'm going to have to force it out of him. 

"Okay," I say slowly. "What was the presentation for then?" Maybe a direct approach is the way to go.

"Something non-academic." I can see his lip twitching even more. I hate that he's so amused by my curiosity, but elated that this is the first real conversation we've had. I may be doing all of the work here, but it's something.

"Did it go well?" I ask quickly, realizing that we're about ten feet away from my house. I slow down my pace even further, trying to extend our time together. Who knows when I will get another opportunity like this to keep him talking as much as he is right now.

"It did," he responds, looking at me, a slight twinkle in his eye. He looks really proud of himself; whatever the presentation was for must have been a huge deal to him. 

"That's good to hear," I say with a small smile, attempting to downplay how happy I am for him. Tristan is, after all, supposed to be my challenger. Even if he doesn't know it. "Well, this is me."

"I know," he smiles back. I am taken aback, that dazzling curve on his face and blinding white teeth sucking all the air out of my lungs. How is it possible for someone to be this attractive? I quickly start walking up to the front door to avoid staring at him for any longer or saying something embarrassing. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

I turn back around and look at him. "You won't have your car?"

"Nope." With that, he takes long strides to his house, vanishing into the garage. Shaking my head, I walk into the house and head straight to the kitchen. 

"Hey, Aunt Clara," I say as I take a seat at the breakfast bar. My aunt turns away from whatever she is cooking on the stove. It's nice that she works as a caterer because she's usually home to hang out with me and I reap the benefits of her leftovers. Which reminds me...

"I didn't finish my lunch, so if you want it you can eat it, otherwise I'll just stick it in the fridge," I tell her, pulling out the tupperware container that is holding my leftovers. Which is basically the entire serving since I barely touched it.

"Did you not like it?" she asks, taking the box from my hands.

"I did! I was just kind of preoccupied and didn't realize how little I had eaten by the time the period was over. I am actually pretty hungry, I can kind of feel a headache starting, so I'll take whatever you're making over there," I give her a sly smile. A hot meal to think about my latest interaction with Tristan over sounds amazing.

"Do you want an Advil or something?" Aunt Clara asks, opening a drawer to grab a fork so she can eat my tofu. Her hand freezes midair, the fork falling out from between her fingers and clattering onto the counter. She glances at me, a sympathetic expression on her face. She didn't catch her slip up the way she had been doing this whole summer. 

"It's okay," I tell her, both declining the Advil and reassuring her that I'm fine. She releases a sigh and walks around the counter to give me a hug.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," she says quietly into my hair. "But I'm glad you're better now." She kisses the top of my head and opens up my lunch. "Here, start eating some of this and I'll make you a plate of the mushroom tacos I was cooking up. You're lucky the party I'm catering this weekend has requested vegan dishes, so you'll be taste testing for me until then."

I nod in agreement, my mouth full of the cold rice. Aunt Clara pushes a plate of two tacos in front of me, trading for my tupperware. Just the smell of food is already making my headache go away.

Picking up a taco, I fold it closed in my hand, checking to make sure none of the filling or toppings will spill out the back. Just as I go to take a bite, the doorbell rings. My aunt looks at me from one of the various pans on the stove, her brow furrowed. She wasn't expecting anyone to come over and Uncle Luke won't be back from work for another three hours. 

I put down my taco and get up from my stool. As I walk down the hall, I try to peek out through the glass paneling on the sides on the front door to see who is there. They must be standing right in front because I can see directly into the street. The doorbell rings again.

Turning the knob, I swing the door open, revealing Tristan on the other side.