Love Triangle? No, It's More of a Line...

Tristan's first class was Algebra II with Finch. He didnt really like having to think so much so early in the morning, but in all honesty he was doing better in this and his other two early morning classes then he was in his after lunch noon classes. He sat in the back of the class with Finch who had face planted his desk about half an hour ago and was sleeping in a mess of arms and jacket. Tristan was sitting back in his chair his feet stretched out into the aisle of the desks as he doodled Godzilla on his notebook. Ms.Lench was an older lady and wasnt very observant. One time the entire class got up while her back was turned and changed seats and she didnt notice until the last five minutes of class. It was really funny.

Tristan put the finishing touches on his notes and Godzilla and looked up at the clock; three more minutes and then he would be off to ROTC. It, and chemistry, were the only two classes that he ever looked forward to this year. Not to mention that since it was Army ROTC they were heading up into the mountains this week for some wilderness training and hiking; they'd be camping up there for the weekend too. The bell suddenly rang and Tristan stood up as he watched Finch swing his head up suddenly.

"You slept for the last half of class." He said as they walked out of the class room and into the already crowded hall.

Finch yawned for a moment, his eyes tearing a little, "Eh, I dont really care for the abilities Algebra creates within one's mind."

Tristan rolled his eyes, "Will you cut out the weird talk? Dont you only do that after lunch?"

"Yes, but perhaps I feel the need to be weird earlier in the morning?" He grinned.

Finch had always been weird, ever since Tristan had met him in elementary school. He could still remember the first day he'd met him to absolute detail. Finch had been wearing clothes that were still to large for him, and he'd caught Tristan in his web of games when he'd showed him how to trick a teacher without them knowing. Finch had been cunning and brilliant even back then. Then in 8th grade he'd started the weird talking that took Tristan a second to understand sometimes. It was like he was speaking out of old English or something like that...

The two pushed through the large metal doors that opened up to the closed top but open-walled second floor of the school when Tristan's eyes landed on Ellie again. She was walking with three of her girlfriends all of them chatting and giggling like girls did their phones in hand. Tristan was so busy watching Ellie that Finch had to pull him to the side before he took a fall down the stairs.

"Tis it best to watch not what you can not have but more so where it is you are walking!" Finch said a little loud.

Tristan shook his head, "Sorry."

"Just be lucky that she whoth be the goddess among insects dared to engage in a moment with a common unwanted." Finch poked his arm.

"Will you stop with the talk?" Tristan side stepped his return poke.

Finch shrugged as they walked down stairs, "Just saying. You've been in love with her since when and you cant even talk to her?"

Tristan shoved him forward, "Shut up."

"The fact that that's all you can say makes me right!" Finch grinned a crooked smile like he always did.

"Will you just hurry up? Sargent is going to eat us alive if we're late." Tristan said as they entered the courtyard.

Finch laughed but then stopped walking, "Alas, for days which start to well, here comeith she who stalks..."

Tristan looked up and saw her dashing across the courtyard toward them, "Great..."

Finch rolled his sleeves up giving him a nod and a stupid grin, "Dont worry man, I got this."
...
Diana had walked out of her Chemistry class bored as ever. That class needed to just drop off the list of classes people could get. It was so boring! Equation after equation...she almost tossed her notebook out. She let out a heavy sigh as she shoved the notebook in her bag. She looked up and instantly her cloudy mood changed. Tristan was coming off the stairs from his Algebra class and he was just a dash across the court yard away. She didnt waist any time as she jumped down the stairs of the upper quad and raced across the court yard.

As she neared him she slowed her pace and scowled. That other guy, Finn? Flin?...whatever his name was, was with Tristan and he looked ready to push her back like he did. Why were there so many people who kept trying to keep Tristan away from her!? Even so, she fixed her jacket and put on a smile, last thing she wanted was her true love to see her scowling. She walked over with a little happy skip in her step.

"Hey Tristan!" She said a little excitedly.

Tristan turned around and started walking back around. She was set to follow, but his friend got in her way.
...
Finch had told Tristan to just go ahead and go to the ROTC room while he stalled Diana till he was in the clear.

"Hey, Di... What's up?" He said as he kept in front of her.

"I dont want to talk to you!" She said a little angry.

He was stepping to the sides when she tried to go around him making it look like they were doing some stupid dance.

"Aw, why not?" Finch grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, "Why dont we go chat someplace?"

She tried to pull her shoulders out of his hands, but Finch's grip was like iron; "All thanks to that rock climbing we do in the squad." he told anyone who asked.

"Will you let me go!?" She hissed at him, "I need to talk to Tristan!"

Finch looked over his shoulder to see Tristan had disappeared and the crowds of high schoolers was slowly dying out. He lifted his hands off Diana's shoulders.

"Well, sorry Di, but I gotta go." He said giving her a stupid little salute, "Glade we could talk!"

Diana yelled something at him as he darted down the stairs and disappeared in the crowds. Finch felt himself smiling as he slowed down his pace.

"Yet another stalker crisis avoided." He said as he looked at his watch, "Oh! But yet another crisis created!"

He ran out off the main school's campus and headed up to the fields where the ROTC classrooms were housed.
...
Ellie sat in her U.S History class by one of the large windows that looked out over the large fields of their school. Their school marked the end of the town before the roads led out into the woods and onto the interstate and highway roads that stretched on until the city a few miles out from them. Since the school was the last building near the edges of the woods it's fields were stretched out all the way to the line of trees. Basically the school grounds were larger than two football fields.

Right now the class was sitting in a dark room watching a historical documentary on the early 1900s end of 1800s. Half the class seemed to be asleep already, most others were drawing, on their phones or passing notes leaving really only 1% of the class actually watching the movie and that wasnt a lot since most rooms only had maximum 25 kids in it. Ellie had been passing notes to Hanna but she'd gotten caught up in texting her boyfriend so Ellie was left to entertain herself. It ended up leading to her staring out the window watching the clouds float by ever so slowly.

She was sitting with her chin in her upturned hand when she heard the sound of shouting. She moved her eyes to the farther point of the field and saw the ROTC boys filing out of the ROTC house at a run. Their Sargent, Sargent Ron Becker, was holding the door open shouting orders that them. He was quiet loud because she could always hear him when they were doing drills, or exercise, or if someone messed up enough. She wouldnt have minded doing ROTC, but 1) The girl's ROTC was different from the boys' (and preferably, she wished to do the boys' ROTC) and 2) A popular, especially a girl, didnt do the military gun-ho down-and-dirty attitude.

She looked over the boys as they started doing their regular day laps around the track field. She thought they were crazy, wearing shorts and t-shrits in this chilly air, but then again, they probably worked up so much sweat they wouldnt feel the cold. She saw the boy from this morning as they lined up and did their push-ups and sit-ups in the dirt. He was moving pretty fast and traded off with the pale kid pretty quick. They seemed a step up from the other cadets. She couldnt quiet pin point what it was, but for some reason he seemed to draw her eye. Not anything romantic, but it was just like there was something appealing about the way he was; the other boy too. The two of them seemed far out in their own little worlds. Not something you saw everyday...

She looked away from the window when a paper ball hit her neck. Hanna was leaning into the aisle between the desks.

"What are you looking at?" She whispered making sure Mr. Dervan's attention was somewhere else, "Is the football team out there?"

"No, just ROTC." She said quietly.

Hanna lost interest and went back to her boyfriend texts.

Ellie took one last glance at the pair as they started through the obstacle course and then turned her attention to the movie.