Chapter 161 The Name in the Yearbook

Chapter 161 The Name in the Yearbook

Aveline's POV

I arrived at school with a folder tucked under my arm. The guidance office had released the official Yearbook Verification Sheets today. Every senior had to sign this single piece of paper to review their spelling, photo layout, list of clubs, and senior quote before the yearbook went to the printers.

It was a normal school tradition, but seeing the blank space for the quote made me stop for a second.

I walked into the counselor's office to submit my college essay along with the form. The guidance counselor took my printed pages, adjusted his glasses, and sighed.

"Asher, this essay is missing a lot of things," he said, with his eyes fixed on it. "You have the grades and the stats, but this writing is too flat. You need to pour a lot of emotion into this.

The admissions board wants to know who you are, not just look at a list of your achievements. Rewrite it and bring it back to me."

I took the papers back, staring at the counselor's red ink notes. I didn't know how I was going to find the kind of feelings he wanted me to put on the page.

"I understand, sir," I said, stepping back toward the door. "I'll fix it."

As I turned the corner by the main hallway, I spotted Theo near the lockers.

"Theo!" I shouted his name.

Theo stopped. He looked a bit surprised to see me, but he waited as I walked up to him.

"Why didn't you wait for me to come back yesterday?" I asked. "My mom said you just left. I wanted to let you know I didn't see anything in the laptop that would help".

"I told her I had to run," Theo said quickly, looking down at his watch. "My mom texted me. It was getting late."

"Oh, okay," I said.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Theo said, already taking a step back toward the stairs. "Look, I really have to get to the biology lab before the bell rings.

The teacher is checking our prep work today. See you at practice."

He turned and walked away into the crowd. I stood there for a second, noticing how fast he had avoided the conversation. He seemed to be in a big hurry to leave, but I didn't think too much about it as the hallway started getting noisier.

"Hey," a soft voice said from my left.

Daphne walked up, holding her textbooks against her chest. She looked a bit tired, but she leaned against the locker next to mine, watching students pass by.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, dropping my voice into the deep baritone. "After what happened at the party?"

Daphne let out a long breath. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking about everything. I love Cassian a lot, Asher. I really do. But he has so many problems right now, and I can't keep fighting his battles with him. It's too exhausting.

Every single day with him feels like walking on a minefield, waiting for him to explode about his brother or his family."

"And Reed?" I asked quietly.

Daphne smiled a little bit, her face looking brighter.

"Reed is just so cool and easy to be around. He actually listens to me. He doesn't bring all this heavy baggage to every single date. He asks me how my day was, and he genuinely wants to know the answer. And the fun part is, he is applying to Notre Dame too.

I've wanted to go there forever. It feels like the universe is finally giving me a sign that I deserve to be happy without feeling guilty all the time."

I smiled back at her, happy she was feeling better. Before we could say anything else, a massive scene broke out further down the hallway near the main office notice board.

"This is total garbage!" Landon's voice shouted loudly against the walls.

I looked over and saw Milo, Reed, and Landon standing around the vice principal’s paper, causing a huge commotion. A crowd of students was gathering around them, laughing and talking at once. The school administration had just banned all lyrics from rap songs and any quotes containing inside jokes that the teachers didn't understand.

Landon was waving his rejected form in the air, his face bright red. "I got my quote rejected three times in one morning! Three times!"

"What did you write, Landon?" Milo asked, laughing so hard he had to lean in.

"I just wrote that the ice rink heaters are the only thing slower than our varsity conditioning schedule!" Landon yelled. "The vice principal thinks it's a hidden insult about the hockey team's training program! It's a joke!"

"It is an insult, you idiot," Reed said, shaking his head with a smile. "You can't print that in a book your parents are going to buy. Pick something normal.

Milo, what did you put for yours?"

"I went with something classic," Milo grinned, tapping his clipboard. "I wrote: 'I'm actually much taller in person, the yearbook just compressed my excellence.' They approved it on the first try."

"That's because your excellence doesn't exist," Landon snapped, trying to grab Milo's paper. "Let me see what you wrote for your second option."

"Get your own quote, failure," Milo laughed, pushing him back.

While everyone was screaming and joking about Landon's quote, I walked back into the homeroom to look at my sheet again.

Kieran slid into the chair right across the aisle from me. He looked at my face, his eyes serious as he noticed how hard I was staring at the paper.

"You're staring at that sheet like it's a final exam,"

Kieran said softly, leaning closer so nobody else could hear. "It's just a quote, Ave. Just pick something safe so we can submit the form."

"It's not just a quote," I whispered back, looking at the empty box on the paper. "Whatever I write under this picture... it is going to stay there forever. These are going to be Asher's final, permanent words to the world. He isn't here to choose them himself. I want it to be perfect, Kieran. I can't just write some stupid hockey joke like Landon."

Kieran’s expression softened. He reached out, his hand resting near mine on the desk. "Let me help you rewrite it. We can find something safe and good for the profile. Something that honors him without putting too much pressure on you."

"I don't want it to be some safe, empty line," I said, looking down at the blank box. "He deserved something real. If I just write a generic sentence about moving forward, it feels like I'm not even trying to remember him properly. What if we use a line about the ice? Like, 'The cold never stayed, but the game did.' Does that sound okay?"

Kieran shook his head gently. "It sounds nice, Ave. But it's still too sad. It sounds like a goodbye. What about something he used to say when you were kids?

I remembered how he always said, 'The rink is the only place where the ground doesn't shake'?"

I looked at the paper, my fingers tightening on my pen.

"It fits him," Kieran said, his voice gentle. "I know it matters to you, Aveline. I get it. But you are putting too much pressure on yourself trying to make it perfect. You don't have to carry the whole weight of the world in one short sentence. Let's write that one down. It's real, and it belongs to him."

I took a slow breath, nodded, and carefully wrote the words into the small box. It felt like a small weight left my chest.

Before I could even set my pen down, the classroom intercom clicked on with a loud buzz. The principal's voice echoed through the room, cutting through the chatter of the students.

"Attention, seniors," the principal announced. "The first round of verification forms is complete. Additionally, the digital portal is now open for the official Senior Superlative Nominations. You have until Friday to cast your votes for Class Clown, Most Athletic, and Cutest Couple. Check the notice boards by the cafeteria for the official category guidelines."

The entire homeroom immediately erupted into a wave of chatter. Landon spun around in his seat, a huge grin on his face. "Milo, you better vote for me for Class Clown, or I'm checking your skates into the boards at practice tomorrow."

Kieran looked across the aisle at me, a tight expression crossing his face as Katty walked into the room, staring straight toward our desks with a very competitive look in her eyes.