Borrowed Time

Chapter Eighty Three

Having Emma look over her essay was a lot more stressful than Juliette had thought it would be... Maybe it was because they seemed to be effortlessly good at everything that they did, or maybe it was just because she hated anyone reading her work, but either way... Terrifying.

"Damn, you two are very talented... I swear, it's hard to edit something that has next to no mistakes." Emma sighed, scrolling through Juliette's essay with a soft smile on his face... It was sweet that he was being so kind, but there was no need for the flattery, Juliette was sure that she had a spelling error or two.

"I'm sure you can find something, Em." She said, and Emma shrugged, squinting at the screen a bit with a frown... Was it really that good?  God, she'd thrown that together at the last minute... She'd be happy with herself if that were true.

"Uh... I mean, your wording is a little repetitive, find some synonyms and you'll be golden." She said, setting the laptop back on Juliette's lap.  She smiled and nodded... Cool, she could do that.  She preferred having something to fix over nothing.

"Thanks." She said, and Emma leaned their head on her shoulder for a moment, squeezing her hand... It was sweet that they could be so tactile.

"Of course." Emma said that like they didn't have anywhere else they'd rather be in the entire world, which Juliette doubted to be true, but it was sweet that they acted like that... Juliette would've made it very clear that she'd rather be doing something else.

Carly cleared her throat, nudging her laptop back to Emma.

"What about mine?" She asked, and Emma sighed, looking over at her as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I couldn't find a damn thing... Seriously, this thing is masterful." Juliette could tell that he was being 100% genuine, but it still irked her slightly... She had to get over the weird competitive feelings she felt with Carly about english, but hearing that her essay was so perfect just fanned that fire.

"Thanks." She said, leaning her head back on the couch as she closed her laptop.  Juliette cleared her throat as she searched for synonyms.  She wasn't so goddamn perfect.

"Show off." She mumbled, and Carly chuckled, smacking her arm lightly... Fair.

"Shut up."  No.  Why shut up when what she was saying was something that was accurate.

"Then stop being a show off." Juliette said with a shrug, and Carly gave her a look before she folded her hands behind her head and kicked her feet up on the footrest, a smile on her face.

"Only when it no longer benefits me."  Cocky fucking shit.  Juliette scooted her laptop away once she'd changed the wording.  Carly leaned around her and grabbed the laptop.

"Let me see." She scrolled through quickly, nodding approvingly... How was she reading that quickly?  God, Juliette wanted that skill more than she wanted anything in the world. "Better."  Perfect... Now that she and Carly were back on an equal playing field, she could be nice again.

"Cool... Now that that's done..." She turned to Carly, who was smiling at something on her phone... The kind of smile that Juliette knew well, the kind that she herself only reserved for Esme... She was texting the guy.  Perfect.  "Carly, what can you tell us about this mystery guy you're seeing?" Juliette asked, and Carly looked up, startled.  Emma chuckled, switching seats to sit beside Carly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"There's a mystery guy?" He asked, clearly curious over teasing.  Carly's face flushed as she smiled, fiddling with the tips of her fingers, picking at her cuticles.  She was nervous, this wasn't something she knew how to talk about yet.  Perfect.  This would be fun.