A New Dawn

Chapter 16 - Idris

The Internship Excuse is magic. I use it all the time now when I want to be out of the house as long as possible. I can leave early without anyone asking me questions now. And if I want to stay out late, all I have to do is say I'm reading "extra documents" at the internship site because I focus better there.

I know it's only working now because it's a new thing, but once my parents start to think that it's not a big deal anymore, they'll start telling me I'm spending all my time away from home for nothing. I'm a little surprised it hasn't started yet, but I better not think about it in case it manifests.

If it does, I'll miss out on spending time with Briar every day. Even in the evenings, I'm at Everett's house watching TV, eating dinner with his family, and talking to Briar about life and her dad's books. I think I'm over there more than Marlowe at this point.

The more I hang out with Briar, the more comfortable I feel around her, and I think she feels the same. Sometimes she'll even sing under her breath around me. When she realizes she's doing it, she'll blush. It's the only time she ever blushes, and it only makes me want her to sing more. Not just to hear her voice, but to see her cheeks fill with color afterward. It's really cute.

And I get to see and hear more of it the moment Gareth finishes his first draft.

Once he hands it over to us, we decide to read two chapters together every evening after work, sitting side-by-side on Everett's couch. We read on separate laptops, but sometimes we sit so close that it feels like we should just be sharing one. Even now, Briar's arm is pressed right against mine, and I can hear her mutter and gasp as she reads. It's distracting but not irritating. If anything, it makes me feel warm inside. Spending time with Briar always seems to do that. Especially now that we're practically spending every waking moment together.

"Are you guys done?" Marlowe huffs from the kitchen, forcing my attention away from the book... and Briar. "The food is ready and I'm hungry."

"One more chapter," Briar says, tucking her feet beneath her as she adjusts the laptop. "It's getting good."

"Just getting good?" Gareth asks, leaning over the back of the couch to get a better look at Briar's screen. "What part are you on?"

"Hey."

Briar presses her laptop to her chest and shifts so she's taking up even more of my space. I try not to stiffen or even remotely react in case she thinks she needs to give me space. Hopefully, she doesn't feel my heart beating, though, or the blood rushing through my veins. There's nothing I can do to control any of that, but if she notices any changes, she's too busy glaring at her dad to care.

"You're not supposed to look at it at all," she reminds him.

Which is true. When Briar told me Gareth finished the first draft, she also told me he likes to take a break from it for six weeks which lets her—us—read and give feedback and reactions. But after a few days of doing this, it's pretty obvious he has some self-control issues when it comes to hearing thoughts on his writing.

Gareth straightens, planting his hands on his hips. "Well, I'm not supposed to hear about it either, but you two are sitting here in the living room talking about it."

Briar scoffs. "No. We have a system for that."

Gareth looks at me. "What's the system?"

"We have a shared Google Doc," I explain. "We read silently to ourselves page by page and use the text cursor to let each other know what part we're on. And if you or other people are around, we message each other our thoughts and agree on which comments or highlights to make."