7:15 {N.H.}

Chapter 6: Busy Bees

[Chapter 6: Busy Bees]

{Niall}

              August. Known to some as the best month of summer. The hottest month of the year. The most relaxing month. The best month of the year.

              Known to others as the most stressful month of the year. The grossest month of the year. The worst month of summer. The worst month of the year.

              'Others' referring in particular to Mary and I. In August, there's only work, no play. Time is running out before school starts in September and we need to get our lives together.

               The heat just makes the whole thing worse. Exhaustion and dehydration get the better of us and it throws out whole schedule off track. Projects need to be done, books need to be read, and supplies needs to be organized.

               Mary and I decided to work together during this hectic month to help get things done quicker, and for the presence of a friend to help you cool down when you get overworked.

              Her parents understood the annual phase and respected our privacy. So when I came over they casually made up an excuse to get out of the house for a bit so we could work on everything.

"Where did I leave off?" Mary says through her teeth, trying to find her page in her book, "Looking For Alaska".

"Why don't we start with things we can do together?" I suggest lightly as I push her book down from her face.

"Okay" she sighs and tosses it to the side, "Lets organize"

"Organize what?" I question.

"My shoes" she says sarcastically, "Niall, really?"

"Okay, okay" I laugh, "Lets start with our bags"

               We set up our school bags with all the materials we could possibly need for the first week and then move onto projects.

               Fortunately we chose the same books to read, coincidentally. So we could kind of do one project but alter the words and format.

               Mary is an incredibly slow reader. So while she finishes her last few chapters of, "Dreamsleeves", I head into the kitchen to get us water bottles and and red apples.

"Almost done there" I ask Mary as I hand her an apple.

               She looks up quickly, nods, grabs the apple, and plunges back into the last chapter. It's a fairly easy read, so we should be done pretty fast. I sit on the red, comfy chair next to her and read the back cover again.

"Done!" Mary says proudly and closes her book.

"Finally" I say.

"Hey!" she protests, "You know I'm a slow reader."

"Yeah, you should fix that" I joke. I hope I sounded like I was joking.

                She throws a pillow at playfully and gets out her papers. I pick it back off the floor and try to toss it back but end up throwing it way too hard her head.

"Niall!" Mary says sternly.

"Sorry! I didn't mean it" I put my hands up, holding in a laugh at how she's trying so hard to act annoyed but really being adorable.

                Ten minutes later, after brain storming an idea for the plot, I toss my notebook onto Mary's lap. Or, I thought I did.