Page 88 of Daydream

“My price is my burrito. Give,” I say to Russ, pulling the laptop toward me at an angle where they can’t see the screen. Russ hands it over and they both sit, breathing loud sighs of relief, and unknowingly watch me type Halle an email about my burrito.

AFTER A COUPLE OF HOURSof everyone pretending they’re studying, Halle and Aurora leave with the other guys to their respective houses. I want Halle to stay, but I also want to work on her Christmas present, which I only decided to make a couple of weeks ago. She was cool with it and said she’d use her free time to study without me trying to distract her.

I’ve noticed she says I distract her a lot, and I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to decide if she’s hinting that I should stop. If it wasanyone else, I’d ask them outright, but with Halle, I know that she’d tell me whatever she thinks I want to hear.

When I ask her if she’s regretting not going home for the holidays, she tells me no, but I think I can tell that it’s not the truth. She looks down before she smiles, and she lifts her shoulders up high, tilting her head to the side before saying, “It is what it is.”

Cami and Aurora said Halle says the same thing to them, which makes me want to do something extra special for her. And the good thing about Aurora is that she loves interfering in making plans.

I’m about to find my tablet to continue with Halle’s gift when I hear my name being yelled from downstairs.

“What?” I shout down in response.

“Halle is calling you. Take your phone off do not disturb!” Russ calls back.

Oh shit. Six missed calls.

“Sorry! Ringer is off,” I say when Halle answers my call. “What’s up?”

“Is my laptop charger at your house?” she says frantically.

Looking around my room, I spot it on the floor beside the slippers she left here. “Yeah.”

“I’m on such a roll with this chapter and my laptop is going to die. I’m going to forget everything I want to write. Oh my God, I can’t believe I left without it! What was I thinking?” she says. I can hear her rummaging around on the other end of the line. “Can you bring it over, please? I’d come get it, but I need to get this out of my head.”

“I’m on my way,” I say, silently proud of her for asking. “I’ll be quick. Don’t forget anything.”

“Hurry!” she yells as I grab a sweatshirt and put the charger in the pocket.

Russ lets me borrow his truck so I don’t have to jog over there, and it’s another reminder that I really need to get my own car atsome point. Looking at cars is boring, and every time I try to pick one I end up distracted.

It only takes ten minutes from leaving the house to pulling into Halle’s driveway, and when I walk through the door she constantly leaves unlocked when she shouldn’t, she’s lying on her living room floor surrounded by sheets of lined paper covered in a more frantic version of her neat handwriting.

“Laptop died!” she says, tearing the paper from the pad and tossing it onto the growing pile. “Can’t talk.”

I don’t say a word as I plug the charger into the socket and connect it to her laptop. Picking up Joy, who’s wandering dangerously close to Halle’s pile of papers, I tuck her under my arm as I walk around the kitchen, putting snacks onto a plate and grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

I put them on the floor beside where Halle is lying and drop myself into the chair with Joy.

It’s fascinating watching her process be so raw. Normally when she writes it consists of her groaning at her laptop or being so into it she zones out and doesn’t hear me talking to her. When I remember to ask her how the book is going, she changes the subject quickly or ignores it if what she’s done is good.

Joy is purring on the center of my chest while I watch Halle throw her pen down and lie against her forearms. “Hi.”

“Hello. I plugged in your laptop.”

Lifting her head, she looks at all the pieces of paper scattered around her. “I was scared I’d lose the scene.”

Moving Joy to my side, I hold open my arm. “Come tell me about it.”

Halle climbs from the floor and shuffles over to my lap, maneuvering her legs over the arm of the chair. “I don’t really know what to tell you. It probably won’t make any sense when I read it back.”

“Tell me anything. I like listening to you talk.”

I run my hand up and down Halle’s shin as she tries to work out where to start. “I’m trying to finish the second act, but because my twist is that she’s marrying someone else, I’ve been writing their relationship basically not knowing who she’s going to marry instead.”

“Still rooting for my guy, but go on.”

“And then I was like, he’s standing at the front of the church, and why would your ex be at your wedding for starters—great plot hole, Halle—butwhywould he be at the front? Then I realized what if she was marrying someone he knows, like his best friend?”

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