“Yes!” Brielle nodded.
“No.” Mr. Walters stated.
“Why?” Brielle moaned, giving her dad a very sad look that he’d have to have nerves of steel to refuse.
He had nerves of steel. “Because. This has nothing to do with Brooks. This is about your future. You need to learn to do this stuff on your own. Not to mention, I don’t want you distracted.”
“Like they’re going to be making out during a video interview,” Reece muttered.
“Reece Walters!” Mrs. Walters chided.
“That’s not what I meant.” Mr. Walters gave Reece such a stern look that Reece bit back his teasing grin and actually used a fork to cut his next bite of pizza. “You can do this, Brielle.”
She nodded.
I could tell she was still trying not to cry. Her hands were shaking too.
Mrs. Walters noticed. She shot her husband a look. She felt like I did. We both wanted to save Brielle—or at least be there for her.
When Brielle exited the room, Mr. Walters addressed his wife, even though I knew he was also including me. “Brielle has been preparing for this for sometime. We’ve got to let her do it on her own. We’re not always going to be there for her.”
“I know, but—” Mrs. Walters exchanged looks with me. “If it makes her less nervous just to have Brooks or me outside the door, we could—”
“Stacy.” Mr. Walters reached out and gripped Mrs. Walters’s hand. “Our girl has this. I want her to know that she can do it. I’m proud of her.”
Just when I started to like Mr. Walters a little less, I ended up liking him a little more.
The minutes ticked by.
Reece finished his pizza, so we helped Mrs. Walters clean up, which involved the super tough task of throwing our paper plates in the garbage.
“Ready?” Reece tipped his head in the direction of the basement.
“Yep.” We left his parents behind and made our way through the hall. We’d just gotten to the basement door when I heard a creak on the floor.
Reece and I turned.
Brielle stood there, her eyes huge in her face. She motioned wildly for me to come.
I shook my head. “Your dad said no.”
Brielle shot a glance in the direction of where we’d eaten. “I need you to come,” she hissed.
“Bri!” Reece frowned. Apparently, he wasn’t used to Brielle’s outright defiance any more than I was.
“You don’t understand!” Her eyes filled with those nervous tears again. “They want to talk toyou!” She leveled a stare on me that cracked my resolve—and made me question life.
“Me?”
“Brooks?”
Reece and I exchanged looks.
“Yes. Modern technology and the impact of AI on teenage relationships.” She stated each word with such exaggerated enunciation that I could see that Brielle was jammed between a rock and a hard place.
“Ok.” I looked to Reece.
Reece shook his head in warning.
