I lifted my hands. “She needs me.” I mean, that had to count for something.
“Brooks, man,” Reece started.
I held up a hand. “If they’re asking to talk to me, what do I do? Say no and wreck Bri’s interview?” With that, I followed Brielle down the hall to the office where the interview was taking place over video. I heard Reece sigh. I even heard him mutter, “And here we go.” It was ominous. Doomsday. Like me helping Brielle with her interview was directly defying Mr. Walters. It was—except circumstances had shifted. I didn’t have time to go ask Mr. Walters. I had to make a decision, and it was obvious what that decision should be. I’d been requested by the Teen Writers school, and Brielle was—Well, she was my weak spot.
Of course, I was going to help her out.
Chapter 23
Brielle
“Tell me about your AI boyfriend experiment. What inspired it?”
Phoebe had asked me this question during the school newspaper interview. I didn’t want to give a lame answer, and I was already freaking out inside. I didn’tthinkthey were recording this interview, but the fact I’d roped Brooks into coming to help wasn’t going to sit well with Dad when he found out. And he’d find out. I was sure Reece wasn’t going to keep his big mouth shut on this one. He’d been great overall, and the whole fake dating scheme hadn’t seemed to prick his conscience. But I could tell tonight, he thought I was defying Dad.
I wasn’t. I just didn’t want to explain to Dad what the interview was about.
I answered their questions. I made up some of the answers. I tried to be descriptive and thoughtful because, after all, it was an interview designed to assess my ability to communicate a myriad of things.
Brooks sat next to me on a folding chair. His knee bounced up and down, and the movement was making me even more nervous.
“So, as your relationship has progressed, how do you think that dating under the eye of social media, going viral, and even the original influence of AI, has affected your relationship?”
The woman on the other end wore big red glasses that were quite distracting. I thought through my answer carefully. I wanted it to be creative. I wanted it to stand out. To sing.
“I believe that without the influence of AI, I never would have been able to bring into focus what I was looking for in a relationship. The media’s interest in how Brooks and I got together is merely an outside influence.” I saw Brooks’s knee bounce faster. “I can look past it to the reality of who Brooks and I are. And now, technology has little influence on us. We are together, and we care about each other, and if nothing else, modern technology was the motion that got our relationship started.”
“Mmm.” The interviewer offered a thoughtful expression as she mused on what I’d just said. “And Brooks,” she turned her attention to him, “I appreciate you joining us. I realize this interview is for Brielle and her potential internship, but we feel the popularity you’ve both garnered with social media has created an outlet for her—and for you—to really represent your age group with integrity. So on that note, and just so we can corroborate some of what Brielle told us earlier, what does integrity mean to you? As Brielle’s boyfriend and someone who is very publicly tied to her?”
I think, if I hadn’t been on camera, I might have puked. I had literally dragged Brooks into this, and he had been as clueless about the topic of my interview as Dad. Geesh. I hadn’t even had the integrity to tell Brooks how much of this interview relied on our fake relationship!
Brooks didn’t look at me. I noticed his knee was still. He thought for a long, quiet moment. So long that the interviewer spoke again.
“Take your time,” she said, which I think really meant,hurry up.
“Integrity means . . . well, it means having strong principles that you stand by. Being willing to admit your mistakes and—and standing up for someone, even when it costs you.”
He glanced at me. I knew he was thinking about that first day when he’d been blindsided by my AI boyfriend scheme that backfired. He had stood up for me. It had cost him to pretend to be my boyfriend. Ironically, it had cost him the integrity I could tell he wanted so badly.
Brooks wasn’t done. He continued. “Brielle is authentic and kind, she’s caring and she—She’s memorized my baseball stats, she’s pushed me to read a book I’d never pick up, and she’s—She is who she says she is. The only problem is—” he stopped.
My heart stopped.
I think I was dead.
Yep. I was definitely dead.
Brooks avoided looking at me this time. “The only problem is . . . people didn’t seem to accept her for who she was. Now that we’re—dating—I think popularity is hard for her. It’s like, that’s all people really care about. Our relationship. No one asks Brielle what her favorite book is, or why she loves pink and white tulips, or how she’d be heartbroken if the Brewers lost the opening game of their season. So, if you ask me, the people who don’t honor integrity are the ones who watch all the social media stuff for entertainment but don’t bother to get to know the real person.”
The room was silent.
I gaped at Brooks. Had he really said all that?
The interviewer cleared her throat. “Well.” She cleared her throat again. “My goodness. Haveyouthought of joining Teen Writers?”
“No,” Brooks gave a sheepish smile back at the woman. “I play baseball.”
“Well. You’re both certainly authentic.” She looked back at me. “I can see that you both have approached teenage relationships and modern technology with more maturity than is typical. Miss Walters, we appreciate your application and this chance to interview you. We’ll be letting applicants know in about four weeks whether they’ve made the program or not.”
