Collins:You’re not resting, are you?
My lip twitches again as I sit back against the headboard.
Bryden:Actually, I’m still in bed.
The dots appear right away.
Collins:
I huff. It’s not a laugh, not quite, but it’s the closest I’ve come in months.
I gloss over our previous conversation, the thread stretching longer than I remember. We’ve texted pretty regularly since that first meeting in the library, and slowly it’s becoming our thing. Usually the conversations are clinical, task-oriented, and focus entirely on the physics project.
But every so often, something normal slips in—something personal. Not nearly as personal as that first thread about her stepfather. They’re more lighthearted, friendlier. I discarded the original conversation as I promised, but everything else, I’ve kept. And somewhere between winning finals, graphs, and formula theories, the banter started.
Or more like teasing. The other day for example.
Collins:Do you ever smile? Like, ever?
Bryden:Not really. Never felt the need to.
Collins:I’m pretty sure there’s a study that says people who don’t smile are serial killers.
Bryden:Really? Where are these studies?
Collins:The internet.
Bryden:Hm.
Collins:See. I can feel the lack of smiling through the text.
Collins:I bet you don’t even know how to rest. Probably have a whole routine you’re a stickler for.
Bryden:What’s wrong with routine?
Bryden:And I can rest.
Collins:Prove it. When don’t you have class?
Bryden:Monday.
Collins:Sleep in. Take a slow morning.
Bryden:A slow morning?
Collins:I bet you won’t, but since you said that you know rest, I dare you to.
Bryden:$5 says you’re wrong.
Collins:Bet. But I’ll need proof. Send a pic or it didn’t happen.
I shake my head, her next response bringing me back to the present.
Collins:You know. I didn’t think you had it in you. Guess you gotta pay up.
I adjust myself in bed, position the laptop so that the screen is in the shot, then run a hand over my chest, lift my phone, and snap the photo before I can second-guess it. It’s me, still in bed, game footage paused in the background, light barely filtering in through the blinds.
I send it and wait.
