The text alert on her phone startled her from her daydreams with a stifled shriek. Helios flattened his ears and clutched the floor, looking around wildly for a moment, and she put a hand on her chest to slow her heartbeat. “I need help,” she muttered.
[text to: Isaac] failing at homework. I could use a distraction.
She studied the message for a long moment before pressing send. Half a minute later it occurred to her to save the number.
Isaac smiled at the text and then laughed, shifting to sit cross-legged as he typed out a reply. His homework lay discarded and forgotten inches away from him on the bed, and it was clear that he had both lost interest in it and would not be returning to it that night.
[text to: Summer] Yeah? Me too. And I can be a distraction – want me to come over?
[text to: Isaac] yes pls
Summer glanced around the apartment, checking how messy it was. Quickly she closed up the books she’d been trying to research from and stacked up the photocopies. She looked over the half-wall and decided Isaac wasn’t likely to see her sleeping space, although it was fairly tidy anyway.