• coffee ~ todd anderson •

chapter 8

on a friday evening where they gathered as usual by the cave past the school grounds, all except briony was smoking a pipe while she was sat down studying for a french oral exam coming up.

"knoxious, my boy! help me with the greetings instead of sitting there sulking." she teased as all the boys laughed along. "aw, come on knox! we're only here to guide you from your despair" pitts giggled, coughing on the pipe. "oh come on guys, we all know what's up with him!" charlie smirked, polishing a saxophone he sneaked from the music room. "chriiiiiis" the boys teased in unison. "hey! it's not funny" knox answered sternly, quieting the boys from their laughter.

soon after, neil crouched into the cave erupting the boys into chatter. suddenly, charlie stood up, playing a loud and distorted tune on the saxophone, causing everyone to groan and cover their ears. then, charlie blew a soothing and magnificent tune into the saxophone. briony finally looked up from her book to listen to this romantic tune. he played it so beautifully. maybe it was the one thing he was good at, she thought.

she closed her eyes, embracing the noise and when she opened them again, she could see todd gazing at her with his ocean blue eyes. she noticed a sparkle in his eyes as though he was watching a diamond. neil had been listening along to the melody when he noticed the intense eye contact between the two, smirking at this observation. briony snapped back to reality when the sound of the boys applauding charlie flooded her ears.

"i can't take this anymore" snapped knox. everyone grew silent. "if i don't have chris i'm gonna kill myself." charlie rolled his eyes and put his hand on knox's shoulder, "knoxious, you gotta calm dow-" "no charlie!" he snorted, "that's just my problem, i've been calm all my life. i'm gonna do something about it." he answered proudly, jumping up and running outside the cave. they all looked around at each other in confusion before briony spoke up; "where are you going?" knox spun around and smirked, "i'm gonna call her" he replied, giggling mischievously. they all jumped up in curiosity, running after him.

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"just take a stroll, gentlemen." briony and the rest of her english class were standing around along the courtyard at the back of the school, watching a handful of the boys walking together in a circle as a demonstration of acceptance. though it may seem a wild concept that walking around leads to acceptance, mr keating has a fascinating technique to connect random topics to each other.

as mr keating requested everyone to demonstrate their own walk, they all set out, some flaying their arms and legs, some jogging, some taking elongated steps. briony went for a perky walk, her chin up in the air, inhaling the crisp winter air. she noticed how the trees colour of mahogany brown was so much more clear now that the leaves have officially fallen. she looked around her to see charlie still at his same spot from before. he watched and smiled slightly at her self-assured walk.

mr keating pricked up, "mr dalton! will you've joining us?" charlie spun his head around, drawing his attention to mr keating. "exercising the right not to walk." he remarked, smirking as he rested his figure on the pillar next to him. he focused back to briony who stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

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later that night, briony was on her way to study group when she noticed todd sitting isolated by the balcony.

"todd?" she pondered, walking over. todd looked up and answered her; "hey.." he looked back down quickly at his knees. for that one moment he looked at her, she noticed tears welling up in his baby blue eyes. "what's going on?" she asked worriedly as she bent down to his level. todd looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact and said; "today... is my birthday."

briony jumped up quickly. "well, why didn't you say anything?" he looked at her, tears were now streaming down his face. "i-i didn't think anyone would care.." todd stuttered. "oh, todd..." briony muttered, sitting down beside him. "we care so much about you. don't you dare let anyone make you feel as though you're not worthy of happiness. alright?!" she cried out as todd jumped slightly, not expecting her to yell. "sorry." she snorted.

as she looked up, briony noticed that todd was already gazing at her. she began to feel blood rise to her cheeks as she tried to look away; but his eyes were so enchanting. she could fall into the deep, dark pupils of his eyes forever and never come back up. she closed her eyes, allowing him to take the lead. 'is this.. really happening? are we going to-'

briony's thought had blown away when she heard todd sit up and clear his throat. she opened her eyes to see that his head was turned, but she could just make out the blood red complexion he tended to wear when briony was around.

briony shuffled away from him slightly, embarrassed of her first rejection. "uh.." she stuttered. "well what did you get?" todd replied still looking anywhere but at her; "um, they gave a desk set. they give me one every year" he sighed, now looking down at the desk set. "well, maybe they thought you needed another one" briony remarked as they both laughed. she suddenly stood up and todd finally looked to her. "todd, i think you're underestimating the value of this desk set" she said sarcastically, picking up the desk set. "it's shape. it's rather.. aerodynamic, isn't it?" she walked closer to the balcony's edge as todd smiled, bewildered by her words.

"this desk set wants to.. fly" she giggled looking at todd who stood up next to her. he took it from her grasp as briony stated whimsically; "the world's first unmanned flying desk set." just like that, todd threw the desk set off the balcony. they laughed and snorted at the sight of the desk set crashing to the ground. paper, rulers and ink pots flying everywhere.

after their fit of laughter, they noticed how close they were. they looked at each other deeply in the eyes, still giggling slightly. "briony i-i need to talk to you about something" todd said seriously. briony stared in concern. "i'm-" suddenly, they were interrupted by a voice.

"hey, you guys!" they turned to see charlie, waving at the pair. "come on, bri needs to help me study for my latin exam tomorrow morning!" briony looked back to todd. "you coming?" she asked. todd looked to his feet. "uh no, i'm okay." briony stared at todd worriedly. "what did you want to tell me?" she smiled softly. he looked up at her as his cheeks grew moroon. "o-oh it's nothing really." he remarked, looking back down again. "oh.. ok." briony answered quietly. "see you later, todd" she said, walking away. "yeah..." he mumbled.

"what were you both talking about?" charlie asked sarcastically, bumping briony's shoulder. "nothing" she replied, walking ahead. "hey! briony" charlie called out, holding her by the shoulder to stop her. "uh, so i was wondering if you and todd were like, a thing now?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. briony scoffed awkwardly "uh... no? why would you think that?!"

then, charlie stepped closer, looking into briony's eyes. "well, i was wondering if you wanted to.. well i guess... um- go on a date?" briony stared numbly. "you. me. date?!" she laughed. charlie's face dropped. "shit, i knew it was a bad idea" he muttered, starting to walk away. quickly, briony stopped him in his tracks. "wait! no charlie. um.. sure. i'll go on a date with you." charlie looked to briony and questioned; "do you really mean that?" briony looked away, thinking of todd.

'what would he think? will he hate me? or.. will this make him jealous' she thought, smirking.

"sure, i mean it! when are we thinking?"

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