THE BRIGHTSIDE, robby keene

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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
REPROGRAMMED
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WITH HER LAPTOP TUCKED UNDER HER ARM, MERCY RINGS THE DOORBELL.

But she can't even hear it over the loud beating of her heart. It might as well jump out of her chest any second, she wouldn't be surprised about that.

Dark circles have set in under her eyes, maybe you can't really see them, but she knows that they are there, the witnesses of yet another sleepless night. But maybe this time not getting any rest at night will be worth it.

It takes forever until the woman finally opens the door and can't hide the surprise on her face as she sees the visitor.

"Hello, Mrs. Moskowitz," Mercy greets the woman, her heart still beating faster than it probably is good for her health.

"Mercy," she lets out with astonishment. How long has it been that the girl was at their house? More than six months definitely. The last time was probably to do AP Physics homework.

"Eli's in his room," she tells her and immediately opens her door fully.

Maybe he didn't tell her exactly who cut off his hair, otherwise his mother wouldn't have let her in this willingly. But Mercy steps into the house, immediately feeling better and less nervous.

Back in the day when she used to be friends with the two boys, they spent almost every day at Eli's home. Sometimes she would just sit besides them doing homework while they were playing some video game. When Miguel came into their lives, it all changed a bit, but Mercy still remembers how welcome she felt in the Moskowitz's home.

Slowly making her way over to Eli's room, she can't help but feel helpless. What if he slams the door into her face or starts screaming at her? She probably deserves that. She is totally foolish for coming here with just her laptop and a dream.

Does she really think that he's gonna forgive her? Does she really think that they could go back to being best friends after everything that happened?

As soon as she knocks at the wooden door, he opens it. His eyes widen in surprise and before he can even think about shutting the door again, she says, "Just hear me out, okay?"

He doesn't say anything, he continues to stare at her, his door only a few inches open, making it very clear that he can shut her out any second.

Mercy breathes in deeply and holds her laptop in the air.
"Remember that website you and Demetri started the summer before sophomore year? The one of us?"

His blue eyes soften at the mention of that memory.
"You mean the game. Of course I remember."

She nods quickly, her brown eyes now having this hopeful shimmer.
"Can you let me in?"

Eli sighs, but he lets her in his room nonetheless. He doesn't have the slightest idea what she even wants from him. And also, it's 11 in the morning in the middle of summer break, don't they both have something better to do?

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I called Demetri and asked him about this game, he talked me through every step. Probably annoyed him that I kept him up all night," she rambles as she puts her laptop down on his desk chair and waits for it to boot up.