Inquisitive ✓

2.4 I'm sorry

"What is it then?"

"Well, I had sex with my best friends and now one of them hates my guts and another one is in love with me."

Her mouth opens and closes repeatedly, and I chuckle at her confused expression, but there's not much humor to it. Nothing seems funny when I'm in a mood like this. "I finally get why Mikael is so mad at me. It was so wrong of me to do that. I wouldn't want to look at me, either, if I was him."

"What's your name?" she asks, before taking a long drag of her cigarette.

"Elija."

"Oh my god, you're that guy I've been hearing so much about—that fucks everyone in campus, aren't you? Elija Grimes?"

"Yes," I sigh. Nice to know people know me as that guy...

"And now you even fucked your own friends. Wow. I gotta say, that takes some balls."

"Nah, it just takes a hell of a lot of idiocy, actually." I stand up and toss my stump on the ground, flattening it under my foot. "Anyway, thanks for the cigarette..."

"Pat. You're welcome. Feel free to come talk about your sexy endeavors any time."

I don't even know if I want there to be any more sexy endeavors... I want to head back into the building, but I stop myself. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?" she inquires as she tosses her own cigarette stump away.

"Can I use your phone?"

"Sure." She reaches into the pocket on the front of her black hoodie and hands me her phone. I dial the number I've known by heart since middle school. I hold in my breath to see if he'll pick up.

"Hello, this is Mikael Eklof," he answers and my heart jumps up when I finally hear him actually talking to me, but then I remember he only picked up because he doesn't know its me, because of the unknown number.

"Mikky, it's me, but please don't hang up!"

He sighs so deeply I hear the receiver crackling. "Elija, I don't want to—"

"I know. Please talk to me. I wanna talk. I'll take you out for ice-cream, okay?"

"Right now?" he asks, a little reluctant.

It's the ice-cream. He loves it.

"Yes."

"Fine."

"I'm downstairs."

He hangs up without saying another word and I slowly lower the phone, ending the call. I hand the phone back to Pat and she says, "Ice-cream, huh? Cute. Can I come?"

"Uh... if Mikky's all right with it, I guess."

I hold out my hand so I can pull her up, which is easy considering her tiny body. We walk to the front of the building and Pat pulls out another cigarette. She doesn't offer another one to me, but I wouldn't have taken it anyway. I smoke very rarely. Only when I'm stressed, really. One cigarette is more than enough.

The very second Mikky comes through the door he starts saying, "Elija, if you just—"

"Hey, I'm Pat," she interrupts him. She holds out her free hand, blowing smoke into his face. He waves the smoke away and shoots me a look. "Who's she? Why is she here?"

"She gave me a cigarette and then I used her phone to call you."

"Oh, in that case, nice to meet you, Pat." He finally takes her hand and shakes it. "I thought you might have been one of his, uh... associates. Sorry for thinking that."