Mistakes Made ✅

Chapter 2: Phone Call

If there was one thing Errol detested besides the slow Wifi signal in his apartment, it was the lights.

He had to slam his palm multiple times against the wall, just near the light switch, just to get the lights flicker to life without constantly blinking. Like his battered rental-serviced car, there were times where it took him five minutes at most to get the lights working, and by the time he was done, he was already sporting a headache. Not severe, but enough that it made him glance at the damned switch with acute loathing.

"Stupid lights," he muttered under his breath, having slammed his palm against the wall after he unlocked the door to his apartment.

Indisputably, the blame was on him for not getting it fixed in the first place. He didn't have enough in his pockets at the moment, only spending his inadequate weekly wages on basic-yet-essential living needs. It was during thoughts like this where he was glad he'd dropped out of university, otherwise he would have to search for various part-time jobs to secure them all on an anchorage.

Perhaps "dropping out" wasn't the most pertinent term to describe his situation - not like this. Stopped going, he thought to himself. Yes, he had stopped going to university. And for copious reasons too. Right now, he was too wearied to even pick one, not when they kept hurling him into the depths of the cyclon raging in his head. And to be spat out just to be hauled back in again? Why would he?

From where he was standing, Errol could faintly hear the sound of a news reporter coming from the kitchen ahead, her voice muffled but distinguishable. Errol cursed under his breath, realising that he had clearly forgotten to switch off the radio that morning. No wonder the electric bills kept going up.

"... was arrested the previous night for attempted sexual assault on her fellow colleague. She is now going to attend a hearing at a court with her lawyer, while legal proceedings with the male victim will soon be-"

Errol switched it off, a hard frown digging into his forehead. After all, it was rare for him to hear such news. That wasn't the case, however - not quite. He honestly couldn't stomach listening to another abominable news similar to that one. And it was just then did he realise how erratic his heart was beating in his chest, followed by the nauseating knot forming from the pit of his guts.

Tossing his keys across the counter, Errol grabbed the cereal box from the cabinet above and began eating handfuls of the cereals, stuffing them into his mouth as he paced aimlessly around the kitchen. It was all merely out of agitation, and Errol hadn't had the faintest idea on what it exactly was that irked him. It wasn't as though there was anything or anyone there to raise his hackles - apart from the light switch, that is.

Not that blaming his excuse of a petty chagrin on the light switch was any well grounded. Because even that was partially his own blemish. And if he were to trace it all backwards, none of this rivarly between him and the stupid light switch would've happened had he not stopped going to university. Why am I even thinking about that bloody switch?

Errol raked his fingers through his already dishevelled mass of dirty blond hair, mussing it up more before slumping down on the dining chair. Stupid Butterfly Effect, he thought. He'd listened to a frequent customer of the parlour ramble on about it just a few days ago, saying how if one event hadn't materialised in a particular period of time, the other events that were supposed to betide from it would never transpire - be it something so trivial. "That's why if you were to go back in time, you have to be careful on what you're gonna change. Like ... really vigilant." he'd said then.

"What are you gonna change anyway, hypothetically speaking?" Errol had asked, merely out of curiosity.

"Nothing." had been the boy's answer, casually chancing a short glance at another boy with dark hair sitting at one of the tables.