Skinny Boy ✔

Chapter 57: severed ties

It was foolish of me to assume that everyone would forgive me at the drop of a hat like Garret did. Garret was the exception when it came to forgiving me--not the rule. But still, I couldn't help getting my hopes up. Part of me blamed Garret for that. I wanted to believe it was his fault that I believed everyone would forget all that was behind me. Part of me was angry at him for that. But deep down, I knew I couldn't push the blame onto him.

He had only good intentions when he invited me over one early April Saturday, and he had no bad intentions when he surprised me with someone else there, too. Actually, someones.

When I got to his house, it was all fine and dandy; just the two of us, hanging out like old times. If it was anything like old times, I figured, he just wanted someone to listen to his latest musical creation before uploading it to soundcloud. But he had so much more in store for me that day.

We were in his kitchen, spinning on the bar stools while Garret busied himself pigging out on chips, when the knock came from the door.

"Let me go see who that is," he tried to play it off cool. But his face gave away that he was up to something.

I suppose the thought might have flashed across my mind one or twice, but nothing prepared me to actually hear Henry's voice coming from the front door. My heart sank further when I heard Sandra and Matt as well.

I know, I know, I should have been excited. Here was my chance to explain myself away, to make everything right, and show I wasn't that bad of a person. And yet, I found myself mortified.

I didn't know what I was expecting their reactions to be, but my heart sank a little more when Henry's face fell at the sight of me. Sandra and Matt also wore shocked expression, but they looked more caught off-guard than anything else. By all means, it was Henry's expression that hurt the most. 

"What is he doing here?" she hissed. All hope of reconciliation was lost at the disgust laced in her voice. "I thought we were here to review some project for your programming class?" 

"I mean, you are," he said. The "That'd be great and all if you could help me with that. But I was also kind of hoping that, well..." He looked at me and smiled, "that maybe you'd want to explain to them. You know, maybe if they heard you out," he trailed off. 

"Are you serious--?" I caught myself before my emotions took over. I took a deep breath before continuing through gritted teeth. "Listen, Garret, I appreciate you inviting me over, and I get that you want them to understand what's going on, but," I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. 

Sandra and Matt exchanged confused glances, while Henry continued to just look pissed. 

Guilt fell over him, and his pleas for reconciliation quickly became a stream of apologies. "Nate, I didn't know you were...I thought that since you said you wanted to apologize, you know, maybe you'd want a chance to explain," he fumbled out, tripping over his words now and again like he did when he was caught in awkward situations. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind." 

I forced a smile, hoping it was enough to settle him down a bit. "No, it's okay," I said. "I did want to apologize, actually. I do." 

They all looked at me expectantly, Garret's worry melting away at each word. 

I guess I had to at some point... 

"So, I'm sorry," I said, looking at everyone of them. I chewed my lip, unsure of what else to add on. I didn't exactly have a speech prepared, in all fairness. "I, uh, was a jerk--to all of you. I pushed you guys away, and I guess I pushed most people away. And I just wanted to say I'm sorry. So, sorry. For everything." They all still stared at me speechless, the only reaction being from Garret, standing to the side, looking like a proud father. I took their stillness as a sign to continue. "For the things I said." I looked at Henry. "For the way I treated you and Garret when you were only looking out for me." I looked at Garret with a small smile. "For punching you in the face." He smirked at my bluntness.