It's Me, Again

Ch. 7 (Dylan)

What. An. Idiot. I'm so stupid. Of course, Kate has a boyfriend. She's so talented, smart, warm, and beautiful. I don't know what I was thinking. That I would swoop in like her own personal hero and she'd give me another chance?

I know Sarah's no fan of mine. She's probably going to tell Kate all about how I further broke her heart after the initial breakup.

The practical thing to do is just let it go. I can check on Kate, as a friend, and then continue on with my life. But, what I really want to do is find out information on this lucky bastard that gets to call himself Kate's boyfriend. Who is he? Why did he send her flowers instead of coming to see her? Even if she didn't remember him, you'd think he'd show his face.

The more I thought about it on my drive home, the more I convinced myself that whoever this guy was, he didn't deserve Kate. By the time I park my car at my apartment, I've somehow convinced myself (or deluded myself) into thinking that I need to find out more information about this guy.

****

Once I had gotten back up to my apartment, I sat on the couch and scrolled through my phone. There were a few people from back home that were still friends with both me and Kate. Maybe they could give me the scoop on this boyfriend of hers. Sarah would be the easiest source of information, but tonight gave me the clear understanding that I was still on her shit list, so she probably won't be doing me any favors anytime soon.

I scroll through to see who would most likely know all the details on this guy and want to share them with me. I've got two contenders, but I think better of it.

What are you doing? Kate is letting you back into her life, at least for now, and you're going to go behind her back and snoop on day 1?

I toss my phone to the other side of the plush couch and close my eyes.

Okay, think. I need to show her that I'm that guy she remembers from high school and not the ass that I became when we started college. The best way to show her that is to show how reliable I can be.

Kate had mentioned earlier today that she needs to figure out what classes she takes so she can tell her professors about her situation and figure out what to do about the rest of the semester. It's hard enough to be grappling with memory loss, but as a college student in the last 2 months of the school year - that's going to be even more stressful. She can't complete assignments or take exams if she doesn't even know what classes she's in. Maybe, I can help her with that. Find out her classes, talk to her professors for her. I know she hates having to talk to people - she always feels awkward and shy. That's why she loves being behind the camera. She could observe and photograph beautiful things. Capture raw emotions. But, not have to form relationships or make conversation with the subjects. It's what drew us to each other when we entered our teenage years. I'm more outgoing and social, she's more introspective. I helped bring her out of her shell and broaden her social circle in those formative years. She helped me keep my head on my shoulders and reflect on life. I didn't do a whole lot of that when college started. I literally lost my head and said to hell with reflecting on my choices. Guess it was my rebellious phase, but instead of getting bad grades or losing my scholarship, I lost the best girl I've ever met. And trust me, when I was trying to get over Kate I met a lot of different girls that I thought could replace her and none of them came close.

I'm sitting on the couch watching mindless tv, when the apartment door opens and Josh walks in and tosses his keys on the table.

"Hey, how's Kate?"

"She's okay. She's back at her place. I left after Sarah got back," I answer without looking at Josh, eyes still fixed on the random tv show I had on but wasn't really watching.