“So… how was the rest of your day after lunch?” Arthur asked. “Did anybody give you any grief for having lunch with me?”
Kat looked at him, momentarily confused, and then it clicked. “No, nobody said anything, but I think that explains the funny looks I was getting.”
“Funny looks?” Arthur asked.
“Yeah, just funny looks.” Kat answered. “Did the other girls get harassed or anything?” She checked her phone. The House Chat and Harem Chat had been pretty quiet, with everyone having work or classes. The other girls didn’t seem like they’d had any problems, and no one had given them any grief. Or, if they had, no one had said anything about it in the chat.
“No, everybody’s been okay, I think. I had a few of the guys come up and give me grief, but nothing too bad, just some teasing, I guess, calling me a man whore, that kind of thing. I think once I had lunch with Rani and Mindy, someone must have put together that I was the Arthur she mentioned last night, and then from there… well, pretty much everybody at the table is now fuel for the gossip mill.”
Kat rolled her eyes. “It’s nobody’s business.”
Arthur nodded. “I agree.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Something else will happen in a few days, and people will forget all about us. Homecoming should wipe it from everyone’s minds.”
“Wouldn’t count on it.” Kat scoffed. “If we’re all going together as a group date? We’ll be the talk of campus.”
“Eh.” Arthur shrugged. “Let them talk. They’ll get over it.”
“Easy for you to say.” Kat scoffed again. “All anyone’s saying about you is that you must be a god among men. I don’t think the rumors will be complimentary for us girls.”
“Oh, I don’t think it’ll be that bad.” Arthur shook his head. “We’re past that, socially. At least people our age. No one’s going around slutshaming people anymore.”
“Wanna bet?” Kat asked.
“What?” Arthur looked over at her and then back to the road.
“If people slutshame one of us girls within the next week, you have to do all of mine and Selene’s packing for our move to the house.” Kat announced. “And if no one does, we’ll do your packing.”
“Volunteering Selene, aren’t you?” Arthur asked.
“Like she’d turn down an opportunity to serve you.” Kat rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll do all your packing, and you can sit there and watch while Selene blows you.”
Arthur thought about it for a moment. “Do I get to pick what you wear while you do the packing?”
Kat looked over at him and blushed a little. “Fine. But you won’t win. It’s practically guaranteed that at least one of us will be shamed by someone about this.”
“Deal.” Arthur nodded as they pulled into the restaurant parking lot. It was pretty busy, as it was the dinner hour, but on a Tuesday night, the parking lot was still far from full. On the weekends, Arthur wouldn’t have even bothered coming here during the dinner rush without planning to wait at least an hour. As it was, they were seated immediately in a cozy two-person booth by the bar with a small overhead light illuminating their menus.
Kat already knew what she wanted and ordered when the waitress came up. Marinated chicken that wasn’t too heavy but would fill her up for the evening. Arthur caught up and ordered a chicken breast in a white sauce but with no pasta or noodles. He also requested some water and declined the waitress’ offer of wine.
“We can drink, you know. We’re of age.” Kat pointed out once the waitress had left.
“Yeah, but I want to do what we’re going to do later sober, remember? That’s part of our agreement.” Arthur reminded her.
Kat nodded. “Good.” She said. “And we’re both in the right frame of mind? You’re not super pissed off about anything?”
“I am not. Are you?” Arthur asked.
“Just my usual level of pissed off.” Kat assured him. She meant it as a joke but had to laugh after she said it when a look of concern crossed Arthur’s face. He turned his face into a smile and shook his head. “So… that was quite the lesson plan you sent. Did it take up most of your prep time before your date on Sunday?”
“Most of it.” Arthur nodded. “Then I caught up on the rest of my emails, including one from Lynn, and then got ready and headed out.”
“Lynn?” Kat asked. “That’s the girl who’s gonna stay in the basement, right? Your ex?”
“Not my ex.” Arthur corrected. “My old bully from high school.”
“Right.” Kat nodded. “Sorry. Lori was your ex.”
“Yeah.” Arthur nodded.
“Lot of L names in your life.” Kat pointed out.
Arthur chuckled. “I guess so.”
“So what did she email you about? Trying to push you around about the living arrangements or something?” Kat asked.
“No, she was… well, I’m not even sure. It was almost like she was apologizing or getting in touch with me so that I could apologize to her for what went on in high school.” Arthur explained. “It was weird and annoying.”
“So what did you say back?” Kat asked.
“Oh, I never emailed her back.” Arthur shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere near her if I don’t have to.”
“Can I read it?” Kat asked.
“What?” Arthur looked surprised.
“The email from Lynn. Can I read it?” Kat asked, holding out her hand.
“Uh… sure. Here.” Arthur said. He pulled out his phone, unlocked it, pulled up the email, and placed it in Kat’s hand. She scrolled through it, reading it with an indiscernible expression the entire time.
Subject: I’m Sorry
“Arthur,
Your mom sent me your email info, and I know that you don’t want to talk to me, ever, but I have to talk to you. I know how I treated you in high school was not fair or kind. I know that it was wrong and that you never did or said, or probably even thought, half the things the girls and I used to accuse you of. I’ve thought of hundreds of excuses, rationalizations, and justifications for my words and actions over the years, but the truth is: I was a bitch. I was a straight-up bitch, and I’m sorry.
I know that probably doesn’t mean much to you after all this time. We both went off to college, and you’ve hopefully moved on with your life. You’re not the gross little hanger-on that you used to be, and I’m not that over-achieving popular girl anymore. My experiences in the colleges I’ve gone to since we graduated high school have been intense and life-changing. I’ve grown as a person, I hope. And I want you to know that I forgive you for all the clingy stalkerish things you used to do in high school. I know you weren’t trying to be a creep. You were just trying to be a friend, the way we were when we were kids, even if we’d both grown up.
Hopefully, we’ve grown up a lot since childhood and high school. Again, I’m sorry for everything, and I forgive you for everything. I hope you can forgive me.
I’ll actually be attending your school in the spring semester and hopefully spend my super-senior year there next year. It’s a long story, but I’ve managed to squeeze four years of college into five. Lol. I know you’re looking at Grad school there, according to your mom, so I expect we’ll see a lot of each other. Especially if what your mom is offering comes to be, with me renting a room at their place. I hope it won’t be awkward for either of us, especially since she said you might be living there too.
I know we can never go back to the way things were and be friends like we used to be. But I know people grow, and I hope you and I can grow to be friends again, even if just a little. I miss my knight in shining armor, and I look back on those memories of you and I playing around as kids as some of the best in what I realize now was an otherwise extremely lonely childhood.
You don’t have to email back if you don’t want to. I get it. You don’t even have to accept any of my apologies. If you want to avoid each other even as we awkwardly cohabitate for the next year or so, I’ll even do my best to oblige. But I hope you’ve grown up as much as I have these last few years, if not more than I have, and can find it in you to reconcile.
Sincerely,
Lynn”
“Well.” Kat said after a moment. “She probably would have been fine if she’d stopped after the first paragraph, but… she gets really passive-aggressive after that. Like, she apologizes for being a bitch, and then acts like one. Then offers an olive branch in her final conclusion.” She handed Arthur back his phone. “Selene sent you some nudes while I was reading, by the way.” Kat teased him, though Selene had messaged him. “And what was that about you being her knight in shining armor?”
Arthur scoffed as he put his phone away. “A game we used to play as kids, that’s all.”
Kat nodded and took a sip of her water after the waitress placed it in front of her. “So, were you a creepy little hanger-on in high school?”
“No.” Arthur said determinedly. “We went to the same school, had some of the same classes together, the same lunch period. Whenever her friends saw me, they would claim I was stalking her, but it wasn’t like I couldn’t go to school.” Arthur shrugged. “Trust me, I did my best to avoid them.”
Kat nodded. “I’m sorry. High school sucks.”
“Yeah.” Arthur nodded.
“College has been kind to you, though.” Kat smirked. “And if half the things my sister threatens to do to that girl if she crosses you are physically possible, I don’t think you have anything to worry about next semester.”
Arthur scoffed. Selene was fiercely protective of him when it came to Lynn; that much was true. He hoped that wouldn’t result in problems when they all shared the house, but he appreciated having a buffer willing to step in for him if she needed to. Selene was… pretty great. Kat noticed the smile on his face as he thought about her and smiled despite herself.
“You really love my sister, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah.” Arthur nodded. “She’s… pretty great.”
Kat smirked. “But you still want to fuck me tonight, right?”
Arthur laughed. “Oh, of course. Selene would never forgive me if I didn’t fuck you.”
Kat smirked. “But that’s not the only reason, right? Like… Do you like me for me, or just because I’m part of a package deal?”
Arthur seemed to have to think about it, making Kat frown more than expected.
“I like you for you.” Arthur answered. “I’m just still getting to know you. I was pretty sure you didn’t like me when we first met, and these last few days have been a roller coaster for us, you gotta admit. Sometimes it seems like you hate me, sometimes you want me to show you the ropes, make love to you, sometimes you’re miserable, and then other times like this, you’re nice. It’s… confusing.”
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