“About time,” Nora sneers, crossing her arms. “Did it take food being thrown at you for you to finally come to your senses?”

Bryden scratches the back of his head. “I mean, better late than never.”

Nora places a hand on her hip. “Do you think that I’ll forget everything just because you said sorry?”

Bryden sighs, clasping his palms together. “Look, I don’t expect you to forgive me. Just hear me out, okay? I’m… really sorry for, you know…” He coughs. “God, it’s really hard for me to say this. I can’t believe I’m putting all my pride aside just for this.” 

When Nora meets him with a glare, he quickly continues. “I’m sorry for dating you, but never giving you the time of day. I’m sorry for never listening, for forgetting about every date we planned, and for flirting with other girls when I was with you. You were right when you called me an asshole. I deserved that milkshake spilled over my head.”

Nora laughs at that. “Yeah, you did deserve that.” She then frowns and raises an eyebrow. “How would I know that your apology is genuine?”

He groans. “Look, I know there’s no way of telling if I’m being genuine or not, but just look at all the effort I put in just to meet up with you! I spent so much time looking for you around the building! I ended up bumping into Rory instead. It took so much coaxing and convincing for him to begrudgingly plan our meeting here at Marla’s. Doesn’t that prove that I’m being genuine?”

She chuckles. “Okay, I get it. You’re sorry.”

Bryden takes a deep breath. “I never meant to hurt you, Nora. No matter how much of an ass I was being, I never intended to hurt you. I know I never listened very carefully to whatever you had to say, but from what I know, I think you’ll make a great doctor one day. Maybe tone down on the aggressiveness, but otherwise, you’ll be great.”

Nora blinks, struck speechless for a moment, then offers a small smile. “Thanks, Bryden.” She stands up and pats his shoulder. “Maybe you’re not as much of an asshole like I thought.”

Bryden lets out a sigh of relief. He chooses his next set of words carefully. “So… are we like… good now?”

She thinks for a moment. “Hmm… in terms of a general acquaintanceship, then yes. But don’t expect me to ever be your girlfriend again. Those days have long since passed.”

Bryden laughs. “Don’t worry. I don’t expect us to get back together, and I don’t plan to date another girl for a while.”

“That’s good,” Nora agrees. “But just because you’ve fixed things with me doesn’t mean that you’ve fixed things with everyone else.”

“Don’t worry,” he assures her, grinning. “I have a long list of people I need to apologize to.”

The next girl on his list is Theresa, whom he finds outside of the library.

“…I’m sorry I treated you terribly, for never listening to what you had to say, for hurting you. I’m sorry for…” Bryden is on his knees as he utters his apologies in front of her.

Theresa can’t help but laugh at the sight. “Wow, I never believed the day would come. Is the Bryden Stalling begging on his knees for forgiveness? Ha! What a hilarious sight!”

“Please, Theresa.” Bryden puts his hands together in pleading. “You don’t have to forgive me, but can we at least—”

“Forgive you?” Theresa snickers. “Boy, seeing you with that face and on your knees is enough of an apology for me. What a gift that you gave me today. Consider yourself forgiven.”

Bryden’s face brightens. “Really? Thank you so much, Theresa!”

Theresa dismisses it with a wave of her hand. “Yeah, yeah. You’re forgiven as long as I don’t see you going back to your player ways.”

He gives her an assuring grin. “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t.”

The next girl on his list is Chloe, someone whom he had to ask around to get her name.

“…And, um, sorry, for, you know, forgetting your name, Chloe,” Bryden apologizes to her.

Chloe smirks. “Well, you did date how many girls again? I guess it’s only natural for you to forget about me. But I’m still upset at you for leading me on back then. You know how happy I was then? For an unattractive girl who has never dated anyone before, a confident boy asking me out was like a dream come true, but I should’ve known better, right?”

“It’s not that you’re not unattractive,” Bryden insists. “I actually think you’re really pretty. I mean, I think all girls are pretty. That’s why I can date pretty much any girl I see. I… didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m… sorry for leading you on and leaving you for another girl after a few weeks.”

She sighs, turning away from him with a huff. “I already have a boyfriend that I’ve been with for almost a year now. And for your information, he’s way better than you.”

Bryden chuckles. “Well, good for you. So are we good? You’re not going to go after me with the rest of the mob with food, right?”

“As long as I don’t see you dating more girls, then sure.”

The next girl on his list is Veronica, whom he finds in a clothing store.

“…I know we only dated for a week, but I feel really awful about it because I dumped you and moved on to a new girl as soon as I got tired of you. If I hurted you, I’m really sorry about it. I promise that I won’t date and flirt around carelessly any—” Bryden pauses. “Uh, Veronica?”

Veronica glances up from her dress designs and adjusts her glasses. “Hm?”

Was this how Nora felt when I was on my phone and didn’t listen to a single thing she said? Bryden thinks to himself, feeling awkward. “Uh, so… do you forgive me?”

“Yes, yes, whatever,” she dismisses with a wave of her hand. “Are you done? I’m quite busy at the moment.” She continues to draw designs of different dresses and outfits.

“Ah, I can see that.” Bryden places his hand against the back of his neck. “Okay… I guess I’ll be on my way.”

After he steps out of the clothing store, the genie whispers in his ear, “Veronica Savlanch? I don’t believe I saw her in the crowd two days ago. She didn’t come?”

Bryden shrugs. “I guess not. She runs a clothing store, so she was probably too busy to come. But from the looks of it, I don’t think she cared about our short-term relationship anyway… which is insulting, because who wouldn’t want to date me?” He gestures to himself with a grin.

The genie rolls his eyes. “I see that your big ego isn’t going away anytime soon. Come on, hurry along. You’ve still got many girls left to apologize to. And don’t forget about the boys after that.”

Bryden groans, slowing his steps. “Oh, right. I almost forgot about them.”

“I’m sorry, guys,” Bryden clutches onto his pants. “I promise I won’t dally around carelessly with girls anymore. Uh, sorry, Caleb, for, uh, flirting with Serena.”

Caleb crosses his arms and huffs. “Yeah, you’d better be sorry.”

Another boy sneers. “You think everyone’s going to forgive you just like that?”

“Is this another joke?” another boy chimes in. “Who knows if he’s actually telling the truth? Maybe it’s another one of his tricks to ‘better his reputation.’”

“Alright, give him a break,” Sebastian calms the others down with a wave of his hands. “I bet he learned his lesson after that night.”

“Oh, right, that night.” The boys try to stifle their laughs, but are unsuccessful.

Sebastian can’t help but laugh as well. “Boy, those girls got you good.”

Bryden flushes, hands moving to cover his burning cheeks. “Can we please just—okay, I know I deserved that, but…”

“Yeah, you did!” Caleb agrees, grinning. “Man, that night was so much fun!”

“Yeah, Bryden looked so funny,” another boy agrees. “Man, I should’ve taken a picture.”

“Okay, true, true,” Bryden says, face still hot. “I know I looked hilarious that day, and you can talk about me as much as you want later, but right now, can I ask if you’re willing to forgive me? If not, I promise I won’t speak to you guys again and I won’t bother you guys anymore.”

Caleb thinks for a moment and shrugs. “I mean, I heard that he begged all of his exes for forgiveness.”

“Yeah! I even heard that he was on his knees at one point!”

Bryden blushes even harder. “How—How’d you hear about that so quickly…”

“Maystone’s a small school,” Sebastian puts simply. “Words travel around here fast.”

“Especially about you,” another boy snickers, not even bothering to stifle his laughter.

Bryden sighs, waving his hand to cool his burning face. “Go ahead, make fun of me. I probably deserve it, anyway.”

Sebastian examines Bryden’s expression for a moment, then turns his head to the side. “Well… if it’s forgiveness you’re seeking…”

“As long as you don’t bother us or anyone else,” another boy continues for him, “we won’t bother you anymore.”

A broad smile appears on Bryden’s face. “Really? Okay, I promise I won’t bother anyone anymore!”

Sebastian raises an eyebrow. “You promise?”

“Yeah, I do!” Bryden insists, extending a hand. “Let’s shake on it!”

All the boys’ eyes are on Sebastian, who hesitates before taking Bryden’s hand. “Okay, you promised. But if I hear that you went back to your old ways, even if it’s just for a little bit, your fate will be worse than two days ago.”

Bryden laughs nervously. “Uh, o-okay. I-I’ll keep that in mind.”

༻❁༺

After spending the entire day apologizing to nearly every senior at Maystone and girls outside of Maystone, Bryden collapses face-flat on his bed with a moan. “Ugh, finally.”

“Well done, Mr. Stalling,” the genie congratulates. “I’ll admit, I didn’t believe you would do it.”

“Ugh,” Bryden groans. “Who knew apologizing would take so much effort.”

The genie chuckles. “It wouldn’t if you hadn’t upset all of your schoolmates.”

Bryden sighs, placing a palm on his forehead. “So what’s next? I’m not popular anymore, and I promised everyone that I wouldn’t date around either. So does that mean I’m just going to stay a loner with no friends?”

The genie sighs. “Mr. Stalling, you can still—”

At that moment, the door creaks open and Rory enters the dorm. He hangs his coat in the closet, not once looking Bryden’s way.

“Mr. Stalling, there’s still one last person you haven’t apologized to,” the genie whispers to him. “And he may be the most important one yet.”

“Hey, Rory,” Bryden calls out to him softly, sitting up. 

Rory glances at him, then turns away. “Oh, hi.”

“Go on,” the genie pushes. “He’s your roommate. He deserves an apology.”

When Bryden had been searching for Nora through the entire school building, he ran into Rory instead. However, he asked for Nora as soon as he saw him, never giving Rory even a hint of an apology.

Bryden bites his lip, clutching his blanket. “Rory… I…”

“Come on, what are you so nervous for?” the genie asks.

Bryden’s about to speak again, but Rory surprisingly interrupts.

“Wait.” Rory walks slowly through the room, scrutinizing his surroundings, including the floor and his bed. “This place is so… clean. I haven’t cleaned it today yet.”

“I cleaned it,” Bryden tells him, crossing his legs. “I know I’m a really awful roommate. You’re not lucky at all to share a room with me. I make a mess of things and never clean up for myself. I bring strangers to our dorm without your permission. The list goes on and on, and for all of that, I’m sorry.”

Rory stares at him, expression blank. “I know. I’ve heard from everyone about your apologies.”

“Yeah, I thought so,” Bryden chuckles, scratching the back of his head. “So… are we cool?”

Rory shrugs, mumbling, “Sure, I guess” before heading to the bathroom.

Bryden lays back on his bed, curling his legs up under his sheets.  

“Well done, Mr. Stalling,” the genie praises with a smile. “You’ve now apologized to everyone you needed to.”

“Yeah, I know.” Bryden sighs in relief, hugging his legs. “I can’t believe I humbled myself to speak such sentimental and sappy words to everyone. It was so embarrassing. I’m never doing that again.”

The genie snorts. “You feel much better now, don’t you?”

Bryden doesn’t answer and shuts his eyes, drowsiness and fatigue taking hold of him. Still, the nagging suspicion that it’s not entirely over yet, that there’s still one thing wrong, stays in the pit of his mind.