Mistaken
Lance took another sip from his caramel frappucino as he continued to stare at the computer screen. Just killing time...just killing time. Dum dum dum...killin' time...killin' time. Oh yeah.
Where the fuck is he?!
Lance had been waiting in the trendy, and seemingly ubiquitous corner coffee shop for at least 15 minutes. He had glanced at his watch at least half a dozen times, looked out the window to search the parking lot at least 10 times, swirled his drink about 15 times, listened in on three conversations, checked his mail 5 times, and had told himself to just chill out only a million times. With such all consuming anticipation, how could anyone expect him to calm down?
Lance had a plan, but he was still unsure if he was going to have the guts to follow through with it.
Don't talk until you get an apology. Don't talk until you get an apology. Don't let him walk all over you.
Lance looked up from his computer screen and saw that it was time to test his plan.
Michael walked through the door and looked in Lance's direction. Without so much as a nod, he proceeded to the nearest Barista to make his order. Lance assumed Michael had seen him and tried to ignore the neglectful, and unfriendly action of his "friend". He looked back at his computer screen, trying to keep focussed on something. Now was not the time to lose his cool.
Eventually, Michael came over and stood beside Lance.
"Hey," said Michael, looming over Lance.
"Hi. What's up?"
"Nothing."
"That's cool."
"What are you doing?"
"Just playing on my computer, ya know."
"Cool, cool," said Michael, still overshadowing Lance. Lance was beginning to feel uncomfortable and couldn't hold his gaze in Michael's direction anymore. He returned his attention to his computer screen.
"Are you going to...ya know...sit down?"
Michael didn't say a word. He just continued to stand there for a moment, and then, after what seemed like far too long, proceeded to sit at the tiny table across from Lance. After a moment, Michael decided to give the conversation one more shot.
"So...what's up? Whatcha been up to?"
Lance sighed and responded with, "Oh. You know, just school...and work. It's stressful...but hey...what can you do, right?"
"How many classes are you taking?"
"Four. The normal amount, but I found out that I have to do all these service learning hours for my education classes. Doing the hours isn't the hard part...signing up is...it's just ya know..." and then Lance trailed off after realizing he was already saying too much without the apology he felt he deserved. Lance was about to bring up that subject, but then Michael was gone, off getting his order that had apparently just been completed.
Lance sat there, thinking, trying to remember how he had rehearsed the moment that was at hand in the car on the ride over. He gathered his composure, took a deep breath, and waited for Michael to return.
Then, with the utmost self-control, he jumped right in.
"So, you definitely owe me an apology," he said more calmly than he thought he was capable of.
Michael shot him this look of feigned confusion, or was it real confusion?
"...for what?"
"Um...for treating me like shit the last time we talked?"
"I don't apologize for things I don't think I need to apologize for, and I don't think I need to apologize."
So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well then. If you wanna play hard ball, we'll play hard ball.
"Well, in that case, Michael, if you can't apologize to me, then I honestly see absolutely no reason why you and I should continue pretending to be friends."
Michael hesitated, and then began with, "I...I'm not gonna apologize."
Lance looked away, sighed, and smirked, because he knew, that there was no way that he was about to back down. He knew that Michael had expected to just gloss right over their last exchange, the exchange where Michael had decided, for whatever reason, to treat Lance as if he was nothing more than an annoyance. Lance had let Michael get away without an apology too many times. Not this time.
The two of them sat in silence, milking their trendy frappucinos, staring off into space, sighing heavily, wondering what would happen next. Of course, they both knew what would happen next. They were both to stubborn to reach a compromise. Hell, in both of their minds, there was no compromise.
After a few minutes of silence, Michael decided, "This was a mistake."
Lance sat there, trying to decide if it really had been a mistake. His first notion was in agreement with what Michael had suggested, but on second thought, maybe it wasn't a totaly mistake.
Michael said it again. "This was a mistake."
Lance looked at Michael with disgust. "I don't know if this was a mistake, but it is a mistake to think that you and I could ever have any kind of healthy relationship again if you can't even apologize to me. Because whether or not you think you had every right to treat me like shit, you still made me feel like shit. There is no way in hell you and I will ever be able to get over everything that's happened if you can't apologize, 'cause that's what getting over something is. You acknowledge the fact that it happened, you apologize, and you work your ass off to get it back to where it was before."
Lance was shaking, and trying his best not to show it. He knew he very well could have just pushed Michael away forever after having uttered those last words, but somehow, he felt ok with that. He finally realized that if that was the case, it wouldn't matter. If Micheal never apologized or was incapable of it or whatever...then his friendship wasn't worth it. 'Cause who needs a friend that'll treat you like shit repeatedly and then refuse to apologize for it?
No one.
Michael left while Lance remained seated, watching his "friend" depart. Lance waited until Michael was in his car and driving away before he packed up his various accoutrements and headed out to his own vehicle. As he stepped outside into the warmth and light of the sun, a smile emerged. In another moment, the smile had developed into a small chuckled, and then into uproarious belly laugh.
God, help that boy. If he can't even apologize to me, he's got more problems than I thought. He's got quite a struggle ahead of him.
Suddenly, Lance knew that Michael was mistaken. This hadn't been a mistake. This had been an eye opening experience that he wouldn't take back for anything.
Lance laughed to himself the whole way home.
signed = haplesstext
Where the fuck is he?!
Lance had been waiting in the trendy, and seemingly ubiquitous corner coffee shop for at least 15 minutes. He had glanced at his watch at least half a dozen times, looked out the window to search the parking lot at least 10 times, swirled his drink about 15 times, listened in on three conversations, checked his mail 5 times, and had told himself to just chill out only a million times. With such all consuming anticipation, how could anyone expect him to calm down?
Lance had a plan, but he was still unsure if he was going to have the guts to follow through with it.
Don't talk until you get an apology. Don't talk until you get an apology. Don't let him walk all over you.
Lance looked up from his computer screen and saw that it was time to test his plan.
Michael walked through the door and looked in Lance's direction. Without so much as a nod, he proceeded to the nearest Barista to make his order. Lance assumed Michael had seen him and tried to ignore the neglectful, and unfriendly action of his "friend". He looked back at his computer screen, trying to keep focussed on something. Now was not the time to lose his cool.
Eventually, Michael came over and stood beside Lance.
"Hey," said Michael, looming over Lance.
"Hi. What's up?"
"Nothing."
"That's cool."
"What are you doing?"
"Just playing on my computer, ya know."
"Cool, cool," said Michael, still overshadowing Lance. Lance was beginning to feel uncomfortable and couldn't hold his gaze in Michael's direction anymore. He returned his attention to his computer screen.
"Are you going to...ya know...sit down?"
Michael didn't say a word. He just continued to stand there for a moment, and then, after what seemed like far too long, proceeded to sit at the tiny table across from Lance. After a moment, Michael decided to give the conversation one more shot.
"So...what's up? Whatcha been up to?"
Lance sighed and responded with, "Oh. You know, just school...and work. It's stressful...but hey...what can you do, right?"
"How many classes are you taking?"
"Four. The normal amount, but I found out that I have to do all these service learning hours for my education classes. Doing the hours isn't the hard part...signing up is...it's just ya know..." and then Lance trailed off after realizing he was already saying too much without the apology he felt he deserved. Lance was about to bring up that subject, but then Michael was gone, off getting his order that had apparently just been completed.
Lance sat there, thinking, trying to remember how he had rehearsed the moment that was at hand in the car on the ride over. He gathered his composure, took a deep breath, and waited for Michael to return.
Then, with the utmost self-control, he jumped right in.
"So, you definitely owe me an apology," he said more calmly than he thought he was capable of.
Michael shot him this look of feigned confusion, or was it real confusion?
"...for what?"
"Um...for treating me like shit the last time we talked?"
"I don't apologize for things I don't think I need to apologize for, and I don't think I need to apologize."
So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well then. If you wanna play hard ball, we'll play hard ball.
"Well, in that case, Michael, if you can't apologize to me, then I honestly see absolutely no reason why you and I should continue pretending to be friends."
Michael hesitated, and then began with, "I...I'm not gonna apologize."
Lance looked away, sighed, and smirked, because he knew, that there was no way that he was about to back down. He knew that Michael had expected to just gloss right over their last exchange, the exchange where Michael had decided, for whatever reason, to treat Lance as if he was nothing more than an annoyance. Lance had let Michael get away without an apology too many times. Not this time.
The two of them sat in silence, milking their trendy frappucinos, staring off into space, sighing heavily, wondering what would happen next. Of course, they both knew what would happen next. They were both to stubborn to reach a compromise. Hell, in both of their minds, there was no compromise.
After a few minutes of silence, Michael decided, "This was a mistake."
Lance sat there, trying to decide if it really had been a mistake. His first notion was in agreement with what Michael had suggested, but on second thought, maybe it wasn't a totaly mistake.
Michael said it again. "This was a mistake."
Lance looked at Michael with disgust. "I don't know if this was a mistake, but it is a mistake to think that you and I could ever have any kind of healthy relationship again if you can't even apologize to me. Because whether or not you think you had every right to treat me like shit, you still made me feel like shit. There is no way in hell you and I will ever be able to get over everything that's happened if you can't apologize, 'cause that's what getting over something is. You acknowledge the fact that it happened, you apologize, and you work your ass off to get it back to where it was before."
Lance was shaking, and trying his best not to show it. He knew he very well could have just pushed Michael away forever after having uttered those last words, but somehow, he felt ok with that. He finally realized that if that was the case, it wouldn't matter. If Micheal never apologized or was incapable of it or whatever...then his friendship wasn't worth it. 'Cause who needs a friend that'll treat you like shit repeatedly and then refuse to apologize for it?
No one.
Michael left while Lance remained seated, watching his "friend" depart. Lance waited until Michael was in his car and driving away before he packed up his various accoutrements and headed out to his own vehicle. As he stepped outside into the warmth and light of the sun, a smile emerged. In another moment, the smile had developed into a small chuckled, and then into uproarious belly laugh.
God, help that boy. If he can't even apologize to me, he's got more problems than I thought. He's got quite a struggle ahead of him.
Suddenly, Lance knew that Michael was mistaken. This hadn't been a mistake. This had been an eye opening experience that he wouldn't take back for anything.
Lance laughed to himself the whole way home.
signed = haplesstext