“We’re cool, Cya. I promise. Don’t gotta make a deal about it. It’s cool.”
They surged up from the bench, golden eyes flashing. “No, it’s not!”
“Cy—”
“Dex Triever, you will shut your mouth right now, and listen to me,” they shouted, and Dex shut his mouth. “What are you doing?”
When they didn’t continue, he asked, “Am I supposed to answer? You just said—”
“What are you doing, Dex?” They pointed emphatically in the direction of campus. “I was just horrible to you. I humiliated you in front of numerous people. I said terrible things that I had no business ever saying to another living person.”
At the reminder, he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “I don’t think you need to—”
“Stop talking!” Their tail slapped against the bleachers, like a child stamping their feet. “I have treated you with nothing but contempt and cruelty, when you never did anything to deserve it. And that, back there? That wasn’t even about you. I was upset about something that had nothing to do with you at all, but I took it out on you anyway, because I knew you’d let me. Because I am a selfish piece of shit!”
Balling their hands into fists, they pressed them to their head as an unhinged laugh escaped them. “Yet, here you are, apologizing to me? Are you serious? If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I should be theone begging foryourforgiveness. And gods help you, if you actually give it to me.”
They advanced on him, and this time, when he retreated, it really was because he was a little afraid of them. His back met the railing as Cya came to a stop with barely a foot of space between them. Gripping the railing with both hands to steady his balance, he leaned back precariously as they pointed a finger in his face.
“You should be furious with me. You should be shouting and berating me for all the bullshit I just put you through. Not apologizing when you did nothing wrong.” Their tail wrapped around his leg to anchor him as they poked him in the chest, just like they had outside the STEM building. “Stand up for yourself, Dex! Stop letting me walk all over you. Stop letting me yell at you.”
At the next jab of their finger, Dex growled and captured their hand, squeezing their wrist. “Stop poking me.”
“And what if I don’t?” they challenged, so close now he felt their breath fan over his mouth.
Heat washed over him, and he couldn’t tell if it was anger or annoyance or... something else entirely. “If you don’t, I’ll… Well, I’ll...”
“You’ll what,” they prompted.
“I’ll get mad?” he said, or maybe he asked. He was confused and, for some reason, kind of turned on.
“Yes!” They grabbed him by the shirt and shook him slightly. “You should be mad.”
Batting their hands away, he side-stepped to escape them. “Would you stop manhandling me? It’s not nice.”
“You’re right. It’s not nice.I’mnot nice.” They made a circling motion with their hands. “Keep going.”
“You… uh, you’re mean,” he said, and they nodded in encouragement. “And you make everything really difficult, even when it doesn’t have to be.”
“I do make things difficult,” they agreed.
“And you treat me really bad sometimes, which isn’t fair because I’m always nice to you.”
“Yes, I do that too.”
“And…” He wracked his brain for a moment. “You’re inconsistent. One second, you’re kinda cool, and the next, you’re cold and angry. And you make it out like it’s my fault, like I did something wrong when I didn’t, and it’s really frustrating!”
“I imagine it is,” they commiserated, but he was getting himself too worked up now to appreciate the consolation.
“You’re stuck-up, and you’re snobby, and I don’t mean to be sexist, but sometimes, you can be a real bitch.”
They nodded emphatically. “The biggest bitch.”
“And you confuse me with all your mixed signals.” He walked them backward until they were the one pressed to the railing. “You tell me that we aren’t friends, but then you hang out with me and spend time with my sister and let her teach you HSL and fix the lift in my building. Like, seriously, Cya, who does that?”
“Me. I do that. I’m very contrary.”
“Yeah, ’cause, like, you come to the movies with me, and you eat my doka puffs, and you drink half my slushie, even after I offered to buy you one, but you refused!”
