Please Forgive Me
1330 Words
Katie“Uncle Joe!” I say as I walk through the front door. I’m always happy to see him. He comes over to the house whenever he gets a chance. He’s like a second dad. He’s the fun dad that I tell stuff I’m worried about telling my parents. My actual dad is a busy family doctor that tries his best to make time for me but doesn’t succeed as much as he would like. And being the only child, he tends to put a lot of pressure on me without realizing it.
"My favourite niece!" Uncle Joe says and hugs me. "So, what have you been up to since I last saw you?"
“You mean last week?” I say and then we go to sit on the couch.
“How’s school? How’s hockey?” Uncle Joe asks. I love Uncle Joe. He’s only in his early thirties and I feel like I can tell him anything and not have to worry about him telling my parents or passing any judgement. He’s also an elementary school teacher, so he’s used to dealing with a variety of problems with kids.
“I had a…” I think on it, “disagreement with a classmate.”
“What happened?”
“He thinks he’s smarter than me,” I say. “Which is true, but he acts like I’m an i***t in comparison to him, which is not true.”
“Sounds like a jerk,” Uncle Joe says. “Did you clock him?”
I laugh. “No, but I wish I did,” I say. “He and I are lab partners, so I did my part early and threw it in his face today.”
“Do you have to continue working with him?” Uncle Joe asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“Then you may want to at least try to get along,” Uncle Joe says.
“He called me a dumb slut!” I say. Uncle Joe readjusts himself, clearly uncomfortable with me being called a slut.
“What did you call him?”
“Uncle Joe…”
“Katie.”
“An arrogant ass,” I say.
“I guess that’s the best response he could come up with,” Uncle Joe says.
“It’s not true,” I say. “Neither is.”
“I know,” Uncle Joe says. “You have nothing to prove to anyone, Katie. Just continue to be the best version of yourself.”
“Thanks, Uncle Joe,” I say and then the front door opens.
“Joe!” Mom says as she walks in.
“Mary!” Uncle Joe says and gets up to give her a hug.
“Good to see you,” Mom says, “staying for dinner?”
“I don’t want to intrude,” Uncle Joe says.
“You never intrude,” Mom says. “But I would appreciate some help getting these groceries out of the car. Katie.” Mom looks at me.
“Of course,” I say and hop off the couch.
***
After Uncle Joe has left and Mom and Dad are watching TV in the lounge, I choose to stay in the sitting room by the front door to read my book. It’s after 8 pm when I hear the doorbell ring.
“I’ll get it!” I call out, heading to the door.
“Colin?” I say when I see him at my doorstep.
“Can I come in?” he asks.
I step back to let him in and then shut the door. I cross my arms at him and then see he has a bunch of paper in his hand.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. “How did you even find out where I live?”
“Asked around,” Colin says, “wasn’t too difficult.”
“And the reason you are here is?” I ask.
“To apologize,” Colin says.
“You already did that,” I say.
“And yet somehow I don’t think it was accepted?” Colin says.
“What are you sorry for?” I ask, wanting him to spell it out.
“For what I called you,” Colin says.
“Which was?”
“Are you really going to make me do this?” Colin asks.
“Yup.”
Colin rolls his eyes. “I am sorry for calling you a dumb slut,” Colin says. “Happy?”
“Overjoyed.”
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you called me,” Colin says, getting annoyed.
"Well unlike what you called me," I say, "you are an arrogant ass."
“Katie!” I hear my dad call. “Who’s at the door?”
“Just a friend!” I call back.
“So, I’m a friend now?” Colin smiles.
“Still an arrogant ass,” I say.
“Look, I apologized for what I said to you, what more do you want?” Colin says.
“I want you to apologize for how you treated me,” I say. “You treated me like I’m some dumb jock and acted like you are so much better than me. I don’t care how smart you are, you can’t treat people that way.”
“You’re right,” Colin says. “I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to judge you.”
“Thank you,” I say. “What’s in your hand?”
“Am I forgiven?” Colin asks.
“What’s in your hand?”
"You're smart," Colin says and then passes me the papers in his hand, and I see that it is my portion of the lab. "You're not perfect though." I flip through the pages and see some corrections in blue pen that he made. "I thought you would want to fix the corrections yourself instead of me. Let me know if something doesn't make sense. I'm not used to this."
“Not used to what?”
“Not having complete control?” Colin says. “Most people just let me take over and stay out of the way.”
“I’m not most people,” I say.
“Clearly.”
“I’m sorry for calling you an arrogant ass,” I say.
“No, you’re not.” Colin smiles.
I smile at him. “No, but you are forgiven.”
“Thanks,” Colin says and starts to leave. “See you tomorrow.”
“Colin!” I say and he turns back to me. “Send me your part when you’re done. I’d like to ‘review’ it.” I wink at him.
He grins to himself. “Of course,” Colin says, “let me know if you find any issues.”
“Oh, I will,” I say.
“Bye, Katie,” Colin says as he opens the door.
“Bye Colin,” I say, and I shut the door behind him.
“Who was that?” Dad says coming up behind me just as I close the door.
“A friend,” I say.
“A friend who is a boy?” Dad asks.
“My lab partner,” I say. “My assigned lab partner. He was dropping off some work.” I hold up the lab.
“What’s his name?” Dad asks.
“Colin,” I say.
“Just lab partners?” Dad asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Just lab partners. Nothing more.”
“Good.”
- Writer
