The next morning, Mark wakes up having calmed down from his anger last night. He now regrets his decision to speak to Emilia in such manner. True, she was horrible to him, but now that he thinks about it, it's not her fault that her rich parents spoiled her rotten and her friends put her up on a pedestal, eventually making her believe she is better than everyone else. She is just a victim like he is, albeit one of excess. whereas he is the way he is due to isolation. It makes him realise he shouldn't have been so quick to judge her. With that in mind, he decides that he is going to apologise to her.
He realises that the can of shaving foam in his toilet has run out now, quickly finding a new one close by. Applying a generous amount of it above his upper lip, he uses the razor to carefully trim until he is clean-shaven. Doing the same to his chin, he hums lightly, before washing and then brushing his teeth. Once that is done, he steps into the shower and cleans himself as quickly as he could, not wanting to waste water. He has always taken quick showers, only making sure to remain hygienic and nothing else.
As he cooks the breakfast like he does everyday, he goes over what he should say to Emilia in his mind. Obviously, he should say sorry. Labelling her Miss Moneybags was totally uncalled for and he should have known better than to act like such a jerk. He'll tell her about what he thought earlier and that he can understand why she is the way she is. Perhaps that will make things better and get her to forgive him. Yes, she spoke politely enough before leaving last night, but also sent an icy stare his way, one that chilled him to the bones. If only he thought before speaking.
Mark realises his mom is still upset at how he threw away what she thought was the perfect opportunity to make a friend. He looks at her annoyed expression as he handles the omelette, adding salt and pepper to it once it is nearly finished. The boy couldn't focus on making any dish more complicated at the moment. His mind is replaying the moment over and over again. He knows there is no point mulling over something that already happened, but he just couldn't help it. Mark brings the plates over to the table and starts eating once his parents begin digging in.
Throughout the meal, the three of them are silent, not talking about anything. His father did ask if something's going on at one point, but neither her nor his mother feel like talking about it. His mother is too miffed and Mark wants to keep the thing contained. No need to get his dad involved. "Come on. What are you two keeping from me?" the older man had asked them but to no avail. They just wouldn't tell him a single thing.
During the car ride, Mark decides to broach the subject. "Mom, about yesterday, I'm sorry that I was rude to Emilia. But she was saying some bad things and I got very upset about it. That's why I acted terribly. Believe me, please." His mother glances over at the boy, looking at him out of the corner of her eye as she drives on. "I'll go and apologize to her later today, but that's all I can promise. You've got to stop expecting me to have friends when I don't really want to anymore, okay?"
"What could she have possibly said to make you that upset? You're usually very patient. I've seen you spend ten minutes carefully diverting a group of ants away so you wouldn't have to kill them," his mother comments, looking at her son once their car stops at an intersection. She wonders what the reason for his action was and waits for him to offer up the information on his own. The teenager fidgets, looking very awkward as he tries to bring himself to say what must be said to her. He has never appeared this nervous before.
"She told me about how she had sex with other guys and that they are real men but I'm not. She told me I'm a wimp and will die alone." At the end of his little speech, he can see his mother look at him, aghast. "Yes, I know. It was that bad. But I'll apologize to her for it anyways. It's not her fault other people brainwashed her into thinking she's superior to everyone else." He just doesn't want to have to discuss it any further, having already made up his mind about what he is going to do today. There is nothing left for him to consider. No more need to worry over what has already happened, only what he is about to do.
"Wow, I didn't know it was that bad," she finally says, getting over her initial astonishment. "Yeah, try to figure out something. I mean, you've always been able to work something out whenever there's a problem." Mark notices an apologetic tone in his mother's voice and smiles lightly, glad that now she is being encouraging. He still knows that it is going to be difficult though, and remains realistic. The boy understands that to get to know Emilia well and help her change to become a better person is going to be hard work, but he is willing to put in the effort.
"Don't worry about it, mom. You're right. I'll figure something out soon enough. She's not really a terrible person. I'm sure there's someone good and kind hidden underneath that cold exterior." This is a prominent trait of Mark's. He always believes the best about people, even when they've downtrodden him and treated him in the most despicable ways. Never has he considered someone to be completely horrible, always being able to find something good to say about them, no matter how hard it is to do so.
Once in school he tries to find Emilia but to no avail. She is nowhere to be seen. The boy figures out that she might not have arrived in school yet and may be with her friends if she already has arrived. It makes Mark realize that he might as well wait to talk to her about this when they are studying at his place this afternoon. He sighs and waits around for school to start. At least his first class today is History, which he enjoys extremely much and could not wait for.
To his surprise, there is a new student. She looks to be around five feet nine like him, with some freckles and medium length straight hair, wearing glasses that look rather cute on her. The girl walks over to sit next to him once he's entered, after having talked to some other students in the corner a few moments ago. "Hi! I'm Anna!" she chirps in an adorable tone, making him beam. No girl has ever smiled at him this way before. Not one. Ever. His mouth is hanging open in shock. "What's your name? Which subjects do you like the most?" Seeing his adorable face has greatly piqued her interest, making her want to get to know the boy more.
"Oh, we'll, um, m m my name is Mark!" he finally manages to stutter out, triggering a bout of giggles from the thin teenager. "My f favorite s subjects are H History and L L Literature. I enjoy both of them v very much! What about you?" Something about her tells him he might actually be able to make a friend this time and that it's worth making one final effort before the date of graduation. He might as well have someone worth remembering when all of this is finally over and he moves on to college.
