Imperfect Two

Chapter 19

She knocked on the door.

"Hey Mahuamuff! I was going to call you...The....what happened?"

She walked inside Dude's room and sat down at his window. Dude had made sure that the French window in his room was the most comfortable spot with fat cushions, food, books, and a computer lying on the broad ledge. Dude was often found dozing off here instead of on his bed. He crossed the room, lowered his gigantic headphones, sat opposite her near the window and looked at her.

"What is it?"

She pulled a cushion towards her, hugged and spilled it all just like every other time. Dude was always there for her. He'd be able to bring some perspective into the situation. At the end of it, Dude looked at her with an odd expression. It was a cross between agitation and concern. It looked familiar.

"Say something, Dude..."

He pulled the cushion from her grasp and tucked it under his chin to say, "Not cool, bro...not cool."

She looked at his feet instead of his eyes, not knowing what to say.

He continued to say, "Mahua...I know this is hard to hear but as your friend, I need to say it because I expect you'd do the same for me if the need arises. You goofed up."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear.

He raised a hand to stop her from talking. He said, "He helped you out when you needed it the most. Without him, you'd probably have repeated the year. And you basically told him to mind his own business."

She said in a rush, "But he asked me stuff I wasn't ready to share..."

He smiled a small smile and said, "Yeah. He pushed too much probably. That's his bad. But, you could have said that you needed time instead of shutting him out completely. From what I can see, he was just trying to help you."

When she didn't respond, he pressed on, "Mahua, I've been telling you for years to pursue art. You like it. You're good at it. You pushed him away for saying the same thing."

She blinked and looked out of the window. It was dark so she couldn't see anything. She sighed and nodded. Dude grinned lopsidedly and said, "Good. Now that you know that, what are we going to do about this?"

She smiled at him. They were going to do something about it. Not just her. Them. Good old Dude coming to the rescue. What would she do without him? Not wanting to find out, she threw her arms around him and gave him a giant hug.

"I need you to talk to someone."

Author'sNote: Thanksto popular demand, Dude returns. :) Also, today is the day for 3 chapters! :DSeeya and seeya again! *Giggles* - S