His Muse

Bathroom stalls big enough for two ;)

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"Kieran has called me twenty times. I'm not even exaggerating," Sav said the following morning over a bowl of Captain Crunch. Nic picked around at his cereal, scowling furiously at it. "What the hell happened? All his voicemails sound depressing. I don't want to listen to that shit at eight in the morning."

"Still haven't gotten a new phone," Nic muttered. "Did you find anyone to fix it?"

She shook her head and asked, "Have you even talked to your mom about it?"

He guiltily looked down. "No... 'cause I don't have a phone to talk to her with," he murmured, glancing away from the table. Sav slapped her hands down with a groan, just as Flo and Nora squeezed behind her and into their seats at the table.

"Yeah, we heard a lot of screaming last night," Flo said. "What happened? Was that your boyfriend?"

"Was my boyfriend, I think," Nic confessed glumly, propping his chin up with his hand. "I've never fucked up this badly before. Why am I so weak when it comes to fancy expensive art supplies? It's like someone flashes a bottle of Golden acrylics and it's like I'm under a trance or something."

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on," she confessed, squinting at Nic and then at Sav. "What's he talking about?"

"Kieran thought Nic cheated on him. And since Nic doesn't have a phone he's been badgering me to apologize," Sav explained. "It's depressing as fuck! Tell him to stop calling me!"

"Oh yeah, let me just get my megaphone and screech at the top of my lungs across the entire campus," he blurted out. At this point, even with a decent night's sleep, he was still irritated about the whole ordeal. He didn't want to talk to Kieran in fear of going through the inevitable breakup ordeal. He hated breaking up with people. He'd only ever been the one to break it off once before, and it was torture. And while he'd prefer it go the other way around, he just... wasn't sure if he could survive hearing the words come out of Kieran's mouth like he did all his other partners.

Leo hopped into his seat and clapped Nic on the back. "It sounds like he just wants to apologize."

"Knowing him, he's probably lying and is on his way here to shove a fork through my trachea," he grumbled, moping over his cereal bowl with a sigh. "He seems like the type of guy to do that."

"Shove a fork through someone's trachea?" Nora squeaked, eyes wide. "I don't know. Why would you date someone like that?"

"Good looks and a mysterious, Ramona Flowers vibe," he confessed. "He's so perfect. Oh God! I always obsess over my exes for a week! I don't want to draw him nonstop again...!" He'd been thinking about it all morning, and so confessing his eminent breakup was less jarring than it had been an hour ago. He didn't feel like the nerves behind his eyeballs were twisting together, or that his throat was in a knot anymore.

"Ramona Flowers, huh?" Nora drawled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I always thought she was a bitch in Scott Pilgrim."

"No way! She was pretty cool, right?" Flo argued, and as they sparked the conversation of Scott Pilgrim Vs The World with the rest of the table, Nic tried to focus on anything other than Kieran for the remainder of the meal.

At the end of their meal, just before everyone started stacking their plates and heading out, Leo's phone buzzed on the table. He checked it briefly, and then brought it closer to read. "Um... one of my coworkers says someone just stopped by and dropped off something for you," he said, looking at Nic and then Sav, and then back at a confused, and quite honestly concerned, Nic.