Page 35 of Sending Love Letters to Animals

“You assumed he was a douchebag like you?” Davud smiled.

I chuckled bitterly. “Yeah.”

“That’s…something.”

Nodding, I said: “After four years, I’d kind of just forgotten about it. I thought I’d forgiven myself. And I guess I figured that he was fine. I’m sure he is. He looks fine. But he obviously still hates my guts, right?”

Davud looked thoughtful.

“And I’m…I’m kind of ashamed. Okay. Really ashamed,” I said. “I did a really messed up thing to a really good friend. And now that I’ve seen Chris again and I heard Ms. Tabatabai talking about the things we say and do informing other people about who we are, I realized that I’m a douchebag. Or I was. Maybe I still am? I don’t know. Anyone who knows what I did couldn’t come to any other conclusion. But, other than Chris and me, you’re the only other person to know.”

Davud frowned at me.

“What?” I shivered.

“What we say and do is definitely the way people figure out what kind of person we are,” he said. “What else is there, right?”

“Right.”

“But it tells people who we are right now,” he continued. “You’re not a douchebag, Ryan. You did a douchebag thing.”

I looked down at my lap.

“You can’t change that, but you can make it better.”

“How, though?” I asked.

“Have you ever said ‘I’m sorry?’” Davud laughed. “Try to tell him that you know you were wrong and you’re sorry for being a bad friend?”

“You know,” I said, “if I knew you were going to get in my car and start making obvious suggestions—”

“Apologize, man,” Davud nudged me in the arm with a grin. “I’d forgive you if you apologized to me. Granted, I’m way more awesome than most people, but still.”

“You think?”

“Oh, I know I’m more awesome than most people.”

“Seriously, man?”

Davud nodded. “Yeah. I really do think he’ll forgive you if you apologize and really mean it. If you really try to make amends, he’ll get past it. He might even work on the project with you so you don’t totally ruin your grade.”

“It’s five-percent of my grade.” I rolled my eyes. “It won’t ruin my grade.”

“Semantics,” he said. “If you want people to know you’re a good guy, though, you’re going to have to suck it up and prove it.”

Taking a deep breath, I stared out of the windshield for a few moments. Davud was right. There was no doubt about that. It didn’t even matter if I believed the truth when I heard it from his mouth. What he’d said was exactly what I’d been telling myself for four years.

“So,” I said, “like, shoot him a text or something?”

Davud laughed uproariously.

“If you don’t want to piss him off worse, I think something a little more personal than a text is called for.”

I smiled. “Yeah. True.”

“Absolutely.”

“Why are you always there for the best advice?” I reached over to nudge his arm.