MIA POV
Derek catches me on the steps after class.
"Hey Cole. Quick question."
I stop. I shift my bag to my other shoulder. Every part of me clocks the situation automatically now where he's standing, how close, whether he's blocking the path. He isn't. He's two steps below me, which actually puts us at eye level, and his hands are in his pockets, and his body language is loose and unthreatening.
"What's up," I say. Not a question. Neutral.
"The study group change. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't" He pauses. Chooses words. "I wanted to say sorry. For the other night. What I said was stupid."
I look at him.
He looks back. Something in his face is different from the usual they performed ease is gone, and what's underneath it is just a twenty-year-old who knows he said something wrong and is attempting, however awkwardly, to correct it.
"Okay," I say. "Apology accepted."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." I mean it. It costs me nothing. "Don't do it again."
