I think I just wanted to figure out whether we actually got along or not. Maybe I shouldn't have asked that.

[And maybe she shouldn't have pointed out the strangeness of it all.]

I wanted to explain myself, but he wouldn't accept it.

[She pauses, feeling the threat of tears again. She reaches for the slightly cooled off cocoa, placing the cup on her lap.]

That would have been fine. I do apologize too much.

[It would have been fine. But the next few words, she murmurs them as if they were a curse to her.]

"Stupid."

"Waste of time."

"Useless."

That's what he called it.