We both sat there in silence for a few minutes catching our breath. My mind was in utter chaos. There was absolutely no mention of anything like this from I.B.  

You called?

Wow. What perfect timing. Yeah, I need to talk to you, you little shit. 

Almighty shit. 

Who the fuck cares. 

Your feelings are unnecessary as everything that has happened is all according to my mighty plan. 

What fucking plan?

My mind is too great to understand it. Truly a dilemma. 

I’m in hell aren’t I. 

Trust me this is far from hell. You would be screaming a lot more. 

Fair enough. 

You’ve met two important characters, vital for the protagonist's character development. 

Yeah. And one of them just came on my in a bathroom stall. Care to explain? Elliot has no memories for why this happened. 

That’s odd. I’ve given you everything about Elliot’s life. Unless…

Unless what?

Unless he lost some of his memories. 

Did you not account for this? With your extensive wisdom and prowess I’d expect this would be part of your plan. Yet, you seem just as perturbed as I am. 

It is just your puny imagination. Pay it no mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me—

Wait! You gave me Elliot’s past memories… in theory, can’t you recover them as well?

I could. However…

However, what?

That wouldn’t be entertaining. It is up to you to recover the memories, such is the plan. Goodbye. 

And he left. 

Guess my thinking was correct. I am just entertainment. But also, he kept mentioning a plan… what fucking plan?!

Oh shit, we had this whole mental conversation while Professor Bell was still on top of me. God this is so weird. 

As if on queue, Professor Bell slowly stood up, putting one of his hands on the side of the wall to support him. 

As he stood up, I noticed a dark spot around his crotch area. 

Did he actually come in his pants? This fucking psychopath.

Our eyes met each other and I pointed to the dark spot. He glanced down, then back up—his slight smile still present, like it was his permanent face. 

He took off the hoodie he was wearing and wrapped it around his waist, covering up the stain. 

What a DIY king. 

He then bent down to whisper in my ear. 

“I’ll call you again when I need help with sorting. Alright? Stay in here for a few more minutes so Alicia isn't suspicious” 

And just like that, he exited the stall, leaving me completely dumbfounded with not just his actions, but whatever actions Elliot did in the past to deserve this. 

——

After a few minutes passed, I exited the bathroom to find Professor Bell gone and Alicia sitting at the table on her phone with the food. 

I sat down and Alicia looked up. 

“Done with your IBS problems?” 

“Shut up.” 

I scoffed and she chuckled. 

“Come on, try the food out. It looks pretty good.” 

I looked down and low and behold, chicken wings. They looked pretty good actually. 

I picked up a wing and took a bite. 

“The flavor was kinda lacking, but otherwise it isn’t bad.” Alicia comments. 

I nodded my head in agreement. They could’ve seasoned it better but it was cooked well. Not overdone or undercooked. 

“At least it’s cheap.” I responded. 

“You get what you pay for.” 

“Mhm.”

“Oh! By the way! I saw Mirabella this morning. We’re planning to go out to a few bars and she asked if I could invite a few friends because some people dropped out unexpectedly.” 

Oh, right. Mirabella. She’s one of Alicia’s friends right? Yeah. I think that’s how Elliot remembers it. I see her every so often because of Alicia, but she never really speaks to me. 

I could already see where this was going.

“Do you really need a certain amount of people for drinking?” 

Of course, I was apprehensive. I wasn’t a good drinker in my past life, and I think Elliot is the same.

“Well when it comes to Mirabella, yeah. Her whole persona is ‘the more the merrier’. Plus, it won’t be that crowded. Maybe like 4 people all together. Me, you, Mirabella, and some dude named Aaron.” 

“Depends… when is it?”

“This weekend. It’s right after my biochemistry presentation so it’ll be like a semi-celebration. Another annoying project completed, in return, we get shitface drunk.” 

“Not that you had any trouble with it.” 

“The material is easy, but not the workload. Y’know?” 

“Sure.” 

I didn’t. While the workload was also large, Elliot struggled with the material a lot in the major he took. Can you guess what it is?

Yeah, Psychology. 

I’m being forced to take a psychology major. 

Maybe I am in hell. 

“Also, are you sure Mirabella would want me there? Everytime I see her it’s like she can only tolerate my existence so much.” 

“Haha, she’s like that with everyone at first. She’s from a strict military family. Poor social skills are bound to occur.” 

“Fair enough. Maybe it’ll be a good chance to get to know her better.”

“Exactly! Look at you, being optimistic for once!” 

Alicia grinned, some chicken wing sauce was on the side of her cheek. I rolled my eyes with a smug grin on my face as I pointed to my own cheek. 

“Got a little something here.” 

Alicia already had a chicken wing in her hand, so she gestured to the napkins beside the table. 

“Help me out would you?” 

I obliged. Reaching my hand over towards the tissue box, I grabbed a few tissues and started half heartedly wiping the sauce off her face. 

We were close enough that it wasn’t weird. Though, some people might suspect we’re dating from our actions; many people actually have. From my memories, Elliot was always the one to shut down the suspicions. Plus, it’s not like I can date one of the female leads of this story. 

With all the sauce finally wiped off, I bundled up the napkin and set it beside one of the empty plates. We were both done with the food, as we were fast eaters and there wasn’t much to begin with.

With our bill already paid at the register, we left the restaurant. Yay, no more hunger. The sacrifice? My chastity. 

I’d have to stay away from that Professor Bell. He’d said he’d call me for “sorting papers.” Maybe I should just block him before he can…Like that would do anything. I have a whole lecture with him. 

Alicia and I walked back to her house which wasn’t too far away from the restaurant. I then took the bus back to my apartment, greeted by that damned popcorn ceiling.