[interesting]

The phone rang. I let the answering machine pick it up. I knew who it was. He didn't leave a message. He had already left four.

I had gotten up that morning with the hope of finding the pictures in my email account. I found them all right, but not on my email. I found them on Gilbert's facebook page. He had listed them as: Franky's Ugly Suit.

There was no story behind the images. They were just there. Me in the Salvationg Army store. Me at the bus station. In the park. On campus, in front of the library.

That morning, I watched television. I had class but I didn't go. It was noon now, and I hadn't done a single productive thing all day. I had not even eaten.

Some time later, there was a buzz at the door. I ignored it. It became insistent. I got up and buzzed the person in. I knew who it was. I waited the normal time for someone to make it from the building door to my own through the elevator. There was no knock. I had unlocked the door. I waited. I heard a faint voice, then a gentle knock. I said nothing. The door pushed open. I wanted to be mad at him, and I didn't want to face him, but in truth, I just wanted to smack him. How could he be so stupid?

"Can I come in?"

I didn't answer. He made his way in, closing the door gently, walking up the hallway. From my seat on the couch, I could see him.

"Hmmm... I called you but..."
"Gil! The next words out of your mouth had better be I'm sorry or I'm going to kill you."

My tone was soft but decided. I had given him quite enough leeway. He didn't answer.

"What?"

I stood up and he backed. I didn't want to get angry at him, but how could I not?

"What the fuck were you thinking last night, dumbass?"

I regretted the name calling. I looked away, angry at him, angrier at myself for trusting him. He had never done this sort of thing before.

"Look, man, it's just pictures of you in a funny suit."
"Pîctures made in part of a dare that is secret. What part of 'secret' don't you get? Gil, dammit, how can you be so...?"

I let the words trail off. I didn't have the energy to fight with him. I was just so disappointed.

"I thought you wanted people to see the pictures."
"No! I wanted Danielle to see them! You. No one else. Dammit, Gil, you really hurt me here."

I was almost sobbing. Gil had done some pretty insensitive things in the past, but this was the most awful thing I had seen him do. I now stood in judgement of him and I knew it made him feel uneasy.

"I'm sorry, Gil. I just... forget about everything."

He sat down, ashamed. I hated being angry at him, but how else could I feel. He had betrayed my trust.

"I'm sorry, man...."

Was he that short-sighted? Could he not actually envision how putting the pictures on a public page where all of our common friends could see them would not affect me? It felt sad at his lack of foresight. He just felt shame. I didn't want to stop him.

"I thought... I could trust you. First, you blurt it out to Laurie and... then this. I mean, Gil, come on."

I sat down on my couch.

"I'm so sorry, man. I just... I wanted to surprise you and... it was pretty dumb on my part... and..."

His own voice trailed off. I hated hearing him like this. I did like him: he was a good friend most of the time, but once in a while, he really acted only on impulse.

"It's done now, so, I don't know what we can do about it."

His guilt was making me feel better, which made me fell worse in return. I didn't want to stay mad. I wanted to defuse the situation. But I had nothing to say.

"Well, you could do it to me... I mean..."
"It wouldn't change a thing, Gil..."
"Well, can I pull them off my account, then? I mean, from here."
"Don't need to. It's not like these pictures are compromising or anything. I mean, it might just be a halloween costume early... I guess I can always just send the link to Danielle."
"That's her name?"
"It's her name."
"It's a nice name."

Gilbert's comment made me smile. He was so apologetic about the whole thing, and I knew it was sincere. A whim had pulled his brain in that direction. He wanted to surprise me. Dumb, wonderful Gil.

"Look, I'm sorry I yelled, but..."
"No man... you're right, I screwed up. I... apologize."

I smiled at him.

"There's no point staying angry. I don't wanna fight. But we need a solution."
"I can pull the pics off..."
"Too late. People already commented. I checked."
"Bummer..."
"We can salvage this. You're gonna help."
"Tell... tell me what to do."

To be honest, I didn't know. All I wanted to do was write that email to Danielle - but one crisis at a time. First, figure out how Gil could help me salvage those pictures into something palatable that wouldn't bring up too many questions. Then, I'd contact Danielle to tell her how incredibly convoluted our little adventure was becoming.