“Nope. Actually, I’m in a really good place right now,” Brougham said. “Thank you.”

“Oh.” It stung, but the important thing was that Brougham was okay. And wasn’t the goal of every relationship coach to get their client to a point where they could confidently navigate situations themselves? Not that I would know, this being my first gig and all. But it seemed about right. “I’m glad to hear. As long as you’re good, that’s all I need to know.”

Brougham pursed his lips. “Thanks. Hey, by the way, I told you Finn isn’t afraid to tell people what he thinks.”

It took me a second to catch up to the topic change, then I remembered the locker discussion.

“He had a good point,” I admitted.

“Of course he did. But the look on your face when he said he wouldn’t have written to you.” Brougham looked almost delighted about it, which, for him, involved the slightest quirk in the corner of his mouth.

“I didn’t have a look, did I?”

“Oh, you totally had a look,” Brougham said, and warmth flooded my cheeks. “Not everything’s gonna be your place, you know. It’s okay not to always know more than everyone else in the room.”

I rested my back against his locker neighbors while Brougham rummaged through collecting his stuff. Now that the surprise of hearing Finn say he didn’t want my advice had worn off, I felt like an idiot. Of course I wouldn’t be the best person to talk him through some of the shit he went through. And the fact that Brougham had noticed my initial shock made me want to evaporate. Both of them probably thought I had the biggest unearned ego in the school. And, honestly, they wouldn’t be far off from the truth.

When Brougham reemerged, he took one look at my face and asked, “What’s wrong?”

I closed his locker door and started walking. He hurried to catch up with me. “I never had any business giving people advice,” I said.

“Why, because of what Finn said?”

“No, god no. Finn was totally in the right. It’s just, all of it. I wasn’t ethical with Brooke, I broke Ray’s confidentiality, I let all those letters get stolen. I started the locker to help people, and I ended up using it to hurt them. I hurt so many people. What is wrong with me?”

“Hey,” Brougham said, touching my arm to slow me down. “You stuffed up. That’s gonna happen sometimes. It’s more helpful to everyone now if you learn from it, and actually do things differently next time, instead of moping about how shit you are. Yeah?”

Half of me knew he was right. But how did I even begin to make up for all the damage I’d caused?

“Yeah?” he pressed.

“Yeah. I owe Brooke the world’s biggest apology.”