Clearing my throat, I enter Newt's bedroom— after knocking, of course.

"What do you want?" He groans, tone rather snappy. He's shirtless in his bed, probably ready to sleep.

"Two questions. First of all, do you have laundry you need me to wash?" I show him the basket in my hands.

He looks annoyed. "And secondly?"

"Just answer the this question first."

"No, I don't have any laundry for you."

I look around his room as if I want to prove him wrong, but it's very clean. Surprisingly clean, for someone like Newt. I had expected clothes—and condoms, sorry not sorry—spread around the room.

It's a bit too empty, though. There's his large bed in the middle of the room, with two nightstands next to it. He has an old clock on one, and a pack with cigarettes on the other. His white, wooden closer in the corner, and a small desk across from it.

My room is the same, except it's actually decorated.

"What else?" He asks impatiently.

"Well." I look anywhere but at him. "So you know that assignment Jorge gave us? I handed it in a few days before the deadline, but he was nice enough to send it back and let me know I missed an important paragraph."

Newt raising an eyebrow, trying to make sense of my words. "So?"

"It's an interview with—" I stop. Pause. If I don't word this right, he'll hate me even more. "...you must've read the assignment, too. So you know it's an interview with someone. Just asking them what they think of the type of suicide, if it's logical, their solutions, et cetera."

His eyebrows raise even higher, but not in a good way— if that's possible. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's due in a two hours and you're closest."

"But you decided to do laundry first?"

My lips part, but I'm unable to speak as I stare down at the basket.

It was an excuse to break the ice with, so I wouldn't immediately have to ask him about the suicide thing.

"I'm going to do it tomorrow, but I figured you'd by gone by then and obviously I wouldn't step inside your room without your permission," I stammer.

"Find someone else."

"What?"

"For the interview."

Don't stare at his leg. Don't stare at his leg. Don't stare at his leg. My eyes are way too wide as they pierce through the wall. "We're first-years: we have curfew. I can't ask Minho."

"You can send him a message," Newt points out dryly. "Now close the door."

With slight hesitation, I close the door. "Look—"

"You idiot—" he gets up from his bed, his pajamas pants saggy. "I meant to leave and then close the bloody door, not step inside."

Oh. That's very funny.

Bury me. "Just hear me out, okay? It would be real nice if you'd just spend five minutes of your time answering my questions. You're the best and a handy candidate I have right now—"

"Handy candidate?" When he steps closer, I make sure to quickly open the door and step back. "Oh, yeah, for sure." Then he slams the door closed.

Trying not to stare at his leg probably made no difference after all.

"Sorry," I mutter, making my way back to my room.

✧

S: Last but not least, the interview about Durkheim's egoistic suicide. I'm here with Thomas Edison, who will answer all my questions with pure honesty. First question: What do you think egoistic suicide tells us about society?

T: Uh... that it's kind of bad at, like, being a society?

S: That's a start. Care to elaborate?

T: Okay, okay. It's when people feel super disconnected, right? Like, they're on their own, no friends, no purpose. Society's supposed to make us feel included, but sometimes it just... doesn't.

S: Fair point. Durkheim would say that modern society values individualism too much, leaving people isolated.

T: Exactly. Like, everyone's doing their own thing, and no one's checking in on each other.

S: Yes.

T: Why do you sound so surprised? I'm not just a pretty face.

S: Let's not get carried away. Next: If you were in charge of fixing the loneliness problem, what would you do?

T: Oh, easy. Start a Friendship Day.

S: Friendship Day?

T: Yeah! Once a month, everyone has to meet up, talk to strangers, play games, eat snacks. Phones locked away in a box.

S: That's not the worst idea I've heard.

T: Right?

S: Moving on. If Durkheim were alive today, what do you think he'd say about social media?

T: Oh, he'd hate it. Absolutely hate it.

S: Why?

T: Because it pretends to connect people, but it really just makes them more alone. Like, "Yay, I got 100 likes!" But also, "No one's actually here for me." Total egoistic suicide fuel.

S: You're not wrong. It's the paradox of connection. People are connected online, but it doesn't actually reduce their isolation.

T: Yeah! Exactly. Everyone's posting their best moments, but no one's really showing the stuff that matters. It's all fake smiles and filters.

S: So, do you think social media is a factor in the rise of egoistic suicide?

T: Absolutely. You see everyone's perfect life and start feeling like you're falling behind, like you don't belong. And then that pressure can lead to all kinds of bad places.

S: Then what's your take on how we can fix it? The egoistic suicide part of it. The disconnect. How do we stop it?

T: Hmm... I guess we need to stop pretending we're okay all the time. People need to be real with each other, be vulnerable. People need to actually talk to each other. Not just text or tweet or whatever. Real conversation. Face to face— so why are we doing this through a call?

S: I'm going to cut that out.

T: Sorry. Jorge will think it's funny, though.

S: I hope— well, that was it. Thank you for your participation, Thomas.

T: You're welcome! I hope you get a really good grade. Don't forget to smile and—

S: Yes. Bye.

T: I love you, bye, Sa—

Only three minutes left to hand it in, with this stupid interview. Sighing, I click the final button, then slam my laptop closed.

Newt really would have been the best participant. Minho can't take anything seriously and even though Thomas did a fairly good job, it's not what will get me to the perfect grade. And even though Newt will say everything in a snappy tone, it will sound intelligent enough.

And the fact he has too much experience does add up.

Soy Sauce

I need to get out of here
Can I stay over
I'll just skip school idc
My parents are driving me crazy

Hell yeah

I'll see you tomorrow then
Or is Newt worse than my parents

Depends on the state your parents are in

That doesn't sound good
Whatever
At least Newt doesn't argue all the time

*voice message*

Nah that's crazy
I did not want to hear that

If I suffer, you suffer

Just tell him and that girl to shut their holes

Seems like they're already 'shut' by something

That was the first actually funny joke you've made
Was that correct English

Idk but I'm going to sleep now
Will try to at least

Alright
Good night