Maybe I'm Sorry by Three Legged Fox

The camp ground was dead silent. No one dared to speak; everyone was staring at Jesse in shock, anger, or confusion.

The awkward silence was broken by a piercing sound.

Everyone's heads turned to Lee who was holding his cheek while looking down at Willow who was seconds from bursting into tears.

"Willow," he began.

"Go to hell you bastard," she seethed, turning on her heel and into her tent.

"So it is true," Alice said softly, looking at the one person who was giving answers. "This was all a joke? We were all used?"

"Well," Luna asked when Jesse didn't answer quick enough. "Is it?"

"Baby," Ajax whispered, reaching out to grab her hand. She retched it away from him, stumbling back a few steps.

"It's true," spoke Keenan. His friends, even Jesse looked at him with shock. He met every one of their eyes before landing on Aurora's. Her eyes were so bright and . . . scared. Just like they had been when they woke up this morning. He didn't remember much of last night but he knew enough to realize that he made a mistake. This whole thing was a mistake.

The way she looked at him . . . no one has ever looked at him that way and he didn't want to see it again. Until now Aurora hid her feelings behind a brick wall but when she was struggling to throw her clothes on it was clear of how she felt. He could see everything written in her eyes and he doesn't think he's ever felt his heart drop so quickly until he saw the vulnerability in her eyes.

She wasn't the same tough chick anymore. He ruined her . . . and that ruined him.

"We call it Bring Your Own Chick, or BYOC for short. It happens every year, has been for decades. It's a tradition at the school that the football teams holds. No one has known about it until now."

"Well did you get your laugh," Alice seethed, "because the way I see it's pretty fucking hilarious."

Aurora bit her lip and turned to face the other direction, her fists clenched at her sides. Keenan wanted to say something to make her feel better but he knew that was impossible. The only thing left to say was the rest of the truth.

"There's more."

"Are you fucking kidding me," Luna screeched, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

"This part doesn't include you," Ajax promised, "it's about India and Aurora."

Ajax's words caught Aurora's attention. When she looked to glare at Keenan he felt a shiver run down his spine and his heart hollow out. He didn't know what was happening to him.

"What does he mean," India spoke up for the first time. Her voice was quiet and broken, but she was faring better than Luna and the rest of the girls.

Jesse shared a look with Keenan. They decided they would tell them together.

Jesse took a deep breath and looked over at India, his eyes full of sorrow. "Keenan and I made a bet."

None of the girls said anything, no one did actually so Keenan continued. "Whoever lost . . . well they would lose everything."

"What was the bet," Aurora asked scared.

Jesse looked apologetic beyond belief as he started to explain it. "We had to try to . . . sleep with each other's chick first."

It was silent for a moment. Keenan watched as Aurora processed the information then he looked over to see India's whole being kind of just . . . break. It was on the inside of course, she still stood up with dry eyes, but she wasn't fooling Keenan. Or Jesse, given his broken expression as he looked at her.

"I get it," Aurora spoke up, staring off into the distance. "You two hate each other. You've been trying to win battle after battle against each other for years and when the opportunity to win the war came . . . you took it. You each picked a girl that wasn't supposed to succumb to the other. Neither of you cared about the two of us did you?"

"That's not true," Jesse argued. "I care."

"And you," Aurora asked Keenan, her eyes narrowed into slits. "Did you care about India or me? She's your friend. If you really cared about her you wouldn't have brought her here for this purpose."

"I do care about her." Keenan sighed, looking over at India to find her staring right back at him. "I'm a horrible friend."

"I am too," Jesse spoke up, glancing at Aurora who only glared at him.

"So what was the prize," she asked him, her voice stone cold. "It better be fucking good."

"There was no prize really, it was only seeing the other person suffer."

Aurora looked at him confused before switching glares over to Keenan, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Whoever lost would have to give up what they love most in the world."

"Wow," Aurora laughed darkly. "You two are some fucked up people."

Keenan looked down in shame.

"What was it," India asked softly. "What would either of you lose?"

"I would give up football as a career and sport in college."

"And you," India asked Jesse curiously. "What do you love most in the world?"

Jesse looked deep into India's eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but after some consideration he closed it. He looked down at his shoes and mumbled, "Music." Keenan knew he was lying.

"Fuck this," Luna said, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm leaving."

"Wait what," Ajax asked, running after her into their tent.

"Luna has the right idea," Aurora said, slipping into her tent.

Keenan looked around as Nora and Alice slipped into their tent to grab their stuff too. He looked on helplessly as India went into the tent they shared together.

Aiden looked around confused. "Um well, what do we do now?"

"Start packing up and getting the cars ready for the girls. I doubt they want to drive with us," Jesse said sadly. He sat down on a fallen trunk, immediately putting his face in his hands.

"I don't listen to you asshole," Aiden snapped. "You're the one who ruined it all for us."

"What the fuck Jesse," Lee yelled, red in the face with anger. "Why would you tell them!"

Keenan jumped in front of Lee before he could tackle Jesse. "Calm down Lee," he ordered, pushing him away. "He did what we should have done a long time ago. Now do as he says and start cleaning shit up. I can give Aurora my car to drive."

"No don't worry about it," Jesse mumbled. "You have a nice car, she'll probably try to wreck it. They can drive my jeep. We live on the same street anyways."

"Kasper," Keenan announced. "Give your keys to Alice."

"Why," he whined, wincing in pain.

"You can't drive anyways dumbass."

"Touché."

"Jesse you can ride with me. I have room."

"Thanks," he muttered.

Fifteen minutes later Keenan watched Jesse's Jeep disappear down the road, his heart going along with it.

~~

India huffed, slamming the front door behind her. She wanted to cry as soon as Blue, her three legged husky came barreling down the hallway. In reality she wanted to cry for the past couple hours but she felt uncomfortable doing so in the car with Aurora and Luna. The entire drive home Aurora used every explicit in the dictionary to describe Jesse and Keenan, coming up with a few of her own too, Luna sobbed the entire time, curled up in the back seat of Jesse's jeep while India looked out the passenger side window, biting her lip hard so she wouldn't break down like her friend.

She buried her face in Blue's fur as her father came into the room.

"India, you're home," he said happily. "India? What's wrong?" He knelt down beside her, instantly pulling her into a hug. "What happened? Darling tell me."

"I just missed home," she sobbed, clutching onto her father's shirt.

"Oh honey," he cooed, rubbing circles on her back to soothe her. "You got home sick?"

India nodded her head but even the small response made her feel bad for lying. She wasn't going to tell her father the truth though.

"Well don't worry, you're home now. And I have great news for you too."

She pulled away to wipe her tears with the sleeve of her sweater. "What is it?"

"Why don't you go up and shower first? As much as I've missed you, you smell like Blue after a rain storm."

"Okay father," she mumbled, getting to her feet. She grabbed her bag and hoisted it up the stairs with her. As soon as she closed her bedroom door behind her she began to cry again. She couldn't help it. She felt so betrayed and humiliated. She thought Jesse was different than what people described him as, but she was proven wrong and it broke her heart.

She cried the whole while getting undressed and turning on the shower. As soon as she stepped in she leaned against the tile and tried to be strong. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want Jesse to have that power over her, but it was a hard task. Absentmindedly she began to scrub at her skin to get the dirt off but then she realized she was also getting Jesse off. That only made her scrub harder and harder until her skin was red and burning under the water.

She sank down to the bottom of the shower, letting her sobs escape her silently. She wished that she had someone with her who could understand what she was going through. Aurora did but India knew she would rather go through it alone.

She wanted her mother; the person who left her so many years before, the person who first broke her heart, the person who she was supposed to hate . . . but just couldn't.

Her mother was supposed to be there to tell her it was going to be okay. Instead she only had a father who she knew she couldn't turn to. She had no one.

She started to imagine if she hadn't gone on the trip in the first place. She thought back to the text she received from Jesse when her phone got service again in the woods.

India grabbed her phone from the counter and looked at the text once more. It read, 'I won't have service for the next week but when I get back meet me at the library. I want to see you again:)'

Before the tears begin to fall again she deleted the text. Then she deleted his number. Then she threw her phone in the bathtub, under the running water.

She took a deep breath, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She had to calm down. So she turned off the water. She got dressed in clean and comfortable clothes and made her way downstairs, a fake smile on her lips.

She found her father in the kitchen with a camera in his hands. He looked up stunned. "Oh honey, I didn't see you there. Are you ready for your big surprise?"

She chuckled softly at him, feeling nervous in the pit of her stomach. "Yes, I suppose so."

"Come sit down at the counter."

She did as he said, smoothing out her hair and sweater. "Father, are you recording me right now?"

"No, not yet . . . now I am." He smiled, reaching behind him and pulling out an envelope. "This came in the mail for you a couple days ago. I had to refrain myself from opening it for you."

She grabbed the envelope from him and after spotting the seal on the front she gasps. "It's from Harvard?"

"Open it," her father urged. "Hurry."

Giddiness crept up inside of her. She has been waiting for this moment since before she could remember. Now it was here and she could hardly believe it.

Taking a deep breath she ripped the seal open, yanking out the paper. She unfolded it quickly, her eyes scanning the paper for any good news that could brighten her day. Instead she only found the words, "apologize," and "unable," and "admit."

"Well," her father prodded, a grin splitting his lips. "Tell the camera the good news."

"There isn't any." She jumped from the stool and ran from the kitchen, up to her bedroom where she stayed for the remainder of the day.

How could her life get any worse at this point?

...
I will be focusing solely on this book until it is finished. Hopefully in a couple weeks. Expect frequent updates