Speakers by Sam Hunt

It was the third Wednesday back after spring break when Jesse mustered up the courage to go to school for the entire day. It was also the day that he saw India at school for the very first time.

It was the lunch period and after being called into the counselor's office the period before he realized he needed to ace his English test or he wouldn't graduate. So for the first time since sophomore year Jesse walked into the library in search of a Shakespeare play to read.

He was surprised at first to see how many people sat in the library during lunch, most of them just as alone as he. He planned to grab the book and get out, possibly go home and read it there. He wasn't in the mood to go to class, even though most of his grades were on the verge of being F's. There were days when Jesse just didn't care if he graduated or not.

He was leaving Greenfield behind whether or not he got a diploma.

But then he remembered that the counselor was going to call his aunt about his grades and if he skipped class again then he would definitely be punished. Probably in the form of having his guitar or car taken away.

So he decided that he would stay for the rest of the day and to ensure that he would start reading the book in the library. He grabbed a copy and checked it out from the old librarian who looked at weirdly. He walked to the back corner of the library where no one usually was, or so he thought.

Sitting on a sofa in the corner with her legs folded underneath her was India.

The exact person he didn't want to see but at the same time she was the only one he wanted to see.

His heart skipped a beat . . . or two. His hands suddenly became sweaty and his body was full of nerves. India must have noticed him standing there because she looked up from her book in her lap and stared directly at him.

Jesse watched as her face morphed into a range of expressions.

Maybe it was the way her eyes seemed to brighten, only for a fraction of a moment that made Jesse's feet carry him to her. Or maybe it was just his heart calling to hers. Whatever it was Jesse found himself standing in front of her speechless.

Eventually she spoke up. "I was starting to think you didn't exist."

He looked down to his sneakers. "Sometimes I wish I didn't."

"Jesse," she began.

"Crap, I didn't mean to sound melodramatic. Pretend I didn't say that, okay? I'm just nervous."

Jesse could barely contain himself when she bit her lip and bowed her head, letting her golden hair fall over her face. She was so damn beautiful.

"I uh-," he began, "I don't even know where to begin. I probably should have texted you first." But there was a reason why he hasn't for the past couple weeks. He was afraid he wouldn't get a response back.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes burning into his soul. He couldn't think when she looked at him like that.

"I don't think you should," she said quietly.

"But India," he breathed, "I want to apologize. I never wanted to hurt you."

She laughed darkly. "That's what they all said."

He huffed and ran his fingers through his hair. "But we're . . . we're different aren't we? What happened between us?"

"Exactly," she said sadly. "We were different than them. That's why it hurts so much more."

He sighed heavily and sank into the couch across from her. "If it matters at all . . . I wasn't thinking about the game when we did it. I had totally forgotten about it, hell I forgot that anything other than you even existed. I wanted to make it good for you . . . give you something that most girls could never reach during their first time. But then . . . I remembered the bet."

"That's why you stopped," she asked, her face as red as a tomato. Luckily there was no one around them to hear their conversation.

He nodded his head. "I've never been so disgusted with myself that I would do that. I promised that I would lost the bet. It wasn't worth hurting you."

He watched her look off into the distance with her face screwed up in thought. She was about to say something to him, hopefully bring up his spirits, when someone else spoke up.

"I got you pepperoni, they ran out of cheese," Kasper said, sinking into the sofa next to India. "But I can eat them off if you want. Oh hey . . ." he trailed off when he noticed Jesse sitting in the couch across from him. "You're Jesse right?"

Jesse had to hold back from attacking him. "We played on the same football team for four years Kasper. You know who I am."

Kasper winced, looking over at India who looked very uncomfortable. "I thought you hated him?"

"And I thought you two didn't talk," Jesse hissed, clenching his hands into fists. Kasper could always piss him off easily.

"Yeah well we bonded over Cheetos," Kasper said happily, throwing an arm over India's shoulders. "Now we're bonding over pizza." He handed the slice to India.

"Are you two friends now," Jesse asked angrily.

He's known Kasper long enough to know what type of guy he was. He was the one who you definitely wanted to keep away from the girl you love.

Kasper didn't do flings or one night stands. He did relationships, unlike every other teenage guy. Once he set his eye on a girl he was sure to have her, usually for half a year, maybe more. He was the hopeless romantic who fell in love with girl after girl. He was the perfect boyfriend.

So when Jesse saw how he looked at India, with his arm casually draped on the couch behind her, he wanted nothing more than to gut him. He was so close to getting India back, he could feel it. But then again . . .

When India and he were lying on the grass next to the creek they agreed that they couldn't be together back home, given their reputations. So what did it matter if Kasper dated her? Jesse couldn't have her anyways, might as well let her be happy with someone who would take care of her.

Jesse felt his heart slowly dip into his stomach at the realization.

"I have to go," he muttered, grabbing his bag off the floor and stomping out of the library. He didn't dare look back, especially at something he couldn't have.

...

During science Aurora couldn't keep her eyes off of the empty seat that was two rows in front of her and one table over. She didn't know why exactly, especially when she spent the past three weeks ignoring him. The first week back from break Keenan tried speaking to her. He would stop her in the hallways, sit at her lunch table, and even wait outside of her class. She didn't even bother yelling at him to go away or punching him in the face which she would normally do. Instead she simply ignored him. When he called her name she would pretend she didn't hear. When he took the seat across from her at lunch she would gather her stuff and leave. When he tried to walk her to class she kept her eyes ahead and wouldn't respond to anything he would say.

Eventually he grew tired and when the second week almost came to a close he stopped all together. Of course she still noticed the way he started getting to class earlier, how he would stay behind just so he could walk out at the same time as her, and more than a couple times she caught him staring her direction at lunch.

She did her best to pretend he didn't exist but it was hard. He somehow ended up consuming the part of her life that was school. It hurt every time she would look at him. Guilt would find a way into her heart and stay there until it turned into anger once again, and then despair.

She had been dreading science class all day because she didn't want to face Keenan but now that he wasn't there . . . well she was curious.

Ajax stayed silent beside her the entire period. She was thankful for that because she wanted to hit him upside the head with a textbook for what he did. But a part of her knew that he was regretting the mistake he made big time, given the sullen look upon his face. He had changed a lot from before break when he would constantly hit on her and make perverted jokes. Now he wouldn't say a word.

After school got out she waited for her brother Chris before hopping on the school bus. She absolutely dreaded having to take the bus with a bunch of under classmen but she didn't have a new license for America and she didn't see the point in getting one if she were to leave in a couple months back to Vancouver. Besides she didn't bring her car down with her and knew that her Mom wouldn't buy her another one to use until summer.

The bus dropped her off a block from her house which wasn't too bad but that didn't make her dread it any less. While Chris kicked rocks along the sidewalk in front of her Aurora noticed a beat up Jeep drive past. She instantly recognized it as Jesse's. She thought about grabbing the rock from her brother and chucking it at his back windshield.

As soon as she got home she went into her bedroom, taking a nap to relieve the exhaustion she felt.

An hour and a half later she woke up to the sounds of her brothers playing outside her window. They were talking about something, the cheer clear in their voices but she couldn't make out what they were saying exactly. She tried to go back to sleep, that was until she heard his voice.

Keenan's.

Just like her brother's voices she couldn't make out what he was saying exactly but she felt a fiery rage bubbling up inside her. What was he doing at her house? With her brothers no less?

She jumped up from her bed and ran to her window. Slowly pushing the curtain slightly to the side as to not warn the boys of her watchful eyes, she was surprised, no . . . absolutely stunned to see her little brothers playing football with Keenan Lockhart.

And by the look on Chris and Eric's faces they were having fun too.

Keenan motioned for the boys to go long, backing up a bit and getting ready to throw the ball. Aurora muffled her screams as he let go of the ball. She marched out of her bedroom, heading for the front door until she realized she just woke up from a nap. Back tracking a bit she looked at herself in the hallway mirror and combed through her curly knots. She huffed in frustration and decided to throw her hair up in a bun anyways.

Now, still as angry but looking cuter, Aurora stomped out of the house, slamming the front door behind her. All three boys stopped their game to turn their heads in her direction.

"Oh no," Eric whispered, "We awoke the bear from its hibernation!"

"Shh," Chris hissed, smacking his younger brother. "You're going to make it more mad!"

Keenan bit back his laughs but Aurora noticed his smirk and his bright eyes. It only made her more angry.

"Both of you boys inside now."

"We don't have to listen to you," Eric argued, stomping his foot in protest.

"If you don't get your butts inside in five seconds I will tell Mom that you two played football with a complete stranger!"

"He's not a stranger Aurora," Chris rolled his eyes, "he's your new boyfriend."

Aurora's head snapped to Keenan's direction, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. "I didn't . . . I didn't tell them anything. I swear."

"I made an inference," Chris said proudly.

"Get inside before I kick your butt," Aurora hissed.

Chris opened his mouth, ready to argue again but Keenan interrupted him.

"Hey man, can you do me a favor?"

Aurora watched as her little brother's eyes lit up and he bounced over to the devil himself. Keenan whispered something in his ear before Chris nodded his head enthusiastically. He grabbed Eric's hand and dragged them both into the house.

"What did you tell him," Aurora snapped.

"Nothing important," he said with an easy smile. "Now aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I can't tell you that either." He raised his hands up in defensive matter when Aurora started to march towards him. "I'm joking. I'm joking. I came here to talk to you."

"So you aren't here to make my brothers trust you too? Are you going to go after my Mom next?"

He looked down in shame. "I deserve that."

"No trust me Keenan, you deserve a lot more than that!"

"I didn't mean to okay!"

She stared at him frozen for a couple minutes before bursting out laughing. "I'm sorry what was that? You didn't mean to have sex with me? So you just tripped and your-"

"No," he interrupted, growing frustrated. "That's not what I'm trying to say."

"Well spit it out," she hissed.

"I'd rather not do it here on your front lawn. We could talk over ice cream?"

"You have got to be kidding me," she huffed, throwing her arms up. "Why in the world would I do that?"

"Because it's important we talk and I also really, really, really need you to see something."

She raised an eye brow in question. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you that part, I'm sorry. You'll just have to trust me."

She laughed darkly. "Wrong choice of words Keenan."

He winced. "I knew as soon as they left my mouth. But will you please just come with me? You can hit me when I drop you off, I promise."

She shifted from foot to foot. "Punching you is pretty fun," she said, remembering the first she punched him in the woods.

"Woah, I said hit, not punch. There's a difference."

"I get to punch you. Hard."

He sighed. "Fine, just please get in the car? We don't have much time to spare."

She hesitantly looked at him, wondering what was going to happen if she went with him. She decided that the chance of being able to punch was far too tempting to not pass up.

"Let me just get my shoes on."

As she stuffed her feet into her first shoe her brothers ran past her and right out the front door again, something in their hands. Aurora wanted to run after them and find out what it was they were carrying but if it had anything to do with Keenan than she would find out sooner rather than later.

The car ride was . . . awkward. For the first five minutes Aurora didn't say anything, not even when Keenan tried creating conversation.

"So how has um the past three weeks been for you?"

She gave him a dumbfounded expression which made him wince and turn on the radio. She was grateful that he decided to drown out any chance of more conversation but then when she heard what song was playing, a very sexual song (of course, what else is there these days) her mind went directly to the back seat.

Not two feet from her did she have sex with Keenan Lockhart. Drunken memories flooded her mind. Moaning on both their parts, touching, grabbing, rubbing . . . thrusting. A lot of thrusting.

She was ashamed and mortified to say it, even to herself, but as she remembers it the sex was good. Really good.

Of course she's only slept with one other person a handful of times but she had never felt like that before. Meaning she had never reached the ending before Max did or at all actually.

She hated to admit it but Max was kind of selfish like that. The only time he was really.

"Oh sorry," Keenan mumbled, gaining her attention back to the present. "Let me just change that." He fumbled for the knob on the radio, settling on another station.

This one was no better.

Keenan shot his hand to the knob turning to the nearest station which was country. Of course though it played a song about having sex in the back of a truck.

"Who needs music," Keenan scoffed uncomfortably, jabbing the radio until there was only silence in the car.

Aurora sighed and leaned against the window. It was going to be long and awkward rest of her day.