Because I'm Sorry

 If you haven't read it, yet, make sure you don't miss the bonus from Saturday, Impressions.

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"Well, isn't THAT a force to be reckoned with," bellowed Nate.  He sneered at Victoria and I.  I saw her jerk her head up and shift her weight backwards, away from him approaching us.

Nate was Luke's roommate.  The dirty one, who was also on the basketball team.  The one who also happened to have had a conversation on Facebook with Luke about their dirty, horrific plan of what they were going to do to me.

I bristled, but didn't say anything.  Victoria almost seemed to cower.  He stopped within feet of us, just appraising each of us.  I crossed my arms.  I wasn't going to let him win this battle.  We were in public, so nothing was going to happen.

"I like it when you cross your arms like that," he calmly said, staring at my chest. 

I finally spoke.  "We are busy.  Is there something you need?"

Wrong question.

"Actually, yes.  I need a good fucking.  I think you two could more than help me with that."  He squinted his eyes at each of us, challenging either of us to cross him.

My heart was pounding, but I wasn't giving in.  "Literally, over my dead body.  Now please leave."

He glanced at me one more time then turned his attention to Victoria.  He reached out and grabbed one of her curls, pulling at it.  "Oh, Vic, you know how good I can make you hurt."

She was quickly turning red, and looked like she wanted to melt into a pile of death.

I reached out and slapped his hand downward, hard, knocking it away from her.  I grabbed Victoria by the arm and dragged her away.

"Well, shit, ladies, I hate to see you go, but really do love to watch you leave."

Neither of us turned around.

Once we were outside and a few blocks away, I stopped at a bench and sat down, hard.  Victoria slowly sat beside me.  "He's just as bad as Luke.  Maybe worse," I started.

She shook her head, silencing me.  I looked at her, and saw she was crying.  I watched her, quizzically, but didn't say anything.

She eventually broke her silence. "He's way worse."

I questioned, doubting her.  "Is that even possible?"

"It is."  She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, and sighed.  "Luke was always crass and at times rude, but he was always straightforward with me.  When he came to school here, he changed pretty quickly.  He was short on the phone, evasive, and I caught him in a few small lies.  I didn't know how bad it was until you entered the picture.  No offense.  But, Nate was who he was placed with to room with when he came here."

"But are you sure Nate corrupted Luke and it wasn't the other way around?"

"I came to visit Luke on a weekend, which later I found out you were gone for tennis, which is how he got away with it.  But I went to a party with him, and they were pill popping.  He said Nate did them all the time and introduced him.  He said they helped keep him alert in classes with drinking a lot."  She shook her head, her curls bouncing around her face.  "So I was still here visiting when you came back from your tennis trip.  I was supposed to leave the next day in the afternoon.  Well, apparently Luke wanted to see you when you got back, so he told me he had a school project he was meeting with a group and then they were going out for beers after to celebrate the completion.  I was hanging out at their house waiting for him to come back when Nate got home.  He said he'd keep me company so we were playing some Wii games.  We both had a drink anyway, so we turned it into a drinking game.  After mine was gone, he offered to get me another.  That's the last thing about that night I remember until I woke up in his bed that morning, naked."

"Oh, no..." I gasped.

She rolled her eyes, then brushed away the tears.  "Yeah, that's not even the worst part, if you can believe it."  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "Turns out that to help Luke get away with being with you for as long as he wanted or needed that night, he had made a deal with him that Nate could do whatever he wanted with me, as long as he used protection."  She scoffed, clearly still disgusted.  "Luke betrayed me, and sold me out," she said, sadly.

I widened my eyes in disbelief.  "No!"

"Yeah.  And it was Nate's idea.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  Luke is a piece of shit, too.  I just think Nate is the king shit."  Her face then fell, and she just sat there, staring miserably at the sidewalk.

I saw Victoria, then, for what she was really was.  Hurt and damaged.  As horribly scarred as I was from Luke in the brief amount of time I'd known him, she had dealt with him and his crap for far longer than I.

I didn't realize I was crying, until Victoria asked me why I was.  "Because I'm sorry.  I'm sorry for the way Luke and Nate treated you.  I'm sorry you had to go through that."

She shook her head.  "It isn't your fault."

"No, but I really am still sorry."  And I reached over and grabbed her hand, and we sat like that in silence, letting the reality of how deep this mess really was, wash over us.