Valentine's Apology

Valentine’s Apology

Max was lying down on his bed with his head buried deep into his pillow. This was nothing new for Max, however, it was today. Normally, Max would be doing this because he was bored. But today, he was doing it for a completely different reason.

Nikki had given him an early Valentine’s gift in front of everyone. Under more private circumstances, he would have said yes without hesitation. However, Nikki had decided to give him the Valentine in front of everyone at the camp, including David and Gwen. Instead of accepting the gift and being her Valentine like he wanted to, he yelled at her for being stupid and rejected the Valentine to save face. That turned out to be a mistake.

He expected Nikki to be sad at first and feel better later so he could tell her the truth. However, what ended up happening was that she started crying and crying hard. Max was shocked at first, but ended up feeling really bad. He tried to say something to make her feel better, but Nikki yelled at him before slapping him and running off. Before anyone in the crowd could offer their two cents on the situation, Max walked off with his head down, and the Valentine card Nikki dropped in his hand.

Max rarely felt empathy for people, but this was something that he felt awful about. He had read Nikki’s card over and over for half an hour, reading the same two lines that Nikki had written; “You’re awesome Max and so am I. Do you want to be my Valentine?” He laughed at how silly the whole thing sounded, but stopped laughing when he realized that there may be little to no chance of Nikki forgiving him.

Max was going to stay in bed all day, and think about what could’ve been, until something sparked in his head. It was something that Nikki had once told him after failing a dive into the creek.

Flashback (One Week Ago)

“NIKKI! GET DOWN FROM THERE!” Max yelled as Nikki was on top of a small cliff above the creek. Nikki responded by playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

“No way Max! I’m going to get this cannonball perfect, and you’re going to be here to watch,” Nikki said before preparing to dive again.

“Nikki, we’ve been here for an hour, and you haven’t hit the fucking cannonball! You’re not going to do it,” Max replied.

“Well, that’s an hour of practice,” Nikki responded.”You can’t just give up after a few failures, Max. That makes you more of a failure than me failing at this dive a million times,” Nikki spoke in an unfamiliar manner that sounded serious.

“Nikki, what the hell are you talking about?” Max asked, with a raised eyebrow and a confused voice.

“Max, do you know how long I lived with my mother? She never paid attention to anything I did, and always talked down to me. If I had listened to her, I wouldn’t be here today, and I wouldn’t be living permanently with my Dad. My point is that giving up can do more damage than moving forward,” Nikki said in a serious soliloquy, leaving Max dumbfounded for a good few minutes.

Flashback over…

After remembering that speech that seemed inconsequential to him at the time, Max realized that if he wanted Nikki back in his good graces, he needed to come up with a plan. He looked around his tent, and found a piece of paper and a blue pen. He racked his brain, trying to think of something to write. While looking around for some inspiration, he looked over at his teddy bear. That bear had been with him through thick and thin, and was the only joy he had back at his old home. Now that he was away from them, he kept the bear with him, but without any reason.

Jus then, a light bulb appeared over Max’s head. He grabbed the bear and started writing.

Meanwhile with Nikki…

Nikki was laying on her bed, still crying from the public rejection she got from Max. She had high hopes for a ‘yes’ from Max, but when he said ‘no’ and called her stupid, she just exploded into a fit of crying. She hadn’t stopped for almost half an hour, but was finally able to control herself.

“Stupid Max…he’s such a jerk,” Nikki mumbled, while trying to wipe tears from her eyes. “Maybe I should just go for a walk. That’ll take my mind off that jerk, and I can check on my Sasquatch traps at the same time. It’s a win-win,” Nikki said to herself, trying to wipe the dried tears off of her cheeks before heading out the door.

Before she could, she felt something hit her in the side of the head. Not being in the mood for any pranks, she prepared to yell, and possibly hurt, someone. However, when she turned around, she didn’t see anyone. In fact, all she saw was a stuffed bear. She picked it up, and immediately recognized it as Max’s stuffed bear. She considered destroying it as payback, but stopped herself once she saw a folded note on the bear’s forehead. Nikki took the note off of the bear, and opened it.

‘I’m sorry. You were never a nuisance in my life. In fact, you’re the best part of it’ the note said. Nikki read the note again and again, making sure that she didn’t misread anything. Once she was done scanning the note for the 5th time, she ran to Max’s cabin to see him laying down on his bed with a solemn look on his face.

“MAX!” Nikki yelled, running to the bed, and shoving the note and the bear in his face. “Do…you really mean it?” Nikki asked, with hope laced in her voice. Max stayed silent, but kissed her on the forehead.

That was all the confirmation that she needed, as she crawled into the bed next to Max, and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Max smiled as he started petting her hair.

“Happy very early Valentine’s Day, Nikki,” Max said. Nikki responded with another kiss to Max’s cheek.