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I've never believed in perfect days before. But as I grab the Styrofoam plate from Mom and start filling it with watermelon and potato salad and the world's most burnt hot dog, it’s as close to perfect as it could get. I mean, what could be better than spending a warm fall day on the mountain surrounded by all the people I love? And eating Danny's charcoal-toasted hot dogs while Dad and Randy berate him?
"Jen cheated and that's how they won," Matt whines between bites of hot dog as we all sit in camping chairs. "She used her body to distract all of us."
Randy reaches over and shoves the hotdog further into his son's mouth, making him choke. "No, she distracted Kyle and your dumb ass. You're the reason we lost."
Audra rolls her eyes as Matt looks to her for sympathy. "Don't," she holds up a perturbed hand.
"Oh, come on," he drawls. "Her chest was practically hanging out of her bra. How could I not look?"
"Simple," Tommy interrupts, “No Protection here could have just kept his eyes on the ball."
"You know what?" Matt clenches his fists, "that's getting really old."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Matt huffs.
"Sorry I hurt your feelings Mr. I-didn't-wear-a-condom—"
“She fucking told me she was on birth control!” Matt roars, obviously done with Tommy's teasing.
Wait...what?
The entire group sucks in a collective breath.
Matt closes his eyes briefly before turning to Audra. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine,” she stands awkwardly, one hand on her belly, the other on the chair. She takes off across the fading green grass towards the parking lot.
“I’ll go,” I offer as Kyle squeezes my arm gently.
“I didn’t mean to, Jen,” Matt shakes his head, shifts his gaze down to his feet. “I didn’t mean to.”
I’m not sure what he’s referring to exactly. He didn’t mean to tell everyone Audra lied? He didn’t mean to embarrass her? He didn’t mean to get her pregnant…
I guess it doesn't really matter now.
The fall breeze blows languidly through the pine trees when I finally reach her. She’s leaning back against Matt’s Jeep, a fountain of tears gushing down her cheeks. She’s quietly crying with her eyes closed, a hand clutching her chest in agony.
“Are you alright?” I ask as I stand beside her.
She opens her grey eyes and peers at me, shakes her head.
No, of course she wouldn’t be OK.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I shrug, knowing she probably doesn’t want to.
“It’s not what you think,” she cries. “I was on birth control, but it had been a while since I’d been with anyone.”
I nod my head. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“Yes,” Audra hangs her head, “I do. Because everyone deserves the truth. He can’t take the blame forever.”
“What do you mean?”
Audra inhales sharply. “I was taking the pill but like I said, it had been over a year since I had sex with anyone. I didn’t take it every day like I should have. I never thought Matt would have sex with me and not that early on in our relationship. So, I didn’t take it as regularly as I should have. When he asked if I was on it, I said yes because I did take it occasionally. I didn’t lie, but I didn’t tell the whole truth either.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I reassure her.
