Chapter 15 - Apology

"No."

Judy's ears fall at her best friend's answer.

"Come on, Sharla !"

"Judy, I'm not going to give you an answer."

"But-"

The black sheep runs a hoof in her wool. "Listen, if Gideon wants to apologize, he has to come do it himself, not ask you to do so in his stead."

"I'm not apologizing for him !" The bunny reacts.

"It's as if." Bobby chimes in. "You just asked us if we would forgive if he apologised, if we tell him we would, that voids the whole gesture. If we say yes, well, it will make it easy for him, and if we say no, he doesn't have to do it. It's a hard maybe."

"All I'm asking is for you to give him a chance." Judy reacts.

"We are. He has a chance to apologise." States Sharla. "Last time I tried to talk with him, he basically snarled at me. As far as chances go, I feel like I'm giving him plenty."

The doe bites her lips. She really wants Bobby and Sharla to be friends with Gideon. Or at the very least, tolerate him.

- 1 -

"Are ya sure ?"

"Yeah… I mean, I'm not asking you to hang out with us if you don't want to… It's just that I don't want you to feel like I'm ignoring you when I'm not tutoring you."

The fox wishes it wasn't the case, but seeing her with Sharla and Bobby during recess while he keeps to himself feels isolating. He can't ask her to hang out with him instead either, and prior to her tutoring him, he didn't feel lonely. Or rather, he didn't know what he felt.

Well, he did, but it was because he didn't think anyone was actually worth knowing. The other kids were simply a bunch of condescending assholes that looked down on the dumb fox.

Most of the other students have left school now, and the ewe and cougar actually stood behind because Judy asked them to.

"Well… My therapist said that I should try to make amends. That accepting that I was wrong's a part of growin'. And… Shit, I was wrong to treat y'all like that, wasn't I ?"

Judy chooses not to answer his rhetorical question, patting his arm instead.

"Here goes nuthin'." He huffs, before starting to walk toward the pair of mammal. As he gets closer, he can feel his back tensing up, and his movements getting more sluggish. What if whatever he says is not enough ? What if he did too much wrong and they won't forgive him ? What if he actually doesn't deserve it ? The only reason he doesn't leave is the bunny standing by his side. She helped him get this far, he can't disappoint her now can he ?

"Hey." He says in a weak voice. The pair of mammal give him looks that convey how wary they are of him. Despite the fact that he is wringing his paw, or that Judy trusts him, they are still worried of what he'll say or do. He feels his anger flaring, they're already judging him even though he hasn't said anything. Yeah, he's a fox, he's a bully, and then what ? Do they think they're better than him with their perfect clothes and their good grades ? When it comes down to, all he has to do is snarl and they'll cower like the cowards they are. At least Sharla has an excuse, she's barely taller than he is, but the cougar is really pathetic. He has at least two head on him and he looks like he's about to run away like a kitten.

"Gideon ?"

Judy's voice pulls him out of his thought. He realises that his tail has poofed up, a silent snarl growing in his throat. "Y-yeah ?"

"Are you okay ?"

That was close. Way too close. All the trust Judy has in him, he almost destroyed it. Closing his eyes, he slowly exhales, counting down from ten like he learnt to do. He's fine. Everything is fine.

"M'fine." He mutters before speaking a little louder. "Guys… I… Shit this is hard." He can't meet their gaze. Why was it easier when he was actually the one on top, the one they feared ? The one he wanted them to fear. "I'm so-so-sorry. I… Was an ass to you growin' up. I wasn't bein' fair… So… Erh… I'm sorry." He dares to look up, to meet two neutral expressions. "I… I ain't askin' ya to be friends or anythin'. S'just… I wanted y'all to know that ya don't hafta be afraid of me anymore."

Judy's gaze expectantly roam from Bobby's to Sharla's face. She knows the cougar isn't holding much of a grudge. The ewe, however might be another story.

"You made my life hell." Sharla states. "Y-y-you don't realise it, but I was absolutely terrified of you. It could take up to half an hour for my mother to pull me from my bed in the morning." Her voice gets hitches a bit, and gets pitch higher.

"I'm-"

"I had nightmares about you ! I almost repeated a year be-be-because I couldn't concentrate in class. I've always hated you, but then, I didn't see your face for two years, and suddenly it got better. If someone had told me I'd never have to see you again, I'd have thrown a party."

"Sharla !" Reacts Judy, who the female sheep proceeds to ignore.

"I almost asked to go to Podunk's highschool, just to avoid you !" She spits.

Judy half expects the fox to get angry and get in her face. Instead, he just takes it, his eyes still on the ground. His fists are closed and shaking, and she guesses he's fighting to remain calm. "Okay. I got it." He mutters, turning around. "I'll just-"

"But Judy always made a good case for rehabilitation. Might be the cop in her, I don't know. She's probably a better mammal than I am, because she gave you a chance even before you proved you had changed. If she believes in you, then that's enough for me. You might not really care about me or Bobby, but I bet you wouldn't want to disappoint her. If Judy wants you to hang out with us, I don't have an objection. If the new Gideon is half the good guy she seems to believe he is, then I guess I have to give him a chance."

Silence falls, and the fox finally dares to turn around, managing to look at the ewe and cougar in the face. Bobby hasn't said anything and he shoots him and interrogative glance.

"What she said." He grins pointing a thumb toward Sharla.

Gideon emits a strange strangled noise and wipes his eyes.

"Oh, Gid." Judy reacts, rubbing his forearm.

"Got sumthin' in me eyes, is all." He mutters.

It took a few days of adjusting for Gideon to actually begin to hang out with them. Its was awkward in the beginning, and it made the rumours about them intensify. But now it mostly feels comfortable. Sometimes Gideon feels the urge to call Sharla or Bobby nerd, with how much they talk about weird stuff. Seriously, who cares what type of soundchip an Amstrad had (whatever that is) or that the thing had one of the first orbit flight simulator (so maybe the thing was a sort of computer) ? But the only other mammal that dares to get so passionate about stuff around him, is Travis about electrical circuitry, and though he doesn't always (almost never) understand half of what the mustelid is saying, he sometimes wishes he had something like that to talk about too.

"Hey, guys, you're not going to believe what I heard." Grins Bobby as he joins them on the bench they usually sit on.

"What ?" Asks Sharla, pulling her gaze from her phone.

"There are other students wondering when the Dork Squad will have a second couple."

"The what ?" Asks Gideon.

"The Dork Squad." The feline grins. "Guys ! We're the Dork Squad !"

The fox crosses his arms. "I ain't a dork."

"Not with that attitude. Guys, we have a name ! We can form a band !" He grins.

"Do you honestly want me in your band ?" Judy asks with a blasé expression, which makes the cougar's smile drop.

"Oh. No. I really don't."

"Wow, thank you, that's a real boost to my ego right there." Snorts the doe. "But if we're the Dork Quad, and they already see Gideon and me as a couple, then…"

"Sharla." Bobby puts a knee to the ground in a flourish. Despite it, he's still way taller than the ewe, who has to stand on the bench to be even remotely near eyes level. "I've wanted to ask you for a long time."

Judy rolls her eyes. And here they go again.

"Yes ?" Sharla asks in a whisper. Gideon, for his part, feels his eyes bulging. Is that really happening ? Right here in the middle of the courtyard.

"Will you run away with me ?" He asks taking her hooves in his paws. "We'll make you a spaceship out of my guitars and we will earn a living by playing music on alien worlds."

"We need to marry first. I'll need to pick a dress"

"But... I wanted to be the one wearing a dress !"

"Then I guess our love is doomed…" The ewe states in a fake dejected tone, before bursting into laughter, quickly followed by the cougar.

"Wut ?" Reacts the fox. "What just happened ?"

Judy shakes her head. "It's not the first time there's a rumour going on about them, but maybe you missed that since you had already left for highschool. It's their usual routine. The Dork Squad name is new though."

"I love it." Grins Bobby. "Dork Squad. It almost sounds like a palindrome. I'm a bit frustrated I didn't think of it myself."

"Is he always like 'dat ?" Gideon whispers to Judy, who nods in response.

"Pretty much yeah."

"By the way, when are you two breaking up ?" Suddenly asks Sharla in a hushed tone.

"Erh… We haven't decided yet." Admits Judy. "We kind of need a script, but… Well… I have no idea where to begin."

"Maybe you would need a reason. Like maybe a fight, or-"

"Oh, we got that part down."

"Yeah. We gonna pretend I don't think she can be a cop." States Gideon. "But we don't know how to get to that."

"Do you want to work on this together ?" Sharla asks Judy.

"Four heads are better than two, I suppose." Judy admits, though she's still not a fan of the break up plan. Especially since it entails to make Gideon pass off as the bad guy.