Tory became accepted in the group almost immediately. Having her come over became expected, and she got along with everyone, even Jackie. Somehow, she was able to make everyone like her. She even won Red's heart with a conversation about the Packers.
Hyde liked having her around. She was a lot of fun to hang around with. But she was dangerous, too. He was attracted to her, and even worse, he felt like he could trust her. He had to stop himself from confiding in her about his mom more than once. He knew that she, more than anyone else, would understand what he was going through. But he couldn't trust her. Trusting people had screwed him over too much in the past, and he barely knew her. He needed to keep his distance from her for his own sake. So when he found her in his house a month after she started hanging out in the basement, he was furious.
He came home from school already in a bad mood from English class, where his teacher had the balls to claim the main character from The Mayor of Casterbridge was a sympathetic character, even though he had sold his wife and child in a drunken rage. Think he's a good guy? Tell that to the kid he abandoned. He wasn't even in the mood to face his friends, so he had come home straight after school where he wanted to escape to his bedroom and smoke a joint to cool off. But when he walked in, he found Tory and his mother chatting in the living room. He froze when he saw them.
Tory looked up and smiled at him. "Hi, Hyde."
"What the hell is going on?" He demanded. "When did I give you permission to come into my house?"
"It's not your house, it's my house," Edna said. "And I wanted to meet one of your friends for once. It's not like you let me meet them ever."
"I wonder why. I should be proud to let my friends spend time with my violent alcoholic mother," he said. "Get out, Tory. Don't come back here."
Tory frowned, concern etching her face. "Sorry," she said. "I-I didn't know I was overstepping-"
"Well you are! None of my friends are allowed over here, got that? And you're barely my friend. Just because you hang out in Eric's basement doesn't mean we're best buds."
Her expression went cold. "Good to know," she hissed. She held up his backpack before throwing it at him. It hit him in his chest so hard that he stumbled back. Damn, that girl had strength. "You left your fucking bag at school. Eric asked me to make sure you got it." She looked back at Edna and smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Edna. Thank you for the tea." She stormed out of the house, not giving Hyde another glance.
Hyde glared down at the half-empty mug of tea on the coffee table. She and Edna had been having tea? Edna didn't have tea. She had shots, and lots of them. "What the hell were you thinking, inviting Tory in?" He grabbed the mug and went to kitchen to dump it out. "Tell me you weren't going to rob her."
"That's what you think of me as a mother, huh? I would just rob your friends?" Edna lit a cigarette. "Don't be ridiculous."
"Ridiculous? You pickpocket everyone you can within a ten foot radius of you." Edna had even stolen his money to feed her alcoholic addiction.
"Well you don't have to worry about me pick-pocketing Tory. She's too smart. She didn't accept the beer I offered, and she didn't even let me make her tea, so I couldn't drug her."
Hyde sighed, feeling relief. Thank god Tory was street smart. If it had been Eric or Jackie they would have woken up groggily with empty wallets and maybe even articles of clothing missing. "Tory's sixteen. And homeless. And you you tried to drug and rob her. Real classy, Edna."
"Oh sure, insult me. Just like your father."
"Go to hell." Hyde went into his room and locked the door behind him. He lit a joint and tried to relax. He shouldn't have blown up at Tory like that. But he hated that she had seen his place, had met his mother. All of his friends knew his home life wasn't exactly happy go lucky, but he was very careful to keep them from seeing it first hand. Now Tory had seen the rat poison dumped loose in the corner, the rips in the sofa, and the loose, moldy screen door. She had even met Edna, who even on her best behavior, was not a treat to be around.
Damn it, Hyde, what's she going to do? Pity you? She's not like your other friends. Just accept that. He couldn't, though. Because it wasn't just her income status that made her different. It was everything else, too. Hyde finished his joint and grabbed his jacket. He needed fresh air. He needed to go to the water tower.