"Hello, my name is Trent Sinclair. Your daughter helped me get back to town. It's nice to meet you," he said, hoping he didn't sound too awkward.
"Sinclair? As in...are you at all related to William Sinclair?" her mother asked with sudden interest.
"I am, actually. He's my great-uncle. Was."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about that. He had a good run, though," she said.
"I, uh...yeah, I guess he did," Trent replied. Suddenly, he had a decent idea of why Mae was as weird as she was.
She seemed to have gotten it from her mother.
She'd gotten her unique looks, too. Her mom was kind of a milf.
Which made him uncomfortable thinking with her dad right there.
"Forgive me, I'm Candy," her mother said.
Her father stood, offered his hand. "Stan Borowski."
"Good to meet you," Trent replied, shaking it. The man regarded him with mildly curious eyes from behind thick glasses. He looked tired. They both did.
Actually, all three of them did.
"So is that what you're here about?" Candy asked. "His house? Wrapping up his affairs?"
"Sort of...technically I inherited everything, so, um...I'm gonna be a neighbor, I guess?" Trent replied.
She laughed. "You are! His house is directly behind ours. Imagine that, owning a house at twenty two," she said.
"You're already doing better than almost everyone else in this town," her dad said.
"We'll see how long that lasts," Trent replied, and both her parents laughed at that. Normally his grim humor didn't go over well, but maybe he was among like minds finally. Although if that was the case, then he'd have to admit to himself that he was weird, too, considering his impression of Mae so far.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Candy asked.
"Actually, mom, uh, I wanna check out the place with him. Um, I'll be right back! Don't follow me!" she said, zipping off out of the kitchen, almost bumping into Trent on the way out. He watched her go, racing down the hall, getting onto the stairs, tripping and banging into them, cursing, regaining her feet, and then running up overhead.
"If the food situation is what I imagine, I'll probably take you up on the dinner," Trent said. "And thank you, I really appreciate it. I...this has been a stressful week."
"I imagine," Stan replied. "I don't remember ever seeing you around. Is this your first time in Possum Springs?"
"Yeah, it is. I came out here...well, it's a long story. But I'm hoping to get a fresh start here," he replied.
Stan and Candy shared a worried look, but before that could develop any further, Mae called down from upstairs. "Mom!? Can you come up here?! I need help!"
"Coming, dear!" her mom replied, getting up and walking off.
"Mae's got the run of the town," her dad said after a moment of silence, "I'm sure she'll be glad to show you around, help you if you need anything."
"She's been very, uh...friendly, so far," Trent replied. There were a lot of other things that came to mind, but it seemed the safest to say. This still felt vaguely like a dream, and meeting someone like Mae only made it all the weirder. On the whole, probably over half the things that had come out of her mouth had been inappropriate, strange, or downright bizarre.
As Trent waited, he began to hear a heated conversation coming from upstairs. He tried to make it out, but couldn't, only had a vague impression of...anger? No, more intensity. He heard 'fuck' come from Mae's mouth and that definitely sounded angry, but then things seemed to calm down. He glanced at Stan, to see if he could maybe get a read of the situation from him, but her dad just gave him a bland, meaningless smile.
Maybe Mae and Candy were just super weird and he just put up with it because he loved them.
"If you'd like help with a job, I might be able to help. We got a Ham Panther where I work in the meat department, although there's not really any openings right now…" he said.
"I really appreciate that," Trent replied. "I'll definitely take whatever help you want to give when I'm settled in."
"It's always nice to be on good terms with your neighbors," Stan replied.
Finally, footsteps were coming back down. Mae and her mother returned, Mae looking...uncomfortable and awkward, her mother looking about the same. Jeez, what had they talked about up there? Maybe it was about Mae hiking for an hour and a half through the cold dark night to help a stranger she'd never met before and bringing him home. Or maybe it was something totally random.
"Okay, I'll show you the gate that connects our two backyards," she said, sounding nervous and distracted, but also strangely happy.
Her mother still looked anxious. "Mmm...be careful, honey."
"I'll be fifty feet away, mom, how much trouble can I get into?" she replied dismissively as she walked past the table, towards the back door. He noticed she no longer had her bat. Candy didn't seem to have an answer to that, but as he picked up his suitcase again, she looked at Trent.
"Watch out for her, will you?" she asked earnestly.
"Uh...yeah, sure," he replied.
What the hell did she think they were going to get up to that was so dangerous?
He said his goodbyes and followed an impatient Mae out into her cold, dark backyard. She marched across it, up to a gate in the fence, which opened with a rusty squeak.
"How do we get inside? Or can I break a window?" she asked.
"You are oddly destructive," Trent replied.
"Destruction is fun," she said, slamming the gate shut. "Like, a lot of fun."
"How much have you destroyed?" he asked as they walked up to the back door.
"You know...some stuff," she mumbled, suddenly awkward.
Another nerve there. It occurred to him that he was taking their word on it that this was his great-uncle's house, but he at least had a way of confirming it. He knew where the spare key was hidden, but worst case he could just walk around to the front and look at the address.
"Here, I can take that," Mae said as he went to set down his suitcase.
"Thanks," he replied, passing it to her.
"Ugh, jeez, man, what's in here, rocks!?" she complained as soon as she took it.
"If it's too much, just set it down," he replied, dropping into a crouch and looking around. Great-uncle William had told him if he ever absolutely needed a place to crash, and he could get to his house, didn't matter what or why, there was an emergency key to the back door under a rock shaped like a… "star," he muttered, seeing a vaguely star-shaped rock beside the A/C unit. He pulled it up and sure enough, there was a little metal box.
Opening it up, he found a key and used it to unlock the door.
"Sweet," Mae said, following him inside. They came into a dark hallway. Trent reached over and flipped the switch. Nothing happened.
He sighed heavily. "Well that answers that question," he muttered. "No power. Fuck, it's cold."
"Does it have, like, a fireplace? I swear it's like city ordinance or something that all homes must have fireplaces in Possum Springs," Mae replied.
"Probably. Let's find out," he said, pulling out his cellphone and turning on the flashlight. That still worked, at least.
The place was vaguely creepy, and yet...strangely welcoming.
Trent shut and locked the door behind them and then walked down the darkened hallway, passing a kitchen to the right. They came into a living room. He kept expecting to see old person stuff around, but the couch, the table, the chairs, they didn't look old. They looked surprisingly modern. Hell, there was even a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall.
"Whoa, your great-uncle was living it up, huh?" Mae asked, looking around. "I bet he watched a ton of Smelters games on there."
"They local football?"
"Yeah."
There was a fireplace, actually, right below the TV. And even some firewood in a metal stand tucked in the corner, chopped and ready to burn. Well, he'd have to actually survive by firelight tonight. There were worse things. Actually, he was already starting to like this place.
It was his.
That was still settling in. It didn't feel real.
Mae dropped his suitcase suddenly. "God this is heavy!"
"Mae!" he cried, dropping to his knees beside it.
"What?!" she snapped.
"You don't even know what's in here!"
"Well fuck I'm sorry!" she growled, glaring at him. He glared right back up at her. She had a lot of...audacity. Or anger. Or something. As their eyes met, she suddenly seemed to lose all her fire and she looked away, reaching up and flicking one of her ears. "Sorry," she said, quietly. "I-that was stupid. I feel like an asshole. Sorry."
"It's fine," he muttered, opening up the suitcase and looking inside.
"What's in there?"
"My Xbox."
"Oh shit that's gotta be really expensive. Shit man I'm sorry-"
"No, it's not the newer one, it's the original one," he replied absently as he pulled the heavy black brick of a console out from among his clothing. "It's fine, honestly. It's built like a brick and I wrapped it in all my clothes in case I dropped it. I just...I'm surprised you just dropped a stranger's suitcase like that."
"I know, I'm sorry. I just do these things and I don't think sometimes and sometimes I'm just an asshole and I don't mean to be," she said, words tumbling out of her. She stopped speaking suddenly, then shifted uncomfortably. "Do you hate me now?"
"No, Mae, I don't hate you. It's fine," he said. "I get it. I'm an asshole too sometimes and I don't mean to be, so I get it. There's a big difference between being mean on purpose and being mean on accident."
"I know," she said softly, "I've been talking with my friends about it a lot. They put up with me. My friend Bea is trying to help me be less of an asshole. And Angus. They're smart about that stuff. They're good at being nice." She paused. "Well, Angus is. Bea's smart but kind of a bitch. But I love her. So be nice to her."
"Noted," he replied.
"Is it broken?" she asked.
"No, it's fine. Probably." Trent replaced it and zipped the suitcase back up. He wanted to check on the games, too, but that would take too long right now and he also didn't want to make her stand there and watch. And besides, he had something else to deal with, a bit more directly. He stood up and turned to face her. "So, Mae…"
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to ask, uh…"
"Yeah?"
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm actually not even sure what I want to ask. I guess, um...do you really wanna be my friend?" That was as close as he could get to articulating it. Which was ironic, and sad, given what he wanted to do with this life.
"I mean...yeah," she said. "Do you not want me to be?"
"No, I didn't mean-I-I don't have a problem with it. It'd be nice to have a friend so fast and you seem cool, I just, um, I'm not used to people...acting like you."
"You think I'm cool?" she asked, a little smile coming onto her face.
"Yeah."
A long moment of silence passed.
"Uh. You wanna make out?" she asked.
Trent blinked in surprise. At this point, he knew he probably shouldn't be surprised that weird things came flying out of her mouth, and yet here he was. "I, uh, I mean-"
"Nevermind. That was stupid. I'll go. I'm sorry," she said abruptly, walking back towards the back door.
"No wait! I wanna," he said.
She stopped, facing away from him, like she was afraid to look at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Like for real really sure?"
"Yeah. Definitely."
She turned around and almost leaped across the room, suddenly standing in front of him, staring up at him. She was probably a good foot shorter than he was. He'd only ever dated two girls before and they'd both been shorter than him but not by this much and then she was grabbing his hoodie by the front, getting two bunches of it in her fists and yanking him down towards her and then their lips met and they were kissing.
He was kissing a girl for the first time in what felt like so long, too long, way too long. Even though it had only been like a year but a year was like a fucking lifetime when you were lonely and kissing her felt so good.
She let out a sound, something like surprise and something like a moan deep in her throat, when he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Her own tongue immediately responded, touching his, then shoving into his mouth, awkward and enthusiastic. She kissed with more enthusiasm than ability, but it wasn't like he had a lot of experience or skill either. Mae was panting as he touched her, held her, settled his hands on her butt, finding it every bit as thick and wonderfully soft to grab and grope as he'd hoped when he'd looked at it.
He could feel her large breasts pushing against him as she leaned harder into the kiss, and then she leaned even harder against him, almost pushing him and then-
"Oh shit!"
He stumbled back, losing balance, and she cried out, and went with him, still clinging to his hoodie, and he stumbled over his suitcase and fell on his ass with a heavy thud. Then Mae fell against him and they both came to a stop.
"Oh man, I'm sorry," she said, breathing hard, "I just. That was really hot. And there was no blood this time!"
"What the fuck? 'This time'? What?" he asked. "Mae, you switch gears so hard and so often that you're going to give me fucking whiplash."
She laughed. "The first time I kissed a guy in high school he, like, bled? I don't know why or how. I didn't like bite him or anything-it's a whole big thing and I don't wanna talk about it. But there's no blood this time and that felt good!"
"It felt really good," Trent replied.
"Oh man, for you too!? That's even more awesome! Did you like my butt? You were touching it a lot."
"Uh, yeah. I did. It's nice."
"I like yours too." She slowly sat up, looking anxious suddenly. "Um...so like...can we do it?"