Trent breathed a long sigh of relief after taking a quick hit.

It had been two hours since his deeper conversation with Ann, and the night had been...not a failure, they'd had fun, but they hadn't managed to do what they'd intended. Mae had come back downstairs not much later in a better mood, but still didn't want to talk about it. She had hit the dance floor after that and he was interested to find she was surprisingly good at it. After that, he bounced back and forth between the people he knew, and met a few new people. They'd shown the drawing around and although several people recognized her, no one knew who Bombshell really was, or where she might live.

Trent only took one hit before killing the pipe and putting it back in his pocket. He was likely going to have to drive in the near future. Although he supposed anyone but Mae could take over those responsibilities.

He was flagging, and also kind of not looking forward to the drive home. Fifteen minutes on the road wasn't anywhere near the same as ninety, especially at night. But he'd deal with it, or Bea or Ann or Claire would, or they'd take turns. He pulled out his earbuds, attached them to his phone, selected some music, and started listening.

More and more he was finding that just standing outside and vibing to the right music with just a touch of weed created a hell of a mood. Especially after being around people for hours. He liked the parties, but he was an introvert at heart.

After a bit, he saw someone emerge from the club and look around. It was Jackie. She saw him and walked over, then leaned against the brick wall next to him.

"What are you listening to?" she asked.

"Obedear by Purity Ring," he replied.

"Huh. I haven't heard that one. I like Purity Ring, though."

He wiped one of the earbuds off on his hoodie and passed it to her. She accepted it wordlessly and slipped it into her ear, and he restarted the song. That was twice now they'd shared an experience like this. He had the idea that something more was coming, but he was happy enough just chilling for at least a few minutes.

They stood there like that without speaking, looking at the rain-slicked city street. Just two twenty-somethings somewhere in the Rust Belt beneath dark gray skies, the sun long since gone, listening to dreamy, surreal music. It was a good place to be, all things considered.

"That was really cool, really chill, kinda surreal," she said once the song ended and she passed the earbud back to him.

"It's from the first album, it's my favorite," he replied. "So, uh...what's up?"

Jackie sighed, not looking at him. He waited. She took her glasses off and started wiping at them with her jacket. "I had a long, long conversation with Mae."

"I noticed."

"Yeah. I...kinda spilled my guts to her. I never thought in a million years I'd be doing that to Mae Borowski, but...she's different now. Or I was wrong about her. Or maybe both. She always struck me as a nonchalant, somewhat egotistical jackass. And a cruel asshole, sometimes." Trent crossed his arms and readjusted himself, but otherwise stayed silent. There was no venom to her words. "Sorry," she murmured, "just...being honest."

"It's fine," he said.

She sighed and put her glasses back on. "I didn't like her from when we met in elementary school. I don't really know why, if I'm being totally honest. But it wasn't hatred. Just dislike. She annoyed me, I think. I think...she annoyed me because I wrote her off as a dumbass, because she seemed like such an airhead, but then it became obvious that she wasn't. She was a fucking straight A student, and got answers pretty quick. It pissed me off. Maybe because I thought she was smarter than me, or maybe just because I was wrong in my assessment. It doesn't matter. It wasn't seriously a thing until high school. In ninth grade, well...by then, you know, I knew. About myself. That I didn't feel-you get it."

"I get it," he replied.

"So I was wrestling with that. Feelings had kind of faded by then, because we hadn't really seen each other through most of middle school. I was more mildly annoyed with her than anything else, but I tried to reconnect with her one day, because we shared a class. It went kind of okay at first. But then she-" Jackie shook her head. "I confided in her...or I tried to. More like approached the subject obliquely. About feeling like a girl. And I don't know, she just blew it off. Like, how could I feel like a girl? What did that even mean? There was-I don't really want to get into it, there was a bit more, but it was probably the worst time in the world for her to say that. It felt cruel. I hated her after that. And my hatred grew fangs when I met Bea and learned about what Mae had done to her. The edge kinda got taken off those fangs after high school…"

She paused, then reached up and took off her glasses again. This time she wiped at her eyes. "Fuck, I'm not doing this," she whispered.

"It's all right, I won't get weirded out," Trent said.

"No, it's just-I appreciate it. But I've just made it a rule for myself, no crying at parties. Didn't expect shit to get so real and raw and emotional. I'm okay." She sniffed a few times, finished wiping at her eyes, replaced her glasses, then took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "Anyway. I've had to...reexamine my analysis of Mae Borowski over the past few weeks. Bea asked me to make a genuine effort to be nice to her, and I take Bea's requests to heart. And I like to think that I place a premium on self-awareness, so I really dug down and thought about it, began peeling away my memories, trying to figure out why I didn't like her so much. Now that I know the truth behind certain things...I realized, I don't have a great reason. She didn't mean it, what she said to me. She doesn't even remember it, and I believe her. And the hell of it is, I remember it pretty clearly, and looking back on it, I know that she wasn't trying to hurt me. It's not like I came right out and said 'hey Mae, I'm trans', and she was like, 'ew what the fuck we're not friends anymore'. Because believe me, I've had it happen before. Almost word for word."

"Jesus, I'm sorry," Trent muttered.

"Yeah, but that's just life. But I mean, for real, looking back at it, she didn't mean anything by it. She was just being careless. So, well, we made peace, as she calls it. I guess you've been helping her with that?"

"Oh...yeah. Mae's had trouble with, uh, a few different people. She's-you know, her heart is in the right place, but when you have a mental illness and grow up poor, it fucks you up hard. Causes a lot of damage by proxy. Something I can also personally relate to."

"Damage by proxy," Jackie murmured. "I love that. Can I use that to name a song?"

"Yeah, totally," he replied.

"Thanks...sorry. I don't mean to derail the conversation. You're right. As much as I'm not a fan of just letting people off the hook, I do believe in redemption, and Mae's seeking redemption. I believe that. And she should have it. She's obviously good for Bea, and so are you." Jackie snorted. "Bea let slip you two are talking about marriage."

"Oh man," he groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, not anytime soon…"

"Oh I know," she replied, grinning. "She wants me to be a bridesmaid. Said Mae suggested it...I really like the idea, to be honest. It's just…" She laughed again. "I dunno, there's something about Bea, heart of stone, hardcore Bea, getting all starry-eyed thinking about getting married to a boy...it's really something else. And I have to admit, since our first talk, it really does seem like you're stepping up, and being there not just for her, but for Mae and Ann, too. And Claire? I know some about her. We talked for a bit, she really likes you."

"I'm trying," he replied, not sure what else to say.

"I imagine it must be exhausting."

"It can be."

"Well, from my perspective, it seems like you're doing good. Bea is stupid crazy about you, I can tell that much. And so is Mae." She straightened up suddenly and turned to face him fully. He did the same. "You'd say we're friends, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I would," he replied.

"Okay. I just wanted to say that I'm glad we're friends, but I didn't want to assume."

"Oh...I'm glad too."

"Well, I need my own alone time. There's a cafe nearby that I like to visit when I'm out this way. So...I'll see you later. If you need help with anything, you have my number. Later, Trent." She began walking away, hands shoved into her pockets.

"Later, Jackie."

As he watched her retreating back, he finally got a better idea of where he stood with her. He thought her abruptness, her bluntness all pointed to her being, at best, tolerant of him, and that probably was the case in the beginning, but now it seemed something more akin to social awkwardness. Which he was well-versed in. She wasn't looking for any excuse to end the conversation so much as she didn't quite know how to end them.

In truth, he could respect that. He hated that awkward wind-down time where one person wanted to end the conversation but the other hadn't quite picked up on it yet…

Something pinged his awareness in a way he didn't really know how to describe, only that he was abruptly aware of the fact that he should go back down to the party.

He looked around as he began making his way back, saw no one he recognized up here, and hurried back down the stairs. Looking around, he saw Mae, Bea, Claire, and Ann standing around nearby, talking to each other. They were all staring in one direction and their body language seemed tense. He walked up to them.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Holy shit it worked," Mae whispered.

"What?" he asked.

"I tried to send out like a...like mental ping? I wanted you to come back downstairs."

His eyes bulged. "It did work. Holy shit."

"Guys, focus," Bea said.

He looked at where they were looking and immediately tensed up. A blue-furred cat in glasses was leaning against the wall next to Jen, in almost exactly the same pose Trent had jokingly struck earlier when he'd been hitting on Claire. Jen didn't seem scared or worried, but she did seem pretty annoyed. Increasingly annoyed, actually.

"That's him," Bea said.

"What?" Trent asked. "Him who?"

"Chris. The guy who I was-we flirted, and Mae barged into the conversation and saved me from a royal douchebag. That's the guy."

"Huh. What should we do?" he asked.

"I think Jen can handle herself," Ann said, "but...I also think it'd be good to offer her an easier way out?"

"Totally. I want that pizza anyway," Trent agreed. "Let's offer."

They started walking in a group. Mae pointed at Gregg in passing, getting his attention, and curled her finger at him. He and Angus came over.

"What's going on? You look mad," he asked.

"Someone's hitting on your cousin and she don't like it," Mae replied.

"Oh what?! I've got my knife-" he said, looking around.

"Gregg, don't," Angus said.

"Yeah, we can handle this without the blade, dude," Mae said.

"Okay but I'm not letting shit happen to Jen," he replied.

They stopped a bit away from Jen, who realized they were coming over and looked at once both a little confused but also relieved.

"Hey, friends," she said, taking the opportunity to step away from the guy hitting on her. "What's up?"

"That's the guy, Jen," Bea replied. "The one I was telling you about earlier?"

"Oh I knew it!" She turned to face Chris. "I had my doubts, because it seemed like too big a coincidence, but you, you fucking poli-sci rich bitch jerkoff-"

"What the fuck-wait, you're the girl who was pretending to be a college student! Hey, this is the girl I was telling you guys about from last year!" he called. "That loser chick who drove all the way from Deep Hollow County!"

"Hey," Trent said, stepping forward, "call her a loser again and you'll wish you hadn't."

"Who are you, her boyfriend?" he asked, sneering.

"Okay, buddy," Jen said, poking him in the chest hard enough that he stumbled back a step, "you know what? You can fuck right off with your rich boy 'my daddy pays for me to goof off in college' bullshit attitude! I thought to myself, 'you know what? I'll give him a chance, he's shooting his shot, and I respect that', but noooo way, dude. You totally fucking blew it. Now, you know what?" She stepped closer to Trent. "I'm gonna go fuck him tonight."

"You goddamned-" He reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Gregg stepped forward while snapping open his switchblade. "Let her go or I'm taking your hand off, pal," he growled.

"Whoa, fuck, shit, okay," Chris replied, letting go of her and raising both hands. "Jesus, are you fucking psycho man?"

"Gregg, oh my God, put the knife away," Jen muttered. She walked up to Trent and offered her arm. "Come on, handsome, I know you know how to treat a lady right."

"Let's go," Mae said, giggling.

Trent just rolled with it and the whole group of them walked out of the party and back up to street level.

"So that was intense," Ann said.

"That was hilarious," Mae said.

"Are you really gonna fuck me?" Trent asked.

Jen laughed loudly. "Priorities, my dude. Honestly? No. Sorry to get your hopes up, but I ain't here to get laid. I was here maybe for some make-outs, but I just ain't in the mood anymore. Sorry for teasing, but I really hated that guy and I knew that'd burn his ass good."

"Hey, I'm fine with that," Trent replied.

"Sweet, I figured you would be. Plus, I'm sure one of these fine ladies will take care of that for me. And, honestly, I've had my fun for the night. I was kind of just planning to swing by, so I gotta get back."

"Okay, it was fun, and good to see you," Bea replied.

"You all, too."

She gave them all hugs, and Trent a long kiss that made Gregg let out a disgusted sound. "Gross," he complained.

"Whatever, Gregg. Remember that time you gave me that soda fulla ants? You still got a lotta payback coming," she replied.

"I said that was an accident!" he replied, then giggled.

"Oh bullshit. Bye bye!" She turned and began walking away.

"We should probably head home too, I'm pretty tired and we've got stuff to do tomorrow," Angus said.

"Yeah, it's been fun, though. You know, mostly," Gregg said.

They said their goodbyes as well and headed off.

"Wanna get that pizza now?" Mae asked.

"Yeah...wait, where's Jackie?" Bea asked.

"She said she wanted to be alone for awhile, but to call her if there were any problems…" Bea's phone was buzzing.

"Hold on," she murmured, reaching into her pocket and pulling it out. "Oh, hey, it's Jackie." She answered. "What's up?...oh, no, we handled it. Yeah, actually it was Chris, that dude from last time...yeah, the poli-sci dude. Jen put him in his place hard...no, we're cool. We're actually gonna grab some pizza from that place we were gonna last time if you want to hang out...okay...all right. Well, thanks again, from all of us...okay, later." She hung up.

"She good?" Ann asked.

"Yeah, she just got a few texts from concerned people. Wanted to be sure. Come on, let's get pizza and support a local business," Bea replied.

"Sounds good to me," Claire said.

They began making their way for the pizza place across the street.