Nani frowned as her car rumbled through the metal entrance gate of the neighborhood, looking over at Mercedes in confusion.
"Who are you going to see again,' she asked incredulously, her eyes scaling over the mansion-sized homes.
"One of my friends from school, you don't know her, she just moved from New York,' Mercedes lied, watching the street signs carefully to ensure she didn't miss any of the roads Sebastian had told her to take. Of course, he hadn't been against picking her up, but Nanette had agreed to let Mercedes spend the night only under the terms that she dropped her off and met this seemingly anonymous friend. Mercedes hadn't told Sebastian the last part nor had she determined exactly what she would do upon getting dropped off, but her mother did have work that night, and Nani had no reason to believe Mercedes was lying, she hadn't before.
"How you end up friends with someone who live all the way back here, Mercedes?"
The girl shrugged. "This is the turn,' she pointed. "And it's because I'm a lovable person."
Nani shook her head. "My ass."
The two eventually came to a cul-de-sac of a centralized green and four homes extending off of the rims of the road, the driveways to all four homes were incredible in size and elevated steeply above the dark pavement. Only one of the homes was entirely visible from the road, the others were pushed far back, formed into a brigade by trees or the cement foundation meant to support the driveway. Mercedes eyed the second home around the bend and saw the lights from her mother's car reflect off of a red sports car, tucked away at the top of the home's driveway. Pointing towards the house, Mercedes's stomach turned as they approached the home, slowly mounting the steep asphalt before pulling beside Sebastian's car, the home still a few paces away. The carport spanned the length of nearly quarter of a football field, and it became clear that the reason the home was unseeable from the road was because of a difference in elevation. The home's entrance and carport were, technically, on the second floor, while the first floor was on basement level, opening into a sun room and outside deck facing the neighborhood's golf course. Trees covered the north view of the home, and the rear view was only visible to those on the golf greens. The view from before the extended carport proved a neo-seventies style silver and black, glass-paned unit that was impeccably clean. It wasn't a mansion, but exceptionally stylish and sleek.
Sitting in the car for a few moments in silence, Nani looked over at Mercedes. "Where's the girl?"
Mercedes stuttered, her lie preparing to flow out at full speed. "I don't really know, she told me she unlocked the door for me, because she might be in the shower or putting on her costume or something. Who knows? I can go knock, but I don't want you to be late for work..."
Nani turned to face the girl, a frown on her face. "Mercedes, don't you play with me."
"Mama, I'm not,' Mercedes winced. "On everything I love."
She half expected to be struck by lightning in that very car, on that very clear and cloudless afternoon.
"Girl, go ahead,' Nanette acquiesced, unlocking the doors of the car. "Is this girl taking you home in the morning?"
Mercedes beamed out of the car, carrying her backpack behind her. "Yes,' she began, smiling and waving behind her as she ran to what she assumed was the front door. It was unlocked, as Sebastian had promised, and she heard him begin to speak immediately upon entering.
"I wasn't going to come outside since you told me not to 'no matter what', but you guys have been parked outside for… a very long time, I just thought,' Sebastian came into her view, and he stopped mid sentence, holding a glass bottle of beer in one hand. "What in the fuck are you wearing?"
The sneaky smile on Mercedes's face dissipated instantly. "You said 'festive,' she responded defeated but irritated.
Sebastian descended the last few steps of the staircase slowly, his mouth wide open. "I did say that, but this,' he surveyed her costume. "Is more than I expected."
Mercedes looked down at herself: moccasins, black leggings, a burlap sack fitted into a dress. She wanted to hide underneath the straw hat on her face, shielding herself from the cold, mocking gaze of his eyes, smearing the paint on her face into the rough exterior of the hat. How humiliating.
"What?' Sebastian started again, seeing blood rise to her cheeks.
Exasperated, she began: "What's ever right for you?" Not upset, but frustrated, the make up had taken more than an hour to put on. She started to take off the hat, content to wipe off the make up as well and spend the evening as a half-creature or change into her pajamas early and pretend she was 'the Bedtime Monster' or something equally as corny.
"Hey,' he began quickly, walking over and grabbing the hat from out of her hand. Sebastian placed the straw hat back firmly on the girl's head as she pouted, looking up at the boy from more than a foot's difference. "Didn't say your rendition of Michael Jackson in The Wiz wasn't cute,' he raised his eyebrows sarcastically. "Just,' he patted her on the shoulder and began to stalk away. "More than I expected."
"That's how I know you don't know anything about anything, because I don't even look like Michael Jackson in The Wiz,' she started in, her eyes following after him as he trekked to the kitchen.
"You look like something,' Sebastian said back loudly, his voice echoing through the hallway. He stopped short when he noticed that the girl wasn't following him. "There's no crows down there to frighten, Mercedes… you can follow me."
She followed after, "I don't go walking around people's houses without being invited… unlike some people."
He squinted his eyes, tossing the glass of beer into a trash can and opening the fridge to retrieve another. "Each time I go to your house, I'm never further than the living room and kitchen, what are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. That one time,' she leaned on the tips of her toes and rocked back and forth. Sebastian rolled his eyes, opening the lid by banging it on a counter.
"Is that something you're still fantasizing about?... I forget you only get those opportunities every so often, but I just have to wonder… while you're playing it back in your head, are you still doing the innocent church girl thing or are you finally doing what you want?"
A beat.
The girl was speechless.
Sebastian had been walking around the kitchen, looking for a nameless thing. "Both are hot, by the way. You don't have to mentally war between the two by any means,' he felt himself trailing to a course of conversation that he had marked forbidden for the two, but, by any means, it was one of the few places, conversationally, he knew Mercedes could not one-up him in. She was, among many things, one of those girls who wreaked of inexperience and timidity but masked it well with shrewdness and sanctimony. So, he wasn't trying to sleep with her anymore, but it didn't mean the obvious wasn't true: they were two seventeen-year-olds left alone together often, and, from what Sebastian knew, nothing was broken between the two of them.
She blushed, and he was a serial flirter. He liked to think that she knew he would never, ever proposition her again (as long as she didn't want him to), but the flirting was fun— especially with someone who was entirely incapable of hiding the fact that they were beyond flattered.
"Close your mouth, scarecrow,' Sebastian said, finally finding what he had been looking for: a bottle opener. "We don't want anything falling in, do we?"
As Mercedes stalked behind the boy in the massive house, she felt fear begin to rise in her chest. She had agreed to spend the night, and Sebastian had a few guest bedrooms, he had shown them to her, but he had flirted with her throughout the night— playfully, sure, but the tone of their conversations hadn't usually been playful, flirtatious banter in almost two months (and she had never been on anything but the receiving end of even that). She found herself at the boy's house with no route out, really— Mercedes began to wonder if spending the night actually meant something else in Sebastian's mind, but she was much too afraid to suggest that aloud. He could admonish her and say mean things, he had done that the first time, or he would get defensive and ask her why she always assumed the worst of him. She just felt like he was usually brandishing the worst, but that was true— he was usually showing her his best, or what he thought she would consider his best. It was just much harder to appreciate him verbally than it was to chastise him.
Mercedes wasn't scared to be alone with him, but she was afraid that he would prove to be just as he had before or, worse, she would have to finally realize that she had just been turned into a long term goal. She clammed up, attempting not to say anything that might be comprehended the wrong way.
In the basement, Sebastian rounded over to a wood cabinet holding multiple bottles of wine. He searched for the better part of a minute before pulling a red bottle out slowly, smiling when he held it in his hands finally.
"Here's to hoping they don't miss it,' he picked up two wine glasses and trekked back up the stairs with Mercedes close behind him. He turned off the basement light and returned to the kitchen. He was dressed in a pair of khakis, which was usual of him, and a beige sweater with a red button up, opened casually. With enough insistence, one could consider him dressed autumnal. He looked like he could be Mercedes's chaperone.
Sebastian placed both wine glasses on the kitchen's island before pouring himself a glass. He moved tepidly before pouring the second, looking up at Mercedes first.
"Have you ever drank,' he asked, eyeing the girl.
She nodded. "Not a lot, not enough to be drunk."
Sebastian began to smirk a bit, pouring slowly into the glass. "This won't get you drunk…' he paused. "If that's fine?" He didn't want to impose.
"Yeah, yeah, totally copacetic,' she said, practically lunging for the glass and placing it to her lips.
"Here's to Mercedes using her 'big girl words' tonight,' Sebastian held his glass up for a toast while the girl rolled her eyes. He took his first sip while she chugged the rest of the glass, ignoring the long, dry taste. She didn't expect alcohol to taste good, and the sooner she was through with it, the better.
Raising his eyebrows, Sebastian pushed the bottle of wine towards the girl, offering it to her.
"By all means,' he began. He watched her pour herself more wine, this time not proportionate to the glass, but he didn't stop to correct her.
"So,' Mercedes took a gulp. "Where's the candy? You know we have to give out candy, right?"
"No,' Sebastian replied sarcastically. "I thought they brought the candy to us."
The two returned to the entrance of the house where Mercedes had nearly entirely missed a bowl of variety candies. Beside the table, there were two lawn chairs. Mercedes looked at them carefully before returning doe eyes to Sebastian.
"What,' he asked before tracing her previous line of sight. "Oh… well, you didn't think anyone's ragtag kids were going to run all the way up the driveway by themselves, did you? All the moms in this neighborhood are helicopter parents, and the last thing they want is for a bead of sweat to ruin whatever shit makeup they used Halloween as an excuse to put on… We have the chairs, it'll be fine,' Sebastian picked up both chairs under one arm and handed the bowl of candy off to Mercedes before ensuring his keys were in his pocket.
"I think we should bring the rest of the wine,' she suggested lightly, much to Sebastian's delight.
Laughing, he nodded toward the kitchen. "Go grab it."
Mercedes idled towards the kitchen, not wanting to drop any of the candy from the bowl in a hasty fashion. She could handle the bottle of wine, but, afraid she would drop the glasses at one point, she left them on the counter.
"Seb,' she yelled from the kitchen.
"Yeah,' he responded in a sing-song fashion.
Mercedes turned the corner and started to walk back towards the boy. "I don't think I can carry the wine glasses too."
Sebastian shrugged, "That's not a problem."
Opening the front door, Sebastian let Mercedes lead him out of the house and down the steep driveway. She had to walk slowly to make sure she kept her footing or didn't bust her ass into someone she knew would keel over in laughter. She sighed largely, but not large enough for Sebastian to mindlessly mistake her for being out of breath, but, the driveway was a feat.
When they reached the bottom, Sebastian opened both lawn chairs for the pair and took the bowl of candy from Mercedes, hoisting it between his long legs after sitting down. She followed after closely, pulling a piece of candy from the bowl for herself: a chocolate and caramel something.
"Those are for the children,' Sebastian said slyly.
"Bite me,' she returned, tearing into the red wrapper and placing the lifeless thing into the empty cup holder on her side. She turned around to see that Sebastian had hidden the bottle of wine behind his chair on the ground, blind from the road.
"None of your neighbors are gonna ask about the super cute scarecrow you have accompanying you tonight?"
"No,' he responded, taking a piece of candy for himself. "But they might ask when the Smythes started sponsoring the Boys & Girls Clubs of America."
She huffed. "At least I'm in the Halloween spirit, you just look like you're one of those people who think they're too cool to get dressed up anymore."
"I am too cool,' Sebastian replied dully.
"Whatever,' Mercedes rolled her eyes. "I look cute."
Sebastian shrugged. "I think it's cute,' he placed the bowl of the candy down on the ground and stretched. "I just… think it's a lot… but you're usually quite dramatic, anyway, so… it was wrong of me to expect anything less."
Mercedes shook her head and playfully hit the boy in the arm. "You're really mean to me."
"If this is mean to you, you have got a world of hurt coming your way."
She sighed. "Be nice."
Shrugging, more shrugging, ever so smug— "I'm nice. You're just sensitive sometimes."
"Hey,' Mercedes started quickly. "I've seen you cry."
Sebastian tensed quickly, raising his shoulders. "No, you haven't,' he began defensively.
"Yes, I have! That night after the football game, you were trying to act like you weren't, and I was gonna let you, but you were choking up, I literally heard the tears, Sebastian."
He grabbed the bowl again. "I have no clue what you're talking about. I'm guessing all the noxious fumes you're inhaling from the two pounds of hair grease and thirty-eight spritz of hairspray you're using every day is getting to you, but that didn't happen."
Turning to face the boy, Mercedes stared him down for a few seconds, and he never flitted. "You know what… not today,' she reached behind his chair and grabbed the wine bottle.
Sebastian laughed. "Why is that all the Bible study girls I know have the exact same affinity for wine,' he bit his lip.
"Jesus broke bread and drank wine. It's in the Bible."
"Hallelujah,' he boasted as sacrilegious as possible to an eye-rolling Mercedes. They watched the road.
As the sun crept further behind the horizon, Mercedes became antsy. Lights came on from all of the houses in her sight, and she'd even waved at another family pitching chairs in the cul-de-sac, but they had yet to see any happy trick-or-treaters which was strange to her, but, truth be told, she had never gone trick-or-treating herself or celebrated much of Halloween other than a few trunk-or-treats at church that explicitly weren't celebrating "the devil's day", but instead just offering the young people a place to be other than out in the sin-filled streets.
Agonizing to think about at that moment exactly, Mercedes felt, as the entire night felt light-hearted, she could almost see the dying streams of the sunset floating in the air.
"I feel,' she hesitated for a few seconds. "Really happy."
Sebastian, who had been lost in his own thoughts, looked over at Mercedes with an elevated air. "You're drunk."
Mercedes turned her head in retreat, knowing that, surely, she was not that. "No, I'm not."
Reaching over the girl, Sebastian pulled the bottle from between her legs to reveal only a fourth of the wine still clinging to its molten shape. He frowned.
"You have no clue how expensive this is."
"If it mattered, you wouldn't have brought it out here,' she said, snippy.
Sebastian nodded, placing the bottle behind his seat again. "Definitely drunk."
"Oh, so I talk to you the same way you talk to me, and that's so out of character. Laughable."
"You are literally,' he paused, looking her in the eyes. "Literally proving my point, Jones."
Looking each other in the eyes, Mercedes raised her eyebrows to falter his smolder, and he followed, engaging her in a small staring contest until Mercedes exploded in laughter. Sebastian couldn't put a finger on what he felt— he hadn't expected the girl to get drunk that easily, but she had mentioned that she hadn't drank to drunkenness ever before, so he didn't know exactly what he had been expecting. Not a giggly, impulsive version of the girl— not to say that was a problem, but he had seen one too many people fall victim to throwing up over a toilet on their first night at the bottle, so he kept a close eye on the rest of the wine glass, at least until he could tell Mercedes was sobering up a bit.
He didn't mind the likelihood of ending up drunk on a couch, talking about feelings (his, more than likely) and eating a pizza while he listened to the rhythmic nothingness of her oh-so-cute diatribes, but the night was young. If he had to hoist her over the side of a bathtub to make sure she didn't puke on the bathroom tile, he would make sure she never heard the end of it.
He idled between finding something to talk about and picking around the candy bowl with Mercedes watching him with anticipation. She knew he was never one to complain, at least not at first— he took prompting, not always necessarily a lot, but some, at least.
"So,' she began, idly. "When are the kids coming, Sebastian?"
He shrugged wearily, looking across the bend of the road. "Not sure."
"What does that mean?"
He looked at the girl sharply, but noting the glaze over her eyes, he didn't respond immediately. He pulled his jacket closer around him and placed the candy bowl between the two of them— no longer keeping it hostage.
"We just moved to this house last summer, so,' Sebastian trailed.
"Really?"
"We were living a bit out of the city limit, but when he got shortlisted for DA, something bureaucratic. Either he thought it would be better to live in Lima or there's some written stipulation, doesn't matter to me. All I know is that before we lived here, I didn't have neighbors watching over my shoulder waiting for me to do something wrong like they get a tax write off. Like,' he stretched his hands and sighed. "My dad will probably be District Attorney, maybe not this go-around, but eventually, he will. I don't doubt that. What I do seriously doubt is that he will remember a single schmuck from this neighborhood kissing his ass or attempting to do so."
"Keeping track of all of your neighborly enemies?"
Sebastian cut his eyes over to Mercedes. "Absolutely,' he deadpanned.
She giggled before seeing a small girl begin to walk around the bend of the cul-de-sac. Mercedes looked over to Sebastian with wide eyes, hardly able to contain her excitement.
"Should we stand,' he asked, wiping his hands off on his pants. "Is that going to scare the kid?"
Mercedes shrugged, equally clueless. "Let's stand, so she can see my costume,' she pointed a finger at Sebastian's chest. "Which is cute and is going to get plenty of compliments tonight."
He rolled his eyes and pushed himself out of the seat. "I don't doubt that."
After a few seconds, the tiny girl dressed as a ladybug rushed over to Sebastian and Mercedes.
"Trick or treat,' she yellowed through a broken smile, most of her consonants going missed. The girl was cute and had rosy cheeks and freckles.
Sebastian held the basket of candy down for the child as Mercedes waved at the parents from a distance.
"I like your costume,' Mercedes said, touching one of the antennas.
"Thanks,' the child responded before running away, nearly tripping on the asphalt as she headed towards the next house. Her parents jogged after her but said nothing.
Sebastian shrugged, "Anticlimactic."
"I feel like I was just robbed."
"Right,' he responded, placing the basket back on the ground. "Do you think they saw the bottle of wine?"
Mercedes shrugged, "It's getting dark… would they have cared?"
"Better safe than sorry,' he sighed, picking up the bottle and taking more than a sip. He looked over at Mercedes and thought for a few seconds before offering her the glass. Pretending to contemplate whether or not to take it from him, she tilted her head back and forth before laughing and grabbing it, their hands touching for a few seconds around the neck.
She held the bottle to her mouth and took a generous swig before handing it back to Sebastian with a smile.
"I'm going to take this back to the house… are you fine by yourself? Just for a few seconds."
She nodded, "What's the worst that could happen? Freddy Krueger comes out from behind the bushes."
Raising his eyebrows, Sebastian started back up the hill. "I'd knock on wood if I were you."
Mercedes picked up the basket of candy and idled on her tiptoes before another family strolled by with a collection of kids. They all grabbed from the basket as their parents warned them to mind their manners and then disappeared. This happened again and once more before Sebastian returned, his hands shoved in his pockets. He'd picked up a baseball cap and placed it on his head, hiding his hair and the dim look in his eyes. As a kindness, he took the basket from Mercedes, so that her costume was fully visible to those walking by. The sun was neatly placed beneath the horizon and the moon had begun its slow trek to the center of the sky, lighting everything beneath it with the aid of the streetlights. The weather was too cold for any bugs to float around, and the two could hear the laughter of children from streets over but nothing else.
"How did convincing your mom go, by the way,' Sebastian asked.
"Oh,' she thought. "Pretty sure she knew I was lying, but she didn't say anything, so fingers crossed."
Sebastian gave a shivering sigh. "Yeah, well, we can hang out at your place next time… cool the trail."
"Good plan,' Mercedes said sarcastically, as if she had even let herself half-heartedly believe that the night's events would become something familiar. Another family neared them with open hands, and Sebastian gave a handful of candy to all the children.
"Cute costume,' the mother said, pointing up and down at the scarecrow costume. Mercedes smiled, but as soon as the family walked out of their view, she began to hit Sebastian on the shoulder, taunting him for his earlier diatribe.
"She said it was 'cute', Sebastian,' she lauded in an eruption of giggles. He laughed as well, trying to avoid her playful hits, candy following over the ground. Stumbling back, he tripped over the chair, sending the basket into the air with all of the candy. It gave a pathetic roll into the street with a loud crash, prompting the teenagers to stop their play and look over in momentary shock.
"Great, you ruined Halloween,' Sebastian remarked, walking over to the basket. He gave a curt snicker as Mercedes tried to decide whether he was angry or not before the two began laughing again, picking up the trail of candy that was spread out in front of them. Once they had cleaned the area, Mercedes placed her hands on her hips and scrunched her nose.
"I'm cold,' she began. "And hungry. How are you not hungry?"
Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You're high maintenance,' he began, handing the basket to Mercedes and folding the chairs before placing them under his arms.
The two walked back up the steep concrete hill to Sebastian's house. The boy turned on the light switch to the living room and hallway before sitting the chairs down by the door and taking the basket of candy off of Mercedes's hands. He offered her a seat in the living room before taking off his shoes and throwing himself onto a couch adjacent from her. He looked at the ceiling, taking a sigh before placing the baseball cap on his chest.
"What are you thinking? We could order in."
Mercedes hadn't thought about the prospect of going to grab anything to eat or even dining out, but she knew how Sebastian was about being seen with her, so she let herself read too far into his comment instead of just giving an appropriate response. "Whatever you want."
Sebastian ignored the twinge of attitude and continued. "There's a pizza place pretty close, I think the Greek place beside it delivers. We could just go grab something fast, but,' he turned up his nose. "I'll be hungry again in like an hour."
"Whatever you want,' she said again with emphasis.
Sebastian frowned and went to receive the telephone from the kitchen. Mercedes could hear him ordering from down the hallway, so she took the opportunity to look around the living room. Leaving her shoes by the door, she walked around the room, taking a look at all of the artwork that looked too expensive to touch and the pictures framed of the family on the wall. Mercedes only recognized Sebastian, and though she was sure she had seen the rest of his family during some occasion or another, the photos in the frames looked stately and distant. Sebastian's sister and father were extremely good looking, nearly modelesque, but she considered the matriarch of the family to be rather particular looking. Not necessarily unattractive, but European in a way. Still worthy of being a model, maybe even one for Vogue—one of those collections where it paid to look different.
Sebastian returned to the living room to find Mercedes hovering over a photo from Savannah's cotillion debut, but because he had nothing to say about his sister or even his family, he remained silent. Eventually, Mercedes turned to see him and, startled, she took a few steps back before beginning.
"I gave you the tour of my house,' she said. "It's your turn."
The second floor of the house was Sebastian's parents' bedroom, his bedroom and two bathrooms; on the first floor: the kitchen, living room, a half bath and sun room, and in the basement: the laundry room, underground pool and two guest bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The house had neo-modern decorations and plenty of surreal and art-deco decorations of which Sebastian had no clear summary or explanation for— by the time they were done with the complete house tour, Sebastian heard the doorbell ring.
"That was fast,' Mercedes said, bounding up the stairs with Sebastian close behind her. He agreed and walked to the kitchen to grab his wallet before returning to the living room to open the door for the delivery driver.
There was a relatively lengthy hand-off before Sebastian stepped back into the house, dropping a few boxes onto the ottoman and letting out a heavy breath.
"I got two pizzas, pasta, bread sticks, and…' he opened one of the pizza boxes. "Sauce… do you want anything to drink?"
Nodding with a pleasant smile, Mercedes asked: "What do you have?"
"We have water and soda,' Sebastian raised his eyes in thought. "We do have more wine, maybe a bottle of some cheap vodka under my bed… maybe,' he narrowed his gaze.
Mercedes shrugged, leaning towards the box of pizza. "Surprise me."
Knowing what she meant, Sebastian shook his head and laughed, heading towards the kitchen. He poured two glasses three/fourths with juice and grabbed a roll of napkins before returning with all three to the living room. Sliding his shoes off by the door, he taunted Mercedes about eating already before rushing to his bedroom to grab the plastic bottle of liquor before heading back downstairs.
"Okay,' he began to warn, opening the bottle a few feet from his face. "This stuff is horrible, it'll be better once you mix it, okay?"
Nodding, Mercedes held her cup up while Sebastian finished it off with the transparent liquid. He shook his head in dismay, shock and disgust—he had, by all accounts, shown the girl the absolute worst trait most teenagers picked up by junior year: budding alcoholism. Aside from that, the bottle had been underneath his bed for a few weeks by then and had traveled very far to get there. He could feel the pressure built up in it from having been left outside, inside, in a car, on a patio, under a bed and God knows where else without ever being finished. Sebastian was confident that one lone swig from the bottle had enough gusto to push someone's hairline back a full inch. He poured into his own cup wearily.
"That's super strong,' Mercedes choked out, bringing a hand to her nose and sitting the cup far away from her.
Sebastian laughed. "I know."
Diving into the pizza himself, neither bothered to grab plates or wipe their hands off; thanks to being partially starved and a little more than buzzed, they didn't care.
Finally opening the chicken alfredo pasta, Mercedes saw that there was only one fork and knife in the bag.
"Tell me where the utensils are, so I can go grab one for this,' she pointed at the container.
Sebastian scrunched his nose. "Do you have a problem with me eating after you? It's fine."
"I mean.' she hesitated, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I don't care. Do you care?"
"You're so,' he rolled his eyes and took a drink.
"I'm so what?"
"Nothing,' Sebastian laughed, shaking his head. "It's cute. You're cute."
Rolling her eyes, Mercedes took a bite of the pasta before sighing. "You know what I just remembered?"
"Hmm?"
"I still have on this makeup."
"That you do,' he responded with a chuckle. "You should have opened the door for the delivery driver."
She shook her head. "So, he could have asked where my boss was? No way, Jose."
Confused, Sebastian looked over at the girl. "Your boss?"
Mercedes cleared her throat. "Like I was the maid or something."
Thinking momentarily, Sebastian shook his head. "You aren't the person I would have expected to make that joke."
"Why?' Mercedes asked, chewing. "Is that type of humor only appropriate when you're rich and white?"
Scrunching his nose, Sebastian gave a patronizing nod, and the two gave into dry snickering. Opening his mouth, he motioned for Mercedes to give him a bite of the pasta. Forking a generous amount over, she watched him eat after her with a smile.
It was a small thing, but comforting to her. In her mind, Sebastian was only attached to her by a thin thread that could snap at any time. She wasn't entirely convinced why he liked or what he liked about her or if their friendship wasn't just a long running joke, but she took what she could when she could, because, in earnest, there was nothing else anywhere else.
They talked about school and about church, then about their favorite colors and what they had wanted to be when they grew up back when they were still young children. Once the pizza was done and the pasta was in shambles, they finished their drinks on a whim, and both reclined with their backs on the couches, their legs completely spread out and their eyes staring at the high ceiling.
"Before we met again, at the beginning of the school year, what did you think of me? … You knew I existed all those years after we were in the same classes in elementary school— did you ever think we would speak again?" Sebastian asked, pandering slowly.
Mercedes thought for a few seconds but began to answer before she had a complete conclusion. "I remembered you, and no. I didn't think we would ever speak again. I just thought you were popular,' she shrugged, the alcohol making it a bit harder to think than she preferred. "Typical pretentious boy who would go on to be a doctor or a lawyer or something important. I didn't think you remembered me at all."
Sebastian snickered. "I remembered you so clearly,' he laughed. "As you get older, your memory gets so hazy, and you can't tell if you're remembering things clearly, let alone if someone else has the same memories as you do, but… I think we were close in second or third grade. We were friends, right?"
"I think so… I remember art class very clearly with you—,'
Sebastian cut her off. "Do you remember the day that Rachel Berry cut her pigtails off in the middle of class?"
Mercedes began to laugh, covering her face as she blushed. "Oh, God. I hadn't thought about that in years."
"No dice,' Sebastian continued, enthused. "I think about that at least once a week, and Christ, she's the most dramatic off-Broadway wannabe at McKinley, so… it makes sense that it started so young… There are so many people I used to be elbow to elbow with that I would never even think of speaking to now."
"Why? Don't tell me they're not cool enough for you."
He shook his head, "I look at them, and I see nothing worth liking… at that age, you think you'll be successful and friends with everyone forever, and all of you will eventually be rich, and by the time you're a senior in high school, you realize that maybe one or two people get out of school clean. I think a lot of people are just meant for…' he gestured to nothing. "This."
Mercedes looked around the room, her eyebrows furrowed. "If this is what I have to look forward to, I'm content,' she chuckled.
"Exactly,' Sebastian shook his head. "Why is everyone okay with contentedness— I like you because you're not average; you have these expectations for yourself and others that are implausible, but you want that reality just bad enough that you might make it. Don't convince me that I was wrong about you."
Mercedes pulled herself up, thinking for a few minutes. "I've never had anyone say that about me."
Sebastian shrugged, "I pay attention."
Looking over the boy, she watched him inhale and exhale slowly, the hour weighing heavily on his expression. He, as always, was beautiful and entirely striking without being intense. Mercedes thought about how often she had avoided his gaze, because his eyes were so beautiful. Frowning, she began to think about how much she wanted to touch him; just his arm, perhaps, or maybe his cheek— she didn't know why. Maybe to just let him know that she was there and she saw him, because she wasn't great with words all the time. Not as good as him; it was like he always knew what to say. She thought about how close they were but how far they were from each other on the floor, and how the only way she could ever have him would be by compromising a part of her that she felt was sacred, and that wasn't fair to her. She wondered what it would be like to love him and be loved by him; to know that his fondest memory of her wasn't playing tag in elementary school but talking on the phone after a long day of school and tennis and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. But she knew she couldn't take anything off of his shoulders; if anything, everything that came with her was additional baggage, so she stayed in her place on the other side of the couch, watching him silently.
"What are you thinking about?"
Mercedes shrugged. "Nothing."
Opening his eyes, he gave the girl a soft smile. "I'm tired."
She nodded, standing up and wiping her hands off on her pants. They carried all of their trash and dishes off to the kitchen silently, working together as if they had been there before and done those things together prior. Of course, they'd eaten together at her house in the past, but usually she was serving him while he made jokes; and they had never been his space. She had never seen him so relaxed.
"I'll grab you a towel and washcloth and everything, so you can take care of that,' he motioned to her face.
Mercedes sucked her teeth. "I keep forgetting how ridiculous I look."
"I'm not going to ever let you forget that one,' Sebastian laughed as he turned off all of the lights and walked downstairs to the guest bedrooms with Mercedes a few inches behind him. He showed her to the room that she would sleep in for the night and disappeared for a few seconds to grab her a towel and washcloth. Reappearing, he handed them to the girl and reminded her where the shower and bathroom were located.
"Ah, you probably need your bag, right?"
Mercedes nodded.
"I'll go get it,' he said, running back upstairs while Mercedes ran to the bathroom to drop off the items he had given her. Hearing Sebastian's footsteps coming back down to the basement, she met him in the corridor.
"Thanks,' she said during the hand over, offering him a small, tired smile.
"Okay,' he hesitated, rubbing his arm. "I'm going to go upstairs… Are you alright down here?"
Mercedes looked around the large, hollow space, biting her lower lip. "I think so."
Sebastian began to speak, but stopped, shoving his hands into his pockets and nodding. "Okay. Well, you know where my room is. Just come grab me if anything goes bump in the night."
"Or if I get too lonely,' Mercedes joked, flirting. She was flirting.
I'm drunk, she thought to herself.
Sebastian laughed, taking a few steps back. "Or if you get too lonely, Mercedes."
He waved, and she waved back before he disappeared back up the stairs for the night.
In the shower, Mercedes watched her feet as the black makeup on her face washed away into the drain. She wondered what Sebastian was doing, if he was asleep already— she thought about the few nights they had stayed on the phone late, and how she had wondered what his room looked like or what he was wearing and what he was doing, and how now she was in his house and still had no answers to those questions (other than what his room looked like, and she was, frankly, underwhelmed by the answer).
Out of the shower, she looked over herself in the mirror, smiled and thought about how she had fooled her mother, but she did feel bad about lying, however, the night had gone quite well. Better than expected even.
Who knew? Maybe Halloween would end up being her favorite holiday.
Mercedes tucked herself lazily into bed, the comforter and sheets holding her tightly to the cold mattress. Her skin was still warm from the shower and from the alcohol. She was smiling as she fell asleep, and she lost herself in thought about what would have happened had she asked Sebastian to stay downstairs or even if she crept up to his room with confessions that she was afraid of the dark.
Nothing special, she convinced herself. They were friends, but how many friends did she have that had even asked her what her plans were that night?
So she smiled, because even if they were just friends, just friends felt like enough.
