"I can't believe you called me into town for this, Bea," Jackie said.
"Yeah," Bea sighed. "Yeah, I know. But she's been weird, and I wanna cheer her up."
Jackie didn't bring up the fact that Mae was always weird. As much as Jackie didn't like Mae, she wasn't going to talk shit about her behind her back. That wasn't the sort of person Jackie was. If she had a problem with someone (And she had a problem with lots of people) she'd tell them straight-up to their face, like she'd done to Mae several times before.
That's why it was kind of a surprise that Jackie was now in Mae's house.
Of course, Jackie hadn't known she was going to be in Mae's house. When Bea had called and asked Jackie for help, Jackie had assumed it was for something unrelated to Mae. Jackie usually assumed most things were unrelated to Mae, considering Mae didn't seem to really get involved in anything. Bea calling Jackie for help cheering up Mae was pretty much the last thing Jackie had expected.
Mae's house was surprisingly decent, though. Jackie had always kind of pictured Mae living somewhere with a lot more property damage. This was a pretty standard family home, though—Mae clearly hadn't taken an axe to the walls or smashed the windows with a hammer.
Mae's mom had been on her way out when Bea and Jackie had arrived. Mrs. Borowski seemed glad to see them, and was very polite when Jackie introduced herself. The stark contrast between Mae's destructive attitude and her wholesome family life was kind of stunning.
"It's, like, three in the afternoon," Jackie said while she and Bea waited in the house's living room. "Does she seriously sleep this late?"
Bea sighed. She chewed anxiously on the end of her dummy cigarette.
"Mae's got a lot going on," Bea explained. "I keep trying to get her to set up a regular sleep schedule, but it's not really working."
"Huh," Jackie said, not really paying attention. Her focus was mainly on the picture of two cats in top-hats that hung above the couch. Who were these people? What was their story? For some reason, Jackie couldn't help but be curious about these two dapper cats.
The noise of a pair of feet rapidly descending the stairs pulled Jackie's attention away from the photo. Both Bea and Jackie turned towards the stairs just as Mae finished going down them. Mae turned and began walking into the living room where Bea and Jackie had gathered, her eyes focused downwards.
"Hey, mom? How long can I keep wearing the same pair of jeans before someone notices?"
Mae stopped at the living room's entrance and stared at Bea and Jackie. She looked between the both of them, and then looked past them into the kitchen. Seeing that her mom wasn't home, Mae returned her attention to the two girls who'd arrived, unannounced, in Mae's living room.
"… Is this an intervention or something?" Mae asked.
Mae hadn't left the house for two days.
This wasn't just because of Mae's usual laziness. No, Mae had become a shut-in for different reasons. The chief reason was the scary-looking tattooed guy who'd flat-out admitted he was following her. Aunt Mall Cop had promised that she and her partner would be on the lookout for him, but Mae didn't have a lot of confidence in the Possum Springs police. That cult had operated in town for years and the cops had never found out about them, after all.
But Mae wasn't just hiding.
Okay, she was mostly hiding, but she was also thinking. The last week or so had given Mae a lot to think about. Those thoughts had mostly been about Casey, and why Steve and tattoo man wanted to know about him. But thinking about Casey always made Mae feel sad, so she hadn't really been able to work this stuff out.
The others had been worried. Gregg had even dropped by to check on Mae. After Mae explained that a sketchy tattoo man had been following her, though, Bea and the others seemed to understand why Mae was hesitant to go out for the time being.
That apparently meant it was perfectly okay to show up at Mae's house unannounced, though.
It was a little surprising to see Bea waiting for Mae down in her living room. It was very surprising to see Jackie was also there. Mae supposed that her mom had let them in before going out to work. Hopefully, Jackie hadn't tried to radicalize Mae's mom or anything—Candy Borowski was way too nice to fight The Man.
"Sorry about the surprise," Bea said, an unlit cigarette dangling between her lips. "You need to do something, though, Mae. You can't spend your whole life in bed like you did at college."
Mae's eyes glanced at Jackie, worrying that she might misinterpret that statement as Mae just being lazy. Thankfully, Jackie was distracted by the photo of Mae's great-granddad and his brother that hung up above the couch. She didn't seem to have even registered what Bea had said. Mae couldn't blame her; it was a pretty mesmerizing photo.
"I'll get out eventually!" Mae assured. "I'll go stir-crazy sooner or later, and then I'll be back to jumping around town and walking on powerlines."
"Oh, god, you still do that?" Jackie asked, her eyes still on the photo. "You know you're gonna get yourself fried, right?"
"I have been told that, yes," Mae said.
Mae watched as Jackie continued inspecting Mae's home. Although she wasn't talking, it was pretty clear that Jackie was wondering why she was there. Mae was wondering that, too. Bea, who was one of the most sensible people Mae knew, must have had a reason for brining Jackie into Mae's house, right?
Bea evidently picked up on Mae's confusion, and finally offered an explanation.
"So, you know how you kept bugging me about that one girl you met at that party Jackie threw?" Bea asked.
Mae frowned. Through most of December and January, Mae had asked Bea almost twice a week if Jackie had any parties coming up. The reason, obviously, was because Mae had really wanted to meet up with Bombshell. Mae supposed she'd come across as kind of desperate with how much she'd bothered Bea.
Mae guessed it was kind of weird—normal people probably didn't get hung up on a stranger who'd flirted with them once at a party. But Bombshell had been almost exactly Mae's type, and it wasn't like Mae was really interested in anyone else.
Well, that wasn't true. Mae had pretty much always had a crush on Gregg's cousin, Jen. The problem with that, though, was that Jen pretty much looked exactly like Gregg. Hooking up with her would probably be kinda weird, considering Gregg was basically Mae's brother.
"Basically, Bea wants me to help you get this girl's info," Jackie said as she sat down on the Borowski's couch. "And, I mean, normally I'm busy with college shit, but Bea's my girl, so I agreed."
"Oh, wow," Mae said gratefully. "Thanks, Jackie. I mean, I know you don't really like me, but—"
"Yeah, no, let's not get into that," Jackie interrupted. "I didn't come back to Possum Springs to start drama. If I wanted to stir shit up, I'd go show my dad my new piercing."
Mae had no idea what that meant. She was a little afraid to ask, out of fear that Jackie might get offended and punch her lights out.
"So how's this gonna work?" Mae asked. "Are you gonna talk to me over some sort of earpiece and tell me what to say to her?"
Jackie and Bea both stared at Mae in silence for a moment. Mae began to wish she had a dollar for every time someone reacted to her like this.
"No," Jackie said patiently. "I'm going to ask her if she remembers you and then see if she wants your chat info. That's it. I'm not going to hold your hand, Borowski—if you want dating advice, talk to Casey."
Mae and Bea both exchanged a glance, the same thought occurring to them: she didn't know. How could she? Jackie was off at college, throwing parties and changing the world. Jackie probably didn't really bother trying to keep up with everything that went down in Possum Springs.
"Casey's… not around anymore," Bea said tactfully. "He hopped on a train sometime last year."
Though her expression was unclear because of her glasses, Mae could tell that Jackie was surprised. It was about the same response Mae had had when she'd first been told the news about Casey. This was different, though—when Gregg told Mae that Casey had left town, he hadn't known any better. If Jackie knew the truth, Mae thought, she'd be a lot more than just surprised.
"Well, that kinda sucks," Jackie mused. "Casey always seemed pretty okay. He had that whole apathetic skaterboy thing going on—kinda hot, honestly."
Mae laughed bitterly. If Casey had heard Jackie call him hot, he probably would have been extremely flattered. He'd always thought Jackie was the coolest. In fact, Mae was willing to bet that Casey had had something of a crush on her. Not that he ever acted on it—he'd either been too intimidated or too distracted to ever really talk to Jackie.
He'd never get a chance now, though.
Mae shook her head, trying to get her mind off of Casey. She'd been thinking about him too much lately. It was like life was constantly smashing reminders of Mae's dead friend into her face. And for some reason, most of those reminders had come from shady criminals.
"So what should I say if she gets in touch?" Mae asked, trying to change the subject. "What should we talk about?"
"What did you two talk about at the party?" Bea asked.
Mae thought about it. A lot of that night was kind of hazy—she mostly remembered embarrassing Bea and then chasing her in the rain. A lot of the other stuff had just kind of been pushed into the background.
"I'm… not sure? I think I either told her about the ghost that had been following me, or I told her I was studying vampires in college."
Jackie stared at Mae in disbelief. "Why… Why would you say that to someone?"
Mae shrugged. She talked about vampires a lot—they were one of the most interesting things to talk about. Whatever she'd said, though, it had led to a secret handshake and the Bombshell basically purring Mae's name. Mae was more than willing to call that a success, given how garbage she could be at talking to people sometimes.
A thought occurred to Mae. She lifted her head and looked at both Jackie and Bea.
"Hey, why did you need to come into town to do this?" Mae asked Jackie. "Couldn't you just, like, email her info to me? You wouldn't have had to drive all the way out to Possum Springs."
Jackie looked over at Bea expectantly. It started to dawn on Mae that Jackie wasn't sure why she'd been called into Possum Springs, either. Bea, realizing all eyes were on her, sighed and stood up from her spot on the couch. She removed the dummy cigarette from between her lips and stashed it away.
"I need Jackie's help with something else," Bea said vaguely. "I just figured I'd surprise you, considering you're always surprising me."
Mae wasn't sure if that was meant as a compliment or not. Bea had been too deadpan to really tell.
"What do you need help with?" Mae asked.
Bea was silent. She gestured for Jackie to follow her on her way to the front door. Jackie, who looked about as confused as Mae, got up and followed after her. By the time the two visitors reached the exit, Bea apparently realized she couldn't put off giving Mae an answer any longer.
"It's nothing important," Bea said dismissively.
Mae knew that, when she said it 'wasn't important', Bea really meant it 'wasn't Mae's business.' Normally, Mae would have kept trying to get an answer. Considering Bea had gone out of her way to do something for her, though, Mae decided not to press the matter. Not until later, at least.
The front door opened to the cool February air, and soon shut behind Bea and Jackie. Mae was left alone in the house, silent save for the ambient noise that all houses seemed to have. Soon, the sound of a car leaving the driveway told Mae that she was truly all by herself.
Mae still didn't know if it was okay to keep wearing the jeans she had on.
It didn't take very long for Mae to go stir-crazy, and soon she was back to jumping around town and walking on powerlines. To be specific, it took exactly a day. The day after Jackie and Bea's surprise visit, Mae decided she was too bored to be scared. After waking up and saying goodbye to her mom, Mae rushed over to the Snack Falcon to say hi to Gregg.
It turned out it was apparently Valentine's Day. Who knew? Mae hadn't seen her parents so far, so she hadn't gotten any cards or candy from them. Mae hadn't realized it was Valentine's Day until she saw the displays in the Snack Falcon.
Gregg gave Mae a card that read 'YOU'RE ALWAYS IN MY HEART'. The word letters 'HE' in the word 'heart' had been crossed out and replaced with a capital F. Mae pretended that it was really funny so as to avoid upsetting Gregg.
The fact that it was Valentine's Day meant that Mae's plans to hang out with Gregg would have to be put on hold. He was actually in a relationship, after all, and probably had a bunch of plans with Angus. A bunch of sex plans. Probably.
Hanging out with Bea wasn't an option, either. The Pickaxe was already closed when Mae went to check up on her, and that meant Bea was probably at home, doing bills or binge watching TV.
Even Germ wasn't around to hang out with. The parking lots were even emptier than usual when Mae went looking for him. Mae briefly found herself wondering if Germ was actually on a date for Valentine's Day. The idea of Germ going out with someone was a little too weird, though. Mae had a hard enough time picturing Germ as someone who slept, let alone went on dates.
And so, with pretty much nothing to do, Mae went home early. If there was nobody to hang out with, Mae figured she could at least get on the computer to play some Demontower.
When Mae opened her laptop, though, a notification in the messenger system was waiting for her. Someone with the username 'PNKSNGIRLS' had sent a contact request through Chattrbox.
It had been a long time since someone had sent Mae a contact request. In fact, Mae was pretty sure that the last person Mae had added on messenger was Angus. That had been two or three years ago. Mae couldn't immediately think of who PNKSNGIRLS could be.
It only took a few seconds for the realization to come to Mae. It was her—the Bombshell. Jackie had actually gotten them in contact with each other. Mae almost couldn't believe it.
Mae stared at the notification on her laptop's screen for what felt like forever. She had to seriously fight the urge to ignore the contact request. Talking to normal people was exhausting enough—talking to someone Mae was interested in would be a million times worth. The anxiety was so bad that Mae almost wanted to shut off her laptop and just hide in her bed forever.
Mae took a deep breath. Hiding wasn't an option, no matter how tempting it was. Mae couldn't keep hiding from life, or from weird tattooed guys out in the street. Mae had no idea how well this would turn out, but good or bad, it was something she needed to do.
Mae slowly moved her cursor over to the notification and clicked the 'Accept' option. PNKSNGIRLS's icon, a pink pentagram, appeared on Mae's desktop, right below Angus's icon.
Swallowing her fear, Mae put her hands on the keyboard and began to type.
