Chapter 12: Charitable Contributions?

On Sunday morning, a stream of light coming from the window in Rae's closet woke Maureen. She looked over at a still sleeping Araeyah and smiled remembering the events of the night before. They had gone to the bar hosting the bands and of course everyone hit on them. At first she assumed that the only reason she got any attention was because she was with Rae. But throughout the night there were a few guys who came up and hit on her, completely ignoring Rae's presence. Rae of course took all the credit given that she dressed her for their night out. But Rae still got most of the attention all night long and Maureen could tell it was starting to bother her.

"Annoyed?" Maureen asked leaning in and speaking into Rae's ear so she could hear her.

"Is it that obvious?" Maureen nodded. "I just want to go out just one time and not have people hang all over me. I mean it's flattering but the guys in here are so aggressive. Especially the ones that have huge egos. It's like they can't believe they're being rejected. At least the women know how to take no for an answer the first time."

"I'm sorry" Maureen said with a sad face. She had no idea with that felt like. She never got as much attention as Rae did. Plus she got it from both men and women, making it that much more intolerable.

"Whatever. I saw you talking to that guy." Rae said with a sly smile. "Did you get his number?"

"No. The first question he asked was if I'm single and the second was if I wanted to go back to his place. I told him to get lost." Maureen said.

"Can I ask you something? You can totally say no if you think it's too weird but I think you love too much to say no."

Maureen laughed. "What is it?" she asked intrigued by what this question could possibly be. "Can you maybe pretend to be my girlfriend for the rest of the night?" Maureen's eyes got really big. "We don't have to kiss or anything like that...just maybe sit closer and hold my hand. Show a little more affection. Please. I'm just so done with being hit on tonight." Rae looked really desperate for Maureen to say yes. "Ok, I guess." Rae leaned in and kissed Maureen on the cheek. "Thank you. You're the best." Rae said with a big smile. "Well duh." Maureen replied.

They had no trouble convincing people that they were an item. They were best friends so whispering in each others ears and laughing together came naturally. They added in a bit of extra touching and hand holding and suddenly the number of people coming up to them plummeted. They left the bar after all the bands had played and went to a club, keeping up they're couple act. Rae had already had a few drinks at the bar and Maureen had only wanted one, so when the got to the club they spent all of their time on the dance floor. They left around two am and headed home. They were so worn out from their day that they changed and got right into bed.

Rae started to stir next to Maureen pulling her from her thoughts. She looked over at the clock on the bed side table and saw that it was twelve forty-five in the afternoon. She got up and went into the bathroom. She showered, brushed her teeth and hair, and washed her face before getting dressed. When she walked back into the bedroom, Rae's phone was ringing. She looked at the caller id and saw Olivia's name on the screen. She decided to let it go to voicemail and walked into the living room.

It was one thirty when Rae finally woke up. She noticed Maureen wasn't there so she got up and stuck her head through the curtains that acted as her bedroom door. Maureen was on her couch watching tv. Rae didn't say anything. She just walked back in her bedroom and went to the bathroom to shower. She did her after shower routine as always and got dressed. She walked out of her bedroom and joined her friend on the couch.

"Good morning" she said with a smile. "It's two o'clock" Maureen said not looking away from the tv.

"Oh, well good afternoon then."

"Olivia called while you were still asleep." Maureen said still not taking her eyes off of the tv. "Really, what'd she say?"

"Nothing. I didn't answer." Maureen didn't seem too enthused at the fact that she had gotten a call from Liv. Rae hoped they weren't gonna have a repeat of yesterday. She thought she'd made herself perfectly clear to Maureen that no one she dated could ever keep them from being friends.

"Oh, ok. So what do you wanna do today?" Rae didn't want to dwell too much on Olivia's call. She didn't want Maureen to think talking to or about Olivia was more important to her than their time hanging out together. The look Maureen gave her told her that she was right to move on. "You're not gonna call her back?" Maureen asked slightly confused. "Yeah, I will. Later. Right now I'm hanging out with you." she said. "I told you Maureen, nobody I'm dating or interested in dating will ever be more important than our friendship." Rae knew that Maureen's old best friend had completely ditched her when she started dating a boy she liked. Rae wanted to show her that she wasn't going to be the same way.

"I know you probably don't wanna hear this but I'm just gonna say it anyway. I think it would be a mistake for you and Liv to be together." Rae looked disappointed by Maureen's opinion. "I know you like her and she may even like you but come on Rae...she's twice your age. What could you two really have in common? You think she's hot but that's not gonna be enough for a relationship. Plus she's a detective and you're still in high school. That'll look really bad for her, especially since she's an SVU detective. Maybe it'd just be best if you let your feelings for her go." Maureen waited for Rae to respond.

"Ok." she said simply. "Ok?" Maureen was shocked. She was sure that Rae was going to argue with her. "Yeah. Ok. So what are we gonna do today?" Rae said quickly changing the subject. She didn't want to dwell on the thought that Maureen might be right for too long.

Maureen smiled. "I don't know. I guess we could just stay in and hang out." Rae frowned at her suggestion. "It's supposed to be really nice out today and you just wanna stay in?" Rae asked.

"Well I don't have any money left." Maureen said not able to meet Rae's gaze as the words left her mouth. She braced herself for what Rae was gonna say in response.

"Are you trying to get slapped?" The seriousness in Rae's tone scared her a little. Rae couldn't believe that Maureen had just used money as an excuse to waste a beautiful day. "When has you not having any money ever been an issue? How many times have we gone places after school without you having any money? Anyways, there's plenty of things we could do without spending a dime and we don't have to stay inside to do them."

"I...I'm sorry" Maureen knew how much it bothered Rae when she mentioned money. Rae had told her plenty of times that as long as she had money, they both had money. "I just...I don't know."

"What is it?" Rae said taking the remote from Maureen and turning off the tv.

"It's just..." Maureen hesitated. She didn't know how Rae was gonna take what she had to say but she knew Rae wouldn't let up until she told her what was going on in her head. "It's just seeing your neighborhood and going to your house yesterday and meeting your parents and your brother...it was the first time I saw where you're really from; the first time I realized how much money you must have. You have a music room, a library, a game room, and a gym...in your house. The way your house is designed and decorated was just...everything looked so beautiful."

"So what?" Rae said a bit confused by where Maureen was going with this.

"So...my family lives in Queens. Our house isn't even half the size of yours. I don't have a car because my parents can't afford it if they want to be able to send me and my brother and sisters to college. Your wardrobe is vastly more than mine. I mean if you hadn't convinced your mom not to send you to a private school we'd probably wouldn't have ever met. That's how different the worlds we come from are." Maureen sighed. She felt stupid for thinking these things but she couldn't help it. "Sometimes I just wonder why you're friends with me when you could friends with people...better than me."

"And what exactly would make people better than you? Money?" Rae couldn't believe what Maureen was saying. Never in a million had she ever thought Maureen was insecure about their friendship. "I don't know. I just wonder sometimes why you do all the things you do. You buy me coffees and dinner and take me to movies and shopping. I wouldn't be able to do all those things all the time if I weren't friends with you. I couldn't afford it. I mean you know that right, that's why you do it?"

"That's why I do what?" Rae said getting angrier and angrier as Maureen continued talking.

"Pay for things for me. Because you know I can't afford it otherwise."

"You think I treat you like a charity think that I'm friends with you and that I buy you things because I think you're poor and I feel sorry for you." It all came out as more of a statement than a question. She could feel her chest tightening up and a lump started to form in throat, but she wasn't going to cry. Crying just wasn't something that Rae ever did, but getting angry was and she was getting more and more angry as she thought about what Maureen was saying about her.

"No. I mean, I don't know. Maybe." Maureen could see the pain in Rae's face and she regretted that she'd said anything. "Rae..." Maureen started to say that she was sorry and to forget she'd said anything but Araeyah cut her off. "I think maybe I should take you home now." Rae said as she stood up from the couch.

"What?" Maureen wasn't sure she'd heard her right.

"If you think that we're only friends because I'm trying to do you some sort of favor or that this is some sort of charity project for me...if that's all you about me then we're not friends." Rae said before turning and walking into her bedroom.

"Rae, that's not what I'm saying!" she yelled after her. Rae came back out from her room with her phone, keys, and Maureen's bags. "That's what you just said, Maureen! You didn't say those exact words but...that's what you just said. Now it's time for you to go." Maureen stood up from the couch. "Rae please..."

"It's time for you to go!" Rae yelled. She handed Maureen her bags and headed towards the door. Rae was pissed and Maureen knew that when she got angry like this there was nothing she could say. So she put her bags on shoulder, grabbed her phone off the table, and followed Rae out the door.

Rae dropped Maureen off at home and took off before she even got to her front door. When she walked in her parents were sitting on the couch watching tv. They both looked up at her confused about why she was back. "Hey honey." Kathy said as her daughter shut the door. "What are doing here? I thought you were gonna go to school from Rae's house."

"I changed my mind." Maureen said sadly. Her parents could tell that something was wrong.

"Is everything ok?" Elliot asked as Maureen started to go up the stairs. "Fine." she said back. She went up to her room and slammed the door leaving her confused parents wondering what had went wrong. She laid on her bed and thought about what had just happened. She had just told her best friend that the only reason she could possibly be friends with her was to make herself feel better about who she was and how much money she had. She had just lost her best friend that's what happened. Maureen turned over, put her face in her pillows, and cried.