"What the fuck? Are you in trouble?" Trent asked, glancing over at Mae.
"What? No!" she replied immediately, but she seemed more nervous than ever.
"Just...wait there," he said.
"No, I should be with you," she replied, getting up and casting off the blanket.
"Maybe you should put on some pants first," he said as he walked over to the front door.
"Eff pants!" she snapped, joining him. He sighed.
"I'm opening the door!" he called. "Uh, peacefully."
He opened the door, his heart racing. Why in the hell were the police here? There were no flashing lights at least. As he opened the door, he found himself looking at a woman in an officer's uniform, holding a heavy flashlight.
She vaguely reminded him of Mae.
"Aunt Mall Cop!?" Mae demanded. "How'd you even know I was here!?"
"I didn't know you were here, Mae…" she replied, looking between the two of them, her suspicion plain on her face. "Go put your pants on, Mae. And socks and shoes."
"I'm not leaving!"
"Do it, Mae. Now."
"Ugh, fine!"
She stormed off, heading upstairs.
"Can I, uh, help you?" Trent asked.
"Yes, you can. The man who owned this house is dead. So no one's supposed to be in here. And yet you are clearly inside of it. Got an excuse?" she asked.
"Yeah. I own the house," Trent replied.
"...uh-huh," the woman, who he now couldn't help but think of as Mall Cop, replied skeptically.
Trent sighed and decided to get in front of this before it spiraled out of control. He didn't trust cops, although there was something decidedly sane and reasonable about this woman. Even if she was related to Mae.
Maybe that's why they didn't like each other.
"I'm Trent Sinclair," he said. "My great-uncle was William Sinclair. I was informed that he had passed away and I'm the sole recipient of his will. He left everything to me. I just arrived in town tonight. I legally own this house."
"Got an ID to prove that?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm going to reach into my pocket," he replied.
"Slowly," she said.
He wanted to be mad at her for her paranoia, but even with his distrust of cops, he couldn't. Too many people probably said they were reaching for their wallet or something and then came up with a knife or a pistol.
Trent pulled out his wallet and passed her his ID. She studied it, shining the flashlight on it, looked up at his face, studied him, then nodded and passed it back.
"All right, sorry. Things have been...very strange around here the past month," she said.
"It's fine. Actually, I was going to ask, uh...what happened?"
"With what?"
"To my great-uncle? No one actually told me what happened. How he died. All they said was there was an 'ongoing investigation' and they couldn't reveal the details for legal reasons."
"...oh. Yes. I'm afraid I can't say anything further. All I can say is that he's buried up at the church now, and you can pay your respects there, if you like. Mae knows the way, her mom works up there," she replied awkwardly.
"Like seriously? You won't tell me anything?"
"I could get in a lot of trouble, it's all legal stuff," she said, and the tone of her voice was genuinely apologetic.
Something thudded heavily upstairs, followed shortly by, "Motherfucker!"
"Why, exactly, is my niece in your house?" the woman asked. She put a specific emphasis on the 'my niece' part.
"She walked me home from the bus station, we hit if off, she asked to hang out," he replied, hoping he didn't seem too suspicious.
"...uh-huh. Well, I promise to tell you as soon as the investigation closes. I also need to talk with Mae alone."
"Okay. Any particular reason?"
"It's private."
"...all right."
"Okay Aunt Mall Cop, what do you want? I've got my pants on, or was that it?" Mae asked as she came back downstairs.
"Step outside for a minute, Mae. I have a few questions to ask you."
"Ugh, for real? Can't you just ask me now?"
"Outside, Mae."
"Oh my Gawd!" She looked at Trent. "Sorry. I'll brb."
"Okay."
She stepped outside and her aunt closed the door firmly behind them. He stepped a little closer, listening, feeling at once both compelled and guilty about doing it. What the hell was going on? Whenever her aunt spoke, her tones were quiet, words too vague to make out. Though it was clear she was asking questions.
Whenever Mae spoke she might as well have been on a megaphone.
"What, no! Of course not!...no! Jesus Mall Cop, not everyone's a psycho!...no, I haven't! Fine, smell my breath! Look into my nightmare eyes!" A long pause, then her aunt talking. Quietly but sternly. Whatever she was saying, it either supplicated or subdued Mae because she didn't interrupt for awhile. He listened closely, heard the words dangerous and careful and nothing else. Finally Mae spoke up again, sounding quieter, but still loud enough to hear clearly. "Yeah, okay, I got it. Message heard. But he's nice, okay?...yeah, I will...okay, bye."
Trent stepped back as the door opened up and Mae walked in.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"It's fine," he said.
"I'm going back upstairs to take my pants off again because it's a free country, Aunt Mall Cop!" she snapped, regaining some of her fire as she stomped upstairs.
Her aunt sighed heavily as she came to stand in the open doorway again. "That is is, Mae," she replied mildly. Trent returned his attention to her. "Well, uh, welcome to Possum Springs. I hope you aren't here to cause problems. We have enough of those."
"What kind of problems?" he asked. Now he was suspicious.
"...I'm not at liberty to discuss that. Just...be nice to Mae. She's been through a lot. She doesn't need anymore pain."
"I fully intend to be very nice to Mae and all the people she's going to introduce me to apparently. I already met her parents."
"Interesting, I'm surprised she didn't mention that." She sighed. "Of course I'm not surprised, what am I saying? Well, you live right behind them. Just, uh...keep an eye out. I'm not sure if it's over yet," she muttered.
"If what's over?" he asked.
"The trouble. I have to go. See about getting that license updated."
"Uh...sure."
They both looked over as another car pulled up behind her aunt's car. Mae was returning as someone in a beanie and a coat, a dark gray cat with light green eyes, he saw, approached holding a pair of big plastic bags.
"Uh...I got a delivery?" he asked.
"Danny!" Mae cried, making all three of them jump. "You brought the tacos! That's the best! Taco Buck! Get in here!"
"Uh...I gotta get back to work," he said awkwardly. "Um. Hi Officer Molly."
"Hello, Danny. I was just leaving." She walked away. "Remember what I said Mae," she added before getting into her car and saying something into a radio, then driving off.
"Yeah thanks," Mae muttered, then took the plastic bags from Danny when he offered them. "Actually thanks to you, Dan the Man, Bringer of Tacos! I am become Mae, Destroyer of Tacos!"
"Uh, yeah," Danny said. "Have a good night."
"Thanks," Trent said.
The guy named Danny walked away, back to his car. Trent looked around for a moment, saw no one else lurking about, then closed the door, then locked it. He saw Mae back at the couch, digging into the bags.
"Oh man, I just realized, he saw me in my underwear!" she said, then cackled uproariously. Then she paused and looked at Trent. "Does that make me a bad girlfriend? Or one night stand? Uh...whatever I am to you?"
"No, it's fine," he replied, sitting next to her. "Are our drinks in one of those bags? Because I just realized he didn't give us any."
"Oh that bastard, if he denies me my Fiasco I'mma shank his ass," Mae growled, pulling the bags open. "Okay, good. Danny gets to live another day," she said as she pulled out one of those molded cardboard(?) drink-holders. She set it on the table, then started pulling out lots of tacos. "Oh man, Taco Buck is so good. I'm still making up for the tacos I vomited in the woods."
"Why did you vomit tacos in the woods?" he asked as he sorted through the various condiments. They'd stuffed four different kinds of hot sauce and some sour cream packets and...ketchup? Why? Mayo? On a taco? Why?
"I was drunk," she said.
"In the woods."
"Yeah. My ex was there. It was lame."
"So you have dated before?"
"Yeah. I said I kissed...once. Sorta. But like, ugh, it sucked. We went to prom. It was a nightmare. It was just this party in the woods that happened right after I got back into town. And I was scared. So I started drinking to calm down. But mom and dad made tacos beforehand. And I can never say no to tacos. And like, beer hits me hard, I guess. I drank too much too fast because I was too scared. And so I vomited tacos. And I feel guilty about that. Because they were good tacos and they didn't deserve that and I wanted to finish digesting them."
"So this is your penance?" he asked.
"Yes."
They stared eating and for several long, heavenly minutes there was simply the consumption of fast food tacos and soda.
And she was right: Taco Buck was amazing. It was by far better than any taco place he'd had back home.
Mae went through her food pretty fast. When she was done, she sat back, settling into the couch and putting her feet up on the coffee table, then got an unhappy look on her face.
"What's wrong now?" Trent asked. "These are amazing."
"They are," she agreed, "it's not the tacos. It's just...I thought I'd be different. It's supposed to make you, like, different."
"What is?"
"Losing your virginity. Like, everyone makes such a big deal out of it. God, I had to wait until I was twenty to lose my freaking virginity."
"That's how old I was, and it's worse if you're a guy," Trent replied.
"...yeah, I guess so. People are so mean about that. Kinda goes in the other direction for girls, huh? But it's also some of the same. Like there must be something wrong with you. You're trash and ugly and no one wants you. You can't even get a pity lay...but I thought I'd be different. Like it's supposed to change you...maybe more time needs to pass?"
"It's a lie," Trent said.
"What?" she asked, startled, looking over at him.
"It's a lie," he repeated, more firmly. "You don't change. I wasn't any different. It's just another thing that happens, you know? Like when you graduate. Or get your license. Or go to college. Only honestly it's kind of less than that, like as an event. But I know what you mean. I kind of tricked myself into believing I was different. Like I was better after I'd finally gotten laid. But really, I was just the same loser."
"I don't think you're a loser," she said.
"You don't really know me, to be honest."
"I guess that's fair."
"I don't think you're trash."
"Well, you don't know me either."
"Yeah. But if it makes you feel any better, I think you're hot. And I don't necessarily need to know you for that. I saw you naked. So like...yeah."
"What are you a chubby chaser or something?" she asked.
"No, not really...can't you just take a compliment?"
She sat up straighter and opened her mouth, then growled and reached up and flicked her mangled ear. "Sorry," she mumbled, crossing her arms and looking away.
"I'm not trying to make you mad. I'm sorry, I'm being an asshole."
"No I'm being an asshole," she muttered. "I'm just cranky. I have a headache. I get those a lot." She yawned. "Where are we gonna sleep tonight?"
"I'm not sure. Although this couch looks kinda big, I think it might be a foldout couch...what were you and your aunt talking about?" he asked suddenly.
She sighed and rolled her eyes, then grabbed one of the sauce packets off the table, tore it open, and drained it directly into her mouth. "She wanted to make sure you weren't like taking advantage of me or something. That I wasn't DRINKING, or DOING DRUGS, or having UNPROTECTED SEX."
"You were totally doing that last one," he said.
She giggled. "Yeah. It felt so good. Oh man, sex!" She sat up and tossed the empty sauce packet back onto the table. "Sex is amazing! I can't get over it!"
He laughed. "It's pretty great."
She yawned again and rubbed at one eye. "Ugh, so friggin' tired. This is like the worst time to be tired! You're going to think I'm lame! It's only like nine o'clock!"
"It's fine, Mae. I'm tired too."
"Can we do it again?"
Trent frowned. It was a bad idea. He definitely shouldn't have unprotected sex with her again.
Definitely not.
"Yeah okay," he said.
"Yay! Are you gonna bust on me again?"
"Probably."
"Ugh, we'll have to take another shower."
"Is that really a problem?"
"...no."
"Okay, we need to give it a little time, though. My stomach is full," he said.
"Ugh. Me too. Tacos, you betrayed me!"
An hour and a half later, they laid on the folded out couch, having salvaged the pillows from upstairs, using the blanket they'd grabbed from the closet.
Trent had cleaned everything up, and they'd done it again and it had been fucking awesome again. He'd come close to letting off inside of her and it had been a near thing, but he'd made a mess on her stomach once more, and she'd complained, and then they'd showered.
Now she was laying naked against him, and it felt good.
"...not cute," she mumbled sleepily.
"What?" he asked.
"You're not a cute boy," she murmured, shifting and yawning.
"Wow, thanks, Mae. Is this like you checking my ego or something? Because lemme promise you, it's in check," Trent replied
"No, no...not being mean...it's good. I like it. You're not a cute boy. They're so overrated. My ex was so cute, a cute boy. And I hated being with him. Sorta. But you aren't cute. You're...different. You look kinda weird. But good weird. It's good. You look like a horror author." She fell silent for a long moment. "Are you mad at me?"
"No, I like it," he said. "I look like a horror author. That's way better than being a cute boy."
She giggled tiredly. "Yes, it is...gonna sleep now...do you promise?" she whispered.
"Promise what?" he asked.
"To be nice to me. So many people...mean to me…"
"I promise to be nice to you, Mae," he said, and kissed her forehead.
"Thank you…"
Then she was out like a light.
Trent laid there on his foldout couch, the fire crackling, holding a girl who was practically a stranger, in a strange town, and felt…
Good.
And then he was asleep.