"All right, to avoid any awkwardness, or at least head it off as much as we can, there's a few things you need to know about Jackie-are you listening?" Bea asked.

"Uh...yeah," Trent replied.

"Trent, you are doing a terrible job lying to me."

"I'm listening! I'm just...distracted. You're...distracting," he murmured.

"For real?"

"For real," Mae said from the back seat. "You're so hot tonight, Bea. Like...oh my lord."

"She's right," Ann said.

"I...really?" she asked, glancing briefly in the rearview. They had all piled into Trent's Jeep and she had asked to drive, which made enough sense to Trent, given she knew the way. Although he still found it a little odd that she'd asked. Normally, if she wanted to drive, she suggested taking her own.

"Yeah, you're, like, so fucking hot right now," Trent said. And lord, was she ever. She'd spent awhile applying makeup. She was wearing one of her very tight black dresses, really low-cut, fishnet stockings, black boots, and fingerless leather gloves. She was also wearing the necklace he'd given her for Longest Night, as well as the choker collar she liked to wear. Now more than ever, it seemed, after he'd told her how fucking hot it was.

"I was worried it was too much eye shadow…"

"No, you look amazing," Mae whispered.

"You sound, like, hypnotized," Bea said, laughing.

"I kinda am."

"Me too," Trent said.

"Well," she snapped her fingers, "snap outta it, because I need you to pay attention for at least a minute."

Trent shook his head, reminded himself that he had a semi-legal substance in his pocket, which sobered him, and focused up. "Okay, I'm here."

Bea giggled. "Good. Now. Jackie. The things you really need to know about her, to avoid any potential awkwardness, because I know that some people just kind of fumble over certain things: Jackie's trans. She is also, like, super intense. Very, very anti-fascist. She's also sharp and smart. Smarter than me, honestly. But she's nice...if she likes you. If not, she will not hesitate to tell you to fuck off."

"She sounds like, um...a lot," Ann murmured.

"She is, but she's a great person. She's just...aggressive. I'm sure she'll like you, though. Both you and Ann. We'll need to, uh, smooth things over with Mae," Bea said.

"She's hated me, like, her whole life," Mae replied glumly.

Bea sighed heavily. "That's kind of my fault."

"I think she didn't like me since elementary school."

"You're right, I think, but I...let's just say I was really mad at you when you just stopped talking to me. And jealous that you got to go to college and I didn't. And I'm sorry. I'm still picking up the pieces. But I can fix this."

Mae was silent for several seconds, and Trent could see her processing. Finally, she just said, "Okay."

Bea seemed relieved, but now the pressure was on her to actually fix it, and Trent wondered if she actually could.

"I am kinda excited about this, though. Last time I just had Gregg and Angus there for backup and they were kinda busy with each other but now I've got, like, hella backup! My boyfriend and my girlfriend and my best friends!"

"Speaking of that…" Ann said.

"Yeah?" Mae asked.

"So, I'm not saying I necessarily want you to, like, shout it from the rooftops or anything, but I've come to a decision...I don't care if people know I'm dating you two."

"Whoa, holy shit, really?" Bea asked.

"Yeah."

"Wow," Trent murmured. "Does that mean I can kiss you in public?"

"Asking the real questions here!" Mae said.

"Mmm...yeah but nothing like super PDA. Also nothing around my mom still. I don't think she'll understand and I'm not looking to rub her face in it, but, like...that's not my problem. I'm tired of suppressing myself for the sake of other people, especially this fucking ungrateful town. Like Mae said, my reputation's tanked anyway, who fucking cares if 'whore' gets added to 'loser' and 'druggie' and 'criminal' and 'bitch'?"

"Jeez, Ann, have people really said that to your face? Because if anyone does I think I'm gonna take a page out of Mae's book and throw a wrench at their faces," Trent said.

"Welcome to the Dark Side!" Mae cried. "And I will introduce some faces to pavement too, Selmers!"

"No, people haven't really said it to my face, but they have said it at times they knew I could overhear them, or times they thought I couldn't. I've heard it all. I don't fucking care anymore. I've got you guys, and my mom, and that works for me."

"I can make out with two people at the party now!" Mae cried.

Ann laughed. "Mae, your priorities are so clear."

"They are! Tired of jerks always making out at parties, holding it over me!"

"I doubt that's what most of them were doing," Bea said.

"They were! Every time high school jerks or college idiots are making out at parties, it's all 'oh look at me I'm not single like you losers!', am I right?!"

"Kinda feels that way sometimes," Trent said.

"Maybe," Bea admitted. "But I doubt it's most of them. I mean is that what you're gonna be thinking when you make out with Trent or Ann?"

"No...I mean, not really."

"What will you be thinking?" Ann asked.

"That making out is awesome and all these pedestrians have one boyfriend or girlfriend and I have a boyfriend and a girlfriend and they're both super awesome!"

"I know I'm going to regret this but...never change, Mae," Bea said.

Mae cackled gleefully. "I never will!"

Bea sighed. "Yep, definitely gonna regret that in the future when Mae burns our house down or something."

"Our?! So you're gonna move in?!" Mae cried.

"Yes, Mae. At some point in the next month, if you all are still cool with it."

"I am so fucking cool with it!" she yelled.

"Wow, take it down a notch," Bea replied.

"Sorry but come on, coolest shit ever! I get to live with boyfriend and girlfriend and best friend!? This is amazing!"

"You're like a can of soda that got shaken hard," Ann said, giggling.

"I am!" she cried, bouncing in her seat.

"Thank God we're almost there," Bea muttered. "You can run around in the woods. Just don't fall down any ravines. Or get shot. Or crack your skull."

"You're starting to sound like Gregg," Mae replied, giggling.

"I'm saying that you should be careful not to, not that it's too bad these things didn't happen to you, weirdo."

Mae just giggled madly in response.

"Wow, if I wasn't absolutely sure she wasn't drunk or fucked up on something, I'd think she was drunk or fucked up on something," Ann murmured.

"I'm high on life! Gregg will understand!"

Bea parked and killed the engine. "Probably. Go run in the woods with him, I gotta talk with Jackie and Trent anyway."

"Why me?" he asked.

"She's gonna want to meet you. I've mentioned that there's a...man in my life now. She got real suspicious. I think she thinks I'm dating someone like Chris." Bea shuddered. "God. Let's go disabuse her of that notion immediately."

"You talk so smart," Trent said as they all got out. Well, Mae fell out, immediately bounced back up, and then took off running and cackling. Trent looked around. They had parked in a patch of dirt at the end of a long gravel road, right up against a forest.

"I was valedictorian," Bea replied.

"I think I'm gonna go watch Mae and make sure she doesn't, like, break something," Ann said.

"Ahh! Gregg! Angus! Hi!" Mae cried as she ran back towards them, away from the gathering of people just beyond the treeline as Angus parked Bea's car near Trent's Jeep.

"Mae! Hi! Holy shit! Why the running!?" Gregg replied.

"I'm so happy!" she yelled and then leaped at him. He let out a shout and then Mae crashed into him and they both went down, laughing and then wrestling with each other.

"Ugh, Mae, how are you this strong!?" Gregg cried.

Angus came to stand next to Trent, Bea, and Ann, all of them staring down at the pair. "They're like kids when they're around each other and in just the right mood," Angus murmured.

"Apparently," Bea replied.

"I think it's sweet," Ann said. "Everyone's too serious. This is fun."

"Yeah okay, I'll give you that...by the way, what prompted your sudden change of heart?" Bea asked.

"What change of heart?" Angus asked.

"I don't care if people know that me and Trent and Mae are dating," Ann replied. "As for what? The date. We went out on a date, Trent and I, and like, it was fun. And got me thinking. About a lot of things. Ultimately that was where I ended up. Dennis used to...I had a really unhealthy relationship, and he made me keep a lot of things about myself suppressed, and I decided while I was in prison 'fuck that'. And I realized I was doing it again, so fuck that."

"That makes sense," he replied after considering it. "I'm glad you're happy Ann."

"Thanks...are you happy?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm definitely happy right now."

"Then I'm glad you're happy, too, Angus."

"Thanks."

"What are you giggling about over there?" Ann asked, looking at Bea.

"I was just thinking. Have you ever seen that meme of The Force Awakens, where it's Rae pointing at Finn and saying, 'This is my boyfriend', then pointing at Poe and saying, 'And this is his boyfriend'? That's what you're gonna end up like."

"Maybe I will," Ann replied with a shrug.

"I win!" Mae cried and leaped to her feet and ran off.

"Bullshit get back here!" Gregg cried, scrambling up and after her.

"Wow, they are really full of piss and vinegar tonight," Angus muttered.

"Yep."

"Better go make sure they don't break anything or knock anyone over," he said, and headed off.

"Yep," Ann agreed, and followed after him.

"I need to find-oop, there she is. There's Jackie."

Trent saw someone coming towards them, stalking towards them really.

Jackie turned out to be a tan, black-horned goat who was a few inches shorter than Bea. She wore red glasses and had several piercings around her eyes and in her ears. She wore dark blue pants and a dark blue shirt, black boots, and heavy black jacket.

As she approached, Trent was suddenly reminded of the first time Mae had faced down Chris, how, even though he had a good foot on her, she seemed to tower over him with her presence, her intensity. Jackie seemed like that. She was average height, maybe a little under average weight, but there was just something to her.

She was intense.

"Jackie," Bea said.

"Bea," Jackie replied as she walked right up to them and stopped. She looked Trent up and down in an appraising sort of way, almost a challenging sort of way. "So, this is the 'man in your life', hmm?" she asked.

"Yeah...can we talk in the Jeep? I don't want to be overheard," Bea said, casting a nervous glance at the gathering. Trent could see maybe a dozen people or so in the woods.

"Fine," Jackie said.

Trent ended up laying the back seat down flat, (something he'd discovered he could do only after he'd fucked Ann back here), and they all sat cross-legged in the space it afforded them, roughly in a triangle.

"I'm Trent. It's good to meet you, Jackie," Trent said.

"Uh-huh. You've got some explaining to do, Trent, because I've seen you around Possum Springs with Mae Borowski. Kissing and holding hands," Jackie replied, her voice flat.

Bea held up her hands. "Jackie, you can cool it," she said. "It's-we're poly."

Jackie gave her a curious look. "I thought you were straight," she said finally.

"I am. I'm dating him. He's dating Mae. And Selma. Who is also dating Mae."

Jackie stared at her for a long time, occasionally glancing over at Trent. "...how did this happen? I have got to know, because the last time I encountered you and Mae together, she absolutely fucked up your chance to hook up and you ran away crying."

"I was not crying, oh my lord," Bea muttered, blushing.

"But you did run away. And Mae ran after you. And then I barely saw the two of you again after that. Just a quick goodbye, 'everything's fine', and then you had to go home. So…"

"That's something else I needed to talk to you about. To answer your question, um...it will take a long time, and there's a party. Short answer: so much shit went down after that. Like, life-changing shit. So, yeah. But I also need to talk to you about Mae. You've gotta be nice to her. I know you think she's an asshole, but like...Jackie, she's got serious mental health issues. Unresolved ones. Actually, exacerbated mental health issues because the only person she ever went to see about it was Doctor Hank and he specifically told her to repress her problems. When she was fourteen. And she's got something seriously wrong, and I'm not saying that's an excuse for all the shit she's done, but I was wrong about her, okay? She's actually really sweet, and fun, and funny, and she's my best friend. So...yeah," Bea said.

Jackie was silent for a long moment. Finally, she looked at Trent. "I want to speak with Bea alone."

"All right," he said, "I can respect that." He turned to Bea. "Kiss?"

"Kiss," she said, and leaned in. They shared a kiss and he began to get out.

"Trent," Jackie said. He glanced back at her. "It's good to meet you, too."

He nodded and then got out and shut the door behind him, then began heading for the treeline. As far as first impressions went, he thought he'd probably made at least a decent one. But it was out of his hands now.

Trent took a look around as he came into the clearing the party was taking place in. There was a bonfire roaring at the center of it. A few picnic tables were scattered around, each sporting a keg and a ton of plastic cups and not a lot else. Now that he had a better view of the area, he saw there were closer to two dozen people scattered about, mostly people that looked somewhere around his age. Some sat at the tables, some around the fire, some on logs a bit farther out. Someone was playing guitar. Mostly people were talking.

It was a lot more chill than he'd expected.

He saw that even Mae and Gregg had relaxed a bit by now. They, as well as Angus, Ann, and a couple other people Trent didn't recognize, were gathered around a stump near the fire. Mae was gesturing at the ground beside it, laughing.

As Trent approached, someone said "Nightmare eyes!"

"Yes!" Mae cried.

"Told you, new nickname! Make it stick!" Gregg declared.

"And it was right here, right on this very spot, that I desecrated the sacred tacos," Mae said, pointing again. "I still regret it."

"You really got vomit, blackout drunk on like three beers?" someone asked.

"I'm a super lightweight with the weakest stomach of all time," Mae replied.

"So this is where it happened, huh?" Trent asked.

"Trent! Yes! This is my boyfriend! All you guys always thought I'd never get another boyfriend after Cole but here he is! He's a writer!"

"Really?" someone asked, and the small group that had gathered looked at him.

"Uh, yeah. Sort of. I'm working on it," he replied. It occurred to him in that moment that he had come a really long way in a relatively short few months in terms of confidence, but there were some situations he was still not prepared for. Like this.

"What kind of stories do you write?"

"Are you published?"

"Is it in a bookstore?"

"We don't, like, have any bookstores…"

"Briddle does."

"I write horror, I'm not published, I'm going to self-publish. I've written two books and some short stories so far," Trent replied.

"Hey, my little brother said something about you guys making a horror movie with Lori M?" one of them, a bulldog in a leather jacket holding a plastic red cup, said.

"Yeah!" Mae cried. "I'm gonna be a killer! I already killed Trent and Bea on screen. I don't really know who else might be involved."

"Do you think she might let me be in it?" another one of the party-goers, a rat in ripped jeans, asked.

"No idea, but she'd probably be happy for actors," Trent replied.

"Bea? Is she here?" someone else asked.

"Yeah, she's talking with Jackie in my Jeep."

"That's your Jeep?...where did you actually come from? I don't remember you from anywhere," the bulldog asked.

"My great-uncle lived here. He died and I inherited his house…" Trent replied, starting to tell the whole tale again.

Well, some of it, at least. He was finding that there was a lot that needed to be left out. As the conversation kept going, he eventually tried to draw Ann in, noticing she was hanging back. She seemed a little anxious and he understood that. Despite her earlier assertions about not giving a fuck what people thought, it was different actually facing those people, especially after all she'd been through. And he did notice some people give her kind of a strange side glance when she became more involved in the conversation, but no one actually said anything.

At some point, the conversation petered off and Mae suddenly grabbed his hand. "Okay, I wanna make out with my boyfriend now!" she declared, and pulled him off towards the nearest trees.

"Wow, Mae," he said, letting her drag him along.

"What!? Last time there were some losers making out hella intense and I was pissed because I didn't have anyone to makeout with but now I do!"

"All right."

She giggled and took him back to a large log that was just barely visible in the firelight.

"Okay, sit," she said. He sat down. Still giggling, she sat on his lap and then kissed him. He laughed as she broke away with another giggle.

"It's gonna be difficult to makeout if you don't stop giggling," he said.

She kissed him again. "I know, loser! I can't help it! I'm giggly!"

"Apparently. Goofball."

"Punk bitch!"

He began to respond but she kissed him again and seem to get herself under control and then they were really kissing. The quiet moan Mae let out only invigorated him further and he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She deepened the kiss, pushing back with her own tongue, twisting them together, and her taste hit him hard. Her strange, unique taste that was wonderful to experience. She held him close to her and as they kissed, he caught snippets of other things. The crackling of the fire. Someone's car running. A guitar being played. The distant call of a train in the night. Muffled conversation. Someone laughing.

Then he heard a twig snap somewhere nearby, followed by, "Wow, guys. Really?"

They both came out of the near fugue state they were in and looked over.

"I'm kinda busy here!" Mae growled, then relaxed. "Oh...hi, Bea. Uh. Jackie."

"Hello, Mae," Jackie said.

Trent looked over and saw Bea and Jackie looking at them from between two of the trees, backlit by the bonfire.

"I just wanted makeouts," Mae said, getting up off his lap.

"I mean I'm not mad," Bea replied. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Aw, you're so sweet, Bea! All worried for your fwiend!" Mae said, grinning and clasping her hands together and tilting her head.

"This 'fwiend' is going to punch your dumb face in," Bea replied.

Mae laughed. "Sure, Bea. Well, boyfriend, I'm going to go hang out with Gregg and Angus! Bye!" She raced off again.

"Uh. Bye," Trent said, getting up.

"Hey, Mae, did you find any porn in that log!?" He heard Gregg shout from somewhere nearby.

"No, I was making log-porn!" Mae shouted back.

"You still having trouble snapping between things like that?" Bea asked as Trent walked over to her and Jackie.

"Yeah. I don't know how Mae can go from really intensely making out to running off to chat with her friends that fast, I'm still...in it," Trent muttered.

"I can help with that," Bea murmured quietly, stepping behind a nearby tree and leaning against it, just barely visible in the moonlight now, grinning at him.

"Can you now?" he asked, stepping up to her and putting his hands on her hips.

"Ugh, gross," Jackie muttered. "I'm leaving."

"See you later, Jackie," Bea replied.

"Whatever."

"Quietly," Bea said. "And quickly, while Mae has everyone distracted."

"Do you mean fucking or kissing?" he asked, sliding a hand up to one of her breasts.

She sighed. "Obviously I don't mean fucking!" she whispered harshly. "Now shut the hell up and kiss me."

He kissed her. She let out a little moan and kissed him back with a fierce, passionate intensity. The few seconds that they were kissing seemed to stretch out for a long time before she then gave him a little push and stood back up, straightening her clothes. "All right, no more PDA here."

"All right," he replied.

She smiled. "Thank you."

They walked back to the party and, besides a couple of people glancing at them, he was glad to see that if anyone had really noticed him and Bea back there, they weren't being obvious about it. Mae and Gregg were talking animatedly about something and Trent noticed more people had arrived. "Come on," Bea said, heading for one group of people that Jackie had gone over to while they were kissing, "let's socialize."

The next couple of hours passed in a strange, mostly pleasant way as he wandered around the party in the woods, sometimes talking to people, sometimes just listening to conversation. He'd never really gone to anything like this in his past life. And that was something he was thinking more and more: his past life. Calling it that. It was true. Coming to Possum Springs really felt like he had begun a new life, which was what he had been hoping for.

He'd just never thought that he would get this lucky.

When he did talk with people, mostly it was about writing, where he'd come from, stuff he'd done in town since moving, places he'd seen, people he'd met. He hung out with Bea, Ann, Mae, Gregg, and Angus at different parts of the night. The party had a surprisingly chill atmosphere. He thought that it would be louder, more aggressive, but mostly it was people sitting around, drinking, smoking, talking about whatever.

After awhile, he realized that he was starting to hit his limit for people, but he didn't quite want to leave. So he told Mae and Bea and Ann that he was going to go chill out by his Jeep and headed that way. He popped the trunk and sat in the back of the vehicle with his legs hanging over the edge, staring into the darkness of the forest that surrounded him, then he pulled out his phone and some earbuds, fired up some music, lit up a joint, and just smoked and relaxed. For a few minutes, he was alone and he just vibed.

Then he saw someone step around the side of his vehicle and briefly freaked, but it was Jackie, who he was still intimidated by, but not exactly scared of.

"Hey," she said when he pulled the earbuds.

"Hey, what's up?" he replied.

She seemed to consider what to say, then her eyes flicked briefly to the earbuds. "What are you listening to?"

"Passenger by Deftones," he replied.

She smiled. Her own smile seemed to catch her by surprise. "Featuring Maynard James fucking Keenan," she replied.

He offered one of the earbuds to her. "You want to listen?"

She again seemed to consider it, then nodded. He made some room and she sat in the back of the Jeep next to him. He gave her one of the earbuds and they each put one in. He restarted the track and then offered the joint. "You want a toke?"

"No, I'm straight edge," she replied. "Thanks, though," she added after some hesitation.

He nodded and got back to smoking. The two of them sat there together for the next six minutes and eight seconds, listening, relaxing, soaking in the forest night air and ambience. With one earbud out, he could hear the sounds of other people talking and laughing occasionally nearby. The wind through the trees. He heard Mae laugh loudly at one point and smiled. After killing half the joint, he stubbed it out on the bottom of his boot and pocketed it. He didn't need much, just enough to take the edge off.

"You doing okay?" Jackie asked after they'd finished the track.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just...socializing kinda takes it out of me. Puts me a little on edge. Especially after...well, a lot happened."

"Bea told me some of it...she said you got shot. And that you wouldn't mind that she told me because she trusts me, which means you can trust me too."

"Fair point," he replied. "Yeah, it wasn't all that bad, all things considered. Got away with some pain, a scar, and hospital bills that I'm tangling with right now. They wanted like twenty grand, but-"

"If you ask them for an itemization, you can usually knock a couple a grand off right away, because mostly it's bullshit," Jackie said.

"Yeah, that's what Bea told me. We're figuring it out." He hesitated for a bit. "Um, I get the impression you came back here for a reason."

"I did. Bea and I talked and...I have to admit, I was very nervous about it when she told me there was a guy in her life. And dear lord, when I found out tonight that you're also dating Mae Borowski of all people…" She sighed and took off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose. When he didn't say anything, she replaced her glasses and looked at him. "You aren't going to leap to her defense?"

"I love Mae," Trent replied simply. "I can understand why you would have problems with her. And Bea said she'd talk with you about it."

"Hmm. She did. And...I'll admit, it puts things in a certain new perspective now. And I've been watching Mae and listening to her most of the night and she...does seem better. Not just in terms of being an asshole, but she seems...healthier. Happier, at least. I...will be nice to Mae, for Bea's sake. But I'm not here to talk about Mae, I'm here to talk about you, and Bea."

"Let me see if I can get ahead of this," Trent replied. "You're going to tell me something like, 'if you hurt Bea, I'll gut you like a fish,' right?"

"...yes," Jackie admitted.

"Message received."

"You seem awfully calm about this."

"Don't take it personally. I've been through this already. Mae has threatened to cave my skull in if I ever hurt any of her friends. Bea's dad threatened to straight-up kill me. At this point, I'm used to it. Also, I feel bulletproof. I love Bea, I won't hurt her. I don't want to hurt people. I just want Bea to be happy. And Mae. And Ann. That's my goal."

Jackie looked at him for what felt like a long time. "Bea is a very close friend," she said eventually. "One of my best friends. I have tremendous respect for her. She was there for me for the darkest times in my life. Growing up in Possum Springs as trans-it was ugly. In some ways, it still is. Bea helped me, and supported me. So I try to do the same for her. She's so smart and hardworking and determined. And she didn't deserve the bad things that happened to her. I want good things to happen to her."

She fell silent again, now looking up at the sky.

"Do you think I'm good things?" Trent asked finally.

"Yes," she said after a moment longer. "She told me about Chris. As much as I respect Bea, I was worried she would end up dating someone like him. Or I was worried you were going to be an idiot, or a do-nothing loser who leaches off his girlfriend while she works her ass off. I've seen it too many times. Maybe you are that. I don't really know. She's admitted that soon all four of you won't have any actual jobs, once she quits the Pickaxe. But she also told me you promised to get her to Bright Harbor, and college, and that's her dream. People make promises all the time. Horny boys make promises to attractive women like Bea and Ann all the time. I want to believe you're more than empty promises, and I know that sometimes, not even we know who we'll be when we're forced to step up."

"You're very...blunt," Trent said.

"Yes. I am," she replied.

"I can respect that."

"The fact that you haven't gotten super defensive is a point in your favor."

He sighed. "I mean, you make valid points. I did promise that to Bea. I intend to do it, but...am I up for it? Can I do it? I don't know. I'm going to fucking try, really try, and keep trying. Right now, I just want to make them happy. I love Mae. I love Bea. I probably love Ann...we're working on figuring that out. I want what's best for them. And I can appreciate your position. You've grown up in the fucking Rust Belt, I imagine that you specifically have seen some of the absolute worst that humanity has to offer."

Jackie hugged herself suddenly. "It's gotten better...but yes, I have."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know but it's wrong, and it's fucking inexcusable that people treat other people like shit just because they don't conform...sorry, you don't need me to tell you that."

"It's appreciated. I know I'm intense, and hard to get along with, and difficult, and whatever else people say about me. It's because I learned that I need to fucking stand up for myself, and hard, or people will walk all over me and beat me down. It's gotten so that I can tell about people. People who hate me, people who are uncomfortable around me, people who are trying to be polite, people who actually respect me, people who just want nothing to do with me…"

"Where do I fall on that?"

"You seem to actually respect me. Bea said you're an ally."

"I'd say I am. Or at least I would try to be."

"And that's appreciated." She pursed her lips. "That bad habit...did you get Bea started on that?"

"The weed?" He considered it. "Uh...yeah. Guilty as charged."

Jackie laughed. "You're covering for Mae, aren't you?"

"...Ann, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's...she's been under a lot of stress. She had some on her when we met, she offered...it takes the edge off, you know? Eases pain, both physically and emotionally, helps with sleep, helps with anxiety, which we all need lately...I mean I'm not going to sit here and tell you it solves all problems, but it does help."

Jackie nodded. "I respect that. I'm straight edge but honestly I don't really see too much harm in some recreational use. I just don't want it for myself. For real though, I'm just giving you a little shit. Bea needs to chill, and based on some of the shit she mentioned that happened...I guess, yeah, all of you could use some chill in your life." She stared at him for another moment, then suddenly got back to her feet. "I could never in a million years understand anyone wanting to date Mae Borowski, but if there's something I've learned, it's that I don't necessarily need to understand something to respect it. And you seem good for Bea, like really good, so...don't fuck it up, all right?"

"I'll try very hard not to," Trent replied.

Jackie lingered a moment longer. "Thanks for the talk, and the music...and for being reasonable. They all said you're really reasonable and chill, and you are."

"It's what I aim for."

"You're doing well. See you around."

"See you."

Trent sat in the back of his Jeep for a few minutes more, then finally got up and started heading back to the party.