AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey so, I kinda screwed up on posting chapters and accidentally skipped a chapter. The only way to fix it that I know of was to take down the chapter I just posted and the one before it. There was a whole section in between Trent and Molly leaving the pond and then masturbating together. Really, really sorry about that. It's fixed now.

This was it.

It was the following day and Trent had prepped himself as much as he could. Ann had gotten up with him and helped him sharpen up. He resented it but he knew that she was right: he'd be taken more seriously if he at least tried to put in an effort on his appearance.

He tried to run through everything in his mind as he pulled out his phone and started calling Bea. Ann and Molly were hanging out at his place. So was Claire. They'd decided this would be best so that Colleen didn't hear something from overhead and freak out for some reason. She seemed pretty wound up and this was fairly high stakes.

Candy was home. Jacob should be there by now. Stan should, too. Bea's dad had given him an extra long lunch break so he could come home and be there for this (even if he didn't know what 'this' was, given the secrecy). They should have the place ready by then. They had decided to give it a nice clean, at least the ground floor. Both Candy and Jacob said they'd seriously thought about the issues they wanted to tackle, and there had been a long list, but they had also narrowed it down to three issues each.

He had spent a bit workshopping things with Bea over Chattrbox, mostly their plan for helping out. She'd been assembling an overhauled version of the website, building it from a blank template on Squarespace, and he had finally had a chance to see it just a bit ago and it actually looked great. Even if it was basically just a scaffold of what the website would look like, it was a lot better than the one they had now.

Trent had also put together a rough sketch of an idea of a short story set in Possum Springs, basically just an (ideally) well-written tour of the town as a protagonist shows up, looking for a distant relative's grave. It seemed like a good way to blend both the actual geography of the town with its history, without being too 'edutainment' about it. He had also written up a list of things he could assemble descriptions of and had made a mockup of his description of the church. It felt a little like writing a high school history assignment, he had found as he'd written it (just an hour ago), but far less tedious.

Maybe it was because he knew that, this time around, it would actually matter.

"Hey babe," Bea answered.

"Hey...you okay?" he asked. There was something in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Mae is...having difficulties. She's hanging out with Gregg and Angus right now. I think it's like actually really hitting her that this is a thing that's happening and her life is going to change again, and for the worse. But she's not, like, freaking out or anything. I'm at the hotel room. I'm ready to do this," she explained.

"Okay." He paused, feeling a sudden and almost overwhelming urge to call Mae and see if she was feeling all right. He pushed it aside, partially because he had a serious responsibility coming up, but mostly because he knew Mae would be pissed that he wasn't tending to that responsibility. He made himself focus. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Bea replied.

"Okay, going in now."

He walked in through the back door, slipping his phone into the front pocket of his button-down shirt and tightening his grip on his laptop. He found Candy, Stan, and Jacob all sitting around the table. They seemed amicable but nervous.

"Everything okay?" Jacob asked as he walked in.

"So far, yep," Trent replied. "Got Bea on the phone. Oh, I should put it on speaker," he muttered, setting his laptop down and extracting his phone. He activated the speaker and then set it down on the table.

"Thank you for helping with this, Bea," Candy said.

"You're welcome, Candy," she replied. "I wish I'd had more time to put together the website."

"It looks really good, babe," Trent said.

"I guess so." He sighed and opened up his laptop. "Are you showing them?"

"Yes, I am."

"I guess that's a good idea. This all feels...like a lot."

"It's okay, it is a lot," Candy said.

"Yeah," Stan murmured.

"Here we go," Trent said as he logged back in and put the fake website into view mode. He turned it around and it showed it to them.

"Wow, that does look a hell of a lot slicker," Jacob muttered.

"Yes, certainly," Candy said, reaching out and clicking on a few of the pages. "I mean it's a million times better simply like this, but I do also think it could be a government website."

"It's still pretty basic," Bea replied.

"Oh hey, this page has something," Stan said.

"Yeah, I made a mockup article," Trent replied.

"Wow, you wrote this?" Candy murmured. "That's impressive...you look really sharp today," she added.

"Uh...thanks," he replied, then cleared his throat.

"Keep it in your pants, Candy," Stan said and Jacob chuckled.

"I am," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"We are going to have to be...careful," Trent murmured.

"Yeah…" Bea said.

"We've already agreed that we aren't letting anything slip that we don't have to," Jacob said.

"Car door," Trent said as he heard it, standing up and walking towards the front door. He hesitated, then looked back. "Maybe someone else should answer it."

"No, you set this up. She came to you. You answer it," Jacob replied, and Candy and Stan nodded.

Feeling awkward but also weirdly...was that pride? He wasn't sure what it felt like. It seemed strange. Trent opened the front door as there was a sharp rap on it. There stood Colleen, looking smart and trim in sleek black business casual. It was noon on the dot.

"Are we good?" she asked.

"Yes, we're good. Come in," Trent replied.

She stepped in, looked around for a moment, then waited for him to lead her back to the kitchen. He did.

"Hello," Colleen said, scrutinizing them closely. "So who are your picks?"

"Candy and Jacob," Trent replied.

"I'm just here for support," Stan muttered.

"Also, Beatrice Santello is on speaker," Trent said, pointing to his phone resting on the table.

"Hi," Bea said.

"Hmm," Colleen murmured.

She put a hand to her chin and studied them intensely. Trent studied her just as intensely. She could play her emotions close to her chest, he could see that. But he thought that the fact that she hadn't had an immediate negative reaction meant that this might actually work. The pause drew out for what felt like a very long time.

"Candy, what would you do if you achieved the seat?" she asked finally. "As in, first real plan of action. Just one thing."

"Secure funding to fix the goddamned water systems in this town," she replied almost immediately.

"All right. And you, Jacob?"

"The roads," he said. "I'd fix the damn roads. I've crunched the numbers: there's a higher quality pavement out there that we can get. We can rip out our old streets, one by one, and lay this new shit in. Altogether, the project can be completed across nine months if we do it right."

"I am...deeply curious to see your numbers," Colleen replied.

"I've got a paper here," he said, patting his front pocket. "I've been working the roads for twenty five years now. I've done my research. If we keep it tight and adhere to a strict schedule, and get a little government funding, the roads will pay for themselves in about four years. Plus...you just can't beat a new road, psychologically speaking. The people will see it as an obvious and massive win for the town, and out-of-towners will see it and think we're better than we really are."

"Hmm. Candy, do you have a plan for the plumbing?" she asked.

"I have a few ideas, but I do not have the expertise that Jacob does."

"Fair enough. All right, next question: what are you hiding? Because it might come up. This is a small town, everyone knows everyone, and so everyone knows everything."

"Everyone thinks they know everything," Bea muttered over the phone.

"I suppose that's true, but it only takes one. So, secrets." Jacob leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. Candy stared back at Colleen inscrutably. "I see. Well, Candy, all I have on you are the obvious things. Like your daughter. And your breaking and entering in high school."

She sighed. "Everyone breaks and enters in high school, and anyone can find that."

"Indeed. I also know about…" She paused and looked regretfully at Stan. "I do apologize, but your drinking."

Now he sighed, less defensively and more remorsefully. "Yeah. Ain't a secret."

"I'm reluctant to say that I don't anticipate this upcoming election will be a serious heat, but it might be. You never know. All I'm saying is that whatever secrets you have may be used against you, and viciously. And you, Jacob, sell weed. I am also aware of the Lunar Nineteen Ninety incident."

He groaned and uncrossed his arms. "We don't talk about that."

"I don't blame you," she murmured.

"Now I'm really curious," Trent said.

"Not talking about it," Jacob said flatly. He thought he heard Bea suppressing a laugh.

"Fair enough," he replied.

"Besides that, I've got nothing but rumors. Now you," she said, turning and looking squarely at Trent, "are going to be a problem."

"Am I?" he asked.

"Yes. You are. I smelled weed at your place, legal or not, it's going to carry negative connotations among the older voters. It is also obvious that you are in a very...unusual relationship...situation."

"I'm poly," he replied. "And I'm not going to apologize for it."

"I know, and I'm not asking you to. But we can't ignore the fact that you are going to be tied to this. Not very publicly, but it will be obvious enough to anyone who cares to look. That you are dating Mae Borowski also complicates things. Because of what she did and because she's Candy's daughter. Your great-uncle being a member of that wretched cult also complicates things."

"I don't suppose it would help to say that I had no knowledge of that, at all?" Trent replied.

"It won't, but only because if I thought that you were actually in any way tied to that cult, I never would have come to see you in the first place."

"Good to know."

"Have anything to say for yourself?"

"I won't be stupid," Trent replied. "I'm not going to smoke weed in public or make an ass of myself...not intentionally. I'm not going to smear my name all over this anymore than I have to, given you came to me for help. I will step back if it means Candy and Jacob and Bea can stay involved."

Colleen continued studying him silently, frowning. Bea suddenly spoke up. "Why can't we just spin this as a 'weird writer lifestyle'?" she asked. "People might not eat it up, but they'll buy it and shrug probably."

"That...could work. And the cult thing has faded by now. I think people just want to forget it. Hmm. There's also the issue of your other girlfriend, Selma, she's–" Trent sat up straighter and popped his neck, zeroing his sights on her a little more. "–a liability. I'm sorry, I'm genuinely not trying to be insulting, I'm merely trying to tell you the cold truth as bluntly as I can."

"Ann is her name now," Trent said.

"Very well, Ann then. She is a liability."

"So what are you suggesting?" he asked.

"Nothing, I'm merely stating that her presence could cause issues. She has a poor reputation in this town."

"I don't care," Trent replied flatly.

"Fair enough, moving along." She returned her attention to the others, then focused on Jacob. "Why are you doing this? I want to know. I mean really, not a politician's answer. Tell me plainly."

"Plainly? Well, I've been helping keep this town together, quite literally, for decades now. I've been sick of how the people in charge have been screwing it up. Trent asked me and I thought long and hard about it and finally decided it was time to put my money where my mouth was and step up to the plate. I'm doing this because I give a shit about Possum Springs. Because, let's face it, I'm dying in this town. I'm never moving away. And I love this town, and I love my family, and I want to leave Possum Springs a better place than when I got here," he said.

"Candy? Same question," Colleen said, looking to her.

"Pretty much the same as Jacob. I've had my issues, but I love Possum Springs. And as I was sitting here thinking about it, after Trent had asked me," she glanced at him briefly and smiled, "of all the little things I kept seeing around town and wishing I could fix. Now I can. At least some of them. And this just feels...right."

Colleen frowned deeply suddenly. "Wait, are you two fucking?" she asked, looking between Candy and Trent.

"No," they both replied immediately.

Colleen sighed heavily. "You have got to be kidding me."

"We said no," Candy replied.

"Your mouths said no, every other part of you said yes."

"Well, even if that were true, it's nobodies business what we theoretically do or don't do," Candy replied firmly.

"Yes, I know that. Plenty of things are nobodies business, but that can still tank careers." She sighed and shook her head. "Okay, I can handle this. I am officially comfortable with taking this to the next level."

"So we're going to be on the city council?" Jacob asked.

"The next level is you two and myself chatting about the job more. I want another week to be completely sure this isn't an insane idea."

"Wait, I've got a question," Trent said.

"Fire away," Colleen replied.

"You seem to know all that stuff about Jacob and Candy, like you had it ready to go, but you didn't know who I was going to pick as candidates. So how'd you know?"

"I made some assumptions based off the available information," she replied.

"Huh. So...you guessed it'd be these two? No one else?"

"I figured it would be these two, yes. I also thought that perhaps Stan or Allen Santello might be being considered as well. So I did my research. Now…" She focused more intently on Trent. "You said you would have something to show me. I believe I've done my part."

"Yep," Trent replied, and turned the laptop around to show her.

She walked over and studied it. Her face was a mostly expressionless mask of concentration as she began navigating the site. A few uncomfortable minutes passed. Finally, she set the laptop back down.

"Trent. Bea. You delivered. If you can turn in this level of work consistently, then I believe we have a deal."

"So what exactly is the deal?" Jacob asked.

"Actually, I wanted to nail that down, too," Trent said. "The terms were a little looser than I'd like."

"I agree," Colleen replied. "We can workshop it, but how about we start with this: I will agree to take on Jacob and Candy as my running mates and assist them in getting elected. The election is held in August. The fifteenth to be exact. What I request is that you and Beatrice continue to assist me in a manner that we all can agree is a reasonable effort until the election. Also, one of the last things that I actually managed to get done was setting up a discretionary fund for social media. Or, in other words, I can pay you and Bea for your work. Not a lot, but some."

"How much we talking, exactly?" Bea asked.

"Three hundred per month, each," Colleen replied.

"What do you think, babe?" Bea asked.

"I'm fine with that," he replied.

"Me too."

"Excellent. I will draft two checks and have them mailed to you promptly." Colleen pulled out her cellphone and navigated it for a moment. "All right. Jacob, can you block out two hours tomorrow? I want to come by your home and speak with you more in depth about the job and about your intentions."

"I'll need to double-check with my wife, but yes, that should be fine. It's a Saturday, though, so there'll be at least some screaming kids running around," he replied.

"That's fine. Candy, can I speak with you now? I've blocked off two hours for the same thing, in addition to the hour I set aside for this meeting," she asked.

"Yes, I can talk with you now," Candy replied.

"Good. Thank you." She turned her laser focus to Trent. "Bea, you did excellent work with the website. I want to send you a list of things that need to be on the site. I would also like to have access to the backend of the website. Free access."

"I can do that," Bea replied. "And I'll look over the list as soon as you send it. Can I send my own list in return, if I think there's other things that should be on the site?"

"Yes, please do. While I have final say on this, I am largely leaving this at your discretion, as you clearly know what you're doing. Trent, how soon can you have that story publish-ready?"

"Um...end of the month?" he replied, admittedly taking a stab in the dark.

"Good. Please have the finished product to me by the end of June Thirtieth. I will do some research on what is an acceptable market standard payment for a short story and cut you a separate check for your story. I want it to be exclusively on the website and nowhere else."

"I appreciate that, and exclusivity is fine. Also, I want Mae to make some art for this website," he said. Colleen tensed and then looked a little lost on how to respond. He decided to help her out. "Look, I understand your hesitations about Mae. She probably has the worst reputation in this town. But I think that's been changing. And, beyond that, she loves this town. She has been wandering all across it for twenty years now. She's a little obsessive about it. She knows so much about this place. Her drawings are simple but stylish, and I think it'll give the website some charm, which it desperately needs based off the original site. And she's already irrevocably tied to this project as it is, given Candy's running for a seat. You won't be able to hide her involvement, so you might as well embrace it."

Colleen stared at him for a long moment, then the tiniest hint of a smile appeared on her face. "You would make a decent politician."

He sighed. "God, I hope not...um, no offense."

Now she laughed. "None taken. Politicians have more than earned their reputation." She took one more look at them, then nodded slowly. "I think this might actually work."

"I fucking hope so," Candy muttered.

"I would like to speak with Candy now," Colleen said.

"I'll get out of your hair," Jacob said, standing.

"Wait, I need your number," Colleen replied.

They swapped numbers and then Jacob headed out. Trent picked up his phone and his laptop.

"I'll leave you to it," he said.

"I'll be in touch," Colleen replied.

He headed out the back.