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The fire crackled over the mediocre twangs of a guitar - someone always had to play one at these bonfire parties, the thought occurred - and Beatrice Santello took a sip from her stereotypical red party cup. Nothing said party in the woods like red cups and shitty, watered down beer. She looked out among the myriad of faces in the crowd - some she recognized, some not - and for a moment, a familiar glimpse of bright red against dark fur caused the crocodile to stop in place. However, it was only for a second - after rubbing her eyes and looking again, Bea couldn't see hide nor hair of them. Probably for the better, she thought, taking the moment to chug the rest of her shitty beer before throwing the shitty cup onto the shitty ground.
Why was the ground shitty? Bea didn't really know, or care - she was just tired, and pissed. Tired and pissed seemed to be her mood more often than not, lately, and when Beatrice Santello was tired and pissed, everything was shitty. Despite her 4.0 year 1 at college, a sudden onslaught of night terrors every time she tried to sleep left the crocodile grumpy and tired 24/7, which in turn affected her studies. As a result, Bea couldn't help but be cynical and grumpy at this party - sure , she got to hang out with Angus again, and sure her dad was happy to have her home, but the overachieving Miss Santello felt like nothing short of a failure, looking out at all the other failures of Possum Springs who had never left home. Or maybe they hadn't failed quite yet - after all, of everyone here, the only one who had left Possum Springs and been dragged back was-
" Beatrice! "
Oh no. Please don't let that voice be-
"Bea! Heeeeeeeey Bea! Beaaaaaaaaaa!"
God dammit.
Sure enough, her initial assumption had been right - that had been Mae she saw in the crowd. As if she didn't have enough reasons to hate this party. Despite that voice grating her ears, however, a small smile seemed to grace Angus' face as Beatrice looked to her friend for an escape. "Oh, hello Mae. Good to see you-"
" Mae's here?! Mae's here! "
Gritting her teeth, Bea quickly reached onto the table next to her as Gregg near tackled the incoming disaster-cat, filling another cup with warm watery beer before chugging it down in one gulp. Dealing with Mae was already going to be a chore - but dealing with her sober? Hell. No.
" Mae , I can't believe you showed up! I thought you had work tomorrow morning, though?"
Gregg's voice wasn't nearly as annoying as Bea remembered, but that could just be the alcohol sweetening her ears. When Beatrice turned towards the two, however, her eyes caught a direct line of sight with Mae's, and Bea suddenly found the campfire to be so much more interesting right now. Mae let out an awkward laugh in response to Gregg's questioning and vigorous arm-flailing before changing the subject, "Hah... yeah, well, Bea's here! Thought I'd be, ya know. Rude." Mae coughed a bit, looking away before resuming her sentence. "I mean, if I didn't welcome her back!"
As if you weren't gonna be rude anyway, Bea grumbled in her head, still refusing to look away from the fire towards her ex-best friend. Maybe she was being extra petty - but still, who just abandons their best friend out of nowhere ? They had their whole lives planned back then - which college they'd go to, what their degrees would be, what city they would be heading to when Possum Springs was finally no more than a speck in the rear view mirror on their road to a better life. But something in Mae changed in 7th grade - she became wilder, more reckless, hung out with Bea less until... until the incident.
Bea never looked at that girl the same way again.
"She's only been back a couple nights, Mae. No one would have blamed you if you had taken the night to rest." Despite the sentiment of Angus' words, he was clearly happy to see Mae - something Bea hadn't quite expected, considering what had been going on before Bea left. Gregg had been going back to his old crime-happy self around Mae, and the two had in turn began fighting - something that Angus vented about when he and Beatrice shared their weekly video chat sessions. Those sessions, however, turned from weekly to monthly as time went on, then every other month, until that last semester, when Bea had barely spoken a word to anyone outside of class. How could she, when all her energy went towards just making sure she finished her courses with a B or better - something that caused the overachiever a great deal of stress, she might add.
"Nah, it's all good. Thought it might be a good idea to get out and clear my head, anyway. But it's good to see you too, Angus! Workin' hard? Sticking to The Plan?"
"You know it. Certified plan master over here."
"If anyone can stick to the plan , the grand plan master can ."
"Haha, Mae you suck at rhyming things," Gregg yelled with a laugh, smacking the shorter cat on the shoulder as he did so.
" Hey, I'm on the spot here, okay? I didn't have time! You write all our songs in advance, so what's your excuse, Greggory?"
An offended gasp escaped the fox, feigning offense with one hand at his chest. " You wound me, Margaret! The full name! It’s too bad you didn’t get your tongue cut out so you can’t talk .”
“It’s too bad you didn’t trip and strangle yourself with your guitar strings.”
“It’s too bad you didn’t fall into a sinkhole on the way here!”
“It’s too bad you didn’t get pushed into the bonfire and die!”
“ It’s too bad you didn’t crash into Anselm’s statue on the way here! ”
Bea perked up at that, finally training her eyes on Mae once more. Crash? Did she drive here? Last Bea remembered, Mae Borowski couldn’t drive - or do much of anything at that.
“Dude. Harsh .”
Mae merely stared at Gregg for a moment, before the two burst out into that obnoxious laughter. She couldn’t handle this - it was time to leave before she had to deal with the annoyance that was Mae Borowski any longer.
“I’m gonna head home, Angus. Talk to you tomorrow-”
But the bear’s hands grabbed Beatrice by the shoulder, stopping the crocodile in her tracks.
“You’re not driving, Bea. You’ve had too much to drink.”
“I’ll be fine, Angus. That beer was like, ninety percent water, and it’s not even far-”
“No.”
The ferocity - or rather, the earnestness in his tone surprised not only herself, but the others, who stopped their off-hand conversation and death-wish-threats to look over from the sudden movement. The group was silent for a moment, the only sound being the awkward guitar being played in the background, until Bea finally shook her shoulder free.
“So what should I do, then? Walk alone? I don’t suppose you would drive me?”
Gregg was the one who responded, shaking his head as he spoke, “We’re gonna be staying till the party ends. Besides, Angus doesn’t think I should be left alone. He says I’m not ‘Responsible’, and don’t ‘have enough self control’ to not drink myself under the table,” air quotes emphasizing how Gregg really felt about the situation.
“I can drive you home.”
Squint .
“And why, Mae, would you-”
“I haven’t had anything to drink, and it’s probably best if I get home soon anyway. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow!”
“...Since when can you drive, anyway?”
“Since a few months ago!”
Bea couldn’t help but roll her eyes, and yet… she knew that this was probably the best solution. As much as she hated the idea of riding in a car with Mae , driving home drunk was an idiot’s play. And it wasn’t as if she was surrounded by idiots at the moment - Angus excluded, of course - but that didn’t mean she had to stoop to their level. Still, it was with a heavy sigh that Bea pocketed her keys.
“...Alright. Fine. Lead the way, Margaret.”
The corner of Bea’s mouth almost turned up into a small smile as she saw Mae wince at the use of her full name - no Maeday, no Mae, no nothing . Small town polite was all she was getting, here.
“Bye, Bea! Bye Mae!” Gregg was waving both his arms - ‘One for each of them’, Bea heard him say to his boyfriend as Angus waved goodbye.
Let’s just get this over with.
Streetlamps illuminated the dashboard of Mae’s old box car, aptly named the Gremlin - after both the model and it’s owner. Bea’s eyes stared out the side window, head laying against glass that jostled and smacked the crocodile with each of the numerous potholes that littered the streets. Still, it was preferable to turning and looking at Mae - or worse, talking to her.
“...So, how’s it feel being back?”
God dammit.
Maybe if she just ignored Mae, she’d go away, or at the very least stop talking.
“Bea? Beeeeeea. Beeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa-”
“God dammit what .”
Blissful silence filled the air for a moment - but knowing Mae fucking Borowski, that would only last for a moment after all.
“I was just asking how you were feeling, you know - since you got your degree so early. Heh, you always were top of the class-”
“ Mhm. ”
“- and every time we had a test, you were the one who dragged me to study - remember that?”
“ Mmmhm. ”
“Man, we used to be good friends - but…”
“...But?”
Once again, the car was silent - until the tires ran across a huge pothole, causing both Mae and Bea to hit their heads against the roof of the car.
“ God- FUCK!”
“Jesus! They’re never gonna fix these fucking potholes, are they?”
For once, something Mae said caused Bea to smile - and not at her expense. It was true, after all, that the city council was incompetent in any facet of governing Possum Springs that mattered. From the potholes filling the roads to the sinkholes that opened up all across town, the council cared more about the ‘town’s image’ than actually fixing a single damn thing. Not to mention that the image was garbage anyway - so what were they really trying to do?
Jack shit, that’s what.
“They wouldn’t fix the potholes if you stuck an actual living child to each one, and the only way to save them was somehow to fill in every pothole in every street.”
“They’d sure as hell give their thoughts and prayers to the kids, though, even as they ran ‘em over themselves.”
Mae laughed, a loud, hearty laugh that Bea hadn’t heard in years . It honestly surprised Bea - even when she’d seen her hanging out with Gregg, she didn’t seem all that enthusiastic. More like depressed, weak, annoying, pitiful -
Oh yeah. She was trying to be passive aggressive.
“... Yeah. How far are we?”
“Probably like… fifteen minutes. That eager to get to bed?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, we’ve got a bit of time. I’d ask if you wanted to play any music, but the CD player’s broken. Aux cord works though!”
“No phone.”
“Oh.”
Mae let out a sigh - a sign Bea interpreted as She’s gonna try to ask me a personal question now, isn’t she - which was at least partially right.
“Bea - are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Sharp eyes glared at the cat through an angry squint, fingers grasping tight onto the armrest to her side. “Nothing.”
“That’s bullshit, Bea. Like… we used to be best friends, you know? I miss that. We might not be close anymore, but I can still tell when you’re pissed, or when you’re hiding something. Why won’t you talk to me?”
“...Really? Really? Margaret fucking Borowski is gonna ask me why I’m not talking to her? ”
Leather squeaked as claws dug their purchase into the steering wheel. Exhaling the sigh she hadn’t realized she held, Mae turned slightly towards Bea, a frown on her face. “...So you’re still pissed about seventh grade-”
“ Was it that obvious?!”
“Well, Yeah . But I thought we might try to talk things over - you know, like adults-”
“ Oh, like you know anything about being an adult, Mae. I mean, you can drive , which is a baby step in the right direction - but for you to lecture at me- ”
“I’m NOT lecturing you, Bea. I tried to apologize, but you ignored me, and I thought maybe it would be better if we talked face to face.”
Repetitive tapping grated against Bea’s ears until she realized it was her own foot, and she promptly put a stop to it. Reptilian arms snaked together in a fold across her chest as she leaned back in her seat, exhaling loudly before she spoke again.
“Well, you thought wrong. You never told me what the fuck was going on, and then the whole incident happened, and, you know, maybe I should be thanking you for ditching me. If I’d still been your friend, it coulda been me in Andy’s place-”
“ Don’t go there, Bea. ”
Mae’s eyes were twitching, alongside her torn-up ears, leather wringing as her grip tightened, a slight tear forming in the steering wheel cover. “Don’t go there. I had to go through a lot of shit to deal with what happened, and you don’t… you don’t get to talk to me about that .”
“Well, why did you do it, then?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does -”
“It doesn’t fucking matter! Look, if you don’t wanna forgive me, you don’t have to, but don’t fucking go there! I'm trying to be better, and I'm trying to fucking be an adult here - and at least let me actually apologize. If you wanna hate me, be my fucking guest, but do not go there.”
If she’d been paying attention, Bea would have realized that the streetlamps were getting sparse, until finally they were gone, and the only light illuminating Mae was the faint glow from the clock, alongside the reflection of her high beams on the road. The girl was breathing heavily at first, but Mae closed her eyes for a second, and began to mumble under her breath as her breathing evened out, as Bea observed in stunned silence while Mae regained her composure.
“Sorry. I’ll leave it. But… I would still like an explanation for what - for why you just ditched me. I thought we were, like, best friends, you know?”
“...I’ve been fucked up in the head since I was, like, ten, and I didn’t want my shit to drag you down. After all, you were always, like, the model student, and I was just some kid destined for juvie. At least, that’s what I always felt. So, there . I’m sorry , Beatrice.”
At least it made sense. Mae was definitely acting different before the two drifted apart all those years ago - not that the excuse sat well with Bea at all.
“...It fucking sucked to see you running off with Gregg and Casey, and just ignoring me.”
At the mention of Casey, Mae become tense once again, and Bea noticed the car beginning to speed up as street lamps began to illuminate the road once more. Buildings were starting to come into view, Bea noticed - would only be a few more minutes now.
“I didn’t see Casey at the party. Did you guys, like, stop talking, or?”
The car was speeding up more - at least the potholes were fewer and further between, now, but Bea was still feeling unnerved. She found herself gripping tight to her seatbelt and to the armrest, eyes scanning the road for any possible roadblocks.
“Casey’s missing.”
“Oh.”
Shit.
Things were getting awkward again - and not in the good way, like she’d felt earlier, making Mae feel bad after the shit she pulled - it was awkward for the both of them, and Bea did not like it. Her eyes flicked around for anything to distract her from the situation. It was then that she found a glimpse of something light on the floorboards, and Bea pulled the topic of her interest up underneath the dashboard, struggling until another passing light illuminated the word application at the top.
“...Job application?”
“Yeah. I gotta go apply around town tomorrow, and see if there’s any place hiring.”
“How’d you get this car without a job?” Bea’s mind immediately recalled the favorite activity of one hyperactive fox and tormented cat - crimes .
“I had a job, until a couple of days ago. It… didn’t work out.”
Bea couldn’t help a snort - not that she was laughing , mind you, but she just couldn’t imagine Mae Borowski to be the type to hold down a job anyway.
“What got you fired?”
“You came home.”
Her eyes narrowed, and Bea felt a grumble in her throat. “...Excuse me?”
“You came home. I wasn’t needed anymore.”
Not needed anymore? Wait, Mae wasn’t…
In her mind’s eye, Bea replayed a conversation she had on the phone with her dad - something about being able to let go of some help he’d pulled on, now that she was coming home. Saving a little money now, having an easier time with bills.
“You worked at the ‘Ol Pickaxe?”
“For a whole year, yep. Helped your dad out around the store. Unloading deliveries, keeping inventory, riding out to do installations. The car helped a lot with that one. I gotta say, being able to get up at 8 felt awesome today, but I need to get a new job soon. Most of my savings went towards helping keep the house together.”
Mae’s parents were struggling with the house? Bea always remembered her mother being exceptionally kind, as long as they’d known each other. Every sleepover, every hangout, it was like seeing a reflection of her own mom - except as a cat.
And now, Mae was out of a job. Thanks to Beatrice.
“I’ll drop you off to get your car tomorrow. Be up and ready at five.”
Bea hadn’t even realized they were in front of the apartment until then, lost in thought as she was. She’d almost wanted to ask how Mae knew where the place was, until she remembered the minute detail of working for her dad for a year.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Neither one said a word as Beatrice departed from the car, although Mae didn’t leave until the crocodile had entered the building. Tires screeched on the street, and before she knew what she was doing, Bea had slumped down with her back against the building door, a sigh escaping her.
“...Night, Maeday.”