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It wasn’t as if she’d been leading Brendon on. Oh no, nothing like that. In fact, she’d been pretty vocal about the opposite, regardless of what social media said.
May had met Brendon the day she finally started classes at UCLA. She was a year behind her friends, as she’d completely deferred during the pandemic instead of taking online classes, but she was fine with that. Her experience at the 9-1-1 call center was invaluable, to the point that she was still going to take shifts on the weekends.
Brendon had been kind enough to hold the door for her into the bookstore when she went to pick up her books. They’d made small talk while waiting in line, and parted once she’d collected hers. It was just polite conversation, nothing to write home about (or tell her mother).
Unfortunately, Brendon didn’t see it as such.
That night, she’d received a message request from him on her Instagram account, which she kept pretty much locked down. She’d thought it was weird, as during their entire conversation, she was careful to not give any details. She’d also never said her name.
The message was the standard, “Hey it was nice talking to you, let’s meet up!” Since she wasn’t comfortable, she’d decided to decline the message.
An hour later, another one came in. And another. All with the same message. After the fourth disrupted her concentration, she decided to reply back with a polite comment. “Thanks for the conversation, but I have to decline.” Didn’t offer an excuse or details.
Over the next week, she kept spotting him around campus, usually on a bench with a sightline to the door of whatever building she was in. May elected to ignore it, thinking that maybe he had classes in those same buildings and it was all a coincidence.
The messages still came. Nothing over the line, but getting close to it. Enough that she was seriously thinking of talking to someone. So she mentioned it to her friends, who all said that if he was trying to talk to her this badly, she should go out with him! Take a day from work and spend it with him.
That wasn’t something she was willing to do. She was doing good fulfilling work in helping the people of Los Angeles. She didn’t want to take a day unless she absolutely needed to.
Unfortunately, her friends didn’t agree. That weekend, when she was leaving her shift with Maddie and Josh, she noticed his car on the street across from the call center. She didn’t call attention to it, because she still hoped it was a coincidence, that the cars were just similar. It worked out that she was catching a ride with Maddie that night anyway, as she was going to babysit Jee while she and Chimney had a date night.
She also made a point to find new friends because of that incident.
It all came to a head in early October. She was studying at a table in the middle of the campus when a bag of food plopped down in front of her. She’d startled, only to discover Buck taking a seat on the other side of the table, a friendly smirk in place.
“What are you doing here, Buck?” May asked. She hadn’t been expecting him, or anyone for that matter. A quick glance at her silenced phone revealed a text from Bobby saying that Buck would be by with homemade leftovers, since she hadn’t been able to stay for the 118 barbeque the night prior.
“Food delivery! Lunch for you and me, since we haven’t caught up in a while,” Buck said, pulling two foil-wrapped plates out of the bag, along with utensils and two flavored waters. “I was coming down this way anyway, so I volunteered.”
“Well, I’m glad for that. I have missed Bobby’s cooking,” May said, shifting her textbook aside and pulling off the covering.
“I am texting Athena right now that you don’t miss her food,” Buck said with a teasing laugh, pulling his phone out and everything.
May dove for his phone, laughing as Buck dodged her. “Don’t you dare, Buckaroo!”
After a moment of play fighting, they both sat down at the table again, digging into the roasted chicken and red potatoes that Bobby had cooked up. Nothing fancy, but good homestyle food. Exactly what she’d been missing. Her schedule rarely allowed her time to go home for dinner. Instead, she was either in class or studying during the week, or working double shifts on the weekend.
Buck started catching her up on all the drama at the firehouse, while May talked about some of her classes. For a moment, she felt like she was at home for Family Dinner, the one night a week they all tried to have off long enough for a homecooked meal. Buck had taken to joining them, since he had been firmly adopted by her mom and Bobby after his parents visited the year prior.
Just as Buck was wrapping up a story involving Christopher and a firehose, her phone started vibrating on the table. She gave it a quick glance and felt herself pale. It was another private message. She’d finally blocked Brenden the night before, after he bombarded her with messages to get together. And now he was using another account to get around the block.
“You okay, mini-Grant?” Buck asked, with a concerned look across his face.
“Uh, yeah,” she said, her voice slightly shaking. She didn’t need this today. “Just a message on Insta.”
Buck leaned forward across the table. “A message on Insta shouldn’t make you freeze. Is there anything I can do? Can I see it?”
May started to shake her head, not wanting to get him involved when he didn’t need to be. “No, it’s okay. It’s just an ad or something.”
Buck started to back off when her phone started again, with message after message flashing across her screen. She went to flip it over, but Buck was faster. “No one should be sending this many messages to you, May. I’m concerned. Please?”
May finally hesitantly nodded. He turned on the screen, took one look, and his face darkened. “May, you have two options. I deal with this guy, or we call Athena and we get a restraining order.”
“Wait, why? He just wants me to go on a date with him. I already said no, but-”
Buck just turned the phone around and showed her the notifications. There were a few pictures of her and Buck eating lunch, and Brenden not being happy about it. In fact, the last few comments had gone over the line. So much so that she couldn’t run away from it anymore.
May’s frown became pronounced across her face. “Call Mom. I’m not going to get you into trouble for threatening an eighteen year old idiot, Buck.”
May ended up skipping her Intro to Psychology class, though she did email the professor to explain the situation. As soon as Buck started to talk to Athena, she was grabbing Bobby and they were making their way to campus. Buck made a point of texting Eddie as well, to let him know that he might be back late, and to cancel movie night. He wasn’t going to leave May until Athena and Bobby arrived and sent him home.
The pit in her stomach seemed like it was growing every minute. There were more messages rolling in, not at the frequency as before, but enough to be concerning. She kept screenshotting them, every single one, just in case Branden realized what was going on and deleted the account.
Finally, she saw her mom and Bobby in the distance, walking up from the parking lot. Well, Bobby was speedwalking, while Athena was marching towards them with determination.
Buck noticed them as well, and after seeing Athena’s demeanor, said, “Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned. Athena’s going to kill this kid, May.”
“At this point? Good.”
One last notification flashed across the screen before her family arrived. You’ll be with me, one way or another. A cold shiver went down her spine. Her life just got infinitely more complicated.