by Mima
Quickly looking away, he attempted to change his thoughts, knowing that it was unlikely that Maggie would be seducing him before they arrived at his house, approximately twenty minutes away. That was until she asked him a question.
“Do you mind if we make a stop on the way home?” She inquired while playing with the buttons that shot heat through the vents. Her question seemed innocent enough, however Chase couldn’t help but feel his mind drift to the land of possibilities. He suspected that unlike Lucy, Maggie would be a passionate sex partner, who wouldn’t be shy with her own nudity. This image mainly came from ‘secrets’ that Lucy often shared with him about her best friend.
“Don’t tell anyone, but…” was the prefix for many wild tales about her friends; the same ones he wasn’t allowed to talk to but yet, these stories only stoked his interest. For example, she often spoke of Maggie in a salacious manner; something that Chase didn’t understand since they were supposed to be best friends.
“I think her boobs got really big cause she lets a lot of guys touch them,” Lucy once confessed to Chase during a party, as they watched Maggie dancing with some friends. Guys were ogling her in a such an obvious manner, that Chase almost was embarrassed for them, something that Lucy didn’t miss. “I heard once that if a girl has big boobs, it’s because they were touched a lot. That’s why all the slutty girls have big ones.”
“That doesn’t make sense, does it?” Chase reluctantly commented, immediately regretting it, as Lucy shot him an angry look. He nervously shrank back. “Then again, now that you mention it…”
“I know,” Lucy nodded, her hand smoothly running down his arm, her affections were his reward, much like Pavlov’s dog. “It makes sense when you think about it. When you look at the girls at school with big boobs, that’s always the case.”
Chase pulled his thoughts out of the gutter and instead tried to show some respect. Maggie had been kind enough to drive him home, so he shouldn’t pass judgment. “I’m in no rush.”
“That’s what I thought,” She shot him a quick smile and continued to drive through the quiet country roads that would eventually lead them home. He wondered where she wanted to go and felt a quick jolt of desire fill him upon realizing that nothing was opened that time of night. Even the coffee shops were closed before midnight. So, if they were going somewhere-
“It’s just up here.” She pointed into the darkness and for a moment, Chase was a little confused. There was nothing more than a dirt road ahead and it lead back to an old dump, that was no longer in use. It seemed highly unlikely she would choose this particular area if she wanted to make out since it still smelled of rotting garbage, something the locals had been complaining about for years; a result of some people still bringing their junk, even though it was no longer allowed.
“In the old dump?” Chase asked as his eyes searched through the darkness for some fragment of understanding.
He suddenly wanted to go home. Maybe this was a little too weird for him. The entire night had been one disappointment after another and now, he just wanted to sleep and forget about everything. Driving into the middle of nowhere, even with a pretty girl, just felt hopeless, as misery filled his heart.
“I’ll only be a second.” She put the car in park and before he could speak, Maggie jumped out and ran to the side of the road. Using her phone as a light, she grabbed something out of a ditch, threw it in the trunk and jumped back in the car. “Okay, we can go home now.”
“What? What the hell was that?” He gestured toward the back of the car, noting the gleeful expression on Maggie’s face. “Did you seriously just take something out of the ditch?”
“When it’s my younger sister’s alcohol stash, I do.” A giggle erupted from her throat and she shot Chase a humored look. “I overheard Kelsey on the phone earlier tonight. She plans to sneak out of the house once mom and dad are asleep and go grab it, get drunk with some kids.”
“That’s not happening.” Maggie continued and reached to turn up the radio. A song about lost love echoed through the car and although it normally would’ve been like a knife in the heart, Chase was still thinking about what he had just witnessed.
“Wow, that’s… great,” Chase seemed unsure on how to finish that sentence. He knew that Maggie had a younger sister that was around 13 or 14, so her efforts seemed protective in nature.
“She’s barely 15 and has no business being out at night getting drunk.” Maggie shook her head in defiance. “A girl can get in a lot of trouble doing that around here.”
“So could a guy,” Chase spoke without thinking and immediately regretted it. There was some indication of a story behind his words and he didn’t want to discuss his encounter with Audrey. However, as he glanced over at Maggie’s perplexed expression, it was clear that she wasn’t about to let him off easily.
“And what’s that about, Chase?” Maggie asked curiously as she turned onto the main highway that would eventually lead to Hennessey and out of the restraints of Mento. Knowing that no police were ever in the area, she showed no reluctance to speed on the highway. “Has alcohol got you in a lot of trouble in the past? Lucy always made you sound like a saint, so I somehow don’t think so.”
Even hearing her name was like a dagger in his heart and Chase immediately felt ill. He turned his head and looked out the passenger side window, contemplating how to reply.
“Maybe it was a little more recently,” His reply was gentle, almost like a leaf falling from a tree and softly touching the ground. He didn’t know how much he should tell Lucy’s best friend and continued to look out the window and in it, he saw Maggie’s regretful eyes reflected in the glass. “Did you ever do something you really regretted?”
“Oh yes, have I ever!” Maggie let out a short laugh, a subtle hint of regret and anger filled the car. The atmosphere felt safe, warm, friendly and therefore, allowed Chase to continue.
“I mean, have you ever hooked up with someone you immediately regretted?” Chase asked shyly, slightly self-conscious, he glanced down at his legs. “Like someone you would never give the time of day if you were thinking straight?”
“It depends on what you mean by thinking straight?” Maggie showed hints of concern in her eyes, as she glanced from the road to his face. “Is that why…I mean, its none of my business, but is that why you and Lucy broke up?”
“What?” Chase snapped, then immediately came back with, “I’m sorry Maggie, I didn’t mean that..I wasn’t trying to be an ass, it’s just that it obviously wasn’t me that was cheating when we broke up.”
Maggie was clearly startled by his response, but sympathy formed in her eyes and she reached to turn down the radio. “I’m sorry, Chase. I didn’t know. I mean, she…”
“No, it’s fine.” He immediately cut her off. “As if she’s going to tell her friends that she was the reason why we broke up.”
“I haven’t talked to her lately,” Maggie confessed, her tone was even and he felt calmness fill the space between them. “I just knew you guys broke up around graduation. I didn’t know why. She didn’t say anything to me, one way or another.”
“It’s fine.” He confirmed. “She went off with some older guy. I don’t know his name. He’s from Mento.”
“Luke? Was it Luke?” Maggie’s eyes doubled in size. “I mean, they call him ‘Lucky Luke’ for some reason, but I know she was talking about him lately.”
Chase shrugged. He didn’t care.
“I’m sorry, I just know she was talking about him once,” Her voice drifted off and Chase didn’t bother to ask what their conversation consisted of but imagined the worst. “If it makes you feel better, she kind of dumped me too.”
“What?” Chase hadn’t expected this piece of news. He turned and watched as Maggie slowly nodded.
“She didn’t like something I had to say and well, she hasn’t spoken to me since.”
“Wow, I g
uess we are both Lucy rejects then?” Chase couldn’t help but make a joke; although he quickly recognized it was in poor taste, it didn’t seem to bother Maggie, who laughed. “I mean, no offense or anything.”
“Nah no, that’s fine,” Maggie waved a hand in the air. “You’re right.”
Chase shook his head as Maggie signaled off the main highway and headed into Hennessey. “I can’t imagine what you would say to make Maggie not want to be your friend. You guys were like sisters. Fuck, you even looked alike. I remember in Junior High when you even dressed alike.”
“Yeah, well, times have definitely changed.” Maggie coldly commented as they neared his house. He was relieved that the outside light was turned on. “I’m the last person she wants to be compared to now.”
“Why?” Chase asked, confused by her statement as she eased into his driveway. “I don’t get it. How did you go from being inseparable to not speaking?”
Maggie watched Chase unbuckle his seatbelt. Half expecting their ended friendship to be over something far more dramatic than it was worth, he couldn’t have been more shocked when she replied. “I told her I was a lesbian.”
CHAPTER THREE
“What?” His lips eased into a grin and for a brief moment, he thought Maggie was teasing him. After all, her reaction was deadpan; no emotions in either her face or voice and wouldn’t such a confession provoke some kind of expression? He felt as though he should say something and rapidly searched his brain to find the words to break up the awkwardness. Then he remembered Todd Cornell: her boyfriend. “Wait, no, you have a boyfriend, right?”
“I had a boyfriend,” She corrected him, as her fingers nervously played with a strand of her long, smooth hair as she glanced toward Chase’s house. Hints of nervousness broke her original calm, cool exterior and she bit her lip and looked away. “I guess that kind of made him my… beard?”
Chase opened his mouth to reply but was lost for words. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing and if his relationship with Lucy had taught him anything, it was that he had a tendency to make stupid comments. This was clearly an emotional time for Maggie, even though she was doing a great job of showing her strength, he could sense she was scared.
Hennessey was far from a progressive place. Small town mentality had a way of seeping into every area of their lives, pressuring people to live a certain way that wasn’t always the best solution. He knew from his own family that homosexuals weren’t accepted by many in the community. Although there were some openly gay kids at school, they mainly kept to themselves and appeared to do their best to conceal their sexuality. It was a little hard to believe that people still lived and thought in such a restrictive manner.
Lucy Willis certainly wasn’t a progressive thinker. It was odd for someone their age to be so limited in their beliefs, but her family was quite conservative. He didn’t have to ask what her reaction was with the realization that her best friend was gay. In many ways, Lucy was predictable.
“I’m sorry,” Chase immediately apologized, then realized that maybe she misunderstand his compassion and quickly rushed to explain himself. “I mean, I’m not sorry that you’re a lesbian, I just know how Lucy can be.” He wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence, but he noted that Maggie was already nodding.
“I understand, Chase.” Her voice was barely a whisper and she cleared her throat. “I don’t blame her for being kind of mad at me. I hid it from her for a long time and she’s right, we’re supposed to be, at least we were best friends, so I should’ve been honest all along. It was a huge secret to hide.”
“She’ll come around,” Chase predicted, even though a part of him knew that Lucy’s dramatic reaction probably was more to the facts as opposed to the secret itself. It wasn’t as if Maggie told anyone else either. In fact, she had a boyfriend for the last year or more, so there was absolutely no indication that she preferred women. “I mean, it was probably a shock.”
Twitching her nose as if an unpleasant scent filled the car, Maggie shrugged. “I’m not sure that will happen. She said some pretty cruel things to me when I told her. I don’t think it would be in my best interest to have her in my life right now. This is hard enough for me, to come out, without having to fight with her too.”
“Yeah, Lucy isn’t exactly… open-minded,” Chase commented, struggling to find the right words to bring Maggie comfort, but he had never dealt with a situation like this before and wasn’t sure how to react.
“She’s extremely judgmental,” Maggie replied and nodded, her eyes scanning the steering wheel. Glancing toward his house, she suddenly seemed lost. Chase noticed his older sister peeking out her bedroom window.
“Did you want to come in for a while,” Chase asked and noted the light from the family television was on, so it might be hard to find some privacy. “We can talk.”
He extended the invitation, expecting that she would say no. Not that he didn’t want to talk to her, but he certainly didn’t want his family eavesdropping. His parents appeared to be watching television; most likely his mom, who had a lot of nightmares and decided to camp out in front of the television in hopes it would give her the comfort needed to sleep.
“Sure,” Maggie quickly agreed and started to get out of the car. Chase followed her lead and watched her shove her hands in her jean pockets and follow him to the front door. Once inside, he noted that his mother was asleep on the couch, the television still on as an old Meg Ryan movie quietly played on the screen. The house was otherwise still.
“We can go to my room if you want,” He pointed toward the ceiling and had another thought. “The basement is okay too, it’s a bit cold, though.”
“It doesn’t matter,” She whispered and then timidly followed him upstairs and into his room. He gently closed the door and she immediately sat on the edge of his bed. Maggie’s head swung around as she took in her surroundings. Other than an unmade bed, it was pretty reasonable. “My God, you’re the cleanest guy I know.”
“Oh, yeah, I don’t like a mess,” Chase nervously responded and grabbed a crappy chair that went with his desk, a cheap discount store model that was ready to fall apart at any time. He somehow thought it was inappropriate to sit beside her on the bed. “It drives me crazy.”
“You wouldn’t want to see my room,” She quietly confessed and hunched over slightly and took a deep breath, causing her breasts to rise and fall. Chase quickly looked away.
“So, when did you talk to Lucy?” He suddenly felt as though he was in the role of a counselor, attempting to help out a patient. “We broke up around graduation and you guys were still friends then.”
“Yeah, it was around the same time, just after I broke up with Todd,” Maggie replied, sitting back on the bed, appearing more at ease than when she first entered the room. “I wanted to wait till after graduation and all that stuff was over. I felt bad enough without dumping him before, you know?”
Chase nodded and considered that was less than a week. He gave her his full attention and decided it was better to listen and not ask questions.
“Anyway, Lucy and I got together and I told her the truth about why I dumped Todd. I told her I was a lesbian and she got all weird about it. She actually suggested that I was only pretending to be her friend for all this time because I wanted to get her in bed.” Maggie let out a short laugh, but there was a lot of anger behind it. “As if I faked our friendship since elementary because I wanted to get her naked.”
Chase felt his mind drifting to fantasy mode, but it wasn’t as appealing as he would’ve expected. He gave a tense smile and nodded.
“She accused me of lying, being confused, everything. She didn’t understand why I had Todd as a boyfriend for so long and said maybe it was his fault,” Maggie let out a small, almost gleeful laugh. “As if he turned me into a lesbian.”
“I don’t know much about it, but I don’t think it works that way.” Chase made a quick obser
vation and the two shared a smile.
“I’ve always known, I just… I guess, I kinda hoped I was wrong. I was confused.” She attempted to explain. “I still am sometimes. I mean, I was with Todd and it was okay. It wasn’t like I didn’t like him, but I think it was more comfortable than anything. I don’t know, maybe hormones make you kind of go with the flow sometimes.”
Oh?
“I just prefer to be with women.”
“Have you…” Chase wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to finish his question, but it sounded as if she had something to compare it to; but as it turns out, she hadn’t.
“No, not here, in Hennessey,” She blushed and shook her head. “I’ve talked to a lot of girls online in other places. I don’t think about men that way. Even Todd, I didn’t. We only really hooked up when I was drunk, cause I couldn’t other times. He thought I was shy, but I wasn’t interested in him in that way.”
“And alcohol helped?”
“Well, yes and no,” Maggie replied while brushing a strand of hair aside. They made eye contact and held it for a bit longer than was necessary. “I mean, maybe pleasure is pleasure.”
Chase didn’t know how to respond. His heart was beating a little faster, his throat was so dry that he couldn’t even speak, while his thoughts raced, pulling him into places that he knew he shouldn’t consider.
That’s when he heard it; the distinct sound of a creaking floorboard outside his bedroom door. Putting his finger up to indicate silence, he watched Maggie nod her head and smile. She obviously heard it too. Rising from the chair so abruptly that one of the screws fell out of it, hitting the floor with a loud ting, he rushed to the door to find no one on the other side. His sister’s door, however, was being pulled shut at the end of the hallway.
Bitch.
“What was it?” Maggie asked as he quietly closed his door again and returned to the chair. “Was someone listening?”