2 – Maple’s Confusion

 

Jake started working at the nearest Pieway; the create-your-own pizza chain owned by his father. Will got him the job, saying it would be good for him to start from the bottom, and work his way up. Jake was just happy to have something to do in the seemingly boring town.

After a few days, a man with long brown hair walked in, wearing a black baseball cap turned backwards. Jake’s coworker, Aydan, stiffened. “You take this one,” he said coldly.

Jake nervously walked over to help the man, wondering why Aydan seemed to take issue with this customer in particular.

“What size do you want?” Jake asked.

“Regular.”

Jake grabbed the proper sized, pre-made dough. “Red sauce and mozzarella?”

“Yes, and just pepperoni and basil for the toppings.”

Jake put the ingredients on, and placed the pizzas on the counter behind him. Aydan put it in the oven.

“I haven’t seen you here before,” the man said.

“Yeah. I just moved here last week.” Jake stepped over to the register to ring him up.

“Where from?”

“California.”

“Really? I once went to LA when I was a kid, right before those terrible floods. Where are you from?”

“Originally San Francisco.” The floods there weren’t any better. “But we moved to Concord when I was in middle school.”

“This place must be a huge difference.”

“It has been. For here or to go?”

“To go.”

Jake punched in the numbers on the cash register, and the man paid.

“Name?” Jake asked.

The man smiled. “Luke. Yours?”

Jake smiled back. “Jake.”

“Nice meeting you. Hopefully I’ll see you around again.”

Luke sat at the nearest table to wait. He had been the friendliest customer by far. It was an easy order. Jake couldn’t figure out why Aydan didn’t want to serve him.

There weren't any other customers waiting to order, so Jake walked over to Aydan. “What’s bad about him? He seemed cool.”

“Maybe at first. But that guy is bad news.”

“Bad news?”

Aydan lowered his voice. “He was in jail for a few years. Just got out about six months ago.”

“What for?”

“It’s a long story, but I’ll try to make it quick.” Aydan tapped his fingers on the counter. “There was this woman. Her parents were looking to marry her off.”

More marrying off? Jake still couldn’t get over what Maple was going through. “Okay.”

“Yeah.” Aydan continued as if there were nothing wrong with it. “But that guy, Luke. And the woman. They were seeing each other, but her father didn’t approve of him. He told Luke to stay away. Pointed a shotgun at him and everything. You’d think the idiot would’ve listened to him, but nope. They continued seeing each other. Secretly.”

Jake’s eyes widened at each passing sentence. What 19th century nonsense was this?

Aydan misunderstood the reason for Jake’s shocked expression. “I know. Nobody suspected a thing until she ended up pregnant. Guess who the father was.”

Jake snuck a glance at Luke, who scrolled on his phone like the average person.

“Yep. The woman died giving birth to his kid. A girl. Her parents took care of the baby for a couple years, until they gave her up to some other relatives. Now that he’s out, there’s rumors that they’re giving him custody of her. I don’t know why anyone would. The girl should be adopted out to a normal couple. Not some criminal.”

To Jake, it sounded like something out of a historical romance novel. Though he couldn’t imagine what any of that had to do with Luke being jailed. “What did he go to jail for?”

“Did you not just hear me?” Aydan shook his head, and checked on the pizzas in the oven.

Jake watched him pull one of the pizzas out, and put it in a box. He struggled to put two and two together. There was only one reason he could think of, but it didn’t make sense. “He went to jail for getting a woman pregnant?”

“For rape,” Aydan whispered as he cut the pizza. He closed the box, and called out a name. A man walked up and took the box, then left.

“Really?” Jake’s stomach twisted at the thought. He looked at Luke again, who continued scrolling on his phone. “You made it sound consensual.”

Aydan stared at him as though he had missed an obvious detail. “I said this happened without her father’s permission.”

“But did the woman want it?”

“Some say she did, some say she didn’t. But that doesn’t matter. Her father didn’t consent to him being with her. So, it’s rape.”

Jake failed to understand how any part of that story made Luke the bad guy. He’d never heard anything so ridiculous. “That’s messed up.”

“Tell me about it,” Aydan said. Though Jake had a feeling he misunderstood why it was “messed up.” Aydan grabbed a few more pizza boxes, and opened them. “His is probably done now. You handle it. I’ll help this next customer.”

Aydan walked over to take a woman’s order. Jake checked on Luke’s order, which looked done. He took it out, boxed it up, and called Luke’s name.

Luke walked over to grab his order. “Thank you.”

“Have a good day.” Jake gave him a friendlier smile than usual.

After Luke left, Jake glanced at the clock. He only had five minutes left of his shift. Thank God. The man's tragic backstory made Jake too depressed to work.

“We’re almost out of sauce,” Aydan said. “Can you go in the back and get more?”

Deep in thought, Jake walked through a swinging door that led to the kitchen. He picked up a large metal container of sauce from the fridge. Then, he strode towards the swinging door with it. He shoved it open with his shoulder, right as his supervisor walked through. The two collided. The container tilted towards Jake. Cold sauce spilled all over his shirt, dripping down to his pants. A small puddle landed on the floor. Somehow, a couple of drops ended up on his glasses as well.

His supervisor, Rolan, apologized and asked if he was okay.

“I’m fine.” Jake set the container down on the counter, and grabbed the nearest towel. He wiped his glasses off first, then attempted to wipe the sauce off his shirt. All that did was smear it.

“I’ll take this out.” Rolan took the container from him. “You get yourself and that floor cleaned up.”

After scrubbing the floor, Jake clocked out. He made a stop in the men’s room first, to clean himself up. Except he couldn’t get in, because the door wouldn’t open unless he stuck his finger in the fingerprint reader on the door. But because he had gotten sauce all over his fingers, it wasn’t registering, even after he rubbed his finger on his pants. Aydan had to open it for him.

The fact left Jake annoyed. That, along with the story he heard about Luke. Jefferson sucked.

His new home was only a few blocks away. He walked in through a side door that led straight to the laundry room. Once inside, he kicked off his shoes, stripped off his clothes, and dropped them in the washing machine. A basket of dirty laundry sat on a table next to the dryer. Might as well catch up on laundry. Except he'd never used this particular washing machine before. He hadn't a clue how to turn it on, and he was too tired from working to figure it out.

His first instinct was to call the family robot over to take care of it, but then he remembered his father putting it away, and hiring an actual butler to do everything instead. Apparently, having human staff instead of robots was some sort of status symbol here. Jake found the whole thing ridiculous. They barely needed the robot, much less an actual person to do basic household chores for them.

“I can take care of that.”

Jake jumped at the voice. He turned around to find their new butler at the doorway. Chives averted his eyes, which reminded Jake that people here were prudes. “Sorry.” He grabbed a towel from a basket of clean clothes, and wrapped it around his waist. “I was going to shower.”

“Be quick about it. Your father will be arriving with company any minute.”

“Seriously? Who?”

“A pair of brothers who own a soda business. They want to do a partnership.”

It must be those Henderson brothers from the party, though he knew nothing about any partnerships. His father must’ve gotten along well with them. Much unlike Jake. He still couldn’t get over how they wanted to marry Maple off like a piece of property.

Poor Maple. Jake hoped she’d come too. Their little adventure in the basement had been fun.

He left the laundry to Chives, and walked down a short hallway, past a living room, and through a kitchen. The walk to the nearest bathroom with a shower was needlessly long. He entered the foyer right as the front door opened. In stepped his father, the Henderson brothers, and Maple. All caught sight of him in nothing but a towel.

“Jake!” his father hissed at him. “What are you doing?”

“I was going to take a shower.” Jake caught Maple’s wandering eyes. Part scandalized, part intrigued. He gave her a flirty half-smile, leaning against the staircase. “Hey, Mapes.”

She turned pink. Walker covered her eyes with his hand. Both brothers glared at him as though he were corrupting their innocent sister.

 

~~~~~

 

Sebastian spent half the week debating on if he should contact Axel. Several times, he’d pull up his number, stare at it, then switch the screen to something else. Axel had shown kindness towards him, along with an interest in friendship. Sebastian hadn’t had a friend in six years. The moment someone discovered he was Mayor Barstow’s son, they lost interest. Who would want to be associated with someone like him?

Axel was the first person who didn’t seem to care about his past. But Sebastian found him attractive. A fact that reminded him of that disgusting part of himself. That part he fought so hard to bury. It would be healthier if he forgot about the mechanic.

“Now how and where am I supposed to announce my run for governor?” Waylon asked over dinner, for the fifth day in a row. “We missed Barry’s party. Everyone was there. It would’ve been perfect.”

Celine nodded along in agreement as she took a sip of wine. Sebastian poked at his steak. His mind was occupied with more important things than Waylon’s lame run for governor. In fact, he planned on voting against his father.

Axel probably would too. Sebastian smiled.

“You think this is funny?” Waylon’s harsh tone yanked Sebastian out of his thoughts.

“No!” Sebastian set his fork down. “I was thinking of something else.”

“And what were you thinking about that was more important than my problem?”

Sebastian struggled to think of something that wasn’t Axel. “Uh… Women?”

Celine smiled. Waylon stared at him. Sebastian braced himself for yelling. Instead, his father stroked his mustache. “You know, Camp Hope did a damn good job of fixing you. Almost too good.”

Sebastian forced a chuckle. “Yep. Women are always on my mind these days.”

“Definitely. It has me thinking…”

Did Sebastian want to know? He waited for Waylon to continue.

“Now would be the perfect time to find you a wife. What do you say?”

A wife? Sebastian’s throat closed up. He didn’t want a wife. “I don’t think…”

“People still can’t get over what you did. But you getting married will convince them. Those who won’t vote for me because of your past might change their mind when they’ve seen you changed yours. It’ll be a big help.”

“I’m not ready!” Sebastian blurted out.

“Not ready?” Waylon held his fork in midair as he frowned at him. “You’re 23 years old. You should already be married!”

“But-”

“Nope. I’m going to start searching the classifieds. See who’s looking for a husband. I suggest you start going out more. Maybe you can find one the natural way.”

At least Sebastian was given the option of finding someone. Too bad he didn’t want a woman at all.

With that final thought, Sebastian made the decision to contact Axel. He’d at least be someone to vent to.

After dinner, Sebastian went straight to his room. He tapped at the phone app on his watch, and navigated towards Axel’s number. “New text,” he said out loud. A blank message box popped up on the watch’s screen. Sebastian spoke into it.

“Hi Axel, it’s Sebastian.”

Axel was quick to respond. His watch read the text out loud. “Hey, I’m glad to hear from you. Everything good?”

Sebastian opened his mouth to reply back, but footsteps approached his door. His father opened it without knocking. “Who are you talking to?”

“No one. I was about to check my emails, but my watch forced me to listen to an ad first.”

“I hate when that happens.” Waylon turned around and left, not bothering to shut the door behind him.

Sebastian got up to close his door, then dug out his phone. He’d have to continue texting silently on that. He opened up his texting app, to continue the conversation in written form.

No. My dad wants me to find a wife. But I don’t want to get married.

Man, that sucks. I’d hate that too.

Sebastian smiled, grateful he wasn’t alone in not wanting a wife.

He’s planning on running for governor. He thinks me being married will help his chances. Personally, I’m not voting for him.

Neither am I. Are you doing anything tonight?

Just moping in my room.

Wanna hang out later?

Sebastian stared at his last message, unsure how to respond. He certainly wanted to. But if he knew what was good for himself, he wouldn’t. He shouldn’t.

Sebastian tapped on the reply box, and texted his answer.

Sure. What time and where?

 

~~~~~

 

Maple stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, all thoughts focused on Jake in a towel. She’d never even seen a shirtless man before. A man in only a towel? And hanging that low on him? It gave her a strange ache between her legs. And then she thought she started her period, so she hurried to the bathroom. But it wasn’t her period. Instead, it was a thick, clear fluid. The mystery goo itself wasn’t all that new. It was the fact there was so much of it. Hopefully it was nothing to worry about.

God, she longed to run her fingers over that chest. Down his stomach, past his navel. To the edge of the towel. That ache came back full-force. More wetness. The inappropriateness of it all must be causing these sensations. She gripped her hands against the sides of the bathroom sink. How was she going to face Jake, with these confusing things happening with her body?

She dug around her purse, pulled out a pad, and put it on. After washing her hands, she made her way to the dining room. There was a table with eight chairs. Her two brothers sat next to each other on one side of the table, Will across from them.

Maple sat down next to Carter.

“Everything alright?” he asked. “You were in there for awhile.”

“Everything’s fine.” Maple spotted a man dressed in the standard butler uniform standing by a doorway.

The butler walked over to her. “What would you like to drink?”

“Just water is fine.”

The butler walked through the doorway. It was probably the kitchen, because it didn’t take long for the man to return with a glass of water. He set in down in front of her, right as Jake walked in. Maple perked up.

His hair was damp, making his honey blond hair a few shades darker. He wore a gray shirt with gray pants, and was barefoot. He took a seat next to his father, directly across from Maple. He gave her a friendly nod that she returned.

Will took one look at his son and sighed. “You really shouldn’t wear that here.”

“Be glad I’m wearing anything.”

“Is that the infamous ESA uniform?” Walker asked curiously.

“Yeah.” Will sounded tired.

“Is it true that’s all anyone there is allowed to wear?” Carter asked.

“Yeah...”

“It’s so no one can judge other people based on appearance,” Jake jumped in, raising his chin. “You can’t tell if someone is rich or poor. It’s better that way.”

“Are those pronouns stitched onto it? Jesus.” Flinching, Walker turned to Maple. “Be grateful you live in the Free States.”

Personally, Maple would rather spend the rest of her life wearing bland clothes with pronouns on them, than be forced to marry whatever asshole her brothers picked out. She took a sip of water.

Jake mumbled something about more freedom in the Equal States for women, then looked at Will. “What are you cooking?”

“Sheba is making lasagna.”

“Sheba?”

“Our cook.”

“We have a cook now?” Jake frowned. “Why do we need a cook? We’ve already got a butler.”

The butler chose that moment to place a glass of water in front of Jake.

“We can discuss it later,” Will whispered.

“He’s sure having trouble adjusting to the norms here,” Walker said to Will.

“It’s only been a week. He’ll learn soon enough.” Will looked over at the doorway, where a woman walked through, carrying two plates of food.

The woman set them down in front of Walker and Carter. The butler came out with two more plates of food, setting one in front of Maple, and the other in front of Will. The woman returned with one last plate for Jake.

Unlike the rest of the table, Jake thanked her. That was sweet of him. It made Maple feel slightly guilty for not saying a thank you. The truth was, nobody ever thanked workers. The thought to do so never occurred to her.

Walker, Carter, and Will discussed boring business-related stuff too complicated for Maple to understand. She poked her fork in her food, pretending to be more interested in it than anything else. But really, she had her eyes on Jake. Jake had his eyes on the men, as though listening in. His expression was one of disinterest though.

Maple set her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her palm, gazing at Jake. She hadn’t paid close attention to his gorgeous face before. To be fair, this was the first time she had the opportunity to really look at him.

Those damp locks… It reminded her that he had taken a shower, which made her imagine him in the shower. She grew warm at the thought of him in there, all soapy and wet. Thank God she threw on a pad.

Jake looked at her. She jerked her head back to the untouched lasagna on her plate, her face bright red.

“It’s okay.” Jake’s voice was low. “I don’t care much for lasagna either.”

“I like it. I’m not hungry, is all.” Maple took a bite of it anyway. “How have you been?”

“Fine. I started working at the Pieway nearby. My dad gave me a job there. He said it would be good for me to work my way up, so I’ll be familiar with everything when I inherit the company.”

Maple wondered what it would be like to work. Unfortunately, she’d never know. Her future involved raising children and household chores. Unless she married someone rich who could hire servants to do all that for her. She hoped not. There were stories out there of women suffering from mental illnesses because they had nothing to do.

Judging by the large house, cook, and butler, Jake must be well off. Though he also seemed to frown upon employing servants. Perhaps if she were arranged to marry him, she’d be able to keep busy.

Her brothers and Will continued chattering away. Maple finished up her plate, and noticed Jake had done the same.

“Are you done with your plate?” Jake asked.

Maple nodded. Jake grabbed her plate, and put it on top of his. He stood up with the plates in hand, and stepped away from the table. The butler stopped in front of him.

“It’s fine,” Jake said tiredly. “I can wash my own dishes.”

The interaction caught everyone’s attention. Will looked as tired as Jake sounded. “Let him do it. That’s what we’re paying him for.”

Jake reluctantly handed over the plates, and sat back down. The butler took them away. Walker, Carter, and Will went back to their conversation.

“You as bored as I am?” Jake asked Maple.

“Yeah.”

“Wanna ditch these losers to hang out in my room?” Jake smiled at her.

Maple smiled back. “Okay.”

 

~~~~~

 

After work, Axel cleaned himself up in the bathroom, then drove to a nearby frozen yogurt shop. He waited at an outside table. After a few minutes, Sebastian approached him.

“Hey,” Sebastian said to the ground.

“Hi.” Axel rubbed the back of his neck. “Want to go inside?”

“Yeah.”

They went inside. There was one employee behind the counter who barely acknowledged them over his phone. Axel grabbed a cup and filled it with cookies and cream froyo. Sebastian picked french vanilla. They chose their toppings, and went to pay. Sebastian held his watch out towards the payment screen, but Axel stopped him.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.”

“Are you sure?”

But Axel had already tapped his watch against the screen.

“Have a good day,” the dead-eyed cashier said.

Axel and Sebastian walked away. “Do you want to eat outside or in?” Sebastian asked.

“Outside is fine.” It would be harder for people to overhear them.

They chose a secluded area. An uncomfortable silence filled the air as they ate. Axel had wanted to personally give him his thanks. But now that Sebastian was in front of him, he wasn’t sure how to go about doing so. Surely bringing it up first thing would make things even more stilted than they were.

“So,” Sebastian set his spoon down, though stared at the table instead of at Axel. “What made you want me to call you?”

There was his opening. “It’s kind of a long story.”

Sebastian waited for him to continue while he busied himself with eating his froyo. “Well?”

“Can we circle back to that later?” Axel asked. “It’s an awkward first conversation.”

“No more awkward than everything else.” Sebastian glanced up and smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right. Good point.” Axel took another bite. “It’s just, the more I think about it, the stupider of an idea this was.”

“You think us hanging out is stupid?”

“No! I… wanted to thank you.”

Somehow, he managed to make things more awkward. So awkward, Sebastian actually stared at him. It was then Axel realized that Sebastian never really looked at him for more than five seconds at a time. And Sebastian continued staring for another ten seconds before finally responding.

“What the hell do you want to thank me for?”

“I’m sorry for bringing this back up. I know you don’t want to be reminded of it.”

“The scandal?”

Axel nodded, and looked around. They were completely alone. He lowered his voice. “I’m gay too.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened, looking as though he were about to spit out his food. He swallowed. “You’re…”

“Yes.”

“Oh God.” Sebastian went back to staring at the table. One hand buried in his hair, the other tightly gripping his spoon.

Axel’s heart sunk. He expected someone like Sebastian to be understanding. Had he made a terrible mistake? “You’re not mad about it, are you?”

“What? No. I’m surprised is all. What’s that got to do with…” Sebastian dropped his spoon into his cup, and leaned in with narrowed eyes. “This isn’t a date, is it?”

Axel could feel his face warming. Although Sebastian wasn’t bad to look at, the thought of dating him never crossed his mind. “No. Like I said, I wanted to thank you.”

“For?”

It was a long, personal story. One he didn’t think Sebastian would care all that much about hearing. “About seven years ago, people found out about it. My parents did too. They kicked me out.”

Sebastian glanced up, his eyes softening. “I’m sorry.”

“His name was Marley, and we had been best friends since childhood. We became secret boyfriends in high school. But then kids at school caught us making out behind the bleachers. I got bullied for it. It made me feel like a freak. Like something was wrong with me. I felt alone.”

Sebastian continued listening in silence, eyes back on his spoon.

“Then, news of… what happened with you. I heard about it. Your story was a lot like mine. And it made me feel less alone. Like I wasn’t the only person who’d been in that position.” Axel paused to let Sebastian take it in. “I wanted to thank you, for giving me a bit of light during such a dark time.”

Sebastian rubbed his forehead, eyes still avoiding Axel. “Well, I’m glad something good came out from my misery.”

“I know. It was a stupid thing to say.” Axel scraped the remains of his froyo, hoping he hadn’t ruined any chance of a potential friendship. He could use someone with a shared experience, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Sebastian felt the same way.

“Wasn’t your boyfriend there for you?” Sebastian asked.

“That’s where our stories get even more similar.” Axel took a breath to keep his voice even. “His parents found out that same day. They sent him straight to one of those conversion schools. I never found out the name of the place, so I couldn’t contact him. I was hoping he’d contact me. But he didn’t.”

“They never would have allowed it,” Sebastian said. “Where I was, we were only allowed to contact family members. And that was after being good for a month.”

“I thought so.” Axel had never been able to confirm it. A few months after Marley’s 18th birthday, Axel searched for him online. He was hoping to find a way to reconnect, but all he found was his obituary. It mentioned Marley had committed suicide. He hadn’t even been out of that school for a year.

Axel wondered if Sebastian went through similar mental struggles. He probably had. “Those places should be illegal. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Don’t be. It worked.”

Axel’s spoon clattered against the cup. “You’re not gay anymore?”

“No. Didn’t you hear the news about that?”

“I thought you were faking it.” Axel leaned forward. “It really made you straight?”

“Normal,” Sebastian corrected him. “Straight is a slur, you know. Like cis. And allo.”

That camp must have been effective, but Axel still had his doubts. “I thought all it did was suppress the attraction and make the person feel dirty for having those kinds of thoughts.”

“Well they don’t,” Sebastian snapped. “I’m normal now. I like women. I’m going to marry a woman.”

“I thought you didn’t want to get married?”

Sebastian turned pink. “I don’t. But, I mean. Eventually I’m going to. And it’ll be to a woman.”

“If you say so.” Axel had a feeling the camp only succeeded in making Sebastian hate himself for liking men. It was probably the same thought process that caused his friend to kill himself. It was a thought process that took Axel years to overcome himself, and he hadn’t even experienced conversion therapy. “There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

“I don’t care that you are, and your secret is safe with me.” Sebastian took one last bite of his froyo. “I just want you to know that I’m not.”

“That’s fine.” Axel studied Sebastian. He had his arms in front of his chest, completely blocking himself off. And throughout their whole meeting, Sebastian had barely looked at Axel. At first he thought it was some sort of quirk, but now he wondered if it went deeper than that. Instead of admiring Sebastian, Axel found himself pitying him. Having to hide being gay from others was bad enough. But trying to hide it from oneself?

The sun began to set. The air grew cooler. The two had finished their froyo, but Axel wanted to get to know Sebastian a little better. “Do you want to go for a walk or something?”

Sebastian glanced at his watch. “I should go home.”

“Oh.” Axel must have really screwed up.

Sebastian got out of his chair, and grabbed Axel’s empty cup. “Maybe next week”

Perhaps he hadn’t screwed up too badly. Axel followed him to the nearest trash can. “Really?”

“I’ll text you.” Sebastian smiled at him. “It was nice meeting you, awkward as this has been.”

“Next time I’ll try not to be so awkward.”

 

~~~~~

 

Maple followed Jake upstairs to his bedroom. He opened the door, and the two walked inside.

The room was practically bare. Jake must not have finished unpacking everything. There was a bookshelf against the wall with several books and a picture frame. He had a king-sized bed in the corner, with a nightstand next to it. A dresser sat across from the bed. There was an open door that led to a bathroom, and a closed door that was probably a closet. Not a single poster, picture, or shelf hung on the white walls. Jake sat on the edge of his bed.

Maple took a seat next to him. “It’s… empty in here. Do you still have a lot to unpack?”

“What do you mean? I already unpacked everything.”

“Where’s all your stuff?”

“Put away in my drawers. What, you expect me to have my underwear laying around?” Jake smirked. Actually smirked.

Maple tried not to think about what kind of underwear Jake wore. “I mean, your walls. Your dresser. No shelves. Where’s your knick knacks and things? Pictures?”

“I have a book shelf.” Jake pointed to it. “There’s stuff on that.”

It held a total of eight books. “That’s hardly anything.”

“Right.” Jake sighed. “People here fill their houses with cheap plastic that will only end up in a landfill.”

“And people in California don’t decorate their rooms?”

“Nope. You can’t even buy ‘knick knacks and things.’”

Did everyone in California have a room as depressing as Jake’s? “Wow.”

“They’re not illegal to own. No one cares if you bring back junk from other countries. But unless something serves an actual purpose, then businesses can’t sell them.”

“Decorations serve a purpose. They make a room look nice.”

“I mean a real purpose. Like, mirrors would be okay because you need them to see your face. Pictures aren’t, because all you do is look at them. You can do that with your phone.”

“Technically you can look at your face with your phone,” Maple pointed out.

“True, but it’s not the same.” Jake looked to his bookshelf. “I will say, not being able to buy physical books sucks. I like the way they look and feel. My dad brought me those from business trips.”

“I guess California’s not all that great then,” Maple said.

“There’s downsides, yeah. Do you read at all?”

Maple never got into books. Then again, no one ever gave her books to read. Even in school, they only studied excerpts of novels from textbooks. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t…” Jake took off his glasses just to rub his hand over his eyes, then put them back on. “Let me guess. Women here aren’t allowed to read.”

“We’re allowed to read. I know how. I’ve just never read a novel.”

“Never?”

“No one ever gave me one to read.”

“Wow.” Jake eyed her curiously. “What about short stories?”

“I’ve read them.” Though it had only been for school. “Not many people here read.”

“You should try it sometime.”

Maple walked over to the bookshelf. Jake stood next to her, his shoulder brushing against her own. The scent of his soap distracted her.

A title caught her eye. Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story. She pulled it out.

“That’s a good choice.”

“What’s it about?” Maple opened the book to a random page.

“A journalist who pretended to be mentally-ill to see what asylums were like for women. It’s a true story. Happened in the late 1800’s.”

Maple held the book in her hands. That sounded so… brave. Maple wished she had the courage to do something like that. “Interesting. The journalist was a woman?”

“Yep. Even the 1800’s had women journalists.”

“And you’re… okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Talk bad about the ESA all you want, but at least women are free to do whatever they want there.”

Maple couldn’t argue with that. Sacrificing nice things would be worth having an actual life outside of marriage and children. She’d never dared to dream of such a life. A woman journalist... Maple closed the book.

“You can borrow it if you want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’ll give us an excuse to see each other again.” Jake smiled a special smile that made her weak in the knees. She had to sit back down on his bed.

He sat next to her, his leg touching hers. Neither of them pulled away. Maple stared into his beautiful, blue eyes. She used to roll her eyes whenever girls would swoon over boys they barely knew. And here she was, doing exactly that.

But how could she not? He was different from the boys here. She kept waiting for some major flaw. Something that would kill her interest in him. But so far, there was nothing. Maybe that smug attitude about California, but she could live with that. It was much better than patronizing comments and wandering hands.

Of course, the one man she wouldn’t mind touching her like that, wasn’t touching her like that. She casually leaned against him, hoping he’d take it as a hint.

And he did. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The two of them remained that way for a moment.

Jake eventually broke the silence. “How many of these men you meet end the date with a kiss?”

“Every single one of them.” Maple nearly gagged at the memories of each man. “I never want them to, but they do it anyway.”

Jake nodded, then smiled. “Guess I won’t kiss you then.”

“I won’t mind you kissing me.” The words slipped out. Maple jerked her head away, face flushed.

“Really?” Jake sounded pleased at the fact.

"Maybe..." Maple ran her finger over the edge of the book. “You’re the first boy I’ve ever liked.”

“The first?” Jake furrowed his brow. “Twenty years old and never had a crush. Are you on the aro spectrum? Ace spectrum? Or do Jefferson boys just suck that much?”

The what spectrums? Confused as she was, she was also confused as to why Jake thought she was twenty. “I’m not twenty.”

“Oh, sorry. Barry told me you were my age.”

“He probably meant we’re close in age.”

“Makes sense. So you’re, what, 19? That’s only a year off.”

Maple shook her head. “Younger.”

“Younger?” Jake’s voice shook as he pulled away. “Please tell me you’re 18.”

“Close. 17.”

“17!” Jake’s eyes widened. “You’re still a minor?”

“I’ll be 18 soon.”

“By ‘soon’ I hope you mean next week.”

Should Maple lie and say yes? Somehow she felt Jake would eventually find out and be even more upset. Maybe it would be best if she ignored the remark altogether. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’ve been set up with men past their forties.”

“Forties?!”

“Usually they are.” Maple failed to see the problem. “What’s the big deal? There’s a girl in my class who’s set to marry a 64 year old.”

“A girl in your class? Marrying a 64 year old?” Jake gaped at her. “That’s fucking disgusting!”

“They’re waiting until she graduates.”

“I hope you mean, graduates college.”

Maple laughed at the thought of a woman getting accepted into a university. “You think women here go to college?”

“Yeah, that was a ridiculous assumption to make.” Jake buried his face in his hands. “This place makes me feel like I’ve time traveled back to the 15th century.”

“The point is, 17 and 20 isn’t a big deal at all. We can easily make it work.” Maple leaned against him, but Jake pulled away again.

“No. Not happening. I’m not dating a minor!”

Maple’s heart sunk. She should have kept her mouth shut and gone along with him thinking she was twenty. “I thought you liked me.”

“I like being around you. And you are pretty. Just… wait a year. Okay? We can revisit the idea then.”

“But I might be married to a 64 year old by then.” Maple smiled at him playfully, but he just winced.

“I’m sorry. It’s just… you’re still in high school!”

“My last year of high school.”

“We can be friends,” Jake said. “We can hang out and talk and do friendship things. But none of this touchy-feely couple stuff. Okay?”

Maple nodded, gaze focused on the carpet. She wasn’t sure if she could handle just being friends. But maybe in a year. If she could manage to avoid getting herself married off until then, there was hope. “Okay.”

An uncomfortable silence followed, broken by the sound of people approaching the doorway. Maple and Jake turned to see Walker, Carter, and Will standing outside the room.

“There you are,” Walker said, frowning at the pair. “We’re going home now.”

“Okay.” Maple reluctantly left Jake’s side, and followed her brothers out of the house. Jake right behind her.

“Good bye, Mapes,” Jake said to her, once they reached the front door. Despite their disagreement, he grinned. “Hope to see you again soon.”

Was “Mapes” his new nickname for her? She hugged his book to her chest, fighting back a goofy smile. “Good bye!”

Maple, Walker, and Carter got into the car, and it drove off.

“What’s that he gave you?” Walker asked from the driver’s seat.

“A book.”

Her brothers laughed. And for good reason. What man would give a woman a book? But Jake wasn’t an ordinary man. He was special, even if he had strange reasons for not dating her.

“What a freak,” Carter muttered.

“He’s out for sure,” Walker added.

Although Jake didn’t want her now, she’d been hoping her brothers would be open to waiting another year. To see if Jake would have a change of heart then. Surely they weren’t going to decline him altogether after meeting him twice? She didn’t want to seem too eager, so didn’t argue. “You’re not doing business with Mr. Williams?”

“We can still do business with them.,” Carter said. “You two don’t have to be married for that. It would’ve made things look better for both parties, but we’ll have no problem managing.”

“We don’t even have to like them,” Walker said. “No, I think the next man we have in mind will be a much better match.”

“Jake and I were getting along well,” Maple said. “Why do we have to try another man?”

“Did you not hear what we were saying?” Walker shook his head. “That Jake isn’t an option. He’s too weird.”

“He’s sweet!” The words slipped out. Maple looked out the window to avoid the stares her brothers gave her.

“Oh God.”

“You actually Iiked him?”

“A little.” Her reddening face betrayed just how “little” she liked him.

Her brothers laughed about it for the rest of the drive home. Near tears, Maple tried to distract herself from her emotions. She wondered what this “next man” would be like.

 

~~~~~

 

Sebastian couldn’t believe it. He sat in his car as it drove him home. Axel, handsome Axel, was gay. There was also a decent chance he was single. Sebastian almost asked, he but didn’t want to put any ideas in Axel’s head. The last thing Sebastian needed was a secret boyfriend. He was supposed to like women. No, not supposed to. He did like women. Very much. So much, he was going to marry one.

The thought filled him with anxiety.

So he directed his mind towards Axel’s story. He, too, had been caught with another man. He, too, had to face similar consequences. Except Axel was actually dating his best friend, whereas Sebastian threw his life away over a friend’s cousin. The boy was visiting for a few weeks from Oregon. They had a drunken make-out session in the bathroom at a party. Completely meaningless.

Axel may have gotten caught like Sebastian, but getting kicked out? He had it good. Sebastian would take living on the streets over a summer at Camp Hope any day.

Waylon was sitting in a chair on the front porch when Sebastian came crawling home.

“Where were you?”

“Out.” Sebastian paused. “Looking for a woman.”

Waylon grinned. “Any luck?”

“No. How am I supposed to find one anyway?”

“Walk up and talk to a girl, of course. How else?”

“Won’t they think that’s weird?”

Waylon stared at Sebastian. “You know, your social skills are horseshit.”

“I know.” The outing with Axel proved that. But in Sebastian’s defense, his social skills were great before Waylon sent him to Camp Hope. He used to have lots of friends before he was caught on video kissing that boy. Once that evidence dropped, he lost all of them in one day.

“How about, tomorrow night I’ll take you out. Find you a woman to test yourself on.”

Sebastian had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, maybe he would find a woman he liked. And it would prove he was normal. On the other, it seemed lame, having his father going with him. He’d much rather try it solo. Too bad he hadn’t a clue what to do or where to start. And he had no one else to help him. He’d feel weird asking Axel, who would probably be just as clueless.

With that in mind, Sebastian reluctantly agreed.