Beth closed the front door behind Maeve.
Maeve was a petite girl, smaller than Beth, and a fraction slimmer, with very long black hair and eyes of light ice blue. Her face was youthful and pixie-esq with a soft, rounded edge on each feature, including her nose which was adorable and round. Her almond shaped eyes were slightly further apart than on most faces, but it just added to the adorable impishness.
"Maeve... right?" Beth asked, to which Maeve nodded. "Why the fuck are you here? We're not friends, I mean you're..." Beth looked her up and down with a look of disdain "and I'm like the most popular girl in school."
"I had nowhere else to go."
"There's gotta be somewhere you could have gone, instead of here?" Beth asked, to which Maeve shook her head.
Beth sighed, as the seeds of compassion started spreading roots throughout her mind. It had been quite a while since Beth had felt compassion, especially for someone she looked down upon.
"Well I guess you better come in and have a seat where its warm," Beth said, as she grudgingly ushered Maeve towards the living room.
Maeve entered the room, followed by Beth, to find Scott passed out in the chair.
As the kept their eyes on Scott, they moved along the couch, before finally sitting; Maeve at the end of the couch, furthest from the door, with Beth a foot away towards the middle.
"Excuse this piece of shit, it's way past his bed time," Beth said with an annoyed look on her face. "SCOTT!!!!" Beth bellowed, turning her attention to the drunk in the corner chair. "SCOTT!" Beth bellowed again, but still with no reaction "SCOTT!!!" Beth shrieked, to which Scott finally jolted awake.
Scott mumbled as his eyes slowly opened.
"Go to bed," Beth ordered.
As Scott stretched and prepared himself for the long drunken stagger to the stairs. He looked up at Maeve.
"Heeeeey Maddie, my faaaaavorite new girl, why are you in this place, you should be in your home, or in the work thing."
"Hey fuck face, her name is Maeve, not Maddie, I go to school with her... understand? Now fuck off and go to bed."
"Ooohhhh, fuck you bitch... I'm going to bed," Scott said, ignoring what Beth just said. He clambered to his feet, and staggered off towards the door. "Seee you later Maddie," he said as he bumbled his way to the exit, before pressing his hand to his mouth, kissing it boisterously and flailing his moist hand in Maeve's general direction.
"Scott, I said fuck off," Beth shrieked wildly, reaching the end of her tether with him.
"Ahhhh whatever stupid whore bitch, fuuuucking... with your sexy fuckin ass, and boobsies... heh... boobskis," Scott mumbled, barely intelligible, as he left the room.
"Sorry, he's such an ASSHOLE," Beth said, ending loudly and directed at Scott "especially since his ex dumped him."
"Don't worry about it," Maeve looked at Beth with a wry smile. "Just...thanks for letting me in... Hey mind if I have a beer?"
"Sure, if there is any left, I'll go grab you one."
"Uh, no no, it's OK, I'll get it, you stay here... Just in case he comes back and tries to ruin things again," Maeve said with a smile, before getting up and making her way to the kitchen.
Moments later Maeve walked back in.
"No beer left, but I found some spiced Rum in one of the cupboards," Maeve said as she pulled a large bottle from behind her back.
"What the fuck, how did not know about that? I love Rum."
"I bought you a glass as well... with ice too."
"Oh fuck yes" Beth said as her face lit up with excitement. Maeve set down the glasses on the coffee table and poured a double for Beth and a double for herself.
"So you haven't told me why you're here." Beth asked Maeve as she sat back down in her place on the couch.
"I had an argument with my folks, and... well... my dad chased me out of the house and I knew you lived nearby, but I wasn't sure where. So I tried a few houses, then I got lost and eventually I ended up here."
"I know how you feel, I had an argument with my parents this morning, I should be up visiting my grand parents with them."
"Toast?" Maeve asked with a bright smile.
"Yeah," Beth said raising her glass.
"To stupid fucking family, who you can't live with, or without."
"To stupid fucking family," Beth responded with a smile and a sip of her rum, bringing the merriment to a premature and awkward halt.
Up until now they had hardly spent any time together, let alone shared any form of pleasantries, so it was only natural for them to feel unsure about this whole situation.
Maeve slipped off her flip-flops and brought her legs up on to the couch.
"Beth why don't you like me?" Maeve asked.
"I..." Beth paused and sighed. She simply had no excuses. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve that kind of nasty treatment. I guess it's just fear of new people, and... well..." Beth was about to blurt something out, but held back. "But there are no excuses, we've been really mean to you, and you have done absolutely nothing to us. But I guess with the peer pressure and all the other girls feeding into the same shit, it just gets kinda out of control," Beth added.
Sharing that with Maeve made Beth feel good, like a weight had been lifted.
"I understand. You have an image to look after, if you didn't you would be just like us," Maeve said followed by an understanding smile. Maeve brought her glass to her lips and took a drink of rum.
"Well maybe being like you is a good thing, you're yourself, no pretending to be something you're not, no pretending to be better than you are, simply to win approval." Beth said solemnly, "and you're... like... super pretty," Beth added bashfully, hinting at her underlying sexual confusion.
"Wow, really, you think I'm pretty?" Maeve asked surprised.
Beth took a quick sip of rum.
"Yeah," Beth replied as she brought her glass down and held it with both hands in her lap.
