After AnimeCon 2: Meeting Monique

    Moving now with a purpose, Brian led the girls out of the apartment and into the night air. It was cool out but not quite chilly, and although the sun had set the moon was out and it was bright, a white mostly-complete circle painting silver definition across the clouds. To his surprise, he was really looking forward to tonight. Reuniting with the local group here was long overdue, and it felt like this more than anything else was a real return home. The apartment was a place he stayed but had more bleak memories than it had good ones still, and figuring out his employment situation was going to be even more grim.

    But, bonfire with the whole crew? Brian grinned. Getting the whole gang from here in town back together? Even introducing Kelly to everyone? Hell fuckin’ yeah.

    Out of habit, Brian opened the passenger’s side door for one of the girls to take a seat before rounding the car and getting in himself, although now he was struck with the harem headache of not being able to get everyone’s door. Acting like a gentleman was etiquette traditionally aimed at having just one partner to look out for, so for a moment he mentally stumbled as to who even he was opening the door for in the first place. Thankfully, Kelly was the first to notice his predicament.

    “Shotgun!” Kelly claimed.

    “Damnit!” Emily swore. “I call shotgun on the way back, then! Dibs.”

    “You can’t reserve shotgun in advance,” Kelly chided her as she gave Brian a small kiss in thanks and then slipped into the vehicle. “That’s bad form.”

    “Christine?” Brian offered, closing Kelly’s door and stepping back a few paces so he could get the rear door on that side for Christine.

    “Oh, no—please. Don’t,” Christine gave him a troubled look. “Sorry. I can get it. You don’t have to do that for me anymore. Not after… not after all those times I nagged you about it.”

    “Get in, he’s already there,” Emily pushed Christine forward. “Geez.”

    “Th-thank you,” Christine carefully stepped into the car.

    “No problem,” Brian said, slowly closing the door for her and then turning as if to take Emily’s measure. “M’lady…”

    “Oh no you fuckin’ don’t!” Emily grinned, making a break to sprint her way around the hood of the car.

    Brian broke into a run as well, hurrying about the trunk of the vehicle and reaching the other rear door first. However, although he managed to grab the handle—Emily collided with him before he could open it, and the two spent a moment jostling for position before Brian finally relented and stepped back. Emily opened the door and hopped up and down in place, giddy with excitement still, and gave Brian a quick kiss before diving inside and yanking the door shut behind her.

    “You guys are so immature,” Kelly groaned as Brian finally got in the driver’s seat. “You’re fucking embarrassing me in front of Christine.”

    “She’s seen worse,” Brian chuckled, starting the ignition. “Alright, let’s go.”

    He pulled them back out of their parking spot, and then swung the vehicle out around to leave the lot. Kelly immediately reached up and hit the radio, which needed her attention fine-tuning after they had attempted to scan for stations out in Tionetta when phone reception dropped out. The sheer act of her leaning in towards the center console had her gently jiggling tits almost spilling free of the top, and Brian smiled to himself and struggled to keep his eye on the road.

    “Holy hell, the guys are gonna lose it when they see you in that,” Brian remarked. “Becky, too, probably.”

    “And whatever girls are gonna lose it when they see you in that,” Kelly teased him right back. “You look like you’re trying to pass off body paint as a t-shirt there, Brian.”

    “Hey, I’ve done the body paint thing before,” Emily chimed in. “It was for a cosplay.”

    “It’s not that tight,” Brian chuckled, trying not to squirm or readjust it, because it was definitely uncomfortably snug. “And yeah, Emily—do you remember the year before you did that Grimoire Saint? Back when you were uhh, I think you were rockin’ that Reliance Guild getup?”

    “Yeah?” Emily asked. “What of it?”

    “Do you remember asking this random Jessie Terr cosplayer about how to do the—”

    “Ugh, yes, I know I know I know,” Emily gave the seat in front of her a swat. “That was actually Kelly.”

    “Wait—what?” Kelly seemed to be the only one surprised. “What was?”

    “We ran into you, years back,” Brian reminded her. “You were with your sister, I think. Emily here asked you how you did your skintone stuff for Jessie Terr, it wound up helping her when she did her Grimoire Saint getup the next year.”

    “Oh—okay, right,” Kelly nodded, turning from the radio so that she could look back towards Emily. “I remember on that first night, Brian showed me he’d got a picture of me. In his album for that year, or whatever. Sorry I don’t remember you guys. We got a lot of attention in those getups, since they were skintight, and all.”

    “Do you still have that one?” Emily asked. “The Jessie Terr cosplay.”

    “Oh, nah,” Kelly shook her head as she returned to scanning through the Seneca stations. “That was Sarah’s in the first place, she made both of them. She was pretty good back then though, right?”

    “She still is,” Brian nodded. “She took Best of Show for AnimeCon this year, that’s their big prize one. Couple grand, I think?”

    “Really?” Kelly clicked her tongue. “That bitch.”

    “Sarah Star?” Christine asked. “That’s your sister?”

    “Yeah, my little sister,” Kelly shrugged. “She was always the one more into anime and weebery. I’ve played a few games, but that’s about it.”

    “She’s really good,” Christine said. “I lost to her. I tried to compete with Himari, but…”

    “But, I fucked that up for you?” Kelly gave Christine a glance. “Mustard stains? Hah.”

    “No, that was—that was my fuck up,” Christine lowered her head.

    “Chloe’s fuckup,” Brian corrected her.

    “I’m just glad that you managed to… that you managed to save your outfit, the gothic dress,” Christine admitted. “That was impressive.”

    “I was just playing decoy,” Kelly shrugged. “Was trying to lead you away from Brian—we kinda swapped him out for the one other fuckin’ bonehead guy with a real helmet, the second someone came up bugging you for a photo and got your eyes off us for a bit. I was playing decoy so that Brian and Steph could slip away and get away from you, for a bit.”

    “Hey now, ‘bonehead guy?!’” Brian scoffed. “C’mon, it’s Darkmasks. We’re Darkmasks.”

    “Or, Skullfies!” Emily added. “Like, I normally don’t like the dub version localizing names and shit? But, Skullfies is pretty cute. I like that.”

    “I’d wondered how all of that turned out the way it did…” Christine said.

    Brian stole a glance in the rear-view mirror as he was pulling out of the Altamonte Apartments and onto the main thoroughfare, but Christine was wearing a small smile. It felt very weird to have the person who’d been in such fierce opposition with them back then just… sitting there while they reminisced over what happened, but she really did seem to have reformed into a new person. At the very least, she didn’t seem too put out or bothered by them bringing things up.

    “Any reason you didn’t wear Hera Victoria this year?” Emily prodded. “Orrr, was it just because you didn’t want Brian to recognize you when you were stalking after him?”

    “It… “ A wince this time was revealed when Brian checked the mirror. “It was because I was stalking him. Magical Doll Himari should have been wildly out of character for Chloe, so. She felt like it was the perfect disguise.”

    “I knew it,” Emily let out a knowing sigh of exasperation. “Fuckin’ Chloe.”

    “I’m not sure I even got a great look at your Himari,” Brian admitted. “But, didn’t notice you when you horked my phone, so it worked well enough? You were in the cosplay contest with it?”

    “Yes,” Christine said. “It’s long gone now, though. I uh. I put it in a bag and hid it beneath a bush over by one of the parking garages. Out by the convention center. That was over a month ago, so…”

    “Pfft,” Emily snorted.

    “Hmm,” Brian thought it over. “No, I don’t remember really seeing it, at least I don’t think? Lot of amazing costumes everywhere, and Steph or Kelly were with me most of the con. I was there during the contest helping the Ogre King guy for a bit, since he was blind as a bat, once the lights went down. After that, we went for pizza. Before the contest, Steph and I were—well, Steph was distracting me. You know, she seems real sweet and innocent, until you get her in your lap and she decides that… well, nevermind. I digress.”

    “No, no—go on,” Kelly laughed. “Tell us more about what a she-devil Stephanie is.”

    “I mean—” Brian couldn’t help but laugh as well. “Well, a gentleman never tells. Hey, uh—Christine, you said Lake Garden Drive? How far down?”

    “You can drop me off wherever,” Christine told him. “You don’t have to go the whole way in. I can walk a bit. I don’t want to make you guys late.”

    “I don’t want to make you walk,” Brian said. “We’ll do a couple houses down. You have her address?”

    “I um… no,” Christine admitted with a sheepish tone. “Not the exact house number. But, I know how far down it is, I’ve been there quite a few times.”

    “Tell me when, then,” Brian said, turning the steering wheel to pull off of the thoroughfare and onto Lake Garden Drive. “You said North, right?”

    “Yes.”

    After a short drive some of the ritzy neighborhoods began to pass by on both sides again, and Christine let Brian know where to drop her off. He let the vehicle coast to a stop while pulling off to the side, and then the interior lights came on for a moment as Christine opened her door and hopped out, gently closing it behind her and then making her way to the sidewalk at a brisk pace. Each of them watched her walking into the darkness ahead of their headlights for a moment with different feelings, then Emily let out a deep sigh and patted Kelly’s shoulders from behind.

    “I mean, she’s pretty much better. Right?” Emily murmured. “Nothing to worry about, probably.”

    “If she still had rotten bits, Steph would have sniffed them out,” Kelly assured her, reaching up to place her hands over Emily’s. “It’ll be fine. Brian’s actually right—we need to start giving her some trust.”

    “I like her okay as Christine,” Emily stated. “But, uh. No second chances, alright? If this fucks up, if she screws us over one more time… we get rid of her for good. Right?”

    “Chill, Emmie, chill,” Kelly tapped her hands and then gave them a squeeze. “So bloodthirsty! My bloodthirsty little kitten.”

    “Rawr…” Emily gave a half-hearted response. “Well, whatever. Swingin’ by my place?”

    “Yeah, sorry,” Brian blinked, pulling back onto the road.

    “He was checking out Christine’s legs,” Kelly whispered. 

    “I was not,” Brian chuckled. “I mean… they are nice, though. She’s got nice legs. That’s not a crime.”

    “Rawrr-Rrrrrhh,” Emily pouted. “Hiss, hiss. Hisssss.”

    “I wouldn’t mine playing with Christine’s legs,” Kelly teased. “Or watch Brian spread them reealll wide…”

    “Alright, alright cut it out,” Emily snorted. “You’re gonna give him a boner. Brian, you runnin’ in with me? Kell?”

    “I’m not dressed to meet your mother for the first time,” Kelly deflected. “Brian can go, though?”

    “I’m not goin’ in, I’ve got a gigantic boner,” Brian joked.

    “Har har,” Emily sighed. “Well. Whatever. She’s uh. She’s gonna ask about you guys. Yes, both of you. She’s probably not buying the story that I’m uh, I’m just with Kelly. Not if I’ve been staying over there with you guys for a whole month. Annnd, uh, yeah. Mom always knew I was crushing on Brian. Somehow. So.”

    “What do you think, Kell?” Brian gave her a glance. “Dinner with Emily’s parents? Sometime soon. Has to happen sooner or later.”

    “Aaaagghhhh…” Kelly let her head flop back against the headrest. “I know. Just. Ugh. I’m not real great with parents. Family. That kind of thing. There’s a lot of like, different relationship areas where I’m sure to fuck things up. That’s one of the big ones? I, uh, I had a nightmare the other night, where we met Steph’s parents, and they were super disappointed that she was with me, with all of us. It—I don’t know.”

    “Emily’s mom will like you,” Brian promised.

    “I think she’ll understand,” Emily tried to reassure her. “She’s not really an ordinary mom? She’s pretty cool. You know she was into acting, right? Had a role on a sitcom.”

    “Yeah,” Kelly chuckled. “Crazy. Finding out our Emily is the daughter of the Hannah Hudson…”

    “I bet,” Emily said, using her fingers to make grabby squeezes at Kelly’s shoulders. “Since I didn’t inherit her giant bazongas, that would be a surprise.”

    “What was it like?” Kelly asked. “Growing up with a mom who’s… well, famous? Semi-famous? Anything interesting, or uh, ever notice anything… weird?”

    “Everything about it was weird,” Emily admitted. “Like, she was always careful to be ‘real’ with us when she was bringing us up, me and Katie. But, she can just flip a switch and become a different person. It’s unsettling, always was. Never actually even liked watching Criminal Lives, or any of her other stuff. I know you have to be able to separate the performer from the performance and all, but growing up? Nah, felt too fucking weird. Watching some other woman on-screen, wearing my mother’s skin. It’s hard to describe.”

    “She’s very nice in person,” Brian assured Kelly. “Honestly, I was always jealous of Emily. And not like, yeah the typical horny teen thing, where my friend happened to have this smoking hot gorgeous mom. Mrs. Rivera is genuinely real cool, and I was uh, I was real torn up about that for a while, because of how much that contrasted with my actual parents.”

    “Brian’s were the worst,” Emily growled. “Fuck. Just thinking about them pisses me off.”

    “Then, don’t,” Brian shrugged. “I don’t, anymore. S’in the past.”

    “Yeah, I know,” Emily mumbled. “Still...”

    * * *

    Christine hurried through the darkness from one unknown to another, feeling helplessly, hopelessly lost. The casual camaraderie she saw in Brian and them stung, even when they made efforts to include her. It was hard not to feel more and more bitter about all of the mistakes she had made as Chloe the more time she spent around them, because there were constant new instances that displayed the depth of their character. Emily for all of her fooling around was also surprisingly thoughtful. Kelly was a stark ray of starlight that seemed the one best able to understand Christine’s present circumstances and difficulties. But, when it came to Brian…

    Fuck fuck FUCK, Christine seethed in agony. Why did I fuck things up between us? Why? WHY? He was already so fucking amazing—WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS I THINKING?!

    She had never suspected that falling in love with someone when it was far, far too late would hurt this much. Christine had never known anything could hurt this much. The stifling sensation in her chest made it difficult to breath, and it was an enormous relief just to get away from Brian’s group for once just because now it felt like she was free to burst into tears and have a genuine nervous breakdown over what a colossal fuckup she had been to ruin such a good thing.

    No. No. Keep it together, Christine told herself, trying to search out those errant silver sensations that used to course through her whenever she thought about Brian and them. It’s going to take time. You knew this was going to be a process. You’re lucky anyone is even giving you a chance. You can do this. You can do this. YOU HAVE TO.

    Breaking into a jog at the sight of Tom and Monique’s place just a few doors down, she observed that Tom’s SUV wasn’t here. Only the familiar sight of Monque’s sporty little compact was here, a rather garish shade of red that stood out like a beacon parked at the curb right beneath one of the streetlights. Christine ran her history with the girl through her head, and the memories made her a little nauseous—because Monique was vain, notoriously self-absorbed, and incredibly superficial.

    We made great friends, Christine’s lower lip pulled back from her teeth in a grimace before she could recompose herself. We were perfect for each other.

    She would have to put up some pretense at still being Chloe.

    The prospect was sickening to the point of being cruel, because Christine wanted with every fiber of her being to prove to everyone—and especially herself—that she was not Chloe anymore, that she was nothing like Chloe, that she had been purged of Chloe and that every last filthy speck of Chloe was back there in Tionetta, festering in an open grave out in the woods.

    Or, did they fill that in? Christine felt a shiver travel up her arms. Well. Either way. She’s gone, she’s not a part of me. She’s dead.

    But tonight, Christine would have to resurrect the dead, even if it was just putting on a pretense so that her reintroduction to the local Seneca group that knew her wouldn’t invite questions. Questions would be bad. Questions would pick and peel away at their facade of secrecy, and every little sliver of that gone was a greater chance that the Masters or their proxies or some sort of indistinctly-defined supernatural horrifying thing would turn its attention towards them.

    “You gonna be a good girl? Yes you are! Be a good girl and lay down! Be a good girl! You can do it! You wanna treat? You wanna treat for bein’ such a good girl?! CUM YOURSELF STUPID, WHORE.”

    The memory of that towering, grotesque figure’s mocking words clung to the inside of her mind like filth sometimes, and that pit of absolute revulsion and terror opened up in her belly again, making her footing stumble. Christine gagged for a moment and then choked out a cough, shuddering all over. Back then in the hospital she had been lucky. She had been extremely, absurdly fortunate, and imagining all of the ways things could have gone terribly wrong was a lingering shadow that felt like it had haunted her footsteps ever since then.

    Not even JUST the Masters…

    Christine took a moment to slow down her quickening breath as she crossed a corner of the yard and then the driveway to arrive at an entrance alcove framed with plastic roses that were ziptied to a lattice archway.

    Those creeps in the alleyway. They were just NORMAL DUDES. When I was Chloe, I was real into the ONE IN EVERY THREE WOMEN HAS BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED statistic, but now all of the sudden THAT FEELS REAL. I guess I never even really believed it, back when I was Chloe. It was just USEFUL, a line I could pull out, a useful argument. Hah, I thought of that pretty little gem as USEFUL, and now it’s time to get back into that mindset.

    God, I think I’m going to actually be sick tonight.

    Blowing out two quick breaths and then taking a deep one and pretending she was calm, Christine rung the doorbell. She wanted to stand and wait with patience there, to be composed and serene, but already those weren’t normal mannerisms for Chloe. So, instead she brought out her phone and thumbed it on, leaning over on the wall beside the door and putting on a scowl of irritation that her phone would be sure to illuminate.

    The door shuddered and then opened, revealing her friend Monique.

    Monique was slender and blonde and would have been quite pretty if not for a healthy dose of self-sabotage and a viper’s nest of friends who would never be honest with her. A nosejob and several appointments for lip injections had looked okay in the past, but in the time since then, the fillers had spread, migrated out past her lips across her lower face to give her a puffy fake look that made it abundantly clear she had been having a fair bit of work done.

    A virulent stab of guilt skewered Christine through the gut at seeing the sight with fresh eyes, because as Chloe she had always praised and encouraged the procedures. While having been secretly delighted with how poorly it went for Monique. The guilt twisted so sharply that for a moment Christine even considered asking Brian if they could help restore Monique’s original face with charm magic.

    “Chloe?” Monique stared at her for several seconds. “Chloe, omigod—you bleached your hair?!”

    “No,” Christine denied with an intentional scoff. “Swift Cuts over in town, they were supposed to do highlights. Except, they only completely fucked it up. Literally the worst, most chunky streaks I’ve seen in my entire life. Ryan had this friend who said he could fix it and we tried some things, but it’s a work in progress… so, I look like ass. Don’t fucking make fun of me.”

    “Wow, no, no—you actually look amazing!” Monique seemed to be genuinely impressed by her look. “Ryan’s friend? That like, hipster dude you were seeing? What’s his name? Do you think he could do me?”

    “Ew, no,” Christine made a face to cover up that Ryan having some hairdresser friend was a complete fabrication. Or, at least… it probably was. “You have enough random dudes doing you. You’re lucky Tom’s fucking cluele—”

    “Oh shut up,” Monique rolled her eyes dramatically. “If he’s Ryan’s friend, I doubt he’s super interested in pussy. So, are we going, or not? That bonfire thing?”

    “Yeah, one second,” Christine grunted, putting away her phone. “Can you open up the garage?”

    “Sure?” Monique said. “Come on.”

    “I need to like, slut up a bit,” Christine explained as she followed Monique inside. “You see… Brian’s gonna be there. Is what I heard.”

    “Brian?” Monique whirled in surprise. “That total asshole guy who was always such a dick to you?”

    “Y-yeah,” Christine sputtered. “But, like—”

    “Oh no,” Monique shook her head with a giggle. “No no no. You don’t even have to explain anything to me, I already know just from that. Let’s get you dressed to fucking impress, girlfriend!”

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