Standing over the village below me, I felt a surge of peace. The evil had finally been defeated in the land and I and my family could live quietly together, in our house upon this small hill. I look back and see my wife as she knits in her rocking chair a blanket for our newborn son. I named her after my best friend who had been lost in the battle against the great evil so my son could carry on her legacy. My wife sees me and waves to me, a smile on her face. I hadn’t seen a genuine smile upon her face in ages it feels. It’s nice to see it again. It reminds me of why I fell in love with her in the first-

“Whatcha’ writing?” A voice asked in my ear, snapping me from my writing. I instantly slammed my composition book close and whipped my head around to see Mae looking down at me, hands on the back of my chair and a humored smile spread across her face. A huff of annoyance left me as I turned back around in my chair.

“Nothing, Mae,” I drawled, putting my face in my hands. I heard a chair being pulled out across from me. “What do you want?” I asked.

“I’m just checking up on my best buddy.” Mae’s voice was sickeningly sweet. She was never this nice unless she actually wanted something from me. I looked up from my hands to see Mae staring at me with doe eyes and a big smile. I shook my head and leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest.

“No, you most definitely are not. What do you want?” Once I asked, Mae’s facade immediately turned into desperation. I don’t know why she never just comes out with what she actually wants. I’ve known her long enough to where she can’t trick me anymore. It only worked the first couple of times.

“I was hoping you could maybe, uh, drive me to the mall this weekend?”

“How come?” I asked, beginning to put my book into my bag, saving my writing for later. “Can’t you have your mom drive you?”

“The thing is, I already asked my mom and  she  said no. I was thinking that maybe if you drove me, I could say we’re hanging out, but you’re actually just driving me to the mall. Perfect plan, right?” she looked so confident in this plan she had fabricated from her stupid little mind, as if every teenager hadn’t thought of it to get out of the house before. I nodded my head over-enthusiastically, giving her some much needed validation before I crushed her plan with my bare hands.

“The only problem with your plan is I’m not going to drive you.” I said, looking her dead in the eye, with a sarcastic smile on my face. I grabbed my backpack and stood up from the table. Looking down at her from where I stood, her hope was long gone and replaced by confusion.

“What?! Why not?!” She stood up as well, smacking her hands on the table. It created a loud echo throughout the library that summoned the looks of every person in the surrounding area. I heard about twenty whispers directed towards Mae as I was walking away. I heard her heavy footsteps following close behind me. We remained in silence until the very second we passed the doors of the library. “Bea! Why won’t you drive me! We’re friends, right?” The desperation in her voice and the accusation of my not being her friend was almost sad, but because I knew the real reason she wanted to go to the mall, I held my grudge.

“Because, Mae, I’m not driving you twenty miles to the mall only for me to wait in the food court until you’re done bumping butts with your little boyfriend.”

“Gregg is not my boyfriend, Bea. We’re just best friends.” Mae scoffed, acting if I hadn’t already  known that Gregg was 1. Not her boyfriend and 2. Gay. I simply turned away and began walking to my car, fishing my keys from my bag. “Bea! Come on! Ever since he moved, I haven’t been able to see him at all!” Mae begged, following close behind me.

“Tragic,” I said sarcastically. I found my keys and used them to unlock the drivers door. There was no way I was going to unlock the passenger door and risk Mae diving into my car and refusing to leave. I began to open the door before Mae snatched my keys from my hand. I turned to see her looking at me frozen in fear, as if she couldn’t believe she had done that. “Mae… give me my keys.” I reached my hand out to grab them from her slowly. Before I could grab them, she pulled back from me quickly. I cursed under my breath.

“I’m not giving them back until you agree to driving me!” Mae shouted. Every step I took closer to her, was another step she took backwards. We kept moving until she was positioned over a grate in the ground. She looked down and then back up at me and then back down as if she was connecting some metaphorical dots. Something seemed to click in her brain and she looked back up to me and held her arm out sideways over the grate, the keys dangling from her grasp.

“Mae… you don’t know what you’re doing,” I said, fear finally beginning to climb up my throat. Without my car keys, I had… well, nothing. “Give me the keys.”

“N-not until you drive me!” Fear seemed to have taken over Mae as well, as she was shaking. I grew nervous as the hand holding my keys began to shake lightly. My keys were going to be sewer swimming soon enough.

“Fine, fine! I’ll drive you! But you are not leaving me in the food court alone again!” I snapped, pointing my finger at her accusingly. A smile spread across her face as she stepped forward off the grate. I let a breath of relief escape my lips, knowing my keys were safe again. Mae went in to give me a hug, but I pushed her away and grabbed my keys. “I refuse to show you any kind of affection after you put my keys in danger like that over a trip to the mall.” I snarled.

“But, Bea, it’s Greggory! You love Gregg!” Mae shouted excitedly. Gregg was very kind, but he was also very loud. Him and Mae together is my worst nightmare because it was basically Mae squared. I could barely handle one Mae, let alone two. Thank God Angus was usually always there to balance out the chaos. He was the silent type and perfect to hang out with.