I dropped the last of the moving boxes down onto the bed with a huff. I had sold most of my stuff and yet it felt like it took forever just to move a few neighborhoods over.

“That’s the last of the stuff.” Mason set another box down on the floor next to the rest of them. “I’m going to have to go soon, Mae. Jay and I have a date tonight.”

“Don’t let me keep you.” I waved him off, before turning my attention towards the box on my bed, opening it up. “I’ll be up all night unpacking.”

“Hollar for Julian if you need any help, he should be around most of the day.” Mason turned around to leave the room before stopping, the sunlight from the window perfectly lighting up his brown eyes. I remember when he use to complain about getting the short end of the stick with his ‘boring’ eyes, but I had always found them sexy. Mysterious, even, when I felt creative. His dark thick brows complemented the look and plenty of guys seemed to agree as Mason never had issues finding a partner.

“Mason.” I turned to fully face him. “Thanks again, for letting me stay here.”

“‘Course, Mae. You’re always welcome here.” He smiled at me warmly. I knew he meant it, but I still didn’t feel great about not being able to pay rent yet.

“I promise I’ll start looking for a job, Mason.” I looked over at him sadly, before quickly changing my expression, remembering Mason’s comment about my ‘pouting’ a few months ago. He told me though I may not intend to, my pout could start the Trojan War.

“No rush, Mae. No rush.” He held his hands up before walking away from the door.

I took a deep breath sitting down on the bed once he was clear from my eyesight. It felt...weird finally having moved out of my mom’s house, the house I had grown up in. I finally felt like a real adult, even if I was a bit late to the party, but I was always scared. All the security of living under my mom was gone, hell she wouldn’t even be in the same state anymore. What would I do when I started feeling sick? I use to pop some meds and go sit in my mom’s company, just feeling safer around her, but now I’ve completely lost that.

I frowned at the thought. The last thing we had said to each other was bitter. I called her selfish for leaving me and she called me the same thing. But I never asked to have a disability. I never asked to have to be babied through adulthood, but yet those were the cards I was dealt. She never understood though, so why did I expect her to now? God only knows. None of my family understood my sickness, even once I got diagnosed, they acted like ‘cause they couldn’t see it, it didn’t exist. Just like them to do that shit…

I poked at my sad excuse of a dinner, leftovers from Mason’s dinner the night before he had told me I could eat. I would’ve killed for some ramen, but salt and I are not the bestest of friends. I looked up as Julian wheeled into the room. He smiled as he saw me, taking a spot at the table.

“Hey, Mae, how is moving in going for you?” Julian was, as always, looking perfect. Not a hair out of place, not a single wrinkle in his sweater, always putting me to shame for wearing the same t-shirt four days in a row.

“Eh.” I shrugged, responding non committedly. “Going.” I took a bite of food, looking back down at the plate, not really being in a chatty mood. Julian’s fine and all, but he’s Mason’s friend and not really mine. Though, Mason is the only one I really have, so that’s not saying much. He’s always been friendly towards me, but there’s always been the awkwardness of knowing he’d never truly be my friend in the end if something came between Mason and I again.

“Are you planning on getting a job?” Julian innocently asked, not realizing the cringing it forced me to do. “You don’t have one right now, right?”

“Nope.” I refused to look back up at him. “Not right now.” How do you explain to someone who can’t walk your struggles with getting out? It’s like complaining about a scuffed knee to an amputee. “I have a bit saved up from working for my stepdad.” I didn’t need to tell him Mason was saving me from having to pay rent until I could figure something out.

“I saw you have a lot of animals. I took a peek in your room to see if you were in there.” He responded to my silent question.

“Mason said they’re fine.” I looked up at him, praying he wouldn’t complain about my ‘creepy’ pets, as my mom use to always say. No matter how many times I told her they couldn’t escape she never ceased to complain about them.

“I think they’re cool.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I don’t have an issue with them.”

I took a deep breath, realizing I was being way too aggressive. “Thanks, Julian. Thanks for being cool with me moving in.”

“Of course.” He smiled at me warmly. “I’ve just wanted to check in on you.” He tilted his head to the side happily before leaving the room, leaving me to my disappointing dinner and a sick stomach from being a bitch for no reason.

“Macy.” I looked over at Mason who was laying on the bed next to me. “How do I make money?”

“Could always be a stripper.” He shrugged, a crooked smile on his face.

“Thanks, Mason.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure everyone would love the stripper who gets dizzy when they bend down. The sexy stripper who just stands there. Even better, can’t stand for more than like fifteen minutes.”

“The sexy stripper who sits there.” Mason motioned, presenting the idea with his hands.

“But seriously.” I rolled over to face him fully. “I don’t think I can even do most jobs. As if I could’ve done it before, COVID made it even that much harder. I may be vaxxed, but I don’t want to risk it, even if I could stand for hours. Plus I hate people. And I don’t have a college education like you, I barely even kept from failing highschool those last couple of years.”

“You can still do something, Mae.” Mason attempted to reassure me.

“Like?”

“Uh…” He trailed off, cringing slightly. “Good question.”

I sighed, laying back down to stare at the ceiling. “This sucks. Why’d my mom have to go?”

“Guess the national parks were just calling to her, Mae.”

“I guess being here is better than being stuck with them in an RV. I barely stand my step dad, much less on the road for the next few years. Not that she even asked…”

“Maybe…” Mason looked over at me. “You should get a sugar daddy.”

“Come on, Macy.” I rolled my eyes. “I need actual ideas.”

“I’m being serious, Mae. You could do it.”

“How? I’m not even normal pretty. I’m lazy and don’t really like socializing. I can’t go to crowed places and god knows if I can even have sex, much less even want to.”

“There’s plenty of people out there that you’re their exact type, Mae. You know that. And besides, there’s got to be guys out there that’d be fine with all of those things. There are guys who enjoy spending their money on women, this can’t be any different.”

I rolled my eyes, letting out an angry sigh, before pushing Mason over onto his side towards the edge of the bed. “If you’re not going to be helpful, you’re going.”

Mason laughed, getting up from my bed. I’m serious though, Mae. Think on it, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved him out the door, only catching my breath once he was gone.

“No, Mae.” I chewed on my lip. “Sugar daddies are not your thing. No way, no how.” I tossed my phone onto the bed next to me. I looked away before looking back over at it. “It couldn’t hurt to just download the app and look, right? To just make a profile and see if the guys are good looking, just see. Nothing more.” I looked away from my phone once more before turning over to pick it up, typing sugar daddy into the app store. “We’ll just take a look.”