RE: Trailer Trash 47 pt 3 (Patreon)

   “You’re really on Tabs’ case about the whole time travel secret thing,” Alicia griped as she skated next to Elena. “But, like—it’s her story to tell, right? She can do what she wants.”

   “Honestly?” Elena stared off into the distance. “I’m just getting real sick of it. It’s all you guys talk about, you won’t stop encouraging her, and just—I just don’t want to have to keep playing along with this forever, you know? She’s not from the future, she didn’t travel back in time. Grow up. Get over it. She’s fourteen, already, there’s really no excuse.”

   “No, but what if she is from the future?” Alicia scowled. “You’ve basically never even once given her a chance. Right from the get-go, it was impossible to you, so you like—you like, couldn’t even entertain the possibility.”

   “Yeah,” Elena agreed, finally shooting Alicia a stare. “Basically.”

   “I believe her,” Alicia was adamant. “She knows things she couldn’t know otherwise. Was in exactly the right time and place and with the right preparations to save Mister Macintire’s life there. You’re saying that was just, what, blind coincidence? She knows a lot of future stuff, she gives specifics and details and shit. Social Medium. Music stuff, fashion. Movies.”

   “Sure, some of her speculation is interesting,” Elena shook her head. “But, that’s all it is. Did you know that back in Laurel, there was this girl we knew, Maddie, who would always say she had a boyfriend who lived in California? He was supposedly sixteen, he had a rich family, he did photoshoot modeling stuff for magazines. Every time you’d talk with Maddie, her little fantasy story had new episodes—oh, they almost broke up, or oh no, his mother was an alcoholic psycho and trying to separate them. Or, oh, he got into a car accident and almost died. It was always something.”

   “It’s not the same thing,” Alicia scoffed. “Tabitha has—”

   “Well, the first couple weeks, we humored her,” Elena cut Alicia off. “We were like, twelve or thirteen, and it was all ‘so what if she’s lying?’ Yeah, everyone wanted to feel like their life was special, or interesting, or important. But as it went on—it got to where she’s obviously just making it all up, because every day it was a new drama, every day she was in tears, or furious, or falling in love all over again, because of the ongoing soap opera developments in her own little pretend story. About her ‘boyfriend in California.’ Do you get what I’m saying?”

   “Elena,” Alicia slowed and grabbed Elena’s arm, forcing her to face her. “Tabitha doesn’t need a ‘boyfriend in California.’ Do you get what I’m saying? You were right fucking there next to me back when a girl almost murdered her. She caught her Aunt with heroin and got her arrested. I was right next to her when a cop got shot, she stopped him from bleeding out and literally saved his life—the cop’s family took her in, even. Any one of those things would be like some real Nancy Drew kinda shit. All of those happening together? To the same girl? Elena, Tabitha is special, and when we finally actually ask why, when we dig deeper into the big crazy mystery of why, you just throw out her explanation as impossible.”

   “Let go,” Elena warned, throwing her hands out for balance as she tried to skate next to Alicia.

   “Sorry,” Alicia growled, releasing her. “Just—Elena, she doesn’t need a ‘boyfriend in California.’”

   “What I’m saying is this whole thing is her ‘boyfriend in California,’” Elena refuted. “Sure, a lot of those things you said are mostly true, just, she’s not as special as you want to make her out to be. You’re completely biased. When—”

   “Oh, I’m biased?!”

   “—When she went up and helped stopped the bleeding with Officer Macintire, that was a good thing, but she didn’t save him—paramedics saved him, surgery and intensive care stuff saved him. She helped. Yes. Not gonna belittle that, what she did was great, and yeah she should be proud of that. But, you only insist that Officer Macintire would’ve died because Tabitha claims he would have, as if she knows. It’s a lot more likely that he would’ve been mostly fine until the ambulance showed up. It’s not like he got shot right in the heart or—”

   “Elena—what the fuck?” Alicia’s mouth fell open. “Really? Really? Weren’t you the one going around getting all up in the face of all the other girls at school whenever they said that? Didn’t you run over and—”

   “It’s not the same thing,” Elena argued. “Tabitha did help. What she did was great. I just don’t think you can give her all the credit, like she’s some Nancy Drew character. The other things are all basically the same. With the way you two reframe things, it’s always made out to be super huge and dramatic as possible, all the time. And yeah, I get that. I’m a teenager, too. But, when—”

   Alicia had already veered off and rolled away, making for the outer edge of the roller rink.

   “Alicia. Alicia,” Elena called, awkwardly clunking her skates to slow down to let another skater pass by so that she could turn and follow. “Oh, come on.”

   “Elena,” Alicia snapped, coming to a stop at the edge and spinning around to face her. “You need to think real carefully about whatever your next words are, because they might just end this friendship.”

   For a long, tense moment Elena stood silently in her roller skates on the rink periphery, staring at Alicia, who simply crossed her arms and waited.

   “My mom’s still doing Christmas shopping,” Elena finally said. “For the rest of the family. Last minute stuff. This past Thursday she says, I’m running out to Harry and David’s at the mall, do you want to come with? I say, yeah of course. We go. I stop over at Hot Topic and visit with Ziggy, she pulls me aside and asks me about you, asks if I know. I say, know what?”

   “What the fuck are you talking about?” Alicia scowled.

   “She asks me how you know Tabitha, she asks how you act around her, she’s asking me if you always take her side,” Elena paused, searching Alicia’s expression for anything she could read. “Because, if you’re biased, you would. If you… liked her, then, yeah, maybe a bunch of things would make sense.”

   “Elena, I’m not gay,” Alicia’s voice rose. “Jesus Christ!”

   “Do I think you’re gay? I don’t know what to think,” Elena withdrew her hands deeper into the sleeves of her hoodie and then hugged her arms against herself. “Am I calling you gay? Just based on a bunch of… random little things Ziggy says? No, I’m not a child. Ziggy and I argued, and we had a… long, uncomfortable talk about all of that.

   “I’m not gonna be thrilled if you are gay, or if you’re bi or whatever, but no matter fucking what, we are still friends. Just like I’m still Tabitha’s friend, even if I don’t believe in her ‘boyfriend in California.’ What I do know is that—whether or not you have a crush on her—you latch onto everything she says like it’s pure gospel. No matter how out there or unrealistic it is.

   “I’m not going to do that, and I can’t do that,” Elena held out her hands in frustration before dropping them, and then awkwardly holding them against herself again. “Trust me, I wish I could. Wish I could just go along with all of it. But, I can’t. I really, really need you to understand that. I do think something’s going on with Tabitha that’s not okay, and I want to get to the bottom of what it really is. It—it’s very annoying when I’m trying to do that, and then I also have to muck through all this time-traveler bullshit you keep encouraging.

   Alicia continued to glare, arms still crossed in front of her.

   “Say something,” Elena pressed. “Are we still friends, or not? Because, if not—that’s fine. No, it’s actually not fine at all. But, whatever. That’s fucking life, I guess. If we’re not friends, you’d better damn at least pretend things are still okay. For the rest of tonight, at least. I, I—I refuse to ruin Tabitha’s birthday with drama. So, are we still friends? Or are we just pretending, just friends for tonight? Say something.”

   “I’m not gay,” Alicia insisted.

   “I don’t care,” Elena shot back. “Sorry, I really don’t. You’re either gay, or you just idolize her and just—just worship the ground she walks on, go along with everything single thing she says. It feels the same to me. I realize all the future stuff is fun for you, and maybe you do really buy into it, but it got really old, really fast for me, and yeah, sorry. I don’t know what else to say. Are we still friends, or not?”

   “We’re,” Alicia faltered, looking away. “Still friends. Sorry. I just—I just got really, really upset. And—yeah. I’m sorry I said that. I don’t think I meant it.”

   “It’s okay,” Elena’s shoulders sagged. “It’s… it’s okay. It’s fine. I got upset, too. It just, it happens. Carrie and I did this same exact thing like, three times last year. Just. It’s exhausting. I’m sorry, too. Didn’t mean to come off as demeaning and insulting or whatever as I realize now I did. I’m frustrated. I just—I love you guys, and I really want to be friends, but I’m so done with the future bullcrap and, and—it really stresses me out. For a lot of reasons. Sorry.”

   “Yeah. Sorry,” Alicia edged forward a little bit. “Friends?

   “Yeah, friends,” Elena rolled forward and hugged Alicia. “Sorry. When she brings that stuff up from now on, I’m just gonna try to bite my tongue and be quiet about it. You can talk about the future with her if you want, but could you please not encourage her or spread it around to Casey or anyone else? I think at best this is a ‘boyfriend in California’ thing, and at worst it’s maybe an ‘Uncle Vampire’ thing, and either way—just, yeah.”

   “Still don’t know what the ‘Uncle Vampire’ thing is all about,” Alicia squeezed Elena tight before letting her go.

   “I’ll give you my copy,” Elena shrugged. “I truly, honestly do not want it, and would be glad to be rid of it.”

   “That bad?”

   “It’s—yeah,” Elena looked past the curve of roller skaters rounding the bend and over towards the table area where Tabitha and Olivia were talking. “I really hope not, though.”

( Previous, 47 pt 2 | RE: Trailer Trash | Next, 47 pt 4 )

/// This may feel like a filler segment, but it DOES serve a meta purpose. After in-story Christmas, we're doing a significant timeskip, which we haven't done much of in RE: Trailer Trash.

   Discussion about the future often hinges on very specific information, and rather than gloss over the many 'future stuff' conversations that would have happened in the timeskip, I want to establish that Elena and Alicia have a sort of truce about this topic and they try to avoid delving into the subject too deeply over the following months. That way, readers don't miss anything too important in that regard.

   Tldr; Tabitha the futurist wowing Alicia and making Elena increasingly skeptical with her advance knowledge is a blast to write, but any more of that right now would be overdoing it. That whole aspect is going to cool off for a while. I gave you guys plenty during the mall segments!

   Also yeah, Ziggy is real sensitive to girls acting sus around other girls, especially with ones she jokes around with / teases / flirts with. Which may or may not be most girls.