I parked right outside Marissa's house. She lived on a two storey wooden model from the 40's. It was small and its roof needed repair. There was a corpulent old man in a robe sitting in a plastic chair with a cooler besides him on the middle of the yellowed front yard. There was a number of identical little houses lined up on the same street sporting various shades of unappealing and faded colors. Run down seemed to be the theme here.

Maplegrove, or just The Groves, was an working-class neighborhood, one of the oldest communities in Hellwater, initially built to house the miners and their families. It was an impoverished and forlorn area, and it was the birthplace of The Sixxers. The biker gang ruled it's streets and was in it's shadowy alleys and despondent buildings where they made most of their illicit business.

Hellwater is and ever was an incongruent place and The Groves was just a prime example of how an overlooked community could slump itself into a sad state of economical strain and spiritual woefulness. But there was no anarchy here. The Sixxers at the same time that terrorized the residents, they also manteined some degree of order and provided a minimal influx of currency that kept them going. I heard Dad rant about it more than one time, and yes, standing here and taking a good look at the place, I found the whole predicament incredibly inept and gutless and yet it wasn't anything new and there wasn't anyone doing nothing to change it.

Here I was in this strange an unfamiliar part of my town. Thinking of it, Hellwater was such a small town and still I was pretty ignorant about most of it. Even with the faint promise of a novel adventure no less than at odds with the suburban bubble I live in and that I rebeled so much against, The Groves wasn't a neighborhood I'd usually go. Not to mention the fact that a number of my current friends did reside here, I still didn't have any will to explore this crestfallen pithole. It was just too depressing.

- That's it. - I said in hopes she would take a hint and just jump out of the car. I was impatient, not on account of the place, but reason being I kinda had enough of her for the day.

Marissa unclipped her belt and throw herself on me giving me a sloppy kiss.

- Alright, you silly girl. You can't get enough of me huh? - I said with humour, trying not to sound too testy. Somehow with Marissa I tended to be a tiny bit less rude and grumpy than usual.

The bovine man who was chilling and drinking what appeared to be gin and coke abruptly stood up from his plastic retractable chair and crossed that unkept yard yelling:

- Marissa! Stop that indecency right now! My neighbors will think I'm raising a floozy!

- Well... that's my Pops. - She said in a weird and unseemly musical tone. Out of the sudden somehow she looked smaller on her seat.

-I'm sorry. He's just a little grumpy but he's not terrible, I promisse. - She apologized over the slow and frowzy old man approaching us. She avoided my eyes. She seemed ashamed.

- Hear me out young man, if you don't leave my granddaughter alone and get the hell out of my property I'll shoot your face off. I'm warning you. I have a gun. - Her grandfather threatened, in the least dignified way possible. The neighbors were starting to show up to see what the commotion was about.

I lowered the window and yelled back to the man:

- Just calm down big fella. My name is Liam Godfrey. Happy to meet ya. Your lovely grandaughter is in one piece as you can see. Just here to drop her. - I said with my best congenial smile.

- Do not small talk me boy. I can sniff bullshit from miles. This young woman is innocent and I won't let her be corrupted by a little scoundrel like you! - He ranted half deranged.

- Wow. Intense! You better watch that old man, stroke is a bad way to go. - I said, struggling not to laugh. I really was surprise with the development of that day.

- Marissa Clarke stop that indecorous behaviour at once! Get inside now little girl, before I lose my wits. I'm gonna call Pastor Marcus to give you some very needed spiritual guidance. - He waved his arm franctily while he talked. He was read and sweating in beads.

- "For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from their God." - The man started quoting the Holy Book, clearly unhynged. There was already a nice amount of neighbors serving as audience now.

- I swear I feel suffocated in this house sometimes. - Marissa confessed with a smile that didn't concealed her embarrassment.

I grabbed her swiftly, putting her on my lap and gave her a passionate kiss, making a show for everybody there to see, just for spite.

- Wanna get out of here? - I asked.

- Yes! - Her smile lit up her whole face.

...

I took her to Silas Cove, a natural promontory off the Vicars Road and not so far away. There was a great view of the town there. I got apprehensive that the setting may be too romantic but a guessed the girl could use a nice break.

We stayed quiet in the car watching the panoramic spectacle of the town's lights challenging the all-encompassing darkness.

It was truly beautifull and humbling too. But she wasn't enjoying the view as much as I was. She was tense and had her arms crossed. I could tell she was uneasy.

- Wanna talk? - I said still looking at the view.

- I'm really sorry about all that. I'm actually mortified. - She blurted out.

- What family is for if not to mortify us in front of people? - I purposely downplayed what had happened.

- Pops really is not so bad, when you get to know him. He just worries too much about me, specially after my parents died. - She claimed.

- Marissa, the guy is a zealot. You know that right? He's an hipocryte just like half this rotten town. And he is a drunk. A dangerous combination. - I said dismissive.

- Maybe. But he just lost his only son and found himself responsible for raising a teenage girl. A troubled teenage girl, if wasn't enough. And in his old age. That ought to be difficult for him too. I'm not so easy to deal with. - She said, pensive. She was absorbed in her own world.

- Yeah but... - I started to say.

- He has the best intentions in his heart. I'm sure of it. The problem is... He's just as lost as I am. - She concluded.

- Ok. I understand. - I said.

I was in fact flabbergasted with how mature and generous was her point of view. I looked at her again in a whole different light. Like it was the first time I really saw her. I wondered how many people I have been misjudging. I wondered if I was defective on the way I perceived people. It made me think of Caleb and my own parents and my stomach felt like a pit.

It struck me. Maybe I loathed people way to readily. It was obvious and yet I never truly realized that the random passerby and each and every soul in this sad town could have a authentic and intricate life just as I had. Maybe, instead of the other way around, they were the ones judging me. Maybe there was one or more instances that I was the one playing a fool.

- You miss you parents much? - I asked.

- Yes. Speacially cause I was a real bitch to them. They loved me so much and I never really appreciate them. - She said. Tears streaming down her face.

I was compelled to make anything to make her stop crying but I didn't know what to do. I was never an incredibly empathetic kind of person but in that moment I could feel her pain like it was mine. Her guilty and desperation talked to something inside of me. Something of akin nature. For a instant I thought I could see her tiny figure enveloped by this cloak of sorrow. I could see her on the edge of something awful and I just wanted to pull her out of that darkness. If I could do it just for a moment...

I leaned down and gently kissed her on the mouth and then kissed her face right where the tears marked a shimmery path on her cheeks.

- I'm sorry you went through that. - I said. It was the only thing I could say.

Marissa smile at me and inhaled loudly, wiping the tears of her face. I adjusted my seat, backing it a bit. She climbed me and we started to make out. In a short while she was grinding on me.

- I want it again. I want so much - She moaned.

This was going too fast. I had a whole program. A whole philosophy regarding hook-ups. This was not going in accordance with it. The usual method was to have a nice date, give her a unforgettable lay, wait for three or more days and in a whim decide if she was worth a booty call or if was better to just ghost her. And now I was in a situation that was bound to escalate, with an excess of feelings being mixed up.

She kept on grinding against my dick and kissing my jawline and my adam's apple. I was liking it way too much. Half of my instincts were making my hard-on ache in need of trying that pussy once again, but the other half was screaming that this was trouble.

- Listen... - I interupted her hungry kisses.

- You just popped that cherry today right? This is a whole experience in itself. Let's just enjoy that. - I pleaded.

She haulted whar she was doing, leaned away and avoided my eyes once again.

- You didn't liked it when we did earlier. You said you don't like inexperienced girls. You don't want me anymore. Was I too awful? - She asked, her eyes wet again.

- Ok. It's not about that. - I took a deep sight.

- Let's see if I can make myself clear. Listen, we had a great day together right? It felt really good earlier, do you agree? - I asked.

- Of course. I was afraid I would not like it. But I actually loved it. And I... I like you. - She said so timidly, I barely hearded it.

- Yeah it was awesome. And I do like you.- I said and touched her face with tenderness. I was surprised but it was actually a truthful statement.

- But there is a life hack I learned a long time ago. It's a way to experience life that actually placated my inner turmoil. Everything we do or live tastes a lot better when we grasp at the notion that our little lives are designed to collect experiences that will enrich us. They make the very building blocks of who we are. And each and everyone of those experiences is precious. You and I can make them more intense and more special by valuing them and giving ourselves the time and space to take them in. Do you understand? If you're really aware of everything at all times it's like the greatest high. You have to be ready to jump into it, but you also have to know when to stop. - I said in a passion that, again, surprised me. Nonetheless part of me felt really self-conscious of sharing a believe that struck me as very personal.

She climbed off of me and sat down at the shotgun seat, introspective. Then she turned to me and said:

- Can I just suck you off? Pretty please? - She begged. She was entirely oblivious of what I just said.

Disappointing.

- Ok. But I'm gonna cum on your tits. And I'm gonna make a mess. - I said. I was teenage boy with ragging hormones after all.

So do you guys have a favorite character? Do you ship anyone already? Share your thoughts in the comments. I'd love to known.