The Prior

POV: Max Jameson

I can smell grass as I wake up. I look over. Elliot’s alive! He doesn’t look good. He’s against a tree and wincing in pain. Cass and Belle both lay on the ground, still asleep. I walk over to Elliot.

“How are you feeling?” I ask him. He opens his eyes.

“Alright. Cassidy saved me, but my shoulder hurts like hell. I need her to check it out,” he says.

“I think she’s still asleep,” I tell him. He nods.

I contemplate asking him, but I decide to say, “We’re friends right?”

Elliot seems thrown off by the question but nods, “Of course. Why?”

“Because like, I really like Cass. And I just want to make sure you don’t have a thing for her,” I tell him. He seems amused.

“And if I do?” he says, cocky, which is ironic for an injured man.

“Then things are about to get more interesting,” I say with the same competitive energy.

Elliot laughs, “I don’t wanna be that guy, but she kissed me. Twice,” he says. I feel my muscles clench, involuntarily. I grit my teeth. Is he telling the truth? When?

“You okay?” he says.

“Yeah, fine,” I grumble. I stare at him. What does she see in him?

“Just so you know. It meant nothing. Really. We were both completely drunk the first time and the second time we both agreed that it was a mistake. I just thought that since we were friends and revealing things, I’d tell you,” he says. It feels honest and raw, so I’ll take it.

“Okay. But, that doesn’t change the fact that we’re both pining after the same girl,” I mention. Elliot sticks out his left hand, in substitution for his right hand, impacted by the gunshot wound.

“May the best man win over her heart,” he says. I shake his hand with my left hand.

Cass and Belle wake up eventually. Cass immediately tends to Elliot’s wound which hurts my heart a little, but I know it’s just because he’s injured. Or at least I hope it is. I’m starting to doubt myself. Elliot made it sound like they would never be a real thing, but even if she doesn’t like him, it doesn’t mean that she does like me. Girls suck.

Today’s mission is to prevent the National Bank’s charter from being canceled. Belle groans at how ‘lame’ it is. She’s a good kid. I feel bad for her.

Cass helps Elliot up from the ground. He walks ok, but arm movement is a clear issue for him. We walk to the town area, but very slowly.

“Maybe you guys should just go without me. I can stay here in the woods. I’m going to slow you guys down,” Elliot says. Cass immediately looks towards me.

“We can handle this,” I say. Belle nods.

“I’ll take him back and mark a spot so we can find him. I’ll catch up with you two later,” Cass says. Her and Elliot start back into the woods. Belle and I make it to the town, soon after.

She turns to me, “They’re sleeping together, right?”

I shoot her a look, “No!”

She laughs and bumps shoulders with me.

“You like her!” she giggles. I feel my face get all hot and flustered.

“Maybe a little,” I mutter. She winks at me. Even if it is embarrassing, I enjoy having someone here for me who’s trying to keep things light and positive.

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. Let’s come up with a plan before Cass gets back. I’ll let you take all the credit,” she says with another wink. Belle suggests something about holding a gun to Jackson’s head and making him sign it, but that just doesn’t seem practical. We’re still talking when Cass finds us. She’s pretty in her dress.

I can’t keep my eyes off of her.

“Do we have a plan?” she asks. Belle shakes her head.

“No ideas?” she says to us. I just shake my head.

“It’s alright. We’ll figure something out. Do you all remember this history behind it? My mind is blank.”

“It was passed by Congress, but Jackson vetoed it,” Belle explains.

“So, we have to find Andrew Jackson?” I ask them. Cass shrugs and Belle nods.

“Where are we?” Cass asks.

“This is D.C.,” Belle says. I shake my head.

“No way. Gotta be Philly or something. It’s small,” I tell her. Cass shakes her head and points to the street name.

“Pennsylvania. Like Pennsylvania Avenue. The White House,” she stammers. We all stare at it for a moment.

“So now what? We just waltz right in?” I scoff. Belle shakes her head.

“We need to befriend a Congressman or something,” she says.

“And how do we do that?” I say. It comes out harsher than expected, but this is frustrating. We waste so much time just standing around wondering what to do.

“That guy looks formal and he’s going towards the White House. Max, you’re the man. Go talk to him,” Cass asks, pointing to a dressed up guy. I do a half-jog to catch up to him.

“Hi,” I stutter. He gives me a side-eye, a cigar or something brimming from his mouth. “Uh, I need to see the President.” he takes a long blink and slowly removes the cigar from his mouth. Smoke flies into my face.

“And what makes you think I could help you with that?” he’s southern, a slow-talker. His raspy voice suggests the cigar isn’t an uncommon thing for him. I don’t necessarily answer his comment, but to my luck, he continues.

“What do you need? I can see what I can do.” he places the cigar back in his mouth, awaiting the response. I think back to my history class in high school. Jackson. Jackson. Common man. Southern farmer. Makes sense. This guy must be a Jackson supporter.

“Uh, Uh. I’m from Georgia. And I traveled up to ask him a favor. We knew each other in the Army, but his staffers can’t get me in on that alone,” I stammer. He looks disbelieving. The cigar moves back out of his mouth.

“Meet me at the gate in 1 hour. And bring your wife. Jackson loves to have a pretty woman present,” The man says and turns away from me. Smoke goes back into my face. I wander back to the girls.

“The gate, 1 hour and he’ll get me in. He also said this weird thing about me bringing my wife because Jackson likes to have a woman there or something...” I ramble.

“Don’t worry, Max, I’m very good at this whole fake wife thing,” Cass says with a wink. Her crystal eyes shoot a flurry of nerves into my stomach. I don’t even know what it is about her. We hang out by the gate for a while, but when I get a glimpse of the politician, Belle walks the opposite way. I hope she’ll be alright.

“Alright, man. You better make this worth it. I didn’t put my neck out on the line for nothing, eh?” he says. I nod at him. Cass takes my hand. I savor the moment.

Once we get into the actual building, the secretary sits us in a waiting room. The politician, named James, excuses himself and leaves us alone.

“So, do we actually have a good plan or...” I ask Cass. She doesn’t face me, rather she stares ahead.

“We’ve got this. Just tell him why it’s a bad idea,” she says, staring blankly ahead. Finally she turns to look at me, “Belle said he’s all about banks being bad for the common man. Prove to him that they’re not. Say you’re an economist.”

Crazy how we all rely on a 16 year old girl to tell us about American History.

“You okay?” I ask after a moment.

“Fine.” she says, sharply. Clearly she’s not fine, but I don’t want to press her. The secretary gets up and opens the door for us to go in.

“Hi,” Jackson says to both of us and then turns to me, “Who are you again?”