Chapter 14 Quinn
Halloween was my favorite time of year, and I didn’t hide it. It had been a week since the night of the fire, and all three of them were avoiding me. I’d received a couple of texts from Jett and only one from Gray. Which had come the night he told me he couldn’t be near me.
I stared at it now, as I sat in the coffee shop with a pumpkin spice latte.
Gray: Ash knows
That was it. No how did he know or what he knew or how he reacted. Just Ash knows.
And if I were honest, I was glad that he did. Yes, I’m a horrible, terrible person, and I will burn in hell no doubt, but it was one more weight off my shoulders, and truthfully, I was grateful I didn’t need to be the one to tell him.
Ash wouldn’t need to be told to keep his distance; he would gladly avoid me.
Looking down at my laptop, I looked at the food plans. I needed to go to the house and check in with the football players for my assignment, but I knew I couldn’t right now.
I knew they would fuck up this assignment for me.
Tapping my pen off the side of the table, I jerked in surprise when a large hand stilled my pen. Looking up, I met Gray’s stare and sat in silence as he pulled out a chair and dropped into it.
He pulled his book bag onto his lap and started rifling through it. His hand was still strapped up, and he had missed a game and was due to miss Saturday’s away game too.
He handed me several sheets of paper, and I hesitated before I took them from him.
“I don’t have it all — they’re fucking useless at paying attention — but it’s the best I could do.”
Shuffling through the sheets, I realized they were food diaries, and as I began to scrutinize them more closely, I saw he had even guesstimated at the portion size.
“You didn’t need to do this.”
“Well, you weren’t coming for them, and you didn’t set up a shared document for them to input stuff, so I improvised.”
“A shared document would have made sense,” I muttered as I continued to flick through the papers. “This is great,” I told him seriously as I looked up and saw him watching me. “Thank you.”
His casual shrug told me more than his words did.
“I mean it. Thank you.”
“Ava’s roommate does computer science. Get her to help you set up shared documents, that way you have a better record.”
“Yeah, I will.” I nodded as I carefully put the papers in my tote. “I know how to do it in Sheets; I just thought I would be more hands on.” He grunted as he looked out the window to the cool, gray afternoon. “Speaking of hand . . .”
Gray glanced at his hand and gave a half-shrug. “Car accident.”
“I heard,” I spoke softly. “Whose car did you sacrifice?”
Gray’s mouth twisted in displeasure. “Onyx took great pleasure in smashing mine up.”
I hadn’t been expecting that. “Why?”
“I broke a few bones when I punched him.”
I definitely hadn’t been expecting that. “What? Why?”
Gray looked at me and then started to stand. My hand reached out and grabbed him, halting his movement. “Me?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He gave me a tight smile, and then, picking up his stuff, he left me at the window of the coffee shop. I watched him walk outside, and then I watched as he crossed campus. I watched until I could no longer see him.
Twisting my phone in my hand for a moment, I made the decision and texted Ava.
Me: Hi, do you know anything about shared documents and how to set them up?
Ava: A little, but Mia is your girl. She’s with me, hang on
The phone rang about two minutes later.
“Hey, where are you?” Ava’s cheery voice was much needed, I realized.
“Coffee shop.”
“We’ll see you in ten,” she told me before she hung up, and I sat back smiling at the thought of her. Both girls came through the door not ten minutes later, and I pointed to the mugs in front of me that I had already ordered for them.
Ava bounded over to me with enthusiasm, and Mia followed with a ready smile.
“You’ve been hiding?” Ava greeted as she leaned over to give me a brief hug, which I returned as Mia gave me a wave and sat down.
“Just busy,” I replied easily.
“Surprised you haven’t been to check on the guys,” Ava said as she took her jacket off before reaching for her latte.
“We’re not in each other’s pockets,” I reminded her a little too sharply.
Ava hesitated, her mug halfway to her mouth, before she continued and took a drink. Swallowing, she looked at me with a glance at Mia. “I didn’t mean that you were,” she spoke softly, keeping her voice low. “I meant because Gray was in an accident.”
Of course she did, and I cursed myself for a fool.
“I’ve seen him today.” I pulled out the sheets.
“He brought me these. Mia, can you help me?” I turned my laptop around to her and showed her my data collection screen.
“I use this for each of the players, and I had them recording it for me, but Gray’s right, I should have it as a sharing document.
But I need one for each of them, and I don’t want all the data seen by them. ”
Mia was staring at my spreadsheet, tabs, and the papers. “Easy, tell me what you want and let’s do it.”
“It’s easy?” I mean, I knew I could do it, but I wouldn’t have classed it as easy.
“Sure, you just need a hyperlink, share capacity, and we can even link the cells to feed into your master spreadsheet.” She was already reaching for the laptop.
“And see here?” She pointed to a column I was totaling everything in.
“Let’s make that a pie chart for easiness, and we can replicate that in each sheet so the players can see it too.
Pictures mean more to some people than numbers.
” She took a drink of her coffee and pushed her red hair behind her ears. “You have their email addresses?”
“Um, yes, I have all their details on” — I leaned over and scrolled to the first tab — “here.”
“Super.” She then quite effectively cut me off and started to get to work.
I looked at Ava, who smiled at me. “We’ve basically lost her for—” She poked Mia on the arm. “How long will it take?”
“Thirty, maybe thirty-five minutes,” Mia said absently as she clicked like a maniac on the mousepad. With a grumble, she was in her purse, and then fished out a wireless mouse as she set up the table adjacent to Ava and me.
“How are you?” Ava asked me as I watched Mia lose herself in my spreadsheets.
“I feel like I’m cheating,” I confessed to Ava as I turned my attention to her.
“For class?” Ava laughed. “Why struggle for hours when she enjoys this and can do it in a fraction of the time?”
“It’s true,” Mia told us as she carried on working. “This is like freshman year all over again.”
“You’re only a sophomore now,” I laughed.
“Yeah, but I’m wiser, more knowledgeable.”
“Well, it’s appreciated,” I told her honestly.
“Ash could have done this for you,” Mia said, not realizing what she said, and I saw Ava stiffen.
“I only thought of it today,” I replied, which wasn’t a lie. Turning to Ava, I forced a smile. “How have you been?”
“Good.” Her eyes were sad as she looked at me, but whatever she saw in my face made her reach out and pat my hand. “You look like you need a party,” she said with a wide grin.
“Do I?” I replied dryly as I heard Mia snort beside me.
“Yes, the basketball team is having a huge Halloween party, and before it, we’re going into Cardinal to the bar where Atticus Dawn is singing, and then we’re going to do the Halloween maze in the fields behind the grocery store.”
“Sounds exhausting,” I teased her as she playfully swiped at my arm.
“No, it’s going to be so good!” Ava leaned forward eagerly. “You’re coming with us,” she declared.
I felt my smile falter. “Who’s us?”
“Mia and me. The team’s away as you’ll know, so they won’t be there until the party later.”
Running my teeth over my bottom lip, I thought about it. They were away this weekend, and because Gray was injured, he wasn’t like Jett, he would be with the team. That meant the bar and the maze I could go to and not see any of them, and Halloween was my favorite holiday.
“Done,” I agreed as Ava beamed with happiness.
“I already have the theme of our costumes,” she exclaimed.
“Let me guess,” I said with a look at Mia. “You went Charlie’s Angels, didn’t you?” Ava clapped her hands with delight as I shook my head in resignation. “Because we have different colored hair?” I asked her in despair.
“Yes!” She was practically bouncing in her seat, and I noticed even Mia had raised her head and was shaking it in mutual despair.
“No.” Mia rolled her eyes and returned to the screen.
“Ghostbusters?” Ava suggested as she looked between the two of us. “The female one.”
“No,” Mia and I spoke at once.
“But I could be the green slimy one,” Ava protested, and I started to laugh.
“No.”
“You both suck,” Ava mumbled as she slunk back in her chair.
“She was never this active; I used to have to beg to get her to go anywhere,” Mia told me offhandedly as she continued to work. “Then she falls in love with a footballer, and now she’s all about the social events.”
“Why?” I asked Ava curiously. “To be seen with Jett?”
“Huh?” Ava blinked at me in confusion. “No, I just enjoy being with him,” she said as she once again lost her smile. “I’m not using him, Quinn.”
I couldn’t deny I had thought it before, and I thought it now, and I felt bad. “It’s my instinct to protect them.”
“I know, but not from me,” Ava said and waited for me to believe her.
“So, I have an idea,” I told them as I shared a look with Mia.
“Tell me,” Ava urged, and I did, and chuckled when she moaned in protest even as Mia said yes enthusiastically.
* * *
We were all in my apartment, and I had to give Mia credit: the girl had skills with a makeup brush.
“Is there anything you can’t do?” I murmured as I inspected my eyes.
“Cook,” Mia told me immediately, and I laughed as I looked her over.
“I don’t think your future guy is going to mind,” I said honestly. Mia was smoking hot, even painted blue. She was wearing a blue skintight jumpsuit that Ava’s friend Bea had altered for her.
Mia combed her hair back again and looked at me, her cat eye contacts believable in her blue face.
“You are seriously hot, Mystique,” I told her.
“You’re looking good too.” Mia smiled at me and looked over my own jumpsuit.
“I think an assassin suits me,” I mused as I looked at the black band of face paint across my eyes.
“A man killer, you mean?” Mia teased me as she fixed her lipstick. With a grin at me, we looked at the bedroom and waited. “She might chicken out.”
“She can’t, she needs to complete our supervillain trio.”
The door opened, and Ava stood there, looking at us uncertainly. “I don’t care how many times you tell me that this jacket hides me, I’m still showing more skin than either of you.”
“It’s what the character wears in the comics,” I told her again. “White jumpsuit, diamond cutout on her stomach, and a white fur-trimmed cloak, which we altered to make a cute fur-trimmed coat.”
“Why did I have to be Frost?” she complained again.
“Because you’re blonde,” I reminded her. “I’m dark-haired, therefore Black Widow. Mia is a redhead, therefore Mystique, and you, my dear blonde, are Emma Frost.”
“I could have worn a wig,” she muttered.
“Mia is wearing less than you are; she just looks covered because she’s painted.”
Ava looked at her best friend, and her jaw literally dropped. “Shit, Mee, you are hot as shit.” Ava looked at us both. “Okay, you both look drop-dead gorgeous.”
“We all look drop-dead gorgeous,” I said to her. “I’m genuinely excited. I never got to do this with the guys,” I told them as I looked at my cell and my purse and started to narrow the things I needed down to the bare essentials that I could hide in my costume.
“They don’t do costumes?” Mia asked curiously.
“Nope, their idea of dress up is their football uniforms. Has been every year since I’ve known them.”
“That’s so lazy.” Ava shook her head as she picked up her lipstick. Which was white, and I had no idea where Mia had gotten it from, but it was perfect.
“So, you what?” Mia asked as she handed her bank card to Ava, who zipped it into her pocket. “Didn’t dress up?”
“Oh, I did, I just always looked stupid beside, you know, three fully dressed footballers.”
“Which outfit was most popular?” Ava asked as we left my apartment after I decided a bank card, key, lipstick and cell phone were all I could feasibly “hide” on my person.
“Slutty cheerleader.” I laughed as we got into the cab. “Even Jett made me wear a coat that year before we got to the party. Until we got there, and half the girls were dressed as Malibu Barbie, and suddenly I was overdressed.”
“It’s a shame you never had anyone to theme it with,” Ava said as she looked at Mia again. “We always match.”
“I suppose I kind of matched them,” I mused. “Cheerleader, nurse, stalker, zombie.” Seeing their looks, I clarified, “They were zombie footballers that year.”
We made small talk until we arrived, and then we headed into the bar to a chorus of catcalls and whistles, which thankfully were from fellow students and not the normal patrons of the bar.
The band was dressed up as vampires, which, in my opinion, suited the lead singer anyway.
Ava snapped a selfie with the three of us and sent it to Jett before she made Wade take one of the three of us together. Jett’s reply made her blush scarlet, and I looked away to give her a moment.
My phone vibrated in my bra, and I turned slightly from the crowd to pull it out and then laughed at my best friend’s message.
Jett: Were all the nun costumes sold out?
Me: We’re covered from top to bottom
Jett: Keep that coat on my girl.
Me: Yes boss
I went to put my phone back when it vibrated again.
Gray: Be alert, remember the prick last time
Me: I’ll be careful
Gray: Wearing what you’re wearing . . . I think that ship sailed
Staring at the phone, I chewed my inner cheek.
“Send it,” Mia said quietly from beside me.
I looked at her and my phone. “I haven’t written a text.”
“I know, but you’re thinking about it.” She shrugged as she smoothed her hair back. “Whatever you’re thinking, send it.”
“You don’t even know who I’m texting.”
Her hazel eyes stood out in her blue makeup. “It’s a guy, I know that much, and the way you were smiling when you read his text, you like him. Send it.” Her eyebrow arched as she looked at me. “I thought you were a Devil?”
Touché.
Me: You like it?
Completely inappropriate, considering everything, but Mia was right. I was a Devil, and why were they the only ones who got to be reckless?
I burst out laughing when I received the eggplant emoji with the water drops emoji beside it.
I was still smiling when the music started, and I danced all afternoon to country rock with my girlfriends.