Chapter 16 Quinn
I hadn’t laughed like I did that afternoon for a long time. Because Mia had embraced her inner mutant and had painted herself blue, it was impossible to hide in the maze, and we spent so much time running and laughing and basically losing the competition of who could get out in the fastest time.
Plus, every ghoul, zombie, and vampire “scarer” within the maze took great delight in hunting us down, sometimes even in packs.
As we ate candied apples on hay bales, we burst out laughing every time we heard other students complain that there had been hardly any scarers this year.
There were plenty of them; they had just been intent on catching us.
Ava was the proud carrier of the wooden apple. We had come in dead last due to the amount of time we had spent trying to get out and how many times we got caught. We were awarded a carved wooden apple with the phrase “dead losers” etched into it.
We were carrying it with pride.
“It’s getting dark, should we be heading to the party?” Mia asked as she ate her cotton candy delicately.
“I kinda want to stay here,” Ava said as she looked around the field. “It was fun.”
“It was,” I agreed. “But, you know, the party has warmth, music, dancing and bathrooms.”
The girls laughed as they stood, and we agreed that being warmer would be a benefit.
“Jett’s almost back at the house,” Ava told us as she pulled her coat around her shoulders. “He said they won’t be long.”
“So, I only have you for a short time then,” Mia said to her with a pout. “I better make the most of it.”
“Hey, that’s harsh.” Ava swatted her as she stood. “I’m not that girl.”
“What girl?” I asked as we started to make our way to Main Street for a cab.
“The girl that ditches her best friend when she gets a boyfriend,” Ava explained, and I looked at her before I met Mia’s flat look, and I started to laugh.
“You are totally that girl.” I chuckled. “I mean, really?” I gave her a fond smile. “You’re delusional if you think you aren’t.”
“Thank you!” Mia beamed at me as she handed me her cotton candy. “You may share my sugar.”
“Well, that’s an offer I just can’t refuse.”
“Am I really that girl?” Ava asked as she leaned over for some of the spun sugar and protested as Mia lifted it out of her reach.
“Yes!” we both shouted and giggled together.
Ava bit her lip as she looked between us, and then I saw the slow smile across her face. “Is it bad that I don’t care?”
I started laughing at her honesty as Mia squealed and threw her arms around her friend.
“No! You need to tell him though.” Mia handed Ava the cotton candy.
“Tell him what?” I asked curiously as I checked my phone. There were no messages for me. Not that I expected them, but sometimes he surprised me.
“That she’s in lurve with him,” Mia said confidently.
“I think he knows,” I replied dryly as I looked up at them both.
“But I haven’t said it,” Ava confessed.
This was making me uncomfortable. I didn’t do well with my own feelings, never mind other people’s, especially not my best friend’s girlfriend. “Well, did he tell you?”
“Not yet. I think he’s waiting,” Ava admitted as she looked at me hopefully.
“Nope, not getting involved, you can take those puppy dog eyes somewhere else, Missy,” I berated her.
“You have to tell her,” Mia encouraged me. “It’s girl code.”
“I don’t have girl code,” I said with a snort. “I have friendship code and,” I cut her off before she could interrupt me, “the code is to my best friend.”
Mia wrinkled her nose at me as she assessed me. “Ugh, fine!”
Ava grinned at me. “You’re right, sorry. I’m just nervous.”
“Why?” I asked as I looked up the street for the cab.
“What if I tell him and he says nothing?” Ava exclaimed as she looked at me with wide eyes.
“Or worse, what if she says it and he turns his back on her!” Mia added with a look of horror. “Can you imagine? Pouring your heart out to someone and them turning away from you? I’d die. Legit, I would die.”
I felt my smile die as I remembered the night something very similar happened to me. “Jett would never be that cruel.” I heard my own voice and forced a smile when I saw Ava’s eyes narrow in concern. “So, enough of this, what are we drinking at the party?”
“I want cocktails, but you can never trust the punch bowl,” Mia said as the cab arrived.
As we all got in, I glared at the driver, who had checked us all out, and then I realized we were three young women wearing costumes that left pretty much nothing to the imagination. Still, he didn’t need to be so pervy.
“I know the captain of the team. He has a clean stash. I’ll talk him into sharing it, so we can make our own,” I told them.
“Seriously?” Mia asked me with appreciation.
“Sure, I’ll make us a pitcher of margaritas.” I looked between the two of them. “That cool?”
“Yes,” Ava said eagerly. “Is it weird I’m now more cautious of the soft drinks?”
“No,” I told her as I reached out and rubbed her knee. “Guys are scum, it’s simple.”
Mia high-fived me, and I caught the eye of the cab driver and raised an eyebrow in challenge. The fact that his eyes dipped to my chest before he looked away confirmed my earlier statement.
The party was already in full swing. The last few weeks had been fun watching people decorate their dorms and things, and I had my own mini-Halloween theme going on in my own dorm, but the basketball team had gone all out.
I jumped when the skeleton appeared from behind the giant pumpkin, and Mia screamed when the guy with the papier-maché chainsaw grabbed her ankle from under the entrance steps.
Inside, there was no furniture, and I was a regular visitor here, so I knew they had a shit ton of stuff, but it was all gone.
I saw Denzel at the makeshift bar, and, grabbing Ava, who grabbed Mia, I led the way through the partygoers. Denzel saw me at the same time and gave a long whistle of appreciation.
“Quinn, you look incredible!” He looked past me, his eyes taking in Ava and Mia, and he lingered on Mia the longest. “I think I just got hot for blue,” he said to her with a wink.
Denzel was dressed as a Roman centurion. Honestly, sports guys needed imagination. I knew with certainty my Devils would walk in with their football gear on.
“Don’t be a dick,” I chided Denzel. “I need your booze,” I told him with a look at the bar.
He stood back as his arm swept out and gestured to it all. “What’s mine is yours,” he told me with a slow, lingering look over my costume.
“Good,” I replied as I reached out and tilted his head up to meet my eyes. “Now give me the clean stuff.”
“It’s all clean.” Denzel lost a little bit of his flirtatiousness. “We all heard about the douchebags spiking water. I swear I have three guys, all sober, on the drinks all night.”
I met his stare and then looked behind him to the three freshmen.
With a grimace, I shook my head. “Gimme access to your stash, and don’t make me ask again.
” I felt Ava squeeze my hand in appreciation.
“I’m making margaritas for me and my girls,” I added with a smile.
“If you’re extra nice to me, Denzel, I’ll even make you one. ”
“You’re gonna make me a drink with my booze and my ice?” he asked with a laugh. Denzel hooked his arm over my shoulders. “It’s a good thing you rub me down so good,” he said as he led the three of us to the kitchen.
As he sorted out the bottles from his hidden stash and I got the blender, Ava and Mia talked to Denzel easily.
He was a good-looking guy, tall obviously.
He was the center for the team. His skin was a warm chestnut, and he wore his hair in a groomed afro.
He was so incredibly laid-back; it was always a pleasure when the professor let me practice on him.
“So how come you got the football house again?” Denzel asked me as he leaned against the counter, watching me mix the drinks. “Do they request you or something?”
“For my assignment?” I asked him as I prepared the plastic tumblers he had given me.
“Yeah, we all got asked if we would be willing to volunteer for your class, and then we got Chas, and she’s good, but she’s not you,” he told me as he looked me over again, and I realized he was flirting with me.
“Well, no one’s me,” I drawled as I looked for salt.
“I know, that’s why I’m sad we got Chas.”
I caught Ava’s grin as she listened, and I saw Mia watching us both, too.
“Well, it would probably have been easier if I got the basketball house,” I said to him with a smile as I put the blender on.
When it was finished, I looked at them all as I raised the jug victoriously.
“At least you guys would eat what I tell you to,” I added, hoping my casual conversation would be a hint.
“Baby, I’d eat whatever you were offering,” Denzel said as he leaned into me.
Ava’s mouth dropped open in surprise at his brazenness as Mia hid her smile behind her hand, and I knew I blushed as I looked away and met Gray’s stormy gaze across the room.
Shit.
“Drinks are up,” I announced as I poured our drinks.
Turning, I dismantled the mixer and shoved the dirty jug into the dishwasher.
“Thanks,” I said to Denzel with a hasty smile.
“We’re going to mingle.” I grabbed Ava’s hand, and the three of us left him behind.
My attempts to shush them both were wasted, and I stopped midway between the kitchen and the door where the football team had arrived.
“Ooh, Jett’s here!” Ava saw, and Mia turned to look too, quickly grabbing Ava and pulling her back to us.
“No, you must make him come to you,” she admonished her gently. “You’re with us. If he wants you, he can come to you,” she finished.
I saw Ava roll her eyes, but she clinked her tumbler against Mia’s and then mine. “Fine. Cheers!”