Chapter 4 #2
“Quinnie here was just about to show us around this here big city learning school,” her dad was saying, joining in on the bit, when Quinn realized she should tune back in to the conversation. “Would you like to come on the tour, darlin’?”
“He grew up in Detroit, neither of them has an accent, please excuse their weirdness,” Quinn said, trying to save Liv from having to answer. “My mom and dad, Jennifer and Nicholas. ”
“Pleasure to meet y’all,” Liv said, with a glimmer in her eye, and…was she joking with them? Quinn could not handle it if Liv was going to be that cute and also act silly with her family. She simply wouldn’t survive.
Her parents were tickled, though, each of them taking turns to shake Liv’s hand, dropping the accents. Quinn then redirected their attention, turning to gesture to her sisters, who, at eight years old, were behaving better than her parents, sitting patiently on her bed.
“Liv, these are my sisters,” she said. She gestured to them in turn. “This is Everlee, and this is Juliette.”
Liv greeted each of them separately. “I’ve heard so much about you guys. Everlee, I love the bow you have in your hair. And Juliette, that’s a very cute fish on your shirt.”
“She loves fish,” Everlee said. The more extroverted twin, it was common for her to answer for her sister.
“Me too,” Liv said, and both girls beamed at her. “My family and I have a membership to the Shedd Aquarium; we go a few times a year.”
“Quinn thinks fish are creepy,” Everlee told her, and Liv shot her a disbelieving look.
“I specifically think that stingrays are creepy,” Quinn corrected, and now all three of them were staring at her with the same incredulity, though she could hear her parents snickering behind her.
“And octopi! They’re weird and too smart, and I strongly believe there is a chance that they are aliens. ”
“Octopuses are not fish,” was all that Juliette said in response, exasperated because they’d had this conversation many times in her young life.
“Anyway…this is the dorm, not much to see,” Quinn said, trying to take control of the visit. “May I open my gift now?”
The girls both grinned, and Everlee waited for Juliette to grab the opposite handle so that they could give Quinn the gift together.
When Quinn lifted the bag, she realized it was quite light, though she was delighted when she removed the tissue paper and saw that they’d brought her one of the few things she hadn’t packed from home, a poster of her swimming hero, Rhea Stewart, who had won multiple gold medals when Quinn was a kid.
Quinn was so obsessed with her that her mom had even taken her to meet the Olympian when she was about the same age the girls were at that moment.
“You brought me my Rhea Freaking Stewart poster,” Quinn said, holding it up to admire, using the name she’d called her idol for as long as she could remember.
“We did,” Everlee said. “You left it, and the boys wanted to fold it up or throw it away, so we saved it.”
Quinn put her hand over her heart. “Thank you so much for saving her. You know how much Rhea means to me.”
“Who is Rhea Stewart?” Liv asked.
“Oh, you’re going to regret asking that question,” Quinn’s dad warned her. “Quick, quick, someone change the subject!”
“She’s my favorite swimmer,” was all Quinn said, because she could be cool when she needed, though she was already snagging a piece of tape and hanging the poster on the wall next to her bed.
“I was thinking we would walk over to the pool, and then just do a mini circle across campus before lunch. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great,” her dad replied.
“You should come with us,” Everlee said, eyeing Liv, though her eyes did dart to Quinn once in a way that made her think that, against all reason, her kid sister was attempting to wingwoman her.
Liv only hesitated for a second before she answered. “I’d love to join you.”
As they walked across campus, Liv kept pace with Quinn’s sisters, letting them talk her ear off about their favorite fish ( Juliette ) and their best friends ( Everlee ) while Quinn’s parents grilled her on everything from if she was eating enough to what times she was posting in the pool during her practice sessions and how she was preparing for her first actual college competition in the coming days.
When they finished the tour, Quinn’s mom insisted that they all pile into her van and travel together to the restaurant for lunch. As Quinn had assumed, they ended up at the closest chain, just off the freeway.
“I get to sit next to Liv,” Everlee called out.
“I want to sit next to her,” Juliette argued.
“Y’all are supposed to be here visiting me,” Quinn said, pretending to be jealous, though she certainly understood the impulse to be close to Liv.
Probably for the best that her sisters were taking one for the team and surrounding her roommate.
“What are you going to have?” Juliette asked her quietly.
“I’ve never been here, actually, so I’m open to your suggestions,” Liv told the girls. Everlee immediately reached over the menu, pointing out different options.
Quinn was blown away by how engaged Liv was with them, talking to them like they were regular people. It always irritated her when people talked to her siblings like they were stupid or an annoyance, just because they were kids, but this was just…sweet, Quinn’s mind supplied.
Necessarily, she turned back to her parents. “How are Pete and Nico doing?”
“You remember eighth grade? It’s the complete worst,” her mom answered with a dramatic sigh.
“Until high school, yeah, I guess you’re right,” Quinn agreed.