Chapter 6 #2
“We might go out again this week,” she said before, thankfully, she changed the subject. “What movie did you pick for tonight?”
“The original Scream. Have you seen it?”
Quinn just grunted. When they’d started these weekly hangouts, they’d quickly realized that they had divergent movie tastes: loud, boyish Quinn was a sucker for a cheesy rom-com, while Liv preferred horror or action films.
Liv climbed out of bed, reaching to push play, but Quinn’s phone pinged, so she hesitated. “Is that her? ”
“No, my mom. She wanted me to ask if you are coming for Thanksgiving,” Quinn said casually.
“I’m going home for the holiday,” Liv answered automatically.
“I guess that makes sense, even for just a couple of days,” Quinn replied. “It’s a short flight from Detroit to Chicago.”
“Yeah, and I promised my parents I would come home for any break longer than three days, so…”
“Hmm.” Quinn was pensive, the wheels clearly turning in her head. “Can I ask you a question?”
Liv considered her for a long moment, not sure where this was going to go. She sat back down on her bed. “You can ask.”
Quinn thought for another few seconds before asking, “From the little bit you’ve told me, your parents seem…strict?”
“Understatement,” Liv replied.
“Right. So…why’d they let you come here?” Quinn seemed genuinely confused.
Liv laughed, though there was an undercurrent of frustration. Again, she took a long time before answering. She honestly believed that she could be real with Quinn, that she truly could tell her anything, but she wasn’t ready to break herself open.
“My family… We’ve been through a lot in the last few years,” she said carefully.
Quinn sat up in her bed, turning her entire body so that she was facing Liv.
It was clear that she hadn’t thought Liv was going to answer the question.
“I think they thought it would be safer for me to pick a school outside of Chicago.”
“What do you mean safer? Are we talking, like… Are your parents in the mob?”
She asked the question with such sincerity that Liv laughed again, a real, deep sound this time. “You are so silly! No . ”
Quinn breathed out a dramatic sigh of relief. “Phew, I was worried for a second there.”
“By safer, I just meant calmer, less… I don’t know how to say it, but they wanted me to go to school somewhere without a big party culture, somewhere I could just…
focus on school.” Liv wasn’t quite sure she wanted to say the next part, but she found herself continuing.
“We made an agreement. A contract with a list of rules.”
“Okay?” Quinn’s eyebrows were raised.
“Like I said, I have to go home every break. I have to call three times a week. You’ve missed some good touchpoints while you’re at swim practice.
” Now that she had started, she couldn’t stop listing, her heart racing.
“I have to intern at my father’s company every summer.
I have to major in business management. I had to promise that I wouldn’t date here, that I would make sure I wasn’t surrounded by drugs or alcohol.
I have to follow their plan, and I have to get perfect grades, and I have to make sure that I never deviate. ”
“That sounds like a lot of pressure.” Quinn’s voice was quiet, her expression soft.
“I’ll graduate and then I’ll go work for my dad, and probably marry one of the boys they deemed worthy for me when I was like six years old…”
She could tell by the expression on Quinn’s face that she didn’t like hearing that at all, but it was true.
Her parents hadn’t officially said that last bit, hadn’t added it to the agreement.
It was just always an expectation, who she was allowed to date, to take to prom.
Her social circles were kept very tight, and everything had become a business transaction between her and her parents. “Liv, seriously, that’s…intense.”
Quinn looked, frankly, shocked, and Liv felt an awkwardness creeping in, like she’d shared too much. “I’m sorry. That was a lot. I shouldn’t have unloaded on you like that.”
“No, no, don’t do that,” Quinn replied. She stretched across the gap between their beds, her hand squeezing Liv’s shoulder. “This was not what I was expecting, but I’m glad you told me. Honestly.”
Liv wanted to believe her. “Well…thank you for listening.”
Quinn nodded, though her eyes were far away, replaying the conversation in her mind. Liv waited patiently, though she was surprised when Quinn spoke.
“Do you have a favorite?”
“Favorite what?” Liv asked, confused.
“You said that they have, like, a list of guys that they think are worthy of you,” Quinn said. “I was just wondering if you have a favorite husband option.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
Quinn shook her head, though she was clearly amused. “Of course not. We debriefed about my date today, and now I’m asking you about your boyfriends. This is entry level girl talk, my friend.”
Liv tried to relax. This was good. This whole conversation, really, serving as a reminder of all the reasons that she shouldn’t be thinking about Quinn’s arms. “They’re not my boyfriends, to be clear.
But I mean…Conner is nice enough. And he’s the one I lost my virginity to, so that’s a nice full circle narrative there, right? ”
Quinn’s eyes went wide, and Liv realized again that she might have gone too far. “Whoa, I also never would have never expected you to say that. I thought you were so innocent!”
“I said I was sheltered, not that I grew up in a convent,” Liv replied with an eye roll, though she was blushing.
“What’s he like?” Quinn asked, her tone slightly off as if, maybe, she was feeling a bit awkward as well.
“Honestly? He’s really not that bad,” was all she offered as an answer, though she did pull out a picture to show Quinn.
“Ah, true love,” her roommate deadpanned, and Liv pushed her shoulder .
“I just mean, he’s nice enough, and he’s pretty decent, as far as…”
“As far as rich white guys go,” Quinn offered, knowing exactly where she was headed.
“I mean, yes," Liv admitted. “Our dads are business partners, so he’s always sort of been around. And we have a sort of…unspoken agreement, I guess. When we’re around each other, we’re sort of together? But we don’t talk much when we’re in different zip codes. It works for us.”
“That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” Quinn teased, pretending to wipe away a tear. Her phone pinged, and when she grabbed for it, her face lit up. “Scarlet. She confirmed for Tuesday.”
And this, too, was good, Liv told herself, as she finally pushed play on the movie. It was for the best that they both focus on other things, other people. It wouldn’t do her any good to get completely wrapped up in Quinn, because she knew if she did, she’d never want to let go.