Once upon a time, I’d thought that if Leo and I ever got together, if he ever admitted to loving me like I loved him, life would be perfect. We would never fight, and everything would be sunshine and roses. We’d live happily ever after.
The last two months had opened my eyes to the absolute absurdity of that way of thinking. Leo loved me, I didn’t doubt that. I loved him, more now than I had ever thought possible. Most of the time, he was sweet to me, funny and protective. Before spring football season began, I’d had no doubt that I was Leo’s top priority. But lately, I felt like I’d been slipping down that list, until I fell somewhere below football and his friends.
And today? Well, today I was furious. I’d already been a little worried about the bullying series, for the very reason Leo had listed. But it was actually going well so far, and our local newspaper had even picked up one of my articles, highlighting a problem in the schools that most people preferred to ignore. I was excited to tell Leo about it, but before I could say anything, he’d launched into me about Brent and how his future could be ruined if I wrote the wrong thing.
I hadn’t handled it well, I knew. But I’d been hurt when I felt that once again, Leo was choosing his teammate over me.
The house was empty when I went inside, and I remembered that my parents were at a planning meeting for their high school reunion that evening. I’d actually been looking forward to having precious time alone with Leo ... and he’d ruined that when he brought up Brent. Just another reason for me to be upset.
I was too keyed up to stay home alone. I grabbed my car keys and drove back to the school, thinking that I might work on editing this week’s columns if Jake was still in the office.
The parking lot was nearly empty, and I didn’t see Jake’s car anywhere. With a heavy sigh, I pulled the keys out of my ignition and dropped my forehead onto the steering wheel.
A knock at the window startled me, and when I turned, I saw Sarah Jenkins standing there, waving at me. I rolled down my window.
“Hey, Quinn. You ... okay?” She frowned. “I just saw you pull in as I was coming out. I think the school’s empty now. And locked. I had a late meeting with the prom committee, and I was the last one out.”
“Oh. Sure.” I nodded. “I was hoping maybe Jake was still in the newspaper office. No big deal.” I began to roll up my window.
“Wait a second. Are you sure you’re all right? You don’t look like you are.”
One side of my mouth curled up. “Thanks.”
“No, you know what I mean. You just seem upset.”
I blew out a breath. “I am. But I don’t want to talk about it, if you don’t mind.”
She shook her head. “I don’t.” She took a step backward and then paused. “So you’re probably not interested in this, but ... I’m meeting some of the other girls at the Starlight. Want to come with?”
I opened my mouth to say no, but then I thought ... why not? I didn’t have anything better to do tonight. And if Leo could have fun with his friends, why couldn’t I? Sure, Sarah and I weren’t close, but I liked her. Maybe, if we got to know each other better, we’d find out we had more than just Leo in common.
“Yes. As a matter of fact, yes, I do.”
As it turned out, the ‘other girls’ Sarah had mentioned were all cheerleaders. If they were surprised to see me with her when we walked into the diner, they didn’t show it. And after we’d spent an hour together, ordering food, chatting and giggling, I realized that I was really enjoying myself.
“Hey, you guys, want to come back to my house? My dad’s away tonight and my step-mother is going to an all-night yoga shut-in.” Alicia rolled her eyes. “We’ll have the place to ourselves.”
“Sounds like fun.” Sarah glanced at me. “Quinn, you in?”
I hesitated. “Um ... I’m not sure. I should probably head home.”
“Oh, come on.” Chelle leaned forward in the booth, smiling at me. “It’ll be fun. Just come for a little while, at least.”
“Yeah, just stay for like an hour.” Sarah grinned, too. “Everyone needs to blow off steam now and then, right?”
She made a good point. Leo hadn’t texted me or tried to call me, and that stung, too. I wanted to forget about our fight and everything else that was making me feel so unsettled.
“Okay, but just for an hour. Then I need to get home.”
“Yay!” Alicia clapped her hands. “You can follow me, Quinn. Everyone else, see you there.”
Alicia lived closer to the edge of town, not far from Matt Lampert’s house. Thinking about him didn’t improve my mood. He and I hadn’t exactly made up since our spat when I was trying to get Leo home, and I got the sense more and more that he was actively working against me, when it came to Leo.
I pulled my car into Alicia’s driveway and walked inside with her. The house was large and modern, the kind of place where I was afraid to touch anything. But that didn’t seem to bother Alicia. She led us into the kitchen, and we all took chairs around the large table.
The first half-hour was fun. I laughed along with the girls telling stories about cheerleader camp, and we all ate popcorn Chelle made on the stove. I was just thinking that I should start to make my exit when the back door opened, and Trish Dawson came in. I noticed she didn’t even knock, but no one else seemed bothered about that fact.
“Hey, bitches.” She seemed to notice me for the first time, and her mouth dropped open. “Well, well, look who’s joined the party, huh? What up, Quinn? Shouldn’t you be at, like, a rally or something? You know, whatever it is you geeks like to do?”
