Page 23 of What We Got Wrong

The fact that a gaggle of her friends were following her around didn’t seem to register at all to her until someone made a comment about Liv and Emma.

“They’re such a cute couple,” they said.

“They’re not a couple,” Scarlet howled, as if it was the most hilarious thing she’d ever heard. “The ginger has a boyfriend.”

The way she said this burrowed into Quinn’s skin, but she tried to brush it off, reminding herself that Scarlet was drunk.

When she looked back over to where her friends had been dancing, though, she realized that something was off. Emma still had her arms around Liv, but it had turned protective, worry etched across her face. Quinn shot out of her seat when she saw that Joel had approached them. She didn’t know what he’d done, but they were clearly uncomfortable.

It was only a few seconds before she had her body completely between him and her friends, and she was pressing her hand into his chest to push him away.

“Back the fuck up,” Quinn yelled. He was slightly taller than her, but scrawny, and she’d never thrown a punch, but was confident that she could take him if it came to that.

“Dude, back up, I was just being friendly,” he mumbled. She could smell the alcohol on him, too, and he wouldn’t meet her eye.

“Quinn, calm down, he’s a nice guy,” she heard Scarlet say, approaching the interaction.

“Did you even see what happened?” Emma snapped. Frankly, Quinn didn’t need details. The uneasiness on Liv’s face said more than enough for her.

“He just started dancing with us,” Liv said. She was clearly embarrassed to have so much attention. “He didn’t ask, and I didn’t want his body on mine.”

“It’s a party, everyone was dancing together,” Scarlet replied, and Quinn honestly couldn’t believe that she was making excuses. “Joel is harmless.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m sorry,” Liv said, her face turning a shade of red that on its own would have concerned Quinn.

“No, absolutely not,” Quinn responded. She glared at Scarlet. “Your friend needs to get his shit together. You and I can talk about this later. We’re leaving.”

“Quinn,” Scarlet called out.

“No. You fucked up. If you figure out how, call me, and we can talk more.” With that, Quinn hooked her arms around Liv and Emma and guided them outside. She wrangled both of them into the back of her car and made her way back to campus, all of them too exhausted from the intensity of the night to say much of anything.

Quinn parked in her designated spot, and the three of them walked across campus, stopping at Emma’s dorm first. When they got to the door, Emma hugged them each before clearing her throat.

“I know that that got messy, but can I say something inappropriate?”

“You’ve never needed permission before,” Quinn replied, eyebrows raised.

Emma shrugged. “I just have to say…that was incredibly hot. I’m going to go call my boyfriend before I try to climb you.”

Quinn rolled her eyes, laughing. “You’re an idiot.”

“I know,” she replied, grinning. “Let me know when you guys are in your dorm. I’ll come see you in the morning.”

She hugged them again and walked into her building. They watched her as she made her way down the hall, waiting until she turned into another corridor before they began the short walk to their own dorm.

“I’m so sorry,” Liv said quietly after a few minutes of silence.

Quinn felt her jaw drop. “Why in the world are you sorry?”

“I probably made that a bigger deal than I should have,” Liv replied. “He gives me the creeps, and when he pressed against me tonight, I just… I really didn’t like it.”

“Liv, you have nothing to apologize for,” Quinn told her. “I wish I hadn’t teased you about him flirting with you. I’m an asshole, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know, I should have said something,” she said, shaking her head quickly, though she stopped soon after, holding her hands up to her face. “Uh, I didn’t even drink that much, and I still feel kind of fuzzy.”

“One drink and a shot, as fast as you drank them, when you don’t have experience with it… It doesn’t take much,” Quinn replied.

“Please don’t ever tell them, but my parents might be right about this one specific thing,” Liv told her, and Quinn gently laughed, pulling Liv’s hand down so that they could walk arm in arm, the alcohol starting to affect Liv’s balance.