Page 33 of What We Got Wrong

Liv rolled her eyes and closed the door after her. Alone again with her thoughts, she realized that it felt just a little lighter, now. That maybe, having an open conversation with someone who cared about her, even the beginning of one, was a step in the right direction to not totally throwing away her week.

To not totally throwing away her life.

Chapter 12

Quinn

August, Sophomore Year

For Quinn, the summer after freshman year flew by, filled with teaching swim lessons at the swim club she’d come up in and spending time with her siblings. She took the primary role as their driver for the season. She’d always loved spending time with them—they were pests, but they were her pests—but after the conversation with Liv about her sister, she didn’t want to waste any time that she had with them.

She was also glued to her phone, in constant contact with Liv. Liv had gone home to Chicago and was interning for her dad, and she was thriving in her role. She was on the marketing team for the moment, and, though she was certain it had a lot to do with her last name, she was getting the chance to do actual work on a logo redesign, instead of running errands and grabbing coffee. Based on what Quinn could tell, she was staying busy, and though they rarely talked about her life outside of work, Liv seemed happy. Quinn hoped it wasn’t because she was in the same zip code as that guy, though… What business was it of hers?

It was just that Quinn was stunned by how much she’d missed her.

She talked to Emma quite a bit, as well, even though she was constantly with her boyfriend. They’d attempted to make plans multiple times throughout the summer to meet up, but each time, something came up with Brandon that would prevent Emma from visiting. Quinn wasn’t too upset about it. She understood prioritizing the folks at home before the next school year, so she just tried to enjoy her friends from a distance.

She hadn’t told either of them that Scarlet had ended things, though.

It had happened in early July, when Quinn told Scarlet that she didn’t want to come for the holiday weekend, that she’d preferred to stay and spend the time with her family. Her dad worked as a journeyman in a factory, so he was usually pulled in for holidays for maintenance projects, but he’d made sure to take this time off, and they were planning to have a cookout and set off fireworks. It wasn’t anything major, but Quinn didn’t want to miss it.

Scarlet had gotten emotional, which didn’t make sense, because it wasn’t like Quinn had promised she’d visit that weekend. And then, she’d turned it into a rant about how Quinn always put her last, and that it wasn’t just her family, but it was Emma, and her roommate from last year. And maybe it wasn’t the right time for Quinn to tell her that she was rooming with Liv again, but she’d said it, and within a few minutes, they were done.

Quinn was largely unaffected, if she was being honest. Her primary emotion was embarrassment at having let it continue long past when it should have ended. And, maybe Liv had the right idea, even if she was coming from a pretty toxic place… Maybe Quinn should take a break from dating, too.

Before she knew it, she was packing up her car to head back to school, preparing for another week of intensive swimming before the official return to campus that would flood the school with students. She said goodbye to her family, through tears and plans to visit from everyone, and after stopping for her standard road trip snacks, drove the two hours to campus.

As soon as she got to campus, before even unloading her bags into her dorm, she grabbed her bag and headed for the gym. Swim practice wasn’t scheduled to start until the next day, and she didn’t think the pool was open, but she could at least run for a bit, maybe throw some weights around.

There was no one else around, so she started with a light jog on the treadmill, just trying to get out some of her energy after the car ride. After a few minutes of that, she moved to a weight bench, but she’d barely even begun before she heard someone come in.

“Oh, I’m telling coach that you were lifting without a spotter,” Emma called out.

She turned to her friend, grinning goofily at her and pretending to swoon. “I was just getting started. I’m so lucky you’re here to protect me.”

“You really are,” Emma shot back.

They started a light upper body workout, though they were careful not to push it, knowing that the first workout of the season was sure to be brutal in the morning.

They’d been hanging out for a while when Quinn noticed writing on Emma’s arm. She reached out, grabbing her, and saw that she’d gotten “Brandon” tattooed across the inside of her wrist in cursive writing.

“Whoa,” was all Quinn could say.

“You don’t have to say anything, I know it’s stupid, several people have already made it very clear to me,” Emma snapped, her defenses all the way up.

“Chill, dude,” Quinn replied, her hands up as if in surrender. “I wasn’t going to say anything like that.”

She would think it, sure, because they were basically children and Emma had chosen to get her boyfriend’s name permanently inked on her body, but still. She wasn’t going to say it. Why give her a hard time for something that she couldn’t change?

“Thank you,” Emma said, the tension deflating out of her.

“How was it leaving him?” Quinn asked.

“Eh, it’s hard,” Emma responded. Quinn stayed quiet, waiting for more. “He just doesn’t like that I moved away for school.”

“You’re not even that far from home?” Emma was from a small town just outside of Grand Rapids, the opposite direction across Michigan than where Quinn was from, but only about an hour and a half from their school.

Her friend huffed. “I know. It’s just hard, you know? He’s working with his dad at a car dealership, focused on building his career… He wants to get married and be a full adult, I guess.”