Inevitably Yours

QUINN

I was mortified when Luna Claire threw the door open and caught Michael and I together. I didn’t even know where it was going but could not believe we had been in that position. I wanted to die every time I tried to imagine what she now thought of me.

My mom called right before the movie ended, so I left the packhouse after and rushed home. Thankfully, I didn’t see the Luna on the way out. Michael kept saying that I didn’t make his mom mad, but she kept giving me these weird looks.

Michael made no mention of seeing me at practice the next day, and at this point, I wasn’t expecting to. The pessimistic part of me thought it might be easier if he quit because I could avoid the stupid rumors that way. After all that embarrassment, I managed to fall asleep, though, bringing Sapphire back in the morning to debate everything during cross country practice.

When I walked into band practice the next day, Christy was waiting for me. “Hey!” she chirped.

“Hey,” I replied. “You look excited.”

“We just got the parameters for our show makeup this year. I need a practice dummy,” she smiled. I looked at her blankly, then slowly realized.

I pointed at myself. “Me?” I asked.

She put her hands together. “Pretty please!” she begged.

“Uh, I guess,” I said.

“Great!” she cheered. “I can just come home with you after practice!”

“Uh, okay, I guess,” I said.

“I can show you how to spin too! Maybe next year you can do that instead of play this dumb thing,” she teased. I rolled my eyes but smiled at her; there was no way I was going to dance around with a metal pole and skewer someone willingly.

“I’ll text my mom to make sure,” I told her as I headed to get my stuff.

“I’ll tell Stu he is taking us home,” she smiled.

“Oh, that will go over well,” I said sarcastically. She pouted.

“Is he still being mean to you? Because I will stop having s*x with him until he is nicer,” she offered. I laughed.

“No, it’s a little better,” I said. He mainly was ignoring me now but still wasn’t pleasant when I was forced to speak with him.

“Okay, well, I am scheduled to test off the first two routines today, so I gotta go practice. See you at break!” Christy ran away to get her flags, and I was left to ready my stuff.

–

Band passed by with nothing more of note. Keeping my head down and trying to act invisible seemed to be working for the most part when it came to the rumors. Sandra continued to glare at me with disdain every time I passed into her view, but I just avoided her otherwise.

After practice, Christy met me out front with three poles tied to her back. “Ready?” I asked.

“Yea,” she said. Stuart appeared behind her. Instead of giving me any sort of glare, he looked passed me like I didn’t exist.

“Where exactly am I taking you?” he asked her. She grabbed his hand and started toward the parking lot.

“Quinn can give you directions,” she said sweetly. I walked behind them, curiously observing their interaction. Stuart seemed to have no interest in Christy whatsoever while she was almost begging for his affection. I frowned, hoping that wasn’t the case. She seemed like she could be a lot to handle, but I knew her heart was gold; she was my second favorite heroine archetype, I realized.

We loaded into Stuart’s car. I had to push aside his workout clothes that were thrown in the backseat. I gave him the easy directions to my house, and mercifully we were in my driveway in no time. I got out quickly, leaving Christy to pepper her boyfriend with k****s before joining me.

We laid her poles on the front hall and went to the kitchen first. “Thirsty?” I asked.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“So very much!” she said; our practice consisted of constantly running through all the show sets we had learned so far. I got in the fridge and tossed her a water bottle. “You have a pretty house,” she said, looking around as I sat at the kitchen table.

“Thanks,” I said. She had a nervous look on her face, like she was expecting something unpleasant.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Oh nothing,” she said, a smile returning to her face. “So make up or spinning first?”

“Spinning?” I repeated.

“Yea. I am going to teach you to spin the flag!” she said excitedly.

“You want my uncoordinated self to whirl around with a five-foot-long pole made of metal? Who are you trying to kill?”

She laughed at that. “No, I promise. It’ll improve your hand-eye coordination. Want to know a secret?”

“Sure,” I said warily.

“I taught Stu! He was dreadful before. He was always getting yelled at because his marching and handling sucked. Then I taught him how to spin and made him practice with me, and he slowly got better. He runs because he can’t catch a ball to save his life,” she laughed.

“No way,” I said in disbelief.

“Yes, way!” she squealed. “I wouldn’t lie. It’s magic.”

“If you say so. But I am just warning you if you get smacked in the head, it’s your fault,” I told her, biting back a laugh.

“Deal. Let’s go!” she said. She hopped up and went to get her poles.

–

“My arms hurt,” I whined two hours later. Christy just laughed as her pole flipped up in the air again. “You really do this for hours on end?”

“Yep. When I started, it was like ten hours a day. Now I usually go for like four or five,” she said. “There is this new toss I want to learn, though.” I stopped spinning the flag and collapsed into the grass, watching her try whatever she was attempting. The flag flew from her hands, climbing high into the air. It skimmed the lower branches of the tall tree in my yard before it began to fall back.

“Ah!” she yelled, diving out of the way. I laughed at her.

“You told me not to be scared of it. It’s just a pretty stick, remember?” I teased.

The back door opened, and my mom walked out onto the porch. “Hey girls,” she called.

“Hey, Mom!” I called back.

“Hi, Mrs. Quinn!” Christy waved. My mom laughed.

“Mom, this is my friend from band. Christy, this is my mom, Amelia,” I introduced them.

“Are you staying for dinner, dear?” my mom asked.

“Can I?” Christy replied excitedly.

“Hope you like venison burgers,” My mom waved, turning to go back inside. Christy came over and plopped down in the grass next to me.

“You look nothing like your mom,” she commented.

“I look more like my dad,” I shrugged. I laid back in the grass, relaxing my sore arms.

“So what do your mom and dad think about Michael?” she asked as her voice tapered off.

I stiffened. “They haven’t expressed any objections to our friendship,” I said. “Why?”

I looked at her to see her biting her l*p. “I’m not sure I would want my daughter mixed up with the Alpha’s kid, is all,” she muttered.

“Why are you so worried?” I asked her.

“Well, for one were friends,” she rolled her eyes. “And two, I can tell you like him. Like really like him. You called him your Michael. And you had this look in your eye at the parade. It’s not that different than the look my mom gives my dad.”

“Will things change if I admit I like him?” I asked her.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Like, will I have to choose between liking him and having you as a friend?” I clarified.

She shook her head. “No,” she smiled softly. “I won’t make you choose, but I can promise you life won’t be super easy if you started dating him. He turns seventeen soon, too. His birthday is like a month or so into school. He’ll be ready to find his mate.”

“I’m not talking about dating him,” I defended. “I just like him. When we spend time together, it’s like a lot of my problems and worries don’t seem to matter. I can just exist. It’s like the first big breath of fresh winter air when you shift on the first snowfall.”

“Well, that’s pretty deep,” she said, looking baffled.

“You don’t feel like that with Stuart?” I asked. She frowned.

“Well, I guess occasionally. When he isn’t being cold,” Christy said. I pushed myself up and looked at her closely.

“If you want him to show you more affection, then ask,” I said. “I know we haven’t been friends long, but it seems like you don’t mind voicing the things you want.”

“I have, but I can’t change who he is. It’s okay, though. We just work,” she said. For the first time this afternoon, her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Are you settling, though? You said you don’t know if he is your mate yet,” I observed.

“There is a lot of history there to unpack,” she said more quietly. “He forgave me for some stuff, and I look past his sometimes cool demeanor.”

“Okay,” I said, not pushing further. “If you think I’m in so much trouble if I were to admit liking Michael, tell me about how he is then?” I said after a drawn moment.

She rolled her eyes. “The attention just follows him. Everywhere. Last year, the director had to literally lock the auditorium doors because girls were skipping class to come watch our practices. That was, of course, during one of the rare moments he was in between girls.”

“Rare?” I clarified.

“For whatever reason, he likes to move on before cutting off the current one,” she explained. I frowned at her. “Sometimes there is a whole big dramatic fallout, and other times it just sort of happens.

“I see,” I said, looking down into my lap. The fabric of the flag laid over me. It was light, silver in color, and shimmery. The different colors within the fabric made a swirling design that looked like stardust when it was spun around.

“Maybe you should really think about it before you jump all in,” she suggested. “It’s a lot being the Alpha’s eye candy.”

“Do you have personal experience with this?” I asked, looking up again. Her face flushed quickly.

“Well, I mean, not really, but sort of,” she stammered. “It’s a really long story. Probably too long to tell before dinner. I can already smell it.” She hopped up and started rolling up her flag. She flashed me an uneasy look; I decided to drop the topic for now.

We rolled her flags up and headed inside. My dad was sitting at the kitchen table while my mom worked at the stove. My little brother was very poorly handling a knife with the salad greens.

“Oh, let me do it,” I said quickly, pushing my brother out of the way before he cut himself. He huffed and left the kitchen.

“Did I have another pup I don’t know about?” my dad joked.

“Hi, Mr. Quinn! I’m Christy! Quinn’s my new best friend,” she smiled. I don’t think she could help how charming and bubbly she was. My dad looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Dad, this is my friend from band, Christy. She came over to hang out and practice her show makeup. She is a flag spinner,” I explain. “Christy, that’s my dad, James.”

“Okay,” my dad said, going back to his newspaper.

Christy took a seat at the table while I cut up the salad. “So Christy, what grade are you in?” my mom asked her. Thankfully, she felt completely comfortable talking to my parents and answering all their questions. She didn’t mention Michael and me or any of the drama, which was relieving.

My brother returned for dinner but did not find Christy very amusing. By the end of the meal, we were washing the dishes while my parents went to watch TV, and it was decided that she was spending the night. I was only disappointed because it meant I wouldn’t be able to call Michael.

“Glad you’re making lots of new friends,” my mom linked me from the other room. I smiled at that.

“Thanks for letting her stay,” I replied.

“Of course,” my mom said.

“I cannot wait to doll you up,” Christy said next to me.

“Wait, I thought you were practicing for your show stuff? What do you mean doll me up?”