Dark Whispers in the Summer
Chapter Two: Nostalgia and Friend Requests
Quinn sighed happily as she stepped out of the Smart Pet's Supplies store. She unwrapped her apron from her waist and threw it over her shoulder with a satisfied grin. Her first day at the pet shop went great. All her customers, human and furry, were all polite and friendly. It was still rather early in the day so Quinn decided to get something to eat before she headed home— and she knew exactly what she wanted.
As she walked towards the food court at the eastern side of the mall, Quinn spotted her destination's Golden Arches. McDoran's Burgers and Fries, her guilty pleasure, was heaven on earth to the young Demacian. Out of the different smells in the food court, those famous burgers weren't hard to distinguish. She could already taste it. Quinn walked up the register and surveyed the menu.
She already knew what she wanted but the bright LED lights attracted her. Her golden eyes spotted an advertisement announcing that her favorite burger was back. The Famous Burger, an extra large, extra greasy sandwich with two thick patties and four slices of cheese. Health nuts, much to Quinn's disappointment, managed to get the artery-clogging burger off the menu a few years ago. It was a big social media scandal— a college student decided to eat the burger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to see what effects it had on his body. It made Quinn wonder what he college life had in store for her— but she had one more year before she had to worry about that. The student gained fifty pounds and the foreign hormones in his body lead him to severing all relationships he had with friends and family.
Quinn blamed him for that. Even she knew not to eat the burger that had approximately over 5,000 calories three times a day. However, McDoran's used the college student's study as a marketing tactic. If the fast food chain couldn't have the burger on the menu all year it was gonna advertise its return for a week in the summer. People flocked every year to get a taste of the Famous Burger and all it's greasy goodness.
The Demacian teen walked up to the register to a bored-looking teen behind the counter. He had his white Mohawk stuffed into a hairnet and on top of that he wore an uncomfortably tight McDoran's cap. His name tag read: Hello, My Name Is Ekko— I'm Here To Serve You The Best Darn Burger In Town. The teen didn't seem as enthusiastic as his name tag, in fact, he looked angry that Quinn was there trying to order food. He tossed the dirty rag he was using to wipe the counters in a bucket somewhere on the floor.
"Hello, can I help you?" Ekko asked.
"I'd like the Famous McBurger with extra pickles and extra sauce, please." She said to the unhappy-looking teen. He punched in a few command codes into the machine before gazing back up at her.
"Any drinks or sides?"
"One large McCoke would be cool," Quinn smiled to get Ekko to grin. It didn't work.
"Cool. Five sixty-nine, miss." He grumbled, waiting for her to pull out her wallet from her pocket. She counted the exact change and placed it in his hand. The teen carelessly shoveled through the coins before tossing it into the register unsorted. He looked back up at her while handing her the receipt, "We will call your number shortly. Have a great McDoran's day, miss."
"Thank you!" Quinn giggled, walking over to an empty, single table facing the fast food restaurant. She sat down, resting her tired legs on the seat on the chair in front of her. She heard Ekko groan and complain to another teen behind the grill but Quinn didn't care. People in food service had all the right to be angry.
Her golden eyes wandered throughout the food court, looking at the other food services she could possibly use in the future— although she knew she would always come back to McDoran's. Suddenly, her eyes spotted a familiar figure in the crowd of people. His long hair laid messily on his shoulders and he walked with his hands in his pockets. His angled face looked uninterested and somewhat annoyed. Of course it was him.
Talon Du Couteau.
Quinn's arch nemesis since she was a child. He would bully her on the playground when they were younger— throwing dodge balls at her head or dumping sand down her shorts. She would always fight back however. Quinn broke his nose once then they were ten. That was only because Talon started to pick on her late brother Caleb.
Her twin brother died not too long ago in a car crash. The wound was still fresh as she thought about him. They were both driving really late, passed their curfew, and that's why Caleb was driving fast. He lose control of the wheel and they swerved off-road and down a steep hill. Quinn had her seat belt on… Caleb didn't.
Talon stopped picking on Quinn after he learned about Caleb's death. Now, they share rivalry banter back and forth. Her eyes looked over him as he walked up the bored-looking teen at McDoran's. Her lip curled up into a smirk when she recognized the Hot Topiks logo on his shirt.
Hot Topiks was one of the oldest shops in the mall. It was once known for selling metal records and mostly black clothing but now it sells only annoying pop culture inspired merchandise. She knew Talon liked heavier metal music and his attire was almost always exclusively black aside from a few purple flannels but him working at that tween shop was weird. She'll have to tease him about that later. Her lips curled into a mischievous grin as she thought about all the quips she could say.
Talon finished his order and took a step away, pulling out his phone to pass the time. She saw him scroll through something, his social media most likely. The look on his face seemed troubled. Quinn wondered if he was on his lunch or just starting his shift— could he be worrying about getting back to work on time?
Quinn's thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable smell of oily goodness slathered in secret sauce on a toasted bun. Her golden eyes spotted Ekko arranging her order in a brown paper bag. He slid it across the counter before looking over at Quinn. He pretended to read the receipt.
"Order 23… the Famous Burger and large soda…" Ekko called out, keeping his dead glare on Quinn. The Demacian got up from her seat and headed to get her food. Ekko crumpled up the receipt in his hand, "Thanks. Come again."
"Thank you," she replied. Her voice making Talon take his attention away from his phone. They eyes connected and immediately Talon snickered.
"A Famous Burger and large soda?" He scoffed, "Be careful, in a few years your eating habits will catch up to you." The Noxian inflated his cheeks while pointing to her bag.
"Oh yeah? Then what did you order? A salad? Oh, wait, those have more calories than the cookies." Quinn poked his shoulder.
"A Famous Burger, a large soda… and large fries," he hesitantly admitted. Quinn laughed before taking a sip of her soda. Talon cleared his throat, "Are you on a lunch?"
"Nah, I'm done for today. You?"
It wasn't weird for the two teens to share a civilized conversation every once in a while. Quinn didn't consider them friends. Maybe it was a mutual respect or something more than that. Quinn playfully raised her brow at him while waiting for him to speak. They both heard a buzzer from his pocket and Talon groaned.
"I'm on my break." Talon grimaced while he looked at the time on his phone screen. "Actually, I'm supposed to be back already." He glared over at the two younger teens chatting in the McDoran's kitchen. The fry cook girl was talking to Ekko, letting the patties burn and stick to the grill. "God, I hope I don't get that one…" He whispered.
"How did you expect to eat a whole meal in just ten minutes?" Quinn questioned.
"Easy. Eat it on the way back." The Noxian chuckled.
Ekko slapped the burned patty on a mushed bun and lazily ass condiments while he continued to talk to his friend. He scooped up fries and put it in the paper sleeve but not enough to fill it. Talon glared at the boy walking over with his order. He slid it over, looking a bit proud.
"Order up." Ekko grinned.
"Thanks," Talon said back to him. He opened the bag when Ekko turned his attention back to his friend. Quinn smelled the burned burger from where she was standing but Talon shrugged. He shoveled some fries into his mouth, "At least the fries are good."
"The universe is telling you not to order a giant burger when you only have a ten minute break." Quinn joked before walking towards the escalators. Talon followed behind her. Both of them standing on the same step as it traveled downward.
"No one is in the shop other than the other new kid." Talon tried to defend his carelessness. "Who is even shopping at that store nowadays," He shoveled more fries into his open mouth. "Store went down in sales when they replaced the CDs with plastic, mass-produced figures."
"Why did you apply then if you don't like the place?"
"Nostalgia… and I can mess around when the store is empty." Talon admitted, "Where you at now?
"Smart Pet's Supplies," Quinn answered, holding her apron up to show Talon.
"You know you're going to have to pick up dog crap, right?" He snickered.
"A little sacrifice to pet cute animals and get paid for it."
The two teens stepped off the escalator and stood for a moment. Quinn was going to make a left to the exit leading to the parking garage while Talon was making a right. They momentarily fell silent as they looked at each other. Quinn silently sipped on her soda while Talon chewed on his fries.
There was something Quinn never let anyone know: she had a crush on Talon. She always had since they were kids. She knew a long time ago. Quinn stomped over to her mom from the playground, shaking sand from her cute bird-printed shirt. She angrily pointed over to Talon and his bucket laughing at her. Her mother smiled while cleaning her off. 'Maybe he has a crush on you' she remembered her mother saying. Young Quinn was grossed out but now she somewhat believed that was possible.
Talon and Quinn had a lot of history and that only strengthened her feelings for him. Sure, they went to high schools on different sides of Los Valoran but they still managed to bump into each other at football games or out in public— just like now. They would acknowledge each other, chat for a bit, and be on their way. The Demacian would get the tiniest sensation of butterflies whenever she saw them and Quinn liked those feelings. But, she would never act on them.
However, she wouldn't mind if Talon did himself.
"You… doing anything later?" Talon asked.
Her heart felt like it flat lined. Was he asking her just to prolong their conversation or was he asking for another motive? She looked at him speechless, her cheeks dusting a light pink. Her phone in her back pocket reminded her that she was doing something later. Her friend, Lux, wanted to see her after they both got off their shifts. In the back of her mind, Quinn wished that wasn't the case.
"I'm going to hang out with Lux after she gets off work. You?"
"Nothing…" He cleared his throat, "Maybe I'll work on my car. The headlights are a little off-center."
Quinn felt her heart begin to beat again. That was a relief, oddly. She wouldn't know how she would react if he had said anything different. The Demacian smiled at him.
"Sounds fun," she said. Quinn turned her back towards him and walked to the exits. She looked over her shoulder, "See you around, Talon."
"Bye, see ya."
"And then he winked at me! He WINKED at me, Quinn!" Lux screamed at her friend. She slumped in Quinn's passenger seat while she made weird, confused gurgles. Quinn looked out to passerby looking oddly at the blonde as they walked by Quinn's car in the parking garage.
"Maybe he has a crush on you." Quinn suggested while drinking her soda. She already finished her big burger and the ice in her soda melted as Lux explained what happened today. Quinn wanted to drive them home but Lux insisted that she needed her full attention. From what Quinn heard, Kayn let Lux follow him around and maybe even liked it.
"Don't even joke around like that, Quinn!" Her friend shrieked, pulling on her luscious blonde locks.
"I mean… It's possible." Quinn put her soda down in the cup holder, "He wasn't freaked out that you followed him to his interview around and he gave you his number? Earth to Lux, he likes you!" Quinn laughed when her friend's face went as red as a ruby. Quinn pulled her phone from her pocket, "Come to think of it. I don't think I know what he looks like entirely. I just know he has long hair…"
She punched in the link to the most popular social media site, Poro. It was a website where one could post small texts to the whole world in one hundred and forty characters or less. Quinn punched in his name and got only one result.
"Doesn't look like his account is private… and he follows a lot of horror and metal music accounts. Ah, here we go— photos." She swiped through his photos seeing that he mostly posts his collection of movies and Ionian-style food he eats. "No face pictures yet." She could feel the tension radiating off of Lux but she continued to look for a photo of Kayn.
"Maybe he doesn't have any?"
"Found one." Quinn snickered triumphantly as she came across a picture of three people. A white-haired girl was holding the camera facing her, another teen boy with a scar looking off into the distance, and then Kayn holding up bunny-ears behind the girl's head. Quinn squinted as she looked over him. "Blue eyes, fair skin, toothy grin, and dark clothing. Yeah, he's cute. I approve."
She looked over at Lux analyzing the photo with her. Her hands took Quinn's phone as she zoomed in on Kayn.
"You don't think that's his girlfriend, do you?" Lux asked, worry written across her face.
Quinn looked at the photo, the white-haired girl and the guy in the background. Tapping picture, she saw the description was: "Me, Syndra, and Zed at Navori Ramen in Dalu Bay." Her eye caught something interesting. She smiled at her friend before zooming in on Syndra's hand intertwined with Zed's fingers..
"Doubt Kayn's girlfriend would be holding his friend's hand." Quinn tapped on the link attached to the photo that led to Syndra's profile. Her avatar was of her and Zed kissing. "See. Kayn doesn't strike me as a loser who would flirt with a girl when he's in a relationship."
"Oh, okay." Lux said, glancing at her own phone and the piece of paper with Kayn's number on it. "Should… I message him?"
"Yes! Of course— huh?" Quinn was interrupted by a notification on her phone. A small banner at the top of her screen signaled her. It disappeared too fast for her to read it. She flipped around her phone until she found it. "Someone is asking to follow me?" Her thumb tapped on the little person at the top of the screen. Her heart froze when she saw who it was.
"Who was it? Is it another bot?"
"No… it's Talon."
She hesitated on either accepting his request or if she should block him. Quinn had no reason to block him then again she had no reason to accept it either. Maybe he's just on a following spree or just really interested on what she posted. Quinn was a frequent poster on her feed— photos of her bird, art, and landscapes is all that was there.
"Delete it and block him, Quinn. He's probably just going to troll you." Lux snorted. She wasn't too fond of Talon. Quinn told her that he used to bully her when they were younger and she didn't buy him trying to be friendly all of a sudden. "He's up to something."
"I think I want to accept it…" She admitted.
"What?!"
"I mean if he bothers me I can just block him but… he hasn't picked on me in a very long time. It's weird."
"Maybe he has a crush on you," Lux scoffed. "Do whatever you want, Quinn. I can have my brother deal with him if you want."
"I don't think I need a member of the Demacian military beating up an old bully for me. But, thanks, Lux." Quinn smiled as she accepted Talon's follow request. She rested her phone down on her lap before turning to her friend. "What are you going to say to—"
Her phone beeped again… this time it was a message alert.
"Oh, I know that sound." Lux grimaced, "He's trying to talk to you."
"I wonder what he wants?" The navy-haired teen mumbled as she opened the message. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach as she read the single word in the chat bubble. It was the most confusing message she had ever received. It was short but it threw her for a loop.
"What did he say?" Lux asked, trying to peek at her phone.
"Sup." She replied.
"Oh, goodness. Why do boys always start with that… Find out what he wants so we can go home."
To: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
Hey
From: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
What are you up to?
To: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
Nothing just sitting around. You?
Talon sent a photo of his shiny black car to Quinn. In frame, he pointed to his headlight. Lux looked over, confused on why she was seeing a photo of a car in their chat history. Quinn shrugged at her before looking back at the messages.
From: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
Fixed her up. She's ready for the night driving.
Did you wanna hang out or are you still with Blondie?
"Lux…" Quinn began to sweat as she showed her friend the last message in the chat. Her blonde friend's eyes widened as she read it. She looked back at Quinn shocked.
"He's asking you to hang out with him? ALONE?"
"I guess so?" Quinn slightly panicked.
"Not on my watch! You tell that boy you don't wanna hang out unless I'm there!"
An idea clicked in Quinn's head. She slyly looked over at her friend, holding her phone close to her chest. Lux seemed confused on what she was thinking.
"I know exactly what to tell him." She read along as she tapped the reply to him. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"
From: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
How about a movie? I'll pay.
"That sounds fun. Lux was about to ask out some guy from our school. Is it okay if she tags along so its not super awkward for her?"
"Quinn!"
From: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
Sure but I'm not paying for them lol
Also for some reason I was getting lesbian vibes from Blondie... guess that's not the case.
"Alright, Lux, now you gotta ask out Kayn." Quinn poked her friend. The blonde looked down at her phone, the conflicted expression on her face didn't worry Quinn. She knew Lux was more likely to act under pressure. The navy-haired girl watched hopefully as Lux punched in Kayn's number into her pink phone. She groaned while trying to figure out what to say.
To: Kayn
Hi, Kayn, It's Lux!
"Now we just have to wait for him to—"
From: Kayn
hey lux what is up
"Two can play this game, Quinn..." She muttered under her breath.
To: Kayn
Nothing! Me, Quinn, and Her Date Are Going To Go See A Movie Tonight. Did You Want To Come?
She's Super Nervous And Needs Me There But I Don't Wanna Be A Third Wheel :(
From: Kayn
yeah ill go
what time?
Lux laughed to herself before looking at Quinn, who seemed very proud. Her light-blue eyes narrowed at her friend. She gasped when she finally realized what had just happened. Quinn got her to ask out Kayn by tricking her.
Quinn looked down at her phone, noticing that Talon had been messaging her while she was watching Lux. He gave the time of 8:30 at the Hextech Theater near downtown Los Valoran. There was a showing of the latest horror flick that was getting good ratings on Rotten Biscuits. She glanced over at Lux still chatting with Kayn on her phone. Quinn knew Lux HATED scary movies... but that could work to her advantage. If she got scared, she would have to get close to Kayn maybe even hold him. The navy-haired teen nodded.
To: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
Sounds perfect.
From: Talon (ShadowAssault69)
I'll pick you up at your place then
Notes: Hey! Thanks for the uplifting and positive reviews~ they definitely got me motivated to pump out another chapter.
If you have a few questions, they will be answered when we see these four teens go on their dates~ But we have to see what Ekko and Jinx are doing first!
Tell me what you thought!
See you next chapter!
