Author's note: Please read and review….hmmm, that's all.
Quinn looked over at her mother. She was furious. Her face was a deep shade of red and she was tapping her foot in fast pace motion.
"YOUR BOYFRIEND?"
Great…I need to get out of here…
"Quinn, Quinn's mom and sister, I think I'm going. Thanks for letting me, um, crash here"
Craig got up from her bed and headed out the door. He looked back at Quinn with a sympathetic expression. She thought about flipping him off, but decided not to.
She managed to squeak out a mere goodbye. She had a feeling that this day was going to be rotten. Great, she thought. My mom has busted me. One time she actually cares. Surprising.
"What was your boyfriend doing in your bed?"
Marie chimed in. "Yeah mom! She's stayed the night with him before. She wasn't home for one night once!"
Her mother ignored Marie. Her eyes were popping out of her head. She must have had a hangover she thought.
"I asked, you, a question. ANSWER ME!"
She could talk her way out of this. She knew she could. All she had to do was mention her father and her mom was gone.
"Well, his, um, his sister is in the hospital…"
"Well, shouldn't he be there?"
That's what I thought…
Quinn tried to smile. "Um. Yeah?" She went on. "She got ran over. And he couldn't take all of the stress, and he came through my window last night…"
"YOUR WINDOW!"
She pulled the blankets closer to her for some sort of security. She adjusted her eye set so she looked like she was pleading for forgiveness.
"He was in tears. I offered the sleeping bag, but he's too tall. We haven't done anything. I swear to god"
Well…not that you know of …
She went on. "I mean, it's not like you're ever home anyway. Ever since Dad, all you do is go out and drink. You're a fucking drunk and Marie is a slut. Bringing every boy..."
Marie uncrossed her arms in disgust. "Excuse me, I'm not the one who got pregnant and was caught with a boy in my bed"
A sad frown appeared on her mother's face. "I'm done with this. I'm done with you"
And that was that. Her mother walked out of her doorway and went off somewhere.
"Nice going bitch" her sister said.
Great, this is great. My mom caught me in bed, my little sister…I need to get out of here.
Her sister went on. "You know what, you can just kiss my…"
Quinn got up from her bed and headed towards her doorway. She pushed Marie "Get out of my way"
She headed down her hallway and towards the door. Marie was shouting names at her as she was running.
"You'll just wind up pregnant again. Everyone knows it. Everyone"
Quinn turned around. There she was, just standing there with a sly grin on her face. Arms crossed and everything.
She went on. "You're just a disgusting little pig…"
She had enough. She thought about screaming at her, but that wasn't it. So she decided to punch her in the face. Hard. She had hurt her knuckles in the process.
Quinn had knocked her down on the ground. She didn't care. Those words hurt. Marie was just lying there, rubbing her jaw and muttering out something. She had almost looked lifeless.
She went on down through the hallway. She was looking around for her green pair of flip flops. She looked outside. The sky was gray and it was pouring out. She found them, put them on and went outside. She ran towards her driveway and got into her car. She looked back to her house. It didn't remind her of anything. She thought about how happy she was when they moved in. There was something exciting about getting something new. The excitement had totally left. The shrubs were overgrown and the lawn hadn't been mowed in over a month
Quinn opened the door to her Mercedes. She slowly turned the key and pulled out of her driveway. She drove down her street and turned left. She kept on driving. She was just going around, just to drive. The rain droplets were pounding her window. Her windshield wipers were furiously cleansing it off. She looked ahead of her. There was someone walking on the sidewalk. They were in a black shirt, and their hair was ferociously puffy. The started waving her down. She pulled over and rolled down the window. It was Spinner.
"Hey, can I grab a ride with you" He said as he stuck his hands in his pocket. "My car broke down while I was on my way to work" He pointed off in the distance.
She didn't really want to give him a ride. He was Spinner. Rude, Perverted, Charming, funny Spinner. Oh well. Might as well she thought.
"Yeah sure, get in"
She watched him walk around the car. It was monstrous outside. It was now down pouring. She felt sorry that his car broke down.
Spinner opened up the door and sat down. Quinn shifted her car to park.
She looked over at him. "Put your seat belt on"
"Alright, alright. I am riding in a Mercedes. This is awesome"
Quinn shifted and started towards The Dot. Every time something bad happens, Spinner always shows up. Great, she thought.
Spinner didn't say anything for five minutes. He was just looking around, checking her car out. "My boss is going to kill me"
"You know what, that's good" She smiled at him. He looked really cute. His dirty blonde hair was out of control. And his goofy smile. You have a boyfriend remember? And he has a girlfriend…
"I can't believe you have a Mercedes, that's awesome!"
"Thanks. My dad gave it to me for my 16th birthday. Craig said the same thing when I first, um…yeah…" A picture of Craig sitting down at a hospital chair next to bed came into her mind. That's where she was going to go! The hospital. I am a genius she thought.
A cocky smile appeared on Spinner's face. "You and Craig eh? Are you like a couple?"
Quinn thought about the previous night. How beautiful everything was. The fight, the kissing, the sex. Everything. She pretty much figured they were couple. She loved him and he loved her. At least she thought…
Quinn turned the corner. "Yeah, I guess we are" She quickly changed the subject. "How are things with Paige?"
"Um. Not so good. I mean, she's going through a lot right now…"
"Oh. Yeah. I understand"
"So, have you talked to Craig lately? I haven't talked to him in a couple of days"
"Yeah. Just this morning actually. Angie, well, she's in the hospital"
"Oh man. Is she okay?"
"I'm not all that sure…"
Change the subject.
Quinn kept driving. She could see The Dot in the distance.
"You know, this was really great of you. Thanks"
"Eh. No problem I guess…"
She pulled over to the sidewalk so he could get out.
"Seriously, thanks"
She started messing with him "Seriously, no problem"
"Dude, I can't open your door"
"Spinner, come on…"
A serious expression came across his face. "No, really, I can't open your door"
He's probably messing with me, she thought. Fine I'll just get out of the car and be his little chauffer…
"Okay then. I'll get out, and I'll open the door for you"
"Gee, thanks"
She muttered a swear word under her breath, opened her door and braved the forcing rain.
She started pulling on the handle. It didn't work at all.
She knocked on the window and starting shouting to him
"Here. You open and I'll pull"
"Okay"
Spinner started opening as she started pulling. Before she knew it, she was lying on the ground and the door was wide open.
The ground was wet and the water was sinking through her pajama pants and a little bit on her shirt. She was wondering how the weather could have turned this bad in 6 hour time period.
Spinner was standing over her. "Here let me help you" he said as he offered her his hand.
She gratefully accepted and he pulled her up.
She brushed herself off. "Thanks, Spin"…she smiled. "Mr. Mason"
He playfully pushed her. "Oh thanks…"
I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm flirting. And I'm flirting with Spinner. Craig is 100 times cuter than Spinner, not to mention nice, why am I doing this? So many thoughts were running through her head
"Here, you have something on your back" he said.
"What?"
"Let me get it okay?"
"Fine"
She thought that he was going to go behind her and brush her off but he didn't. Instead he hugged her. It wasn't a friendly hug. It was a "I want you so badly it's hurting me" hug.
She was surprised. I mean, she had her first boyfriend in 9th grade. She wasn't used to guys admitting their love for her.
He started whispering in her ear. "If Craig, you know, ever treats you badly, call me. Or if you ever just want to hang out…"
"Um…" Spinner was asking her to cheat on Craig. She couldn't do that. Craig and she had something special. Spinner was barely a friend, and here he was. She didn't want to tell him off, but she didn't want to give him the wrong idea.
He went on and let her go. "Look, I have to get to work. Thanks for the ride"
Her clothes were totally soaked. He felt nice up against her. He was really muscular and had strong arms. That was something that Craig wasn't. "Yeah, no problem"
She went inside her car and started it up. She started driving towards the hospital closest to Craig's house. Surprisingly, it was the one that her mother worked at. She pulled into the parking lot and ran towards the entrance way. The hospital was pretty big. It was painted tan on the outside. There were tons of shrubbery, and trees outside. They tried to make it seem friendly, but in her opinion, no hospital was friendly.
She went in. There were about 5 people reading magazines, or just dozing off. She looked around and thought Craig would be in here, since this was the emergency room area. She seen the receptionist desk area and walked towards that.
She went up to the receptionist. "May I please know what room Angela Jeremiah is in?"
The receptionist was quite pudgy. Her red curly hair was tied back in a tight bun. She wore a maroon sweater over her scrubs and had an expression on her face that looked like she would rather be anywhere but that office chair.
She had a nasal sounding voice. "Who are you?"
Brother's girlfriend? No, that won't do. Babysitter? Nope… Cousin! Yes, that's great…It'll do.
"Cousin"
"Wait…." The lady said. Her name tag read 'Margaret' "Aren't you Dr. Meredith's daughter?"
"No. My mom died when I was six" This lady looked stupid enough to believe such a lie.
'Margaret' eyed her suspiciously. "Alright. Jeremiah let me see…"
She looked down the list. "Jeremiah, room 612"
"Thanks"
"Yeah, yeah"
Quinn knew her way around the hospital. She spent many days and nights here when she was a kid. When they were building her house, her parents often worked triple shifts into the Midnight hour, not hiring a babysitter. She knew all of the doctors, nurses, janitors and anesthesiologists. She was surprised that they had gotten new receptionists. Especially ones that weren't very good with people.
Quinn made her way down the hall and found room '612'. She peeked through the slit of the door and could see Joey. She figured that Craig was on the other side of the room. The rooms were painted a light shade of blue and had dark navy carpet. Quinn found the colors boring, not comforting.
She slowly opened the door. Joey looked her way.
She went in and slowly closed the door. Angie had a room all to herself. There was a border of teddy bears and toy chests on the walls. She was in the Pediatric emergency unit.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?"
I forgot. Shoot, he doesn't know me.
"I'm Quinn, Craig's um, girlfriend, it's nice to finally meet you. Seeing how you're his dad and all"
Joey had a tight maroon shirt on and plain pair of jeans. He looked like hadn't got any sleep in the past month. She looked around for Craig, he wasn't there.
He was whispering. "It's nice to finally, um meet you" He sort of stared at her, like she was an alien
She couldn't blame him for giving her a weird look. She was still in her pajamas and a pair of flip flops. Not to mention, she was totally soaked.
He went on. "I don't know where Craig is. He was here a couple of minutes ago…"
Quinn took a look at Angie. She looked to be sleeping. She wanted to help, but she didn't want her mother to see her also…
"Mr. Jeremiah, I have to go. I hope Angie gets better"
"Thanks…"
Joey went back to sitting in his chair, staring at Angie hopefully.
Quinn opened up the door and took off. She was sorry that she didn't stay longer, but she just wanted to see Craig, she was worried about him. She made her way through the hallways. There were tons of doctors and nurses running around the hallways. She tried not to get in the way. She turned the corner towards the reception desk.
She looked towards the entrance way. There was her mother, heading into work.
She didn't know what to do. She went to the sitting area and put a magazine up to her face, praying her mother didn't look her way.
She quickly walked towards the chair farthest from where her mother was standing. She picked out an issue of "People" and put it up towards her face as fast as she could.
Her mother was talking to the receptionist. Quinn peeked down from the magazine and could see that 'Margaret' was pointing towards her.
Oh great, I'm busted once again. This is just grand she thought to herself.
Her mother was in her blue scrubs. She was late, of course.
"Quinn, honey…"
She took the magazine and set it down. "Yes, mother?"
"We're going to talk, after I get home from work…"
"What if I'm not there mom, what if, if…"
"We need to talk…"
"What if I want to go and live with dad?"
Quinn surprised herself. She didn't want to go and live with her father, but if it had meant getting away from all of this madness at home, she was all for it. All though, she had forgotten about Craig momentarily
"Your father? You can't live with him…"
Her mother and she were getting into a fight in the waiting room of a hospital. She wanted to leave, and wondered if her mother was stalking her. Although, she did work here
"Quinn, your father is emotionally stable to handle a child right now…"
"Mom, I'm almost 18…"
"You're acting like you're twelve"
"Mom, just let me go"
"Quinn, listen to me…"
She stood up. She was at least a good 5 inches taller than her mother. Her mom was a tiny woman, but was very blunt and outspoken.
"Mom, I'm not going to listen to you. You weren't there for me and you never will be. I hate you. I truly hate you…"
That wasn't true. She loved her mom, but she was shouting with her in a hospital. She wasn't going to run away. Not this time.
"Quinn, dear, I have to get to work…"
"Work, that's all you ever do"
"Bye Quinn"
Her mom walked off into one of the many hallways in the hospital. If she wasn't at a bar, she was at work.
Quinn thought about going up to the receptionist and giving her a piece of her mind, but decided not to. She walked out of the hospital. The rain had stopped pouring and it was now light drizzle. The parking lot was full of puddles. Her feet were filthy. She couldn't believe that she was wearing flip flops. She finally arrived at her car, hopping over the puddles and seen someone sitting in there.
She walked around her car and peered in the window. It was Craig. He got out.
"Quinn, I am so sorry…"
"Craig, you don't have to be…"
"No I do, I do. First Angie, your mom…"
"Craig…"
"What…"
She looked up at him and caressed his face. It felt scratchy, and smooth.
"You do stupid things when you're in love…"
As the rain started getting heavier, Craig brought Quinn closer to him, and they kissed a long passionate kiss. Everything felt so right when she was with him. Everything was perfect in the world for just that moment. Not remembering what she had just done with Spinner, hours earlier, she continued to kiss Craig, without a care in the world…