Jovie & Bash

Four || Ambivalence

|CHAPTER FOUR|

Quinn Alberstein was the kind of girl that really liked being a teenager. She liked crushes, and friends she thought would last forever, makeup, shopping with her parent’s cash, experimenting, and above all: gossip—but not the kind of gossip that lands you the title Queen Bee. She just liked to talk.

Through this, she gained the knowledge about nearly everyone important and unimportant in both school and town. But, she wasn’t the type to spread rumors. She knew there were very few people she could trust to share all of these things with, and I happened to be one of them.

I was the perfect person for a chatty girl to spill the secrets of a hundred teenagers to.

Why?

I simply didn’t care.

I’d zone out, forget, lose complete interest.

I didn’t care if Walt Hamilton was in the closet, or whether or not Rumor Jackson gained a few pounds. I was the perfect place to take rumors to die. I was perfect because I was too busy trying to cover up my own personal life to care about anyone else.

Being friends with Quinn became increasingly difficult as we aged. She had to know everything about me. She was one of those people. I didn’t like those people, but I put up with her because she’d been in my life for such a long time that I couldn’t just tell her goodbye and never see her again.

 We’d been best friends since we were babies. She had an idea of how I operated—but that didn’t mean she didn’t slip what she considered “unimportant” information about me to her other friends, because she did from time to time.

Information we found important about ourselves differed entirely.

For example, if I told her about my friendship with Bash, she would immediately jump to the conclusion that we were trying to “get it on”. Next thing I’d know, Zoey and Noel would be asking questions about a boyfriend I didn’t even have. I couldn't have that getting around. I couldn’t lie. But, even if I told the truth, nobody would believe me.

Hiding my personal life was tough job in high school. Having a friend like Quinn made it a little harder. She was insanely intuitive.

“Something’s different.”

I glanced over at the lawn chair beside me. Quinn was relaxed across it, legs up, sunglasses down. She had a magazine in her lap and lipgloss in the cup holder. We were on her front lawn in bikini tops and shorts, letting the sun tan our skin. Just a couple houses down the chickens were squawking. You could hear the faint hum of the Pea Shucker’s voice as he sang show tunes.  

I pushed my sunglasses up into my hair and closed a newly recommended book from Bash on my finger to hold my page. I’d seen him once since our phone call. Then, I had to make plans with Quinn, as promised.

She reached over and wrapped a finger around a lock of my short dark hair, pursing her lips.

“I think the sun’s lightening your hair.”

I couldn’t see that being possible. Since our waterpark escapades, I spent most of my time inside reading. We’d only been outside for an hour and a half.

“Right,” I said, letting the tone of my voice reflect my disbelief.

“Really,” she assured me with a half grin and pulled her hand back into her lap. “So...” She snapped her magazine shut and sat up. “Where have you been going—because it hasn’t been to the waterpark with me and the girls.”

I flipped my sunglasses back down to mask an eye roll. I didn’t understand why my business was so important. Lifting the book, I pointed to the cover.