Denial

Chapter Fifteen: Much Needed Talk

Quincy

I was laying on the floor next to the couch when the door to the apartment opened and I heard Kevin's voice and a girl's laughter. That probably meant he brought his girlfriend home. Just what I wanted tonight: company.

Slowly, I sat up just in time to see Kevin notice me down here. He looked at me, puzzled. "You alright there, man?" he asked.

"Perfect," I answered, getting to my feet. I couldn't see his girlfriend around. Maybe I just imagined hearing her come in too? "I'm just single again. Nothing new."

"Sorry to hear that," the girlfriend said, coming out of the bathroom. So that's where she went, probably checking her hair or makeup or something. "But I'm sure you'll be better off without her in the long run."

I gave her a small smile. "It was probably because I went after a straight boy, so really, I'm the one to blame."

She looked taken aback, but quickly recovered. "Well hopefully the next guy that comes around will be the right one for you."

"Thanks. I'm Quincy, by the way. Are you the new girlfriend I've heard about?"

She laughed. "Yeah, nothing too bad, I hope." She stuck out her hand. "Annabel. It's nice to meet you."

I shook her hand, laughing a little bit. "I swear, Kevin can't say anything mean about anyone if he tried, unless they really deserved it."

Kevin shook his head with a scoff. "I could."

"Sure," I agreed, just to get him to drop it. We all knew that was a lie. "I'm going to be in my room attempting to get some homework done. Don't worry about getting loud - I'll be wearing my headphones."

I ignored the look Kevin was giving me as I retreated into my room to sulk. I knew I wasn't going to be doing homework, just because I wouldn't be able to concentrate on it. I also knew that he probably wouldn't do anything that I would need to block out, mostly because I was still here, even if I wasn't listening, but also because Kevin was a good kid who took new relationships slow, unlike me, apparently. But either way, I didn't want to limit them in case they wanted to. If they were happy together, then good for them. Apparently everyone deserves happy relationships except for me, and I wasn't one to put others down just because I was wallowing in self-pity.

I wasn't sure how long I was just laying on my floor with sad break up songs playing in my ears when the door opened. Sitting up, I pulled on the wire, sending my headphones down into my lap, while leaning over to my shitty laptop to press pause.

"Door," Kevin said simply.

"Yeah. You just walked through mine without knocking," I snapped back automatically. I hated when people don't knock.

He rolled his eyes. "I tried. You weren't answering me. But Reed's here, looking for you. Should I tell him to go away?"

My heart practically stopped. He was here? Why was he here? Hopefully not expecting me to just bend over for him again, 'cause I was not about to let that happen again.

"Nah, I got it," I said, getting to my feet and following Kevin to the front of the apartment, not exactly sure what to expect from Reed. During those thirty seconds, a bunch of things were going through my mind, trying to figure out why he would be here right now.

What I found was Reed nervously standing just inside the room. He kept looking around and eyeing Annabel, although I wasn't able to read his expression.

"Hi, Quincy," he said once his eyes landed on mine.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "What do you want from me this late, Reed?" I wasn't even sure what time it was, but I did know it's been dark for quite a few hours now.