Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

I left my grandmother’s house feeling worse than I had last night. I went back to the packhouse only to grab something from my room before heading straight to Quinn’s. I was pretty sure she would be out of practice by now, and I was hoping to spend as much of the day with her as possible. I knew I should be looking for answers, but everything I did find between yesterday when I left her and now was making me feel sick. I just needed to be around her for a while and forget about it all. Her smile was the exact medicine I needed, and I knew how I would make it happen today.

Quinn was putting her bike away when I reached her driveway. My mouth went dry as I got a remarkable view of her a*s in those spandex shorts she wore. When she turned around, she smiled brightly at me, and I pushed the hormone-fueled thoughts away.

“You came over early,” she said.

“Yea,” I smiled. “Did you ride your bike to practice?” I came to a stop in front of her, standing closer than I usually would. Just as I thought, pink crept over her cheeks.

“My parents were at work, so I didn’t have a choice,” she replied.

“A workout before and after a workout,” I commented. “Impressive.”

“Not really,” she said, looking away.

“How did you sleep last night?” I asked more gently. She turned her green eyes back on me; they looked so much clearer today.

“Good,” she said. “It’s a relief to have Saph back, too. How about I change, then we can do whatever?”

“Sure,” I told her. “I’ll wait in the back.”

She turned and grabbed a bag from the ground, and rushed inside her house. I took my time, walking around the back. I sat on the porch steps and just listened to the early morning sounds in the air. Quinn was only gone a few minutes before I heard the back door slide open.

“Better,” she said. I stood quickly and turned to look at her. I had to stop myself because she was wearing less than earlier.

“If you don’t k**s her soon and make it known she’s ours, I will,” Eros g*****d. Her cotton shorts were no longer than the spandex ones she had just changed out of, and the tank top that hung loosely on her short torso dipped so low that her cleavage was begging to come out.

“Come here,” I said, trying to keep myself under control. I grabbed her arm and dragged her across the yard over to her trampoline.

“What are we doing?” she asked.

I grabbed her by the waist and lifted her, so she was sitting on the edge. This brought her closer to eye level and stopped me from having to look down at her. It didn’t stop me from noticing how delectable she looked, but I could focus on her face easier this way. “I brought you something,” I told her.

“You brought me something?” she repeated in surprise.

I nodded as I reached into the back pocket of my cargo shorts. I pulled out a small, well-loved paperback book and handed it to her. She grabbed it, giving me a wide-eyed expression. “What is this?” she asked.

“This is one of my favorite books. I thought you might like to read it,” I told her, smiling triumphantly. Her face lit up with excitement.

“You brought this for me to read?” she asked again. I nodded, and the largest smile broke out over her face. “Thank you!” she exclaimed. “Oh my Goddess, this is amazing! No one ever brought me their favorite book to read before!”

I laughed at her excitement. “Take as long as you want with it. I hope you like it,” I said.

“Can I read it now?” she said as she flipped the book over and started scanning the back.

“On one condition,” I told her.

“What?” she asked, looking back up.

“You give me a hug,” I answered.

It was like she didn’t have to think about it. She launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around my neck. I caught her and held her tightly as she fell from the trampoline’s edge. She laughed, thanking me again. I savored the happy moment, memorizing how perfect it felt to hold her like this. When she pulled away, I set her gently on her feet.

“Do you want to sit out here and read it?” I asked her.

“Sure,” she said. “But wait, that is rude. You won’t have anything to do.”

“I brought a back up just in case,” I said, pulling another book from my other pocket.

“You really want to sit around and read?” she asked incredulously.

“Why not?” I smiled at her. “You enjoy it; I enjoy it. We can enjoy it together.” I kicked off my shoes, then grabbed the book from her hand and threw them both onto the trampoline. I picked her up again, setting her on the cushioned edge. She kicked sandals off and crawled backward. I followed her.

She sat cross-legged in the middle of the black, springy surface. I reclined next to her while she immediately became engrossed in her book. I watched her for a minute, the calm expression on her face as she concentrated on the story. I wanted her closer like yesterday.

I reached up and grabbed her arm, surprising her. She fell to me, landing half on top of me. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Lay back with me,” I said, giving her puppy-dog eyes. “It’ll be more comfortable.”

“Okay,” she said, the pink flush coming back to her face. She adjusted herself so she was lying right next to me, and I felt content.

QUINN

Michael and I laid together reading in the backyard for hours. I thought he might have fallen asleep at one point, but when I got the courage to peek at him, he returned my look with a smile. When it was lunchtime, I went inside and made some salads. We ate outside; then, I tried to go back to reading, but questions were starting to pop up in my brain.

“So,” I said, breaking our companionable silence. “We have band tomorrow.”

He shrugged. “I guess we do.”

“We will both be there,” I prodded.

“Probably.”

“And we know each other,” I continued. He laid his book down and turned on his side. I mirrored him.

“That is how being friends works,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

“Right, friends,” I said, looking down. Part of me wanted him to want to be more than friends. Sure he teased me about stuff all the time, but that didn’t mean he liked me. Plus, he was older than me.

He let out a heavy sigh, and I looked up at him. “My mom is linking me to come home,” he said. “I had a lot of fun, though.”

“Me too,” I said with a small smile.

“I’ll call you later,” he said, getting up. He lingered for a moment like he wanted to say something else but then started to move off the trampoline. He grabbed his shoes then waved as he jogged out to the street. I frowned, now a little worried about tomorrow. We had become close in this little vacuum with no one around. Now, things were going to change.

–

I nervously squeezed the padding along the front of my neck strap as I looked around the hall. Band practices were held in a large auditorium-like building with a small field outback. I sucked on my dry reed, hoping to see him coming through the door any minute.

Audrey came over, holding her saxophone in her hand. “Have you met our section leader yet?” she asked. Audrey was another freshman like me. She was extraordinarily tall with limp, shoulder-length blonde hair and a nose her face never grew into.

“Uh, no. Who is it?” I asked her. We weren’t particularly close, but I knew her well enough.

“Stuart,” she said. She pointed down the room from where we stood. My stomach dropped. He was in cross country with me. More precisely, he was captain of the boy’s team and the coach’s favorite. We’d only been practicing for three days, and I already dreaded being around him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whispered.

“He seems nice enough,” she commented. I just stared with dread at Stuart talking to two other girls; one clung to his arm while the other was holding music and pointing to it.

“He isn’t. He is a hardass and doesn’t care about anyone but himself,” I told her. My eyes went back to the doors behind us, still looking for Michael to show up. Meeting new people made me nervous to begin with, and having Stuart as my section leader didn’t make it easier. I knew he wasn’t in my section, but just knowing one upperclassman made this whole thing feel less daunting.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Audrey asked.

“Sort of,” I said. “Just someone I met a couple of weeks ago. I found out he’s in band, too. Surprised not to see him yet, is all.” I looked at the clock above the door when we heard a whistle ring out.

“Line up with your sections! Section leaders, find your freshman!” a round, tan man called out as he exited the office at the back of the hall.

Audrey and I filed out from the auditorium seats with the rest of those mingling in them and headed down toward the floor. Stuart stood to one side but back further in the group, so we went there. Two others were standing next to him with tenor saxophones, the girl he had been speaking to before and a guy.

“You’re f*****g kidding me?” he questioned as I approached. “You are not in my section.”

“Not by choice,” I told him, narrowing my eyes.

“You shouldn’t talk back, freshman,” the girl said. I rolled my eyes and turned to her. She wasn’t anything special to look at, and she might be pretty if she wasn’t scowling.

“It’s fine,” Stuart said before I could rebut her. “I’ll just make her push.”

I turned back to him. “Push?” I said.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Push-ups, laps, you know, punishment for when you inevitably f**k up,” he explained.

“Great,” I thought. “I get your tyrannical reign both here and at practice.”

“He is just trying to cement his position as leader,” Sapphire observed. “He isn’t special.”

“I don’t want problems,” I told her. “I just want to get through high school.”

“Names?” Stuart said, looking between Audrey and me.

“Quinn,” I answered first.

“Audrey,” she answered.

“I’m Stuart, senior and section leader. This is Sandra, junior, and Mitch, sophomore. We line up in chair order. Audrey, you’re four, and blue hair you’re five,” Stuart went on.

“Wait, how do you know who’s the better player?” I asked.

“You’re uncoordinated and not going to last long here,” he said. “I’ve seen you at practice. The first day you barely moved, and you weren’t much better yesterday or this morning.”

I gritted my teeth. “I’m plenty coordinated, and I am the better player. Since you missed the memo, this is the first time she has picked that thing up,” I pointed at Audrey. “She plays bass clarinet, not sax. Obviously, that’s not a marched instrument, so she got stuck here. Good luck; she doesn’t even have the correct reed on.” I turned on my heel and strutted to my position at the end of the line. I faced forward, waiting for the director to begin practice.

I just picked a fight five minutes into day one despite my better judgment. It probably wasn’t nice to call Audrey out like that, but I didn’t appreciate being judged because of my size. I wasn’t going to pretend to be happy about enduring Stuart’s torment both here and during cross country.

–

The band director warmed us up then sent us outside. Mitch came to walk next to me as I scanned the group for Michael. “Pretty bold,” he said.

I shrugged. “He doesn’t have to like me, but he should know what is going on,” I said.

“He is a pretentious douche,” Mitch laughed. “Just don’t get too mouthy with him or Sandra, and you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks?” I answered. I could only guess that this was his attempt at being nice.

We headed out to the field behind the building. Our sections leaders got busy lining us for fundamental practice because all the new members needed to learn the mechanics of marching. Stuart did not look happy when the band director came to our line and changed our order placing me between him and Mitch with Audrey between Mitch and Sandra.

After two hours of learning to step correctly, hold spacing, and properly carry our bodies and instruments, we were given a recess for food and drink. We all retreated into the building to escape the blistering sun of the early afternoon.

I sat down in a chair at the top of the room, my sax resting on top of its case. I chewed on some peanut butter crackers as I opened my phone. No messages or calls were missed during practice. I frowned, worry starting to creep in.

Before I could dial his number, someone plopped down in the seat next to me. I turned my head, looking at the girl with a concerned expression. “Hi?” I said warily.

“You’re pretty,” she observed with a smile.

“Thanks?” I replied. This interaction was already too confusing.

“You’re one of the new freshmen with the tenor saxes, right?” she said. I recognized her now; she was the one hanging on Stuart’s arm before practice began. I nodded my head slowly. “I’m Christy.”

“I’m Quinn,” I told her.

“I think we are going to be great friends,” she smiled. She had a very infectuous smile. “Is you’re hair really that color?”

“She doesn’t have a lot of boundaries,” Sapphire commented.

“Or her wolf can’t shut her up,” I reasoned.

“Uh, yea, it is,” I said. She squealed in response, and I jumped in surprise.

“That is so cool! Oh, my Goddess, it’s so pretty. I would die for that. Don’t worry about Stu; I’ll tell him to be nice to you. He’s a hardass on the outside but a cuddle-wolf underneath, promise,” she rambled.

“Okay,” I said, not believing her.

“I’m so glad Alpha boy isn’t here today,” she continued. “You are exactly the kind of girl he would just chew up and spit out. Whenever he does deign to show up, you should stay far away.”

“You mean the Alpha’s son? He is in band with us?” I asked her.

She nodded. “A bunch of people are missing today but mostly upperclassmen. A lot of them don’t come for fundamentals. You stick with me, though, and we’ll have a fantastic year!”

“Um, sure,” I agreed. I figured she would find me less interesting soon, but it couldn’t hurt to make nice with someone who could distract Stuart. “So, are you and Stuart….”

“Not mates, but he turns 17 soon. I know we will be,” she said, a dreamy admiration in her tone.

“Oh, cool,” I said.

“Come on,” she said, standing up and grabbing my hand. “I want to introduce you to the other flag girls!” She yanked me up with her and started pulling me with her.

–

A few hours later, I collapsed in my bed, finally home. I didn’t realize just how physically demanding that would be. After a two-hour cross country practice and four-hour band practice, I was wrecked.

I replied to several messages from my friends, declining their invitations to hang out. I was way too tired, and my feet felt like they would fall off if I took another step. Then I pulled up Michael’s number. I was a little angry with him. He didn’t show up to practice, which was disrespectful, but he also never tried to call or text me.

I hit the call button and brought the phone to my ear. It only rang once before he picked up. “Hey,” he said happily.

“Where were you?” I asked without preamble.

“So you noticed?” he replied. “Sorry, I got busy.”

“Busy? You do know attendance is part of your grade even for summer practice,” I told him.

“Quinn, chill,” he barked. Did he sound annoyed? “I know how grades work. I had some family stuff going on. It’s complicated.”

“Okay,” I said, my anger faltering. I didn’t want to yell at him; I was just irritated.

I heard him let out a breath. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to disappoint you.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “Just would have been nice with a friendly face. My section is kind of….” I trailed off. Mitch didn’t seem bad, and Audrey wasn’t my friend but not the worst either.

“Who is your section leader?” he asked.

“Stuart…” I sighed.

“That cunt? That sucks,” he said.

“Yea, he’s on the team with me too. He doesn’t like me much,” I said. “Although, I think his girlfriend took an interest in me today. She came over and decided we were friends.”

Michael laughed in the cute, not-forced way that he does when he finds something actually funny. “Christy is pretty good at making friends,” he chuckled. “She’s harmless, though.”

“Are you going to be there tomorrow? We only have a week until the parade,” I pointed out.

“I guess we’ll see,” he said.