“I do tell you everything. What the heck?”
“Oh, so you gave yourself that bite on your boob?” she questioned.
Well, shit.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Who did it, Quill? I thought we talked about this and after the Patch guy, you weren’t just going to jump into bed with just anyone anymore.”
“I didn’t just jump into bed with just anyone, just one someone.”
“Are you seeing this someone?”
“Sort of, I guess.”
“Is it someone at school?”
“Kind of.” Well, it kind of was. He did pick her up after school every day, just not at the school.
“Is it Blain?”
“Yuck, no way, I don’t see what everyone sees in him, besides; Reese thinks she is in love with him. I would never do that to her.”
“Then tell me who it is, damnit.”
“Nope,” Quill smirked.
Seri shot up and tossed her to the bed. Quill laughed, permitting her to tie her in a knot, letting her think she had the upper hand. She wasn’t sure yet whether she did or not. She would soon find out.
“Tell me,” Seri demanded, holding her head to the mattress.
Quill managed to get her leg up enough to sling her to her side, allowing her to take the lead. Seri got it right back.
“You too are like a couple teenage boys, scrapping in the back yard,” Manny accused, pulling Seri from Quill as they both laughed.
“You hold her, Dad,” Quill tormented.
“You’re telling me before you leave tomorrow,” Seri demanded with a squinted glare.
“I’d like to see you make me,” Quill countered.
“Get out of here before someone gets hurt,” Manny demanded, shoving Seri to the door.
Reese laughed when she came in, seeing the same ridiculous pajamas on Quill as her own. She, of course, had to have a picture for her Facebook page.
Quill rolled her eyes, but let her take the picture, appeasing her little sister.
Quill wanted to leave first thing Sunday morning. She wanted to see Julius. She needed to see Julius, and the constant text messages just weren’t doing the trick. She didn’t want to meet Monica and her new man for breakfast. She didn’t care about her boyfriend. She wanted to see her own boyfriend, and knew she was going to have a hard enough time convincing her mother of letting her leave for a while the way it was.
“What is your problem?” Seri asked, tired of hearing her complain about going home. It wasn’t even quite a two hour drive.
“I have homework,” Quill lied. She didn’t have homework, Reese and her had done it Friday night when they went to bed.
“Yeah, at the junkyard,” Reese offered.
“You can’t do that,” Quill warned. “We’re sisters, blood sisters with the same mom and dad. You’re breaking the code of sisterhood. You have to take my side, and you’re not allowed to throw me under the bus,” Quill warned light heartedly.
“Sorry. Quill has lots of homework,” Reese assured Seri with a tilted head.
It was almost eleven by the time they finally got on the road. Quill wanted to grow wings and fly. Her mother was never going to let her out. She would have lunch ready by two, and expect her to stay home with her. Quill knew it was going to be a fight.
“What did you think of Stanley, Quill?” Seri asked, turning in the passenger seat to look at her.
“Who the hell’s Stanley?”
Seri gave her a frown. “Monica’s boyfriend…..”
“Oh, I didn’t like him.”
Seri laughed.
“What? You asked my opinion, I gave it to you.”
“Why didn’t you like him? I like him.”
“Good for you. He called me the kidnapped girl.”
“Well, you are the kidnapped girl,” Seri reminded her.
“Fuck, you, Seri,” Quill mouthed with no words. She didn’t need words. Seri heard her loud and clear.
“You know you’re the apple of my eye, don’t you?” Seri asked.
“Yeah, and you’re the thorn in my ass.”
Quill was right. She could smell something cooking as soon as they entered the house. Shit. She wanted out of there. Just an hour, that’s all she needed, one hour with him.
“You guys are staying for lunch,” Liz point blankly told Seri and Manny.
Are you serious? Quill was never going to get out of there. Manny sat on the sofa with Connor, turning his attention to the football game. Quill moaned and walked upstairs with her bag. She needed to smoke a little. Her family was stressing her out. Her mom and boyfriend weren’t supposed to get along with her dad and his fiancé. It wasn’t normal. Was it?
Quill locked her door, raised the window and chilled the instant the cool air poured through the screen. She hated winter, and it wasn’t even winter yet. She lit the joint and dialed Julius, alias JC on her phone.
“I didn’t think you were ever going to call. You home?” he asked.
“Yes, but my stupid family is having some sort of reunion. I can’t leave.”
“How long is this reunion going to last? I miss you. I haven’t kissed your lips in two days. I can’t smell you anymore.”
Quill laughed, holding smoke into her lungs. “What do I smell like?”
“You smell like Doritos. What are you doing?” Julius asked, catching the sound of her holding the smoke in her lungs as she talked.
She quickly blew it out the window. “Doritos? What the fuck?”
“I was kidding, but I wasn’t kidding about the last part. You’re smoking, aren’t you?”
“A little, why do I smell like Doritos?”
“You don’t smell like Doritos. You smell like Quill, bold, daring, audacious, cheeky, and sexy as hell, and I need to smell you.”
“I’m trying to get away. Why don’t you just meet me up the dirt road by the track after lunch? I will say I am going for a walk.”
“I don’t care where I meet you. I need to see you.”
“Okay, I have to go. My mom has lunch ready. I’ll text you.”
“Hurry up. I love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll see you in little while.”
Quill didn’t care about her mother’s famous vegetable lasagna. She wanted Seri and her dad to leave. She didn’t care about Connor. He could stay. He was a good decoy, a settling distraction.
“Why are you so antsy?” Seri asked Quill, who was fidgeting in her chair and fumbling with her cellphone.
“I’m not. I just have too much energy. I think I’ll go for a walk.”
Seri, suspiciously studied her. “You whined all day yesterday because you were cold, and you want to go for a walk?”
Quill gave her a dirty look, telling her to shut up. Seri let it go, for now. She’d find out what she was up to, which was something. “Let’s help your mom clean up,” Seri requested.
“It’s Reese’s turn.”
“No, I’ve got it. You guys can get on the road,” Liz insisted.
Quill waited for Seri and her dad to leave before venturing to meet Julius. She knew Seri. Seri would follow her. It’s a good thing she lived almost two hours away. She would have blown her cover in no time.
Julius was already there, patiently waiting. He stepped out of his car and was leaning against the guardrail, watching her come to him. He smiled when she picked up her stride, seeing him sitting there with his arms and ankles crossed, looking way too fine.
She fell right into his arms and he wrapped her shivering body in his. “It’s about time. You can’t stay away from me for two days again. I miss you too much.”
“I didn’t want to stay away that long, but it’s going to happen again.”
“What do you mean?”