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I breathed heavily, looking at my apartment?s front door. This wasn?t going to be fun. Steeling myself, I walked in, seeing Kevin cleaning the countertops. When he saw me, he broke into a small smile.?Hey Quinn!? he declared in an overly loud voice. ?Welcome back!?I stared daggers at him as Mother came into the kitchen from the other room. She walked right in front of me and folded her arms.?You can leave, Kevin.?Mandarin. Awesome. This was going to be great. Kevin really liked to play both sides of the whole ?good guy that just wants to help his brother? shtick, especially since he was clearly disappointed when he walked away ? no doubt wanting to see whatever showdown would occur.Well, I wouldn?t let that happen without as much damage control as possible. I cleared my throat. ?I didn?t know that Morgan would want to see me as long as she did, and by the time I realized what was going on, both she and Taylor had drank enough that they shouldn?t have driven.? It was at that moment that I realized I totally could have asked Doug, but like hell was I going to point that out now. ?That doesn?t excuse my lack of preparation, and for that, I?m sorry.? I lowered my head, understanding the disrespect I?d shown her.*After she didn?t say anything for a while, I slowly raised my head. Mother had the same unchanging expression on my face. Upset, but? it was hard to tell if she was angry, sad, or both. ?Quinn,? she said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. ?You keep telling me that you are going to do one thing, then I keep finding out later on that you do another. Do you not trust me??I sighed. ?Mother, sometimes these things surprise me as much as they surprise you. I keep finding myself doing new and weird things.??Staying out and sleeping over at someone?s house is something you?ve never done before,? she observed.?That?s what I mean,? I replied, doing my best to sound like I was agreeing with her, not arguing. ?I never did it before, and I never had any intention to do it, but by the time I had realized what was happening, it was too late.??Let me guess, your girlfriend has already invited you to do something else.? Mother?s gaze was intently on mine.Cards on the table. ?Yes,? I admitted.?A party or something??She was perceptive. ?Yes, that?s correct.?She sighed a long sigh. ?You will go,? she simply said.?Excuse me?? I couldn?t believe it. Mother?s personality practically revolved around her saying the opposite of that.?Do you think this never happened with Kevin?? Mother asked me. ?I know, because I am your Mother, that telling Kevin ?no? only meant that when he does it he comes up with some excuse, and you would do the same. I know these things, Quinn, I know, sometimes you don?t tell me the truth.? She was smiling, but with a slightly threatening smile. ?Xièti?nxièdì, I had two children so I can see why!??Why??? I had trouble keeping up.?I can see this could be my fault,? Mother admitted. ?I?d rather you and Kevin be honest with me than feel like lying. You two are the only kids I have and I don?t want you and your new girlfriend to suffer because I did love wrong.??Mother, you didn?t do love wro-??Bìzu?! Do not argue with me.? Mother?s tone was firm, yet kind. ?You are eighteen now, Quinn. Your Father and I will talk with you more later, but you will live life by your rules. Just as long as you have rules. We do want you to be happy, Quinn.?I smiled and stepped forward, giving Mother a hug. ?Thank you, I appreciate this,? I told her warmly.*?You will thank me by being honest with me and not lying anymore,? Mother ısparta escort told me, clearly convinced I had lied last night or something. ?And by doing the dishes.?I chuckled. ?Yes, of course.?Satisfied, Mother walked away, going back to her room. Eagerly, I whipped out my phone and texted Morgan, letting her know that I could come to the party (and making no small deal of the fact that I dodged the bullet). This clearly wasn?t me getting off scot-free, but I would gladly take it.***It was a god damn pool party. Morgan was wise to wait for me to agree to go with her hours before dropping that little bomb on me. Even though I was convinced to bring my trunks, I was determined to keep my shirt on the entire time, thank you and goodbye.The sun was blazing and I knew nobody there, but there were a few upsides. Number one, this was the first out-of-school event (or any event, come to think of it) where Morgan and I were operating as a visible couple to our peers, and getting that visibility was kind of exciting. Number two, I definitely didn?t have a friend group present, so I was hanging out with Taylor?s friend group, which meant a lot of eye candy. A bit ago that wouldn?t have mattered to me, but after getting acquainted with Taylor and especially Morgan, I could suddenly see what all the fuss was about.I figured that parties were this event where everyone talked to each other and if someone didn?t know who you were they?d grill you about who you were and why you were there, but to my utter relief, no one outside Taylor?s friend group gave an absolute shit about me. I was happy to just stay by Morgan?s side and make light conversation with her friends and her the whole time.Unfortunately, that plan didn?t last very long. A few minutes into sitting down, Morgan got up and stretched. ?Okay, pool time,? she announced to the group. She took off her sunglasses and looked at me, outstretching a hand. ?Are you sure you don?t want to join me??I blushed. ?I?d rather keep my shirt on, if that?s okay,? I mumbled.?Prude,? Morgan joked. ?I?m sure you look very handsome with your shirt off.?If Taylor were there I?m sure she would have said some snide comment about me with my shirt off, but since Joel was at the party and hanging out with his buddies, Taylor was glued to him like a lovesick little puppy. Every so often, I?d look in their direction, on the other side of the pool, and it was clear it wasn?t an act ? she?d be sitting on his lap, or standing next to him with her arms wrapped around his torso, or just looking longingly into his eyes while he talked with his friends. She was clearly smitten.?Maybe you?ll find out next year,? I joked back. Morgan grinned and stuck her tongue out at me childishly before heading off to the pool area, leaving me with Lexi, Crystal, and Milo.Not that they even noticed me there. ?Okay, Jake,? Crystal declared to Lexi.?Nope, fuck that. He had one chance with me and he fucking blew it.??Eric,? Milo contributed.*?Ew! Green eyes? Next.??Jackson?? Crystal replied, her voice hinting that she was giving up hope.?Okay, you know what?? Lexi replied immediately. ?I will admit, now that he?s come out of his shell, he?s way hotter than I thought he was???Yeah, you called him ?ugly? like last month,? Milo interrupted.?Shut up ? but, he?s still like ?older brother? cute, you know???Ummm?? Crystal surveyed the crowd. ?Quinn. Pick a guy.??Huh?? I snapped to attention.*?Pick a guy for Lexi to say no to,? Milo quipped.?Fuck off,? Lexi replied. ?Quinn hakkari escort doesn?t even know anybody?s name, why are we asking him??Crystal shrugged. ?Maybe that?s, like, even better,? she reasoned. ?No bias. We?ll just ask him to point out the best-looking guy here.?Crystal?s reasoning seemed to work; all three pairs of eyes found their way back to me. ?Um, okay,? I replied, shrugging and chuckling in slight discomfort. I surveyed the crowd and found a tall boy with really emotive eyebrows and figured, girls probably like guys where you can tell what they?re feeling. ?How about him???Um, pick another one, Quinn,? Milo mumbled.?Why? You asked me t-??Because that?s Mitchell.? Milo gestured towards Crystal. ?Remember the nudes thing???Oh. Oh my god, I?m sorry,? I blabbered.?Don?t be,? Crystal waved me off, shooting a look towards Milo. ?I?m not a baby. It was my dumbass mistake.??If your ?dumbass mistake? was trusting a boy, why are we trying to find more if they?re all going to act like that?? I asked.?A-fucking-men,? Lexi agreed.?Yeah, agree with him, you slut. You still wanna get dicked down before the end of the party,? Crystal argued.?I know, it sucks.? Lexi pouted. ?Why can?t women have dicks? That would make everything so much easier.??Some do,? Milo pointed out.?Oh, shut up,? Lexi dismissed Milo.*?Thomas?? Crystal asked.Lexi snorted. ?Fuckin? Thomas? I?d rather fuck Quinn.??You wish,? I mumbled annoyedly.*The gang looked at me, surprised that I of all people came back with that. ?Hey, look at that. Welcome to the group, Quinn,? Crystal replied, slapping me on the leg. Lexi didn?t say anything, but just stared at me, less than amused.*No one said anything for a bit, until Lexi stood up. ?Fuck it. I?m going for a swim. Let?s go, Crystal.? Crystal, all too eager, let Lexi pull her up, and the two were off, clearly leaving their dream of getting Lexi?s booty call behind.?Looks like we?re in the same boat, Quinn,? Milo dryly noted.*I nodded for a bit, before realizing I didn?t get it. ?Wait, how so???We both can?t go swimming without taking our shirts off.?I stared at him. ?Why can?t you???He rolled his eyes and gestured towards his chest. ?Because I still have boobs, genius.??Oh,? I awkwardly replied. ?S-sorry.?Neither of us said anything for a bit. We just took in the sounds of the party with me occasionally waving to Morgan and Milo occasionally taking sips out of his lemonade can. Eventually, he cut the silence. ?Can I make things more tense between us??I looked at him weirdly. ?Oh, please do,? I sarcastically replied.*?Why haven?t you cut Taylor off yet??The question caught me by surprise. I felt like sinking into my chair. ?Is this really the best place to have a conversation like this???Yes,? he flatly said. ?It?s better to have a talk about this in public than in a private place. Less people are listening.?Popular people had the weirdest logic on the planet. Public stuff was more private. Pick your theater seats based on sound. That said, I was willing to play his game. I sighed and let my tongue roll around in my mouth, thinking about my answer.*?It?s complicated,? I began. ?You may have noticed I?m bad at? asserting myself. Even when I want something. Especially when you know as well as I do that Taylor has a habit of not taking no for an answer, and espe ? wait, how much do you know???Everything,? he cooly replied.I stared at him in exasperation for a bit. ?Okay,? I weakly conceded. ?So yeah, especially when she doesn?t take no for an answer, bingöl escort and especially especially when Morgan is completely okay with it.?Milo took another sip of his lemonade and looked me dead in the face. ?And how okay is Joel with it??I frowned and looked away, but kept up my sense of humor. ?Joel is right over there, go ahead and ask him, have a ball.??I see him. Right there, near the barbecue, his girlfriend latching on to him like he supplies her oxygen,? Milo replied.?The same girlfriend that orchestrated this, and lied to me and him about it,? I argued. ?Milo, I?m a third party to this. You know what I think? I think you?re only going after me because you know you can?t do a thing to convince Taylor to change or even make her feel bad about this, so you?re just guilt-tripping me instead. If you know everything, you know how complicated it is, and you know how I didn?t ask for, or cause, any of this.??It doesn?t make your compliance any less bad,? Milo argued back.*?Yeah, well? what can I even do at this point? I?m as bad at changing Taylor?s mind as you are. If she pressures me, and I can?t do anything to stop it???Pressures?? Milo repeated.?Poor choice of words. She isn?t forcing me against my will, but-??Then you have willpower. If you have any say at all, use it. Make it all stop. It?s that easy, Quinn.??It?s not that easy and you know that,? I replied, finding my power voice.It came out a bit louder than I wanted, so to prevent further eyes on us, Milo shrugged and went back to his drink. I followed suit, awkwardly looking at ?that thing over there.?Eventually, he spoke again. ?I?m not getting anywhere by pussyfooting around, so listen good. You put your foot down, or Joel finds out.??And how?s he going to find out???I?ll tell him.? Milo?s tone was even.Adrenaline rushed through me. Fear adrenaline, like he already told him. ?And who will that help???It?s the right thing,? he simply replied.?I don?t think it is,? I said flatly.?I don?t care,? he replied.I sighed. ?How long do I have???Just go and tell hi-??Yeah, Milo, if that?s your plan, you?re not taking into account that I maybe got fucking comfortable talking to people like a month ago. Give me a damn deadline that?s not ten seconds.??Alright, alright, jeez,? he replied. ?Twenty-four hours.??So this is the way it is?? I asked.?It?s the way it has to be,? Milo reasoned.***God answers all prayers, and on this blessed day, he gave unto Lexi some blond boy. I watched the two of them disappear up the stairs and gestured towards her. ?She was looking for some guy to have sex with all night,? I whispered to Morgan.Morgan didn?t bother to whisper back. ?Welcome to Lexi,? she replied, taking a sip from her Palm Bay afterwards. ?If it has to do with sex, she?s interested, either to get some or to hear all about it.?The sun was setting, so those of us who were left moved inside. It wasn?t as crowded as the pool party was, but there were still a good twenty-to-thirty people there, and a few of them had broken off to do stuff in other rooms. Three guesses what.I watched Morgan take another sip. ?I thought you said you didn?t drink that often,? I observed.She donned a completely serious face. ?Is it making you uncomfortable???Oh, no, god no, sorry,? I apologized. ?I was just noticing. If you?re more comfy with it now, go ahead. It doesn?t bother me at all. I?m? yeah. I?m sorry.?Morgan?s serious look melted into a smirk as she watched me turn pink and blabber. ?C?mere,? she purred, bringing me into a kiss that, given we were surrounded by people, lasted way longer than I thought it would.*A lot of the guys in the crowd started whooping and hollering to embarrass us, which caused my eyes to open mid-kiss. I saw Morgan was flipping them off, not missing a beat as she kissed me. As soon as the kiss was over, she diverted her attention to the crowd. ?Jealous?? she taunted.*