Best And Worst of Me - 12. Chapter 12

Quinn didn’t sleep much that night. He would have liked to blame it on some dream, but that wasn’t it. Even though his parent’s room was down the hall, he could hear them yelling and fighting. He couldn’t make out anything they were saying, but he knew what the root of the problem was.

His father probably didn’t like how Quinn had been acting recently. Claire was on his side, trying to defend her son without outing him.

It took a while for the voices to calm down, and then Quinn heard someone leave the room and go downstairs. He assumed that his father had been banished to the couch. The idea of it was almost funny, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was his parent’s.

Quinn found himself counting down until his next appointment with Allen. When Friday morning arrived, that meant only one more day until his visit. He half wanted to talk to Cameron, or even Meghan, about it… but just like he was still earning their trust, they were still earning his. He was still wary of Cameron doing something out of spite, and maybe even Meghan too. They could be his friends at some point, but right now he needed a buffer zone with them.

Before school, Quinn and his sister exchanged a look about the fighting from last night. Their parents acted normal, or at least tried to. Claire left to take Quinn’s sister to school and then work.

Quinn was ready to leave, but his father stopped him.

“Is everything going alright at school?” Roy asked suspiciously. “I haven’t seen Zach around much. And that girl last night…”

“She just came over as a prank, Dad,” Quinn said. It was true after all.

“Do I need to be concerned about who you’re hanging out with? Maybe that’s why you’re having all these… problems.”

So many parts in that sentence made Quinn angry. “No,” he snarled and left. He got in his car and started up his music.

Cameron and Meghan were better than Zach as friends. His father had no right to be concerned about them. If anything, being friends with them… or at least talking to them, having them stand up for him some, was better for Quinn than Zach had been. And just the way his father had said the word ‘problems’, like all of it was wrong to be doing.

“Sh*t!” Quinn slapped his hand angrily against the steering wheel. Problems? Was being gay a problem?

He drove straight to school, trying to come up with a plan in his head. How could he avoid his father the most before seeing Allen? Football practice would go until five. Maybe if he went over to a friend’s house for the evening. Cameron probably wouldn’t let that happen, but maybe he could ask Meghan. It could be pay back for her randomly showing up the night before.

Quinn was in no mood to be searching for lyrics to give to Cameron. He could take one day off for a break. He would start again on Monday. Right now, he was still too upset about his father. It was stupid that that small conversation was bothering him so much.

Just because Meghan dressed different, Quinn’s father had assumed she was bad. She wasn’t! She wasn’t the type of person Quinn normally hung out with, but she wasn’t bad. She protected her friends. How was that bad?

During lunch Quinn could see the expectancy in Cameron’s eyes. He was expecting another round of lyrics, even if he didn’t say anything. Quinn lowered his eyes, feeling guilty and stupid over it. He sat as far away from Cameron as he could, sitting at the edge of the table.

He could have taken some spare time to find lyrics. It wasn’t that hard.

“You okay?” Cameron asked.

Quinn looked up quickly, not having noticed that Cameron had slid down the table.

“Just some stuff going on at home,” Quinn answered vaguely.

“Ouch,” Cameron mumbled. “My mom and dad fought a lot before their divorce. It can suck.”

Quinn took a moment to answer. Was he actually having some form of conversation with Cameron? He almost wanted to smile, but he knew that would probably earn him another couple of weeks of being ignored.

“Your parents are divorced?” Quinn asked carefully.

Cameron frowned slightly. “Yeah, since I was eight or nine. Split custody. I like my mom better, though.”

“Same,” Quinn said, though he wasn’t quite comfortable with the topic. What if his parents got a divorce? The thought almost scared him. While he was happy to be talking to Cameron, Quinn let the conversation drop.

Meghan came over from the lunch line and wedged her way between Cameron and Quinn. “You both are looking depressed,” she commented.

“Thanks,” Cameron scoffed and elbowed her in the side. Meghan promptly returned the favor by smacking him in the arm. They started slapping each other playfully. Quinn just watched and chuckled. He tried to figure out how to ask if either of them wanted to hang out after school.

Quinn couldn’t think of any good way to lead into it. He swallowed hard and got Meghan’s attention, figuring she was the best bet. “Meghan, what are you doing after school?”

“Nothing, why?” she answered suspiciously.

“Do you want to hang out?” he asked awkwardly. It had been a while since he had actually bothered trying. Either he got talked into hanging out when he didn't want to, or he just stayed at home. “At your place,” Quinn added, trying to make sure he didn’t have to go home.

“That’s fine,” Meghan answered slowly. “Do I need to be concerned, though? Is this revenge for yesterday?”

Quinn laughed. “I thought about it, but no.”

“I’m coming too,” Cameron demanded. “And I call the red controller.”

“Seriously? It doesn’t matter what controller you have,” Meghan complained.

“Controller for what?” Quinn asked.

“Xbox,” Meghan answered instantly. “Cameron is convinced he dies less with the red controller.”

“All the buttons stick on the other controllers,” Cameron mumbled.

“Right, which is how I still manage to kill you more.” Meghan rolled her eyes. “I have a third controller though, Quinn. You can borrow it if you need to.”

“I haven’t even played Xbox before,” Quinn admitted and earning himself disbelieving looks.

“Well, Cameron, he might just die more than you then,” Meghan teased and slapped Cameron on the back.

Meghan and Quinn exchanged phone numbers, and Quinn got her address for later.

Once lunch ended, Quinn went to his next class feeling slightly better. The night before was starting to wear off, and he was looking forward to playing video games at Meghan’s house. Video games weren’t allowed in Quinn’s house—and most of his friends didn’t bother with them either.

The one thing he did worry about still was having to deal with Zach. The football coach had an eye on him, since he’d obviously been targeting Quinn, but it was uncomfortable nonetheless. Zach was the ringleader for a lot of people.

Zach let out a few snide comments during the class and got warning looks from the coach. Quinn ignored them and went from the class to football practice over. Already, he was starting to count down the time until the end of the season. Just a few weeks left if they didn’t go to states.

After practice, Quinn just showered in the locker rooms. He sent his mother a text that he was going to a friend’s house and wouldn’t be home for dinner. From school Quinn found his way to Meghan’s house and parked along the curb.

Cameron was already there, and so were at least four other people. Quinn eyed them all skeptically, recognizing them from the lunch table.

“It’s turned more into Halo night,” Cameron explained. “We have three Xbox’s. Two upstairs with two TV screens, and one downstairs. We’re doing a four-split screen, and two three-split screens.” All of this was lost on Quinn, but he just nodded. “Meghan and I are playing downstairs with Connor. You can come down there. Meghan’s mom made cupcakes, too.”

“What about dinner?” Quinn asked. He was a little hungry.

“Pizza is on the way,” Cameron laughed and went down into the basement.

Quinn followed to where there were two couches set up, four controllers, and an Xbox. There were more people than controllers, but Quinn got one anyways. Meghan, her mother, and one other girl were the only women in the house. Meghan was playing video games too, but the other girl wasn’t. The boy with the Mohawk turned out to be Connor.

Cameron briefly explained the buttons on the controller before leaving Quinn to fend for himself. On screen, the rounds started. It was every man for himself.

Quinn died multiple times and got zero kills. There was a screaming match between the people in the basement and the people upstairs.

“Stop f*cking killing me, Jason!” Cameron yelled up the stairs.

“I thought you were Meghan!” a voice replied.

“Thanks!” Meghan shrieked.

“So is that why he keeps f*cking t-bagging me?” Cameron hissed under his breath and elbowed Meghan in the side. “I blame you.”

Meghan let out a laugh and just went on with the game. Soon Quinn was learning who was who on the screen, and who kept killing him.

“That was Aaron that just killed you,” Cameron explained. “See, he’s got the yellow armor.”

No, Quinn didn’t see the yellow armor but it was fun anyways. Soon he was yelling up there stairs, “God damn it Aaron, stop killing me!”

Someone came down the stairs—Aaron—and poked his head around. “Then stop attacking me!”

“I’m not attacking you,” Quinn protested. “I can barely run, and then all the sudden I drop dead!”

Aaron just smirked and went back upstairs.

“Don’t worry, nothing personal,” Cameron chuckled. “It’s the nature of the game. You’re going to get killed.”

Quinn didn’t like it very much, so he spent most of his time screaming at people to not kill him. He fit right in doing that. On occasion, Meghan would run upstairs and smack Jason for killing her. Cameron would kick Connor in the shin for t-bagging.

The pizza arrived late, close to nine. It made everyone drop the game for all of about thirty minutes as they stood in the kitchen, and Meghan’s mother tried to keep everything under control. Once the pizza was gone, everyone returned to their respective spots in the house. The rounds of Halo started up again.

Eventually, one of the girl’s stood up and announced she was going home. “It’s almost midnight,” she pointed out.

Quinn was surprised it had gotten that late. He checked his phone and had two missed calls from home.

“I think I need to get going too,” he said. It was just when he was starting to get better, too. He had gotten four kills that last game—nothing compared to Jason’s fifty or Meghan’s forty-three, but still.

“Get home safe,” Meghan called from the couch.

Quinn nodded and went upstairs. He was just putting his shoes on at the door when Cameron caught up.

“You know any other time you don’t want to go home, you might be able to hang out at my place,” Cameron paused. “Preferably when I’m with my mom though.”

“Uh, sure,” Quinn answered and smiled. “I’ll see you Monday.”

Cameron nodded and raced back down to the basement. Quinn went out to his car and drove home from there. He got a little lost in the dark and unfamiliar neighborhood, but at least found his way back to school and went from there.

When he got home, Claire wasn’t thrilled at how late it was. “You could have called,” she chastised.

“Sorry, lost track of time, and it was too loud to hear my phone,” Quinn explained, trying not to smile at the fact he had been doing most of the screaming.

“Doing what?” She asked.

“I went over to Meghan’s. There was a huge group there, and we all played Halo,” Quinn chuckled. “I died the most though.”

Claire sighed and ushered him upstairs. “Just remember you have to see Allen in the morning…”

“You okay?” Quinn asked over his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Claire protested. “Just tired. Glad you’re making some new friends, though.”

Quinn nodded and started to get ready for bed. Once he was sure that his mother was in her room, Quinn snuck along to his sister’s room. He knocked and stuck his head in. “Did they have another fight?” he asked.

“Yeah,” his sister answered groggily from her bed. “I think dad’s out of the house right now.”

“He is?” Granted Quinn hadn’t seen the man on the couch, but…

“Something like that. He left and hasn’t come back yet,” she said with a yawn.

“Oh. Well… g’night.” Quinn shut the door behind him and went back to the bathroom. He gathered up his clothes from the floor. From his pants pocket he fished out the worry stone and went to sleep.