Quin stomped down the street in her stilettos, wishing that she was anywhere in the world besides walking away from a fight with a Hanson fan.
“This is all your fault, Magda!” she ranted, “If you hadn’t made me come here, none of this would have happened. I never would have seen him again, that jealous little bitch wouldn’t have called me old. None of it!” Her heart was pounding faster than it had in a long time, and it had also been a very long time since she had been so genuinely embarrassed and angry.
“Quin, she was just a stupid fan. You’re absolutely right about her being jealous. She saw that he was talking to you and she got mad. I think he’s talking to her about it right now,” Magda said comfortingly, prompting Quin to turn around and look at him. Her eyes met his and she turned back around, still headed to some unknown location, hopefully with more liquor and far from the eyes of stupid eighteen year old girls.
“He should really be chasing after me right now, shouldn’t he? I mean, if he really wanted me, he would be chasing after me?”
“There are a lot of fans there to talk to him, he can’t just leave. You know that,” Magda said. Quin knew that Magda was only trying to help, but she sounded more like she was reasoning with a five year old than talking to her forty year old best friend. If Quin had been in a more stable state, she would have confronted Magda about it, but she wasn’t. She was upset and drunk and just wanted to be blocks away. As soon as they were around the corner, she ripped the Hanson shirt from her body and handed it to Magda, who had a far bigger purse, one that would actually hold the shirt. She didn’t want to get rid of it, but she didn’t want it on her person any longer. It had been her hope that Taylor would think she had been there to see the band, not him. And maybe that he would think she looked cute in it. Maybe.
“This is so ridiculous. Let’s just go get more drunk. I want to be so drunk I don’t remember any of this tomorrow,” Quin said dramatically, still stomping, now with Magda trying her hardest to keep up.
“I think we can arrange that if it’s what you really want,” Magda said hesitantly while still trying to be supportive. It was then that Quin heard rapidly approaching footsteps running behind them. She turned and prepared to move out of the way of the crazy person speeding in their direction, but instead just stood there as Taylor ran towards them.
“Quin! Are you okay?” he shouted out, running full blast until he stopped dead in his tracks right before her.
“You came after me,” Quin said, ignoring his question looking up at him, not saying anything else until Magda elbowed her hard in the ribs, prompting her to lie to his face, “I mean, yeah, I’m fine. I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with her, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry you had to deal with her. The fans can get a little crazy sometimes. But I meant what I said on your shirt. I’m really, really glad that you came to the concert tonight. Did you have a good time?” he asked, obviously trying to steer the conversation towards something more positive.
“I did,” she said, “But what I didn’t like was the way you were fucking me with your eyes the entire time. Well, I mean, not since you were doing it to half the others girls in the audience, too.”
“Yeah, but when I did it to you, I really meant it,” he said, taking a step forward. Quin took a deep, shuddering breath to calm herself and started to walk backwards.
“Don’t you have fans to meet, Taylor Hanson?” she asked with a little smile, putting some much needed distance between them. If he stayed that closer to her, there was a good chance that she would wind up giving in to him.
“Come on, don’t leave. I just found you again,” he said, reaching out for her hand. She moved out of reach just in time.
“Why do you want to sleep with me so badly?” she asked, still backing away, Magda following along trying not to be conspicuous.
“I honestly don’t know. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. It’s weird,” he admitted. Quin frowned and looked down at herself.
“It’s not so weird, is it?” she asked.
“That’s not what I meant!” he said quickly, “I meant that-”
“What? You sleep around so much that you don’t usually care about someone who turns you down for longer than five minutes?” she interrupted.
“Um… I mean… not exactly,” he said before laughing nervously, “You’re really good at making me say the wrong thing.”
“Everyone has to be good at something,” she said, “Turns out I’m good at two things. Too bad you’re only going to find out about one of them.”
“At least give me your phone number. Give me one more chance to talk to you and not blow it?” he asked, almost pleading with her.
“We’re just going to have to leave this one up to fate,” she said, obviously feigning seriousness.
“I’ll find you!” he shouted out before they rounded the corner.
“I’ll call the cops and tell them you’re my stalker!” she yelled back, smiling at him the whole time.
“Are you really going to just leave him there?” Magda asked.
“If he wants me, he’ll find me,” Quin said.
“Yeah, that’s a good way to deal with a guy you’re attracted to: play head games with him,” Magda rolled her eyes.
“Let’s go find me another drink!”
“Sounds like a great idea…” Magda sighed, turning without Quin noticing to find Taylor peeking his head around the corner to watch them walk away.