Hurricane Jones [boyxboy]

hurricane jones [18]

[Suffragette City by David Bowie]
word count: 3339

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Quinn always seemed to pop up so inconveniently.

Wavy brown hair was pulled up with a clip, her bare face so naturally clear. She was sitting beside me on the court in a tiny top and cargo shorts.

For some reason, she was the only person that I knew could pull off a pair of damn cargo shorts.

Her voice was bright, all chipper like the birds that had group meetings outside my window at five a.m. and I had no desire to match her tone.

"Hi."

Monotonous and all, I went to open my lunch, peeling an orange. Helena loved to pack lunches, she was a real PTA mom and honestly, I had no complaints. I only wished it wasn't taking so long to pierce the fruit. Anxiety, or something akin, had spiked the past few weeks and I found myself chewing my nails down to the nub absentmindedly.

Quinn chose that moment to sit down beside me, a little too close, her toned legs crossed in front of her, beaded anklet above the ugliest pair of sandals and she leant back on her hands, jewelry jingling.

The sun beat down on tan skin and I wondered how she kept it up, there weren't a ton of outside events and activities in this town. And even if there was, nobody would go. I figured she had to spend more time outside than anything to keep her glow.

I didn't get much sun, never really went outside much and the climate sat at around 75 degrees on the daily.

So, truthfully, I wasn't sure where she was getting optimal tanning, or maybe Aussies were always bronzed.

Dalton was not.

Maybe Quinn had the ability to read minds because something uncanny about her was that she could always tell when I was thinking of Dalton.

"Dally says you're avoiding him."

Or maybe, I was always thinking of Dalton.

Squinting sun out of my eyes, I thought about how funny it was that avoidance was only a problem when I was the one who was distant. "I'm not."

At least, I didn't think I was. It hadn't been super long since we'd talked, he had ignored me for longer.

After that call, I didn't know if I was ready to hang out with him again.

It felt weird, the shift felt weird, everything about my body felt like it wasn't mine. Like it wasn't mine, like it wasn't natural to feel this way about someone else, so intensely, and I'd been so embarrassed.

So, I went back to what was natural to me. What was natural was sitting on the tennis court, my eyes on my sneakers and I listened to a new playlist Wyatt had sent me weeks ago, so really it wasn't all that new. Getting dressed that morning felt weird, Dalton's good morning text felt misplaced and I didn't respond.

My nails dig into the tough skin of fruit, peeling it back, a citrus scent engulfing me and Quinn nodded her pretty little head. "Good."

I didn't like that, her affirmation, her approving tone. It felt like she were offering it as if I needed it, like she thought her feelings on the matter mattered.

"Cause it's really-it's really not okay if you are." And I really, really didn't care what she thought.

But I'd never tell her that, I'd never have the courage to tell her that what happened between Dalton and I had absolutely nothing to do with her. "Yeah."

It was quiet again, I decided I liked that more, that I liked when she looked a bit awkward because I always felt that way.

My body was hunched into itself, my posture curved and bones too rigid, Quinn sat up straighter and went to pop in an earbud when she realized the dwindling conversation.