by Claire Adams
"People do that?" Quinn asked.
It made sense. The players who focused on taking me down were usually very serious gamers and hacking came easily to many people in that set. Finding my address from my IP would not be impossible. I made a mental note to adjust my security settings and encrypt my IP address.
I heard the front door opening. There was one other explanation to why the cops were searching my apartment for drugs. "Look, I gotta go. Everything's fine. Maybe I'll see you in Dark Flag later."
I hung up on Quinn and waited for Jasper to untangle himself from his leather messenger bag, suit coat, and scarf. No matter what the weather was like, he always dressed like a man out of GQ.
"Hey, Owen, didn't see you there. How's my playah?" Jasper asked.
"Your timing is perfect, per usual," I said. "The police were here not too long ago. Spent good quality time searching the place for drugs."
He dropped his bag hard onto the floor but laughed. "Seriously? And I missed it? I've been meaning to follow up about that proposal I sent over to the precinct."
"Yeah? I told them about that. Right after they handed me a search warrant and went through everything," I said.
Jasper grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. "How long did that take them? Did they thank us simple bachelors for making it easy on them?"
"They brought in a K-9," I said.
Jasper took a long time to open his beer and take a heavy gulp. "Man, what have you done to piss off the authorities lately?"
"Who says it’s me?" I asked.
"People love to jump to stereotypes when I talk about my gamer roommate. You know, cheese puffs, high octane sodas, and a shut-in in sweatpants. I could see how the cops might jump to 'deals pot on the side.'"
"Except I don't," I said. "I don't even smoke pot. It would be in violation of my contracts. It'd be my career, too, you know."
"You say that like I'm the one that's guilty," Jasper said. He leaned against the counter and crossed his leather dress shoes. "All I'm saying is one of our nosy neighbors probably got the idea from some movie and tipped off the police. Gets a bit boring around here. Man, I'm sad I missed all the action."
"Me too. Especially when the German Shepherd was very interested in the pocket of the sports coat you lent me," I said.
"Oh?" Jasper asked. He straightened up, then stopped himself and leaned back casually. "Where is it? I was going to wear it out tonight. There's a great new band over at The Alley."
"Is that your way of telling me you're not dealing pot on the side?" I stood up and crossed my arms, taller and wider than Jasper.
"Seriously, man? Why would I be doing that? Things are going great for me," Jasper said. He looked around the loft from one end to the other. "In fact, I've been meaning to tell you I signed up with this head-hunting company. They've got a lead on a job for me in L.A. Looks like I might be moving on soon."
"Really?" I asked. "And this just comes up now?"
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to jinx it. So, anyway, come out with us tonight. Help me celebrate," Jasper said.
"No, thanks," I said. "I think I'm going to get some fresh air. Apparently, I need to think about getting a new roommate."
"How about that Quinn girl you've been mentioning? Maybe she's moving back to town," Jasper said. "That's gotta be a good thing for you."
I did not like her name on his lips, but I uncurled my fist. He knew too much about Quinn. He also knew everything that had happened with Sienna.
Jasper was moving on soon, and it occurred to me that now I had the chance to do the same.
#
I made it to the corner before my phone rang. I pulled the car over and answered, thinking it might be Quinn again.
"There you are. I've left at least three messages," an impatient, fast-paced voice said.
"Oh, sorry, Tanner. How are you?" I asked.
My manager Tanner Olson gave a quick sigh. "Fine, fine. I'm just checking in with you about the tournament. You're all signed up and you're ready to roll, right?"
"Yes, I signed up online a few days ago just like you told me to," I told him.
"And have you gotten all the stuff from your sponsors?"
"What stuff?" I asked. A grumble of irritation made me clear my throat. "What have you agreed to this time, Tanner?"
"Nothing terrible. All small logos. A t-shirt, a polar fleece hoodie, a visor," he said quickly.
"A polar fleece hoodie? The tournament’s in Vegas."
"Inside," Tanner countered.
"So how do you explain the visor?" I asked.
"Bright stage lights."
"I'll look ridiculous."
"I requested everything in black. You'll look fine. It might actually tone down that whole underwear model thing you've got going," Tanner said. "You know half the gaming world thinks you're a front for some 400 pound shut-in."
"Great. Always nice talking to you," I said.
"Hey, you pay me to tell you the truth. You know you love me. Hey, speaking of love, who's the new ally?" Tanner asked.
"New ally?"
"The newbie human avatar. There's all sorts of buzz about you saving someone. You got a girlfriend I don't know about? I hear she's not a bad player. Want her to get a spot in the newcomers duel at the tournament? As long as she doesn't throw your concentration," Tanner said.
"Like I said, nice talking to you." I hung up the phone.
I realized too late that I should have told Tanner about the police visit. He would have a lawyer out to me within the hour. I shrugged it off. If Jasper was moving out, then I had no need to stir things up.
The same went for Quinn.
I should have known that Dark Flag was full of a bunch of gossips. Tanner had warned me that the better I did, the more I would be watched. Thousands of players had log-on alerts on me. A few of my sponsors put clips of my plays on their websites. I put down my phone. I was not ready to see what assumptions were being made about Quinn and I.
I had told Jasper I needed fresh air and it was true. I needed to clear my head. I restarted the car and drove to the trailhead of Calico Basin Trail just outside Summerlin. The trails were closed after sunset, but the parking lot was a good place for star-gazing. In high school, it was my refuge from loud post-game parties. I used to run into Quinn there. She had loved laying on the hood of her car and picking out constellations.
So, I should not have been surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and spotted her. Quinn was stretched out on the small hood of the economical little car her father had given her and Sienna. It was perfect for commuting back and forth between L.A. and Vegas. She sat up as my headlights swept across her and jumped to the ground.
"Hey, don't go. It's just me," I called out the driver's window.
Quinn stopped with her hand on the door handle. "Owen? What are you doing here?"
"Getting some fresh air," I said. "What did you think? That I'd be spending the night in a jail cell?"
"Well, I know you have all those severed heads in your freezer, so it was a safe bet," Quinn said.
I laughed and got out of my car. "If only it had been that exciting. The cops were pretty disappointed when they didn't find anything at my place."
"What were they looking for?" she asked, leaning against the hood of her car.
"Drugs. You know, gamer smokes pot, that whole stereotype," I said.
"That's terrible. You know, my father's a lawyer. Maybe you should talk to him."
"About what? ‘Hey, Mr. Thomas, you know how you think the worst of me? Well, so do the cops. What should I do?’ I think he'd lobby for locking me up." I joined her on the hood of her car.
"Yeah, maybe not," Quinn said. "But you think maybe someone set you up?"
"Now that I think about it, I should add your father to the list of possible suspects. If you think about it, he makes perfect sense. He hates me. He has connections in the police force, and he'd be able to get a search warrant," I said.
"As much as I could see
how that might be true, I think my father has other things on his mind than setting you up," she said. She nudged me with her elbow. "He never forced you and Sienna apart. He just hoped you'd drift apart naturally."
"Yeah, well, he got his wish," I said.
Quinn looked up at me, her chocolate brown eyes wide in the dark. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that Sienna and I drifted apart. You know it’s true, Quinn. It was happening all along, but when she left for UCLA it was real."
"Every couple goes through ups and downs," Quinn said. She inched away from me. "Long distance is hard."
"But it wasn't that," I said. The whole story was on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to pull her back against me and confess it all.
"Sienna was really busy at school, that's all. I barely saw her. She loved you, anyway," Quinn said.
"Sienna loved the idea of me. The real me was a project that never quite fit her standards."
"No. When you're dating someone, you just want them to love everything you love. That's how it is with me and Trent."
"Wait," I said. My hands turned to ice. "Who's Trent?"
"My boyfriend," Quinn said.
CHAPTER FIVE
Quinn
I woke up in the morning and realized just how little sleep I had gotten. Owen had left the parking lot of the Calico Basin Trail shortly after he arrived. The only problem was his words echoed through my head all night.
He and Sienna had drifted apart?
I knew he was telling the truth, I just could not believe he was telling me. There was something so serious in his tone. I knew there was more to it, but I panicked. After so many years of desiring Owen from afar, I was completely terrified by how close and available he was sitting there next to me on the hood of my car.
I worried he was clearing the path and he needed to know there were other big obstacles. I had started dating Trent three months back and had never mentioned it before.
I rolled out of bed and grabbed my phone.
"Hi, sweetie. I was wondering when I was going to hear from you," Trent said.
"Hear from me? You were supposed to be here for the funeral," I said.
"Whoa, so we're going to jump right into that, huh? Quinn, honey, don't be mad…"
"Trent, you missed my sister's funeral. I needed you here," I told him.
"Not really time to meet the parents and do that whole show. I thought I was doing you a favor," Trent said.
I could hear him put a hand over the phone and whisper to someone. "I thought you said you didn't care about them. You were going to come to support me." I felt too tired to have the conversation, but it was too late.
Trent was exhausting. The constant upbeat pace of his personality was what first attracted me to him. He was 5' 9", lanky with dyed white hair cut short. He stood out and was always the center of attention. So when he noticed me, I was swept into his life. At first, I was happy to be along for the ride. Trent was funny, knew everybody on campus, and was the king of the perfectly timed compliment. He was just the person to pull me from my shell at college. But lately, I was realizing how much he drained my energy.
Trent was not a cuddle on the couch and play video games kind of guy.
"I do support you, baby. And I thought I was doing you a favor by staying here. You should have seen me, killing rumors about your sister at this big campus party," Trent said.
"You went to a party?"
"Oh, you know me, it was just some get-together until I got a hold of this sweet set of speakers," Trent laughed then cut himself short. "So, tell me about the ceremony."
"There was a visitation here at the house and then the interment at the cemetery. It was awful. My parents were awful. All the people remembering the saintly side of Sienna were awful. Her whole high school class showed up."
"Ugh. I can imagine. Every time I go home, I feel like I need body armor to deflect all the high school reunion crap. People are always telling me how great I look now. As if I was a total slug then or something," Trent said.
"It was just really hard that no one wanted to remember the real Sienna. My sister was more than some peppy go-getter, you know? She had ups and downs just like everyone. It was like watching a real 3D person turn into a 2D photograph right in front of me," I tried to explain.
"Oh, speaking of photos, you need to go online and check out the pics of me at the art show. There's this one where I swear I look just like the guy from that movie you like. You know, the cool one with the suit and sunglasses?"
"Trent! I'm talking about my sister's funeral."
"I know, I know, sweetie. I get it. I'm just trying to lighten the mood. When are you coming back to campus?" he asked.
"I don't know. My parents want me to stay another day or two, but-"
Trent interrupted, "Sounds good. I mean, you need family time and all that. Come over right when you get here, okay? Miss you!"
I listened to the dial tone and resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall. Trent was right, though. I needed to lighten my mood, and staying with my parents one more day was not going to help.
I packed my bags before breakfast. My father was the only one downstairs; my mother's bedroom door was shut tight again.
"Would it be okay if I headed back to campus soon?" I asked my father.
"That's a good idea. You probably have a lot of catching up to do," he said. He was packing his briefcase to head back to work. He missed my head and kissed the air as he walked to the garage door.
#
I got to my dorm room just before lunch. Darla had already left for class and I was glad for a moment alone. As soon as I had driven onto campus, I was flooded with memories of Sienna. I had to take a detour just to avoid seeing her dormitory.
I threw my overnight bag on the bed and opened it. Instead of carefully putting everything away, I decided to just dump it into my laundry basket. I had only been on campus twenty minutes, but I was already itching to get back in the car.
There were messages written all over the white board on our door. Notes were taped along the doorframe. Inside, Darla had carefully arranged a wild display of cheap flowers purchased at the bookstore. It looked like half of campus had decided to leave me condolences. I hated to think what Sienna's door looked like and vowed not to go there.
Instead, I started to think about leaving campus all together. Sienna was the only one that had kept me on track. Even my college advisor had started suggesting I look at other majors. Without my sister driving me, there was no way I was going to earn my degree in nursing. I did not have the heart for it.
Sienna was going to be the heart surgeon, I thought. Had I somehow imagined I would be a nurse in the same hospital? What had I been thinking?
It had all been decided for me. I remembered the conversations over my college applications. I had said very little. I loved the sound of UCLA and at the time, it had not mattered what got me here. Now, all I could think about was getting out.
The sickly sweet smell of the carnations and daisies made me nauseated. The few cards that I could see all talked about Sienna like she was a perfect angel. Am I so wrong for wanting to remember my sister the way she actually was?
I still had time to make it to class, but the whole rest of the day stretched out before me like a minefield of memories. I would look for Sienna everywhere. She had helped pick out the quilt on my bed. She had given me my desk organizer. Sienna always waved to me before gross anatomy. The memories froze my blood faster than seeing a real ghost and drove me from my room.
"Quinn! I didn't expect to see you back so soon."
I stopped short of running my lab partner over. Her smile wobbled at the wild look in my eyes, but she caught me in a hug anyway.
"Yeah, I think I came back too fast. I mean, I'm just here to get some more of my stuff," I said.
She brushed back her curly hair and blinked wet eyes at me. "I can't even imagine how hard this is for you. Darla thought about taking down all the notes, but she
finally decided it was a good memorial for everyone."
"No, she's right. It’s wonderful." I made sure to look anywhere but the door covered in condolences. "How's class?"
"I've got all the notes for you and I asked a few of the students that film his lectures to send you links. I think you can catch up no problem."
I put a hand against the wall and wondered if I was going to retch. "Sounds good."
"No, no it doesn't. Oh, Quinn, I'm so sorry," she said. "You know there is a school policy that lets students take a semester off. Family tragedy is a completely understandable reason for needing the time."
"No, it’s fine. I'll be back soon. Thanks so much for keeping me up to date," I said. The idea of all the make-up work was overwhelming, but I managed a smile for my lab partner. "Are you doing okay on your own or did they assign you a new partner?"
"A new partner. Remember the guy with the glasses that I kind of had a crush on? So really, it’s no problem," she smiled.
I was glad for the change of topic. "He's a friend of Trent's. We'll have to try a double date some time."
Her smile slipped as she checked her watch. "I gotta run but you take care, Quinn. See you again soon!"
I turned and ran down the stairwell. Now that she had mentioned taking a semester off, the idea was taking root. I needed time to figure out what I really wanted to do and if UCLA was really the place for me. So, naturally, before I decided to leave college, the person I needed to talk to was my college boyfriend. I headed out the door and straight for Trent's dorm.
He should have been in his economics class. There was a sunny common room two doors down from his dorm room and I planned to wait there until he got back. It was always easy to hear when Trent was coming.
Only when I passed his door, I heard something that made my heart stop. A low moan tipped up to a tight, ragged sigh before settling back into heavy breathing.
His roommate? I wondered. I could not force myself to keep walking and stood rooted to the floor outside his door.
An unmistakable rhythm was building behind Trent's door and a duet of soft groans was getting louder. I prayed it was his roommate. Trent's roommate had a desk cluttered with photographs of his high school sweetheart. Maybe she was visiting.