Problematic Quinn

Problematic Quinn

 Originally Published in Obscura Volume 7 Spring 2016

(Sequel to Delusional Batman)

Quinn should have remembered how cold the small college town got at night in November, when she walked out of her apartment that morning, walking towards her car and the possibility of warmth. She forgot her hat and gloves and her head hurt from the bitter cold. But, it was too late to worry about what she should have done.

“Well things could be worse,” she said to herself. She had parked on the far side of the lot, but the icy pavement caused her to tiptoe at a snail’s pace for the fear of falling down face first. She huffed out a cloud of chilly air after each ice patch. There was a commotion at the dorm across from her but it was too far away to know what was happening. That dorm was facing a different street, but the bright lights of campus police were flashing in every direction.

“Hey!” A male voice yelled from behind her.

Quinn glanced back. A group of guys walked away and another stood there checking at his phone. She continued her trek to her car; the bright red Audi just feet away.

            “Hey, I was talking to you,” the voice slurred out.

“Whatever dude,” she said, “go back to your friends.” Her feet slid on a patch of ice, but she kept moving faster. Her heart hammered in her chest, all because of one drunken frat boy.

“Hey Bitch,” he said, “get back here I want to talk to you.”

            “And I’m ignoring you,” she yelled back still not facing him.

Quinn had finally reached her car and was about to get inside when he grabbed her.

            “You’re a feisty little blonde bitch aren’t you,” he said.

            “What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yelled.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” he said, “Shit, woman, What the fuck is wrong with you? I was talking to you.” Quinn could smell rum on his breath.

            “I don’t care,” she said. “Now let me go!” She yanked her arm back, dropping her keys in the process. “Damn it,” she said. The night just got worse.

###

“This is not going to end well,” Quinn said as she glanced at the review sheet for her upcoming midterm exam. She turned to the bubbly redhead next to her in the cafeteria. She and her best friend Addison were studying the night away.

 “Why do you say that?”

“Look at this thing,” Quinn held up the stack of papers, “Just look at this.”

“So?”

Who gives out 30 pages as a review?” Quinn slammed the papers on the desk. “It’s a midterm for crying out loud. This is insane.”

“Well we have to study it, so just suck it up.”

Quinn groaned and slammed her head onto the papers.

“Did that hurt?” Addison said, stifling a giggle.

“What do you think?” Quinn said as she lifted her head. The top sheet had stuck to her forehead. Addison laughed, no longer able to hold it in. Quinn yanked the paper off her face, and Addison started snorting through her nose.

 “You have a giant red spot on your forehead,” she said between her giggle fits. “And some of the words from the sheet too.”

“What?” Quinn shrieked. She threw her bag on the table and turned it inside out looking for her compact. “Why me?”

“I guess the ink wasn’t totally dry.”

“Uggg…” she said, slamming her head back onto the papers. The cafeteria got louder all of a sudden. Quinn looked up and saw her boyfriend Jacob walk through the row of tables.

“Of course he has to come in right now,” she said.

 “Here,” Addison said, handing her a make-up wipe, “Wipe your forehead.”

“Thanks.”

“How’s my favorite girl?” Jacob said as he sat at the table.

“Just fine,” Quinn said as Jacob kissed her on the cheek.

“She’s lying you know,” Addison said.

 “Let me guess,” Jacob said, “you got the review sheet too?”

“Duh,” Quinn said.

“I told you that Professor was insane.”

“I’ll be fine, I can do this.”

“I gotta go,” Addison gathered her stuff and shoved it into her backpack, “but, I’ll see you later.”

“See you later, Addi,” Quinn said.

“So what are your plans for this weekend?” Jacob said after Addison had left.

“Well, some crazy but cute frat boy invited me to some insane Halloween party and I thought I would go or else I would be stuck all alone studying for some insane midterm.”

“Good. Make sure you dress up all sexy.”

“Or what? You’ll never speak to me again? That would be hard considering I’ll still be right across the street from you back home. Hell, I know your brothers.”

 “Yes that is true, but they’ve never seen you in your princess panties.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “What time should I be there?”

“Around ten, I have one more study session with Serena for our class and then I have to get ready for the party.”

“See, I’m not the only one freaked out over midterms.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said before kissing her on the lips. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.”

###

“So what did your favorite boy want?” Addison said.

“Just talking about the Halloween party at his Frat,” Quinn said. Quinn sat on the floor surrounded by loose pages while Addison was bent over two open textbooks on the living room table of their apartment.

“Does he think that you’re not going to show up?”

“Nah, we had this running joke every year since junior year of high school. He says dress sexy and I show up overly dressed in the most outrageous outfit. I think that year I was dressed as a storm trooper, if I remember.”

“Is it like that every year?”

“Well ever since we actually started dating, but this year I’m dressing up as a sexy Harley Quinn to surprise him.”

“Cool. I should dress up as Poison Ivy. We could go to the party together as villains.”

“Do you have green body paint?”

“Duh, I’m actually trying to get this guy to notice me. You know, as a girl because he always sees me as that nerd in class he gets notes from.”

 “Trust me,” Quinn said, “He doesn’t see you like that.” Addison was always self-conscious about her appearance because of her parents’ overprotectiveness, but she had the best scores in all her classes and still one of the prettiest girls Quinn ever met.

“Yeah yeah, you always say that.”

“Because it’s true, and I would never lie to you. Plus he asked me if you were coming to the party, so I think I already know he wants you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Now let’s study and get this test over so we can focus on something more interesting and fun.”

###

The commotion from the dorm hall across the street grew louder. Even though Quinn screamed for help, she didn’t know if anyone heard her.

            “Now you’re going to be really nice to me,” he said.

            “Why are you bothering me?”

            “Because I don’t like it when people ignore me.”

            “You’re just a bully,” she screamed, “now leave me alone.” Footsteps nearby caught her attention; maybe someone was going to help her. He grabbed her arms and pinned them to the car. She feared no one would help so she struggled and when one of her arms got free she tried to punch him out of the way. It hurt her more than it did him.

            “Bitch,” he punched her face.

The car move a little just as someone flew down on the guy who had attacked her. It took Quinn a minute to figure out what was happening. She thought Batman was rescuing her. Maybe the guy had hit her harder than she thought.

###

The party was in full swing when Quinn and Addison arrived. Everywhere outside the dorm, people were dressed in all kinds of costumes. Addison was in green full body make-up and a dress covered in plastic leaves, and Quinn was wearing a nurse’s costume with blue and red pigtails making her look like Harley Quinn in Arkham Asylum. It was cold outside, but the boots kept her mostly warm.

            “You look hot,” Addison said.

            “This is, what, the billionth time you’ve said that?” Quinn replied.

            “I’m just saying.”

            “Yeah I know. Now let’s get inside before we freeze to death in these skimpy outfits.”

            “I was just emphasizing because Jake will be very happy,” Addison said. Quinn knew this day would come: where she would actually do what her best guy-friend and high school sweetheart said. She was nervous because she hadn’t told him about the costume. She hoped he would like it.

            “I need a drink,” Addison said.

            “We’ve been here for two seconds,” Quinn said.

            “Well that’s because… Well…”

            “Well what?” Quinn asked.

            “Look at who’s standing over there.”

Quinn looked over to see a pirate with a plastic parrot on his shoulder at the drinks table. It was Addison’s crush. He looked ridiculous to Quinn but Addison was bouncing up and down.

 “Go,” Quinn said, “I’ll meet up with you once I find Jacob.”

Addison squealed and ran off in the direction of the Pirate. Quinn scanned the room. She didn’t see her boyfriend, but spotted his younger brother, Adam.

            “Hey, Adam,” she yelled behind him. The loud music made it hard to talk to anyone.

            “Hey Quinn, What’s happening?” Adam said. He turned around to look at her and laughed.

            “What’s so funny?”

            “You and Jack share a brain,” he said. Jack was Adam’s best friend since grade school, and Quinn’s next door neighbor.

            “Why do you say that?”

            “He’s dressed as Batman.”

            “Really?”

            “Yeah, you two match. All we need is someone dressed as the Joker.”

            “Ha ha… You should see Addison.”

            “Why? Is she dressed as the Joker?”

            “No but she dressed as another Batman nemesis.”

Adam looked around the room searching for Addison when his eyes locked on the green body and red hair.

            “Wow,” he said.

            “Yeah, she looks great right?” All Adam did was nod. “Have you seen your brother?”

            “Nah, maybe he’s upstairs,” Adam said.

            “Okay, I’ll check his room,” she said. Adam was still staring at Addison. She knew Adam liked Addison a lot, but she never mentioned it to Addison because she thought it was up to them to sort it out.

“See you later.”

            “Yeah, sure,” he said.

People in various costumes filled the stairs, talking and dancing. Quinn had to push her way up the staircase just to make her way to the top. The hallway wasn’t as filled with people since only the housemates were allowed on the upper floor. When she approached Jacob’s room, someone in a Batman costume walked towards her.

            “Hey Jack,” she said. He passed her without a second glance. A door down the hallway slammed shut.

“What is going on?” She said to herself.

            When she reached Jacob’s door she noticed an old sock, the one Jacob usually used when they were together in his room. Someone on the other side of the door was arguing. The door flew open and standing in front of Quinn was Jack’s girlfriend, Serena, dressed as Catwoman. Jacob paced in the background.

 “What’s going on,” she said, “I just saw Jack and he didn’t even say hi.”

            “Nothing,” Jacob said.

            “You’re lying,” she said. “Something is going on.” Serena started crying as Jacob grabbed a mask off the bed and threw it across the room.

            “I’m so sorry,” Serena said.

“Serena,” he yelled, “Shut up.”

            “We didn’t mean to,” she said. “It just happened.”

            “Wait…” Quinn said. The realization of what happened dawned on her, and instead of confronting the problem, she walked down the hallway, in the direction Jack had gone when he passed her earlier. When she reached the bottom of the staircase, Adam came running back into the house.

            “Don’t tell me it’s true,” he said.

            “I feel like such an idiot right now. Can we talk about this later?”

            “Sure, I have to get Jack home anyway.”

            “Take care of him. “I remember how bad he got in high school.”

            “I’ll try. He’s pretty wasted right now.”

Quinn walked out the door, into the cold October air, weeks before the attack.

###

Quinn knocked on the door of the hospital room Jack was in. This was the first time since the incident in the parking lot that she had seen him. The both of them had been taken to the hospital, but she was discharged immediately while Jack was taken away for further tests to see if he had permanent damage from the fight.

“Come in.”

“Hi,” she said, opening the door.

“Hey Quinn, how are you doing?”

“Better, thanks to you. Jack... you saved me that night.”

“Well, I try.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he ran his fingers through his hair and looked out the window into the snowy December night. “Things could have been worse right?”

“I’m not talking about what happened in the parking lot. I’m talking about what happened with…”

“Right now I don’t want to think too much about that. They hurt the both of us and they didn’t care about what would happen if we found out. I’m over them and their shit.”

“Jacob came to talk to me after the attack, saying that I need him in my life because without him I would have been dead.”

“I told you, I don’t care.”

“I told him I didn’t need him because in the end he betrayed my trust and your trust. I also told him to go fuck himself since he’s so in love with himself,” she said, and for the first time since she walked in she saw Jack smile.

“Jack, they hurt us. But in the end, we’ll pick up the pieces and move on. They’ll regret what they did and try to get back in our good graces, but it won’t happen.”

“Yeah, I understand. How was your Thanksgiving break?”

“I don’t know if we should talk about that.”

“Why not?”

“Well… I saw what happened between Adam and Jacob. Actually the entire neighborhood saw what happened. They got into it in front of their house. It was quite a show.”

“Please tell me Adam kicked his brother’s ass.”

“No. he did get a few good swings before their parents pulled them away from each other. Their mother wasn’t too happy about the whole thing.”

“I can imagine. We’ve all spent a good amount of time in that house. She loves us like we were her own.”

“She came over after everything settled down and apologized for how much her bonehead son had messed up the one good thing in his life.”

“Good, he doesn’t deserve any pity. Even from his own mother.”

“Listen, I have to go back to the dorm and get ready to head home. The reason I came over was to say thanks for saving me. And, we should hang out more. The three of us. You, Adam, and me. Well Addison, too.”

“What, like our own support group?”

“Kind of. I do need some support, but I also need a friend and so do you. If you want. This is all up to you.”

“Yeah, I think it would be a good idea. Maybe the four of us can move off campus to somewhere far enough away from everyone who saw me as Batman,” he said. Quinn laughed and nodded.

“I’ll see you around Batman,” she said winking at him. She gave him a quick hug and stepped out the room.

When Quinn left the hospital, she welcomed the cold air like it was her closest friend. Giant white flakes blanketed the street around her. This was a sign of a new beginning: the old days were being covered and the scars were no longer visible.