Pretending (bxb)

chapter 16

Shit shit shit shit. Caroline is calling me. Oh fuck oh fuck ohhhhh fuck.

Pull yourself together Quinn, holy shit.

I quickly accept the call and bring my phone to my ear, heart beating rapidly in my chest.

"Hello?"

She's quiet for like 2 seconds, spreading my anxiety until she finally says something.

"Hi Quinn," she whispers. I figure I should probably let her start the conversation because I genuinely have no idea what to say to her. "I heard about what happened."

"Oh... yeahh." How descriptive, Quinn!

"Are you okay?"

"I've definitely been better, but you know. I'll be fine like always."

"I..." sigh "I'm really sorry you had to move all the way to Florida. I know how close you are with Amari. JJ too. We're all really gonna miss you.." Her voice breaks off a little at the end which makes my heart burn for a minute.

"Hey are you crying? Don't cry because of me Caroline."

That only seems to make it worse as her sobs start getting louder into the phone. "I'm sorry.. it's just.. I wish I'd been there for you more recently. I feel so guilty for just breaking up with you and never checking in after that. I knew how bad your dad could be but I just ignored it... and now I'm never gonna see you again and-"

"Hey hey don't say that, Care." The nickname kind of of just slips out as I try to comfort her. "It's not your fault. And I doubt we'll never see each other again. There's no way I'm staying in Florida for the rest of my life, silly. I mean me and Florida? Are you kidding?"

She laughs into the phone making me smile. "I guess you're right. God! It's so funny to imagine you wearing Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses!"

"Never. Never ever in my life will I ever wear that shit." She laughs some more before going silent again.

"Do you promise to stay in touch with me?" She asks, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Of course I will. JJ will be at my throat if I don't keep my phone on me anyways. You know how he is."

"Ohhh yeah, I know how he is. But I also know JJ and I aren't the only ones who want you in touch.." She says sparking a whole bunch of confusion.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

She laughs in disbelief. "Are you kidding?"

"What you mean Amari? He was just complaining like an hour ago about how much JJ and I were texting. I'm sure he'll be just fine without me.."

"Wow. You are just that oblivious aren't you?"

My face starts to heat up increasingly and I'm just glad we didn't decide to face time instead of call. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Gosh, nothing Quinn. I'm just fucking with you!" I laugh along with her but in my head I'm totally freaking out. Was she hinting what I think she was? Did she catch on to my slight crush on Amari? Is that why she broke up with me? Does she think I'm gay. Fuck I thought I was so good at hiding it!!!

After Caroline's done fucking around she turns serious again, asking me to tell her about Florida and Janette and everything else.

I tell her a bit about everything that happened yesterday and the shopping trip today, but make sure to leave out the bad parts about fighting with Janette. I don't need Caroline worrying about me too much.

"So do you like your mom then? Is she nice?"

"Yeah yeah.. she's okay. I don't know, it's a bit weird living with her now but I guess I'll get used to it."