The Metropolis Series #3: Quinn and Cassandra

BREE AND HARUMI were long gone when I returned to the movie theater. After a few minutes of looking for them, I got a text from Harumi saying that they were at a restaurant on the ground floor.

When I finally found them, their plates and glasses were almost empty. That was when I realized how long I’d been with Julio, and I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

“There you are, Quinn,” Harumi said. “Where have you been?”

She eyed the paper bag in my hands. It contained the chips and beverages I grabbed from the grocery store.

“Sorry,” I said. “I ran into a friend. Must have lost track of time.”

“That’s all right,” Bree added. “Go order something. We can hang out here for a while.”

I ordered some hot chocolate. I drank slowly as Bree and Harumi talked over their empty plates, their voices fading in the background. My mind bounced around, daydreaming and reminiscing. It felt like I hadn’t left the grocery store. I wanted to go back.

But for what? Why?

Then, I glanced at Bree and Harumi and realized I was jealous—and not in the way I had been with Curtis and Rachael. I thought that they were lucky things turned out well for them. I found myself yearning, wondering. Will I be one of those lucky ones, too?

I sighed. I convinced myself that I was being ridiculous, so I shut off whatever thoughts I was having. Working on homework for the rest of the weekend helped a lot. I treated the threatening piles of books and worksheets like a monster I needed to conquer, and that way, I managed to get myself focused. It did wonders for me for a while as I was able to finish and turn in a lot of schoolwork with little to no distractions.

The next band practice with Deus Ex Machina came halfway through the week, and by then, I was finished with most of my tasks. I was afraid that my mind would fall back to its wandering state, and I would have to find another way to keep it grounded. Unlike homework, my thoughts formed a monster I knew I couldn’t face. I would have to keep denying its existence and hope for it to go away.

Still, doing so made my heart heavy, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

I expected band practice to help me take my mind off it, but most of the session was dead air. The most eventful thing that happened was Curtis and Rachael hitting the verge of an argument. Still, they proved themselves capable of remaining civil—not like any newly-broken-up couple from my previous school. Yikes.

So, to stay distracted from the monster in my head, I decided to pull out my laptop to get a head start on a project for English. At first, it was a bit hard to write with the music in the background, but I was eventually able to establish a flow. I was so engrossed with what I was doing that I didn’t notice Deus Ex Machina packing up and starting to leave.

“Hey, Vasquez,” Bree called. “We’re heading out now.”

I looked up from my computer. “All right, you guys go ahead. I’ll just finish this up.”

“You sure?” Philip asked.

I nodded.

“All right,” Bree said. “We’ll see you tomorrow!”

I must have stayed in the band room for thirty minutes. It was hard to tell, but when I noticed the warm glow of the setting sun peeking through the window, I took it as a sign to wrap up and return to the dorms. Maintenance staff could come in at any moment to clean up and lock the rooms for the day, and I didn’t want to be a bother to them.

As I saved my work, I was surprised to see Curtis peering through the door of the band room.

“Hey, Quinn,” he said. “You’re still here, huh?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “But I’m just about to leave.”

“Oh, okay. I’m just looking for my earphones. I must have left them here somewhere…”

He looked around until he stopped by a shelf against the wall.

“There it is,” he beamed. He twirled the earphones in his fingers and approached me. “Also, I just realized that we haven’t had the chance to talk.”

I shut down my laptop. “About what?”

“Well, about me and Rachael.”

I then remembered that we were cut off by the homeroom teacher when Curtis told me that he and Rachael had broken up. He’d wanted to talk at a later time, but it had already been almost two weeks since then.

“Oh right,” I said. “How have you guys been?”

Curtis shrugged and sat next to me. “I guess we’re okay. We’re not the same as we were before, but still okay.”

“I guess that’s just how things are.”

He shrugged. “Anyway, Rachael and I will continue sticking around for the band. We worked so hard to get where we are. As for our relationship, yeah, I miss it, but I’d like to move forward now.”

“That’s nice to hear.”

“And Quinn?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s something else.”

“What is it?”

The tables turned for me that day. In another timeline, I kissed Curtis out of the blue in the storage shed. He was still with Rachael at the time, and I felt horrible about what I did. Now that he had brought his lips to mine in that empty band room, there were other reasons to feel bad. First, he had just ended his relationship with Rachael. I didn’t want to be his rebound.

Then, there was another reason, but I was too afraid to admit it. I winced and pulled away.

“Curtis, no,” I said. “I don’t—well, I like you, but not that way…”

Curtis’ face reddened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—It’s just that I couldn’t stop thinking about all those times in the nurse’s office. I’ve grown fond of you, and…”

His voice trailed off. I wish it hadn’t because I didn’t know what to say. I suppose a part of me should have seen that coming. He was kind to me during my first few months at St. John’s. There were suspicions that he liked me, but I didn’t think they were true.

“Quinn,” he finally said. “Do I at least have a chance? Let me know what else I can do.”

The Quinn from the past few timelines would have been elated. She would have squealed like a fangirl at the concert of her favorite boy band. However, the Quinn that faced Curtis that day was lost, confused, and scared of all sorts of things.

And that included the truth.

“Curtis,” I began. “You’re a good friend, and I appreciate it. It’s just… I like someone else…”

And there it was, the monster that I tried so hard to ignore, the monster that I wished would go away, but all it did was linger around me, waiting for me to finally acknowledge its presence.

As those words escaped my mouth, Curtis hung his head low. “I see,” he simply said.

I let out a sigh. “Sorry, Curtis.”

I slung my backpack and brought my laptop to my chest. I walked toward the door, and as I turned to close it, I caught a glimpse of Curtis alone in the band room, the light of the setting sun shaping his silhouette. I walked down the hall, thinking about what I’d said.

I liked someone else.

The words played in my head like a sick love song, taunting me as I kicked off my shoes and crashed into bed. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed staring at the wall, but I knew that it would just be a matter of time before reality pulled me back in.

I just needed to talk some sense into myself. Of all the boys I could like, it had to be someone from another realm of existence, someone who was perhaps too busy defending the Metropolis to reciprocate my feelings. For him, I was probably just another person who needed his help, who needed saving.

And I didn’t want that. I didn’t want him to see me and be reminded of his burdens. I could bend space and time, but no one could deny the fact that Cassandra and I looked alike, and that alone convinced me to suppress my emotions. Despite how kind he’d been, I couldn’t imagine how we would be able to work it out.

I sighed and got up, grabbing the small bag where I kept that torn library card I’d found in the kitchen back home. I returned to my bed and stared at it, but I didn’t know why I did. Its contents didn’t lead to any Author, but sometimes, I asked myself what I’d do if it did. Things would be a lot different, I suppose, and maybe I wouldn’t have to keep all of my lingering emotions to myself.

As I was lost in thought, I heard the door open, and I quickly shoved the torn library card under my pillow. Harumi came in with a steaming paper bag in her hands, filling the room with the rich smell of grilled meat and melting cheese. My mouth watered, and I wasn’t even that hungry.

“Hey, Quinn,” Harumi said. “I brought dinner. Let’s eat.”

In the days that followed, I found myself dozing off more often. I couldn’t concentrate in class. The voices of my teachers sounded muddled and distant, almost like they were underwater.

By then, I knew that it was bad.

Thankfully, Curtis still acted normal around me even after turning his advances down. If he hadn’t, I probably would have felt so much worse. It wasn’t because I felt guilty. I knew that I didn’t owe him after bringing me to the nurse’s office countless times. It was unnecessary baggage I wasn’t willing to carry. However, seeing him brought me back full circle. Once again, I would think about those words I had said to him:

I liked someone else. And the feelings were getting intense.

Then, the weekend came. Harumi was seated at our desk when I woke up, her focus on a document before her. As she typed away on her computer, I caught the sight of something flying toward the window. I squinted my eyes and couldn’t believe it. It thumped on the glass, startling Harumi.

“What was that?” she blurted out. She looked toward the window to see that the mysterious object had disappeared.

I bounced on my heels a little. It happened so quickly, but there was no doubt that I had received another paper airplane from Julio. I needed to go outside to retrieve it.

“It was just a bird,” I said. “Anyway, I’m getting us some breakfast.”

“Okay, thanks, Quinn,” Harumi leaned back against the desk chair and resumed her work. “See ya.”

I flew down the steps of the girls’ dorms and I was out of the building before I knew it. I found the airplane in a pile of bushes just right outside the entrance. I gasped for breath as I unfolded it. Indeed, it was Julio’s handwriting:

Quinn,

I want to thank you for going grocery shopping with me last week, but I still want to make up for not having a proper meeting with you. It’s The MacGuffin’s anniversary week, and they have unlimited rice and soup with any order. It’s my treat, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.

I’ll be in the area in the afternoon on patrol, so if you’re interested, meet me outside St. John’s at 5:00 pm.

—Julio

I knew that the meetup wouldn’t be for another few hours, but as time flew by, the more excited I became. My mind floated and flew, and I was unable to focus. I wished five o’clock would come sooner.

I went through the day like it was perfect. Nothing was wrong, and things were bound to stay that way. When I got up to get ready, however, I stopped dead in my tracks. I remembered that my parents didn’t allow me to go far from the campus and to be out late. My two-day stay at the hospital had scared them, and it was reasonable for them to react the way they did. But then, I realized that I didn’t have to agree with them. I knew that I was bound to break their rules; I had gone through so much to be stopped from eventually saving the Metropolis—

And, okay, from seeing that boy I liked so much.

After picking out an outfit and getting dressed in the bathroom, I took a good look at myself in the mirror. My God, it felt weird being conscious about my appearance, but I couldn’t help but think that something was missing.

“You look nice,” Harumi said as I stepped out of the bathroom. “Going out?”

“Yeah,” I laughed nervously, looking down at my blouse. “I’m meeting a friend tonight.”

“Oh, I see. Where are you guys going?”

“Just some café. Anyway, is it okay if I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Can you do my makeup for me?”

Harumi smirked. “You’re meeting a boy, aren’t you?”

“No—Umm, yeah.”

“I see.”

“But it’s not like that.”

“Whatever you say.”

I asked Harumi for something natural-looking, hoping it would be subtle enough so that Julio wouldn’t notice. In a way, I felt silly for spending so much time getting ready.

I even wore heels. Can you believe it?