——— ⁂ There he was, milling around, right in her way. It seemed like everywhere Quinn looked nowadays, Nate had nestled himself in some corner or other. His tall figure haunted her peripheral vision. After years of on-again-off-again hatefucking she had made a point of avoiding him after her freshman year. She summered in the city instead of The Hamptons, hoping to stave off the dirty magnetism they'd let fester between them. She had guessed, at some point, that being on the same campus would mean she couldn't avoid him forever. She hadn't guessed it would be over some damn popcorn. Quinn reached up and tapped on his shoulder.
❝ Are you getting something from the stand or are you just here to be a nuisance ? ❞
Catherynne M. Valente, The Bread We Eat in Dreams; “Mouse Koan”
It makes your heart race. It turns the world upside-down. But if you’re not careful, if you don’t keep your eyes on something still, you can lose your balance, you know?
PRACTICAL MAGIC (1998) dir. Griffin Dunne
aceofportsmouth·:
He laid his head on the pool edge, looking up at Quinn with a soft smile. “I’m a tad jealous. I don’t have any cousins.” Booker shared. “My brother and sisters are great, but it’d be nice to have some outside of my immediate family, you know?” Sharing helped with finding common ground. Booker thought of himself as an open book, if that book had sentences with whited-out sections. “Greer seemed like a party girl. Do you think she would be proud of this event? Or would you like to talk about something else?” Booker added, blinking innocently. “I think we have some classes together. If you’d like to discuss classes, who doesn’t love talking about medicine, right?”
her eyes narrowed conspicuously as he reeled off question after question. she didn't even know this guy's name and here he was, prepped for an interview. quinn didn't know if it was recent events with greer, being forced to be at this stupid party or her morrison upbringing but it put her back up. what was his deal? she tried to turn the conversation around. "do we? what's your major?"
——— ⁂ ❝ I know I shouldn't say this but did Greer really have to pick this year of all of them? It's just like her to disappear right when our professors are deciding what advanced classes we get to take. Freshman would've been so much more convenient... ❞ Quinn vented, clasping her glass of non-alcoholic rosé. She wouldn't say something so alarmingly coldhearted to anyone but Sloane— unless pushed. The pair had spent countless hours over the years privately shit talking their shared relative. It wasn't like The Golden Girl didn't deserve it. She had a part in making each of their lifes hell at times. Just as Quinn was about to talk, a waiter came over with menus. They said their thanks and she continued.
❝ Here I am going on about myself again. You don't care. How's film club going? ❞
artwork by @holly-warbs
[ID: Digital art that has been broken up into four panels. It is of a person wearing a long blue coat and blue pants with a green backpack, with long black hair and a pale face. They are reaching out to a white, translucent figure next to them. The background gives a vague impression of a field, and blue and purple night sky. White text has been added that reads, “Is it haunting? If I’m the one leaving open a crack in the window.” END ID]