The Study Group

Chapter 6: First Day|Quintin

"Hey, stranger," I smiled at him as I sat down at the table.

"What are you doing here, Quintin?" he asked me. Something was wrong. His tone was friendly but confused. But he called me Quintin. He never called me by my full name.

"Isn't it obvious?" I replied. "I'm here for tutoring."

"No you're not," he sighed. "You and I both know you don't need tutoring. You never have."

Oh how little you know, I thought to myself. He never knew, but I had private tutors for my entire time through elementary school and middle school.

"Well, then I'm just here to spend time with my best friend," I said.

"Quinn, I don't have time to hang out with you right now," he replied. "I'm working."

What was going on? Ever since he got back from the office the day before, he had been acting weird. Quieter. Less talkative. Almost... distant. Did something happen at the office? I swore if something happened to him, blood would flow.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, bringing me back to him. "But I'm sure you could spend some time with Mariah while I'm tutoring."

I didn't want to be with Mariah. Not after what she said the day before. All I wanted to do was be with Zach.

"It's okay if you have to be a tutor here," I said. "I'll just sit here with you."

"You don't have to," he said. "You should go spend time with Mariah."

What was with him? Why'd he want me to spend time with Mariah all of a sudden?

"Nah," I shrugged. "Can't get rid of me that easily, Z. I'm staying."

He didn't respond. He simply sighed and pulled out his homework. He started working silently. And I sat there, staring at him. I had nothing to do. When I had gone to the office yesterday to join his tutoring group, this is definitely not what I had in mind.

I eventually pulled a book from the nearby shelf and started reading.

Silent treatment? I thought. Really, Zach? I guess two can play at this game.

If he wasn't gonna speak, I had no intention of making him talk to me. He would talk. Eventually. After whatever was bothering him had blown over. That being said, if he opened up to me, I could definitely make whatever was bothering him disappear. One simple phone call and it would become a family affair.

As I finished the chapter in my book, I looked up to see Zach packing up.

"Whoa, whoa," I stood up and walked over to him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm leaving," he looked up at me. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

He looked irritated. But god it was so cute.

"Why are you leaving?"

"Because it's 6 pm. My shift is over."

"Great!" I smiled. "Let's go back to Cunningham Hall."

"What?"

"What?"

"What do you mean, Quintin?"

"I'm saying we can go back to Cunningham Hall. Watch a movie or--,"

"We?" he cut me off. Though I loved him dearly, being interrupted is a pet peeve of mine. And Zach's constant interruptions were getting a little annoying.

"Yes," I grabbed his hand. "We. We go back to Cunningham Hall. We go back to your dorm. We spend time together, as people who like each other do."

"People... who like each other?" His brow furrowed in confusion. He looked up at me. I felt petrified by his gaze. Those eyes had me pinned. The green glittering in the synthetic light of the library.

"Yep!" my voice cracked. I cleared my throat. "Friends who like each other and spend time with one another."

"...Oh..." he said. He almost seemed disappointed. "I guess..."

We walked from the library over to Cunningham Hall in silence.

That was the perfect opportunity! I chastised myself. How could you let it get away?

We walked up the stairs, into his dorm room. Zach had a giant beanbag in his room that he brought from home. The instant we sat down on the beanbag, there was a knock at the door.

Of course. It couldn't be that easy.

"Hey, guys," Mariah walked in. "What are we doing tonight?"

She walked in and sat on the beanbag with us. Though it was big, three was a little snug. Mariah was totally third-wheeling.

The three of us sat in silence on the beanbag, shoulder to shoulder. I was glaring over Zach and at Mariah. And she sat there, smiling at me.

This smug little--, I thought to myself.

"Well," Zach stood and walked to the door. "That's my cue."

With that, he walked out the door. Mariah and I stared in disbelief. She instantly turned to face me.

"What the hell was that?" she asked me. I couldn't tell if she was confused, hurt, or angry. An angry Mariah and a hurt Mariah were both difficult to deal with. A confused Mariah wasn't that difficult, since she's a fast learner.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I shrugged.

"No, it's not," she pressed. Angry Mariah. Definitely Angry Mariah now. "You are his best friend. You've known each other for years! How can you not know what it means when he does something like that?"

"Do think I know?!"

"Yes! That is literally why I asked you!"

"Well, I don't know, okay?"

"No! Not 'okay!' Something is wrong. Seriously wrong. What did you do?"

"What did I do? I didn't do anything! He's been like this since he got back from the office yesterday. You saw him too!"

I didn't realize until Mariah responded that we had devolved into a full-blown screaming match.

"I did!" she shouted. "And the only time I've seen him act like that is when you were dating a girl! But you're not dating anyone right now, so I need to know what's happened between you two!"

I was at a loss for words. Back in high school, I had dated a lot of girls. Most of those relationships only lasted a few weeks at most. All of them were an attempt to distract me from him, though. To try and move on from him. I couldn't fathom the idea of being with him. Not after the incident. After he moved in with me. So I dated around to try and distract from him. But I never thought about how he behaved when I was dating someone.

Now that Mariah mentioned it, Zach always seemed more distant when I was dating a girl. But he was always back to his usual self after we broke up or after the relationship lasted more than a few weeks.

"Just be honest," Mariah sighed. "What happened today?"

"Nothing!" I said quickly. "I swear! All I did was go to his study group. He was like that as soon as I got there. We literally sat in silence for two hours and I had to invite myself over here."

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Mariah asked me quietly. "Do you think he'll fall back to how he was...?"

"During the incident?" I finished her sentence. She nodded. "I hope not. I've never seen him like that."

"Me neither."

"Fortunately," I sighed. "I don't think we'll ever have to worry about her ever again."

I didn't think. I knew. I had made sure of it. She may not be dead but she was never going to bother Zach again.

Not as long as I was alive.