she knows - tara carpenter

꧁eight: the big apple꧁

QUINN MACHER SAT back in his chair, crossing his arms as he did so. It was nearly nine o'clock, and he could see the darkened, foggy windows past the shelves of books.

He was seated at a desk in his local library, trying to get some coursework done. While he did love living with his friends (specifically Chad Meeks-Martin and Ethan Landry), they could get rowdy at times.

"Hey," said the quiet voice of Penn Roscoe, who slid into the seat beside Quinn. "They don't have Hamlet. I have to download a fucking PDF."

Quinn scoffed, grinning. "Why would they have Hamlet?"

"It's classic literature! And this library is right down the block from a huge university! You'd figure other students would be studying one of Shakespeare's classics."

"You sound like Pierce..." said Quinn with a shake of the head. "And I read Hamlet in my Junior year."

Penn looked over his shoulder, frowning. "Where is Pierce?"

"Ah, he was looking for some graphic novel or something." Quinn waved a dismissive hand, scribbling down the final answer in his notebook before sighing in relief and leaning back.

"Yeah, wait." Penn held up a hand. "Why are me and Pierce switching roles?"

Quinn looked up at Penn, grinning once more. He ran a hand through his newly-blue hair. It was already fading, but Anika assured him it looked good when she dyed it for him.

Penn, who was scrolling through Instagram, groaned and rolled his eyes. "Jesus. Can Alicia Swift not post a thirst trap every ten minutes?"

Quinn laughed. "She gets clout from it, Penn. It's totally worth it for some cash." he let a small smile cross his face before he ran his hand down his mouth.

Alicia Swift was their school's personal social media star. She had almost a million followers on Instagram, and over a million on TikTok. The only reason Quinn cared about her was that she was secretly dating Mindy.

Quinn sometimes felt bad for Mindy— obviously, she wanted to be affectionate with her girlfriend out in public, rather than watching guys walk up to Alicia and flirt with her at every party. Luckily for her, Alicia turned them down with a look of disgust on her face each time. He knew that eventually their peers would figure it out.

But Quinn also knew that Alicia cared deeply about Mindy. She wasn't secret about it when they were together in the confines in either of their apartments. Alicia had even grown comfortable enough to be affectionate with her in front of Chad, Maria, Tara, and Sam.

Pierce Thorne practically fell into the seat in front of Quinn, making the blue-haired boy and Penn jump up, momentarily frightened. It was instinct when Quinn's hand fell to his stomach, where the scar he'd obtained a year prior remained.

He shuddered, but shook it off. Since that horrific night, a year had passed and nothing had happened. A few joke DMs on Instagram, and a few fucked up pictures mocking Wes, Josephine, Carson, and Liv, but that was about it. Nevertheless, Quinn had felt a burning sensation in his chest at each one as he looked at the faces of his deceased friends.

"They don't have anything here!" Pierce panted, groaning. "Maybe it's for the best, though, I have recitals a lot this week..."

Pierce often rambled on about his acting career, so Quinn was used to the speed at which his friend spoke. He shared a glance with Penn, who rolled his eyes.

"...And Mr. Lockhart is really getting on my case about eye acting, which what the hell even is that?"

"Pierce," Penn waved a hand in front of his face, making the boy snap out of his frenzied trance. "You're good. You'll kill it in the play."