Denial

Epilogue

May 9, 2018

Quincy

I groaned in frustration, pages scattered around me, taunting me with the knowledge they all held that I couldn't seem to keep in my brain. I don't think I'd be able to pass this final. Why did I have to take the hardest classes the last semester of senior year?

"Hey. How's studying?" Reed asked, coming into the room.

"Terrible. I don't know how you managed to have absolutely no finals."

He laughed. "I don't hate myself. That's why."

I scowled at him, but didn't reply as I grabbed my pencil and tried to find my notebook, which I had buried somewhere in this mess of papers.

"So, I'm going to head out. There's a party tonight that I wanted to hit up before graduation, you know?"

I don't know if it was the stress of studying or what, but I snapped. "So I'm not invited?"

Reed shrugged. "It's not really your type of thing. If you come you're not going to have any fun, just worrying about studying and whatnot while I'm just going to be drinking, which you don't do anyway."

"So you don't want me there because you're going to be drinking?"

"And you have to study."

I sighed, looking back down at my piles of notes. "Fine. Go. I'll just be here. Studying."

"Why do you sound mad?"

I shook my head, but didn't look up as I found my notebook and proceeded to flip to the page I needed. "I'm not mad."

"Do you want to come tonight?"

"No. I have to study. Remember?"

I heard him scoff. "Then why the fuck are you so mad about this, Quincy?"

I looked up at him. "Because sometimes," I said, my voice low. "It's nice to be invited before you assume I'm just going to say no."

He nodded his head solemnly. "I'm not going."

I didn't need to deal with this today. "Why?"

"Don't feel like it."

I sighed. "Just go, will you?" He looked a bit hurt, so I kept talking. "I love you, Reed. But I just need you out of my hair, at least for a couple hours. Go to the party or not, but please, I'm too stressed to deal with anyone right now. Not even you."

"Alright. Sorry." Then, without another word, he grabbed his phone off the table and left the apartment.

I threw myself back into my studying, too worried about that to worry about Reed. It wasn't our first argument, not by a long shot, and I knew it wouldn't be our last. But I also knew that we'd figure out a way to make it up to each other before we went to bed tonight, like we usually did.

I was just starting to get the hang of my notes, and actually remembering all the details, when Reed came back. I didn't look up while he closed the door and walked over to me, too focused on writing out these definitions.

"Hey, babe. I got you something."

Now I looked up from my spot on the floor, confused. I thought he was going to a party. "What?"

He pointed to a box he had placed on the table. "Cake. It's still your birthday, right?"

I sighed, but stood up. "I forgot. Besides, you took me out to breakfast this morning. I don't need to do more celebrating. And what about that party? Weren't you going to that?"