Strings Attached

II

Quinn-

The last thing Quinn saw before he was knocked down by the girl on the ladder was a big mess of red hair. He caught her body with his arms, but her head landed on his face. She was light, but the force of her fall made him stumble back and then fall.

"Quinn! What the hell's going on back there, are you guys okay?"

Jaime ran past the shelves to where Quinn and the girl lay, splattered on the floor.

"What the hell happened back here?"

Still on the floor with the girl sprawled out on top of him, Quinn put his arm up and made the 'I don't know' gesture.

"Well last thing I remember, there was a bunch of red hair, and now I'm on the floor. I think I'm having flashbacks from Dublin."

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry. I didn't think I was gonna fall," the girl stuttered.

She got up from on top of Quinn, her face red with embarrassment.

"Oh no, don't worry. It's all good, you should just be grateful that Quinn was here to catch you, or else that would've sucked a lot. Right, Quinn?"

Quinn was still splayed out on the floor. He gave a weak thumbs up before he crawled to his feet.

"Well, one thing is for sure: I'm never letting another customer climb the ladder to get their own music, or maybe I'll just put a height limit on it."

"I'm still really sorry, honestly. I'm such an idiot sometimes."

"Don't worry, it's okay. I'm just relieved that neither of us got hurt."

He brushed himself off before looking at the girl again.

"Anyways, let's get back to the music; it looks like you pulled the vinyl down with you, and a good one too. I'll go ring it up for you and you can go back to looking for stuff if you'd like."

Alex-

Alex shook her head, her face finally losing the redness and returning to its usual pale state.

"Oh, I think I'm just gonna get the vinyl, if that's fine."

"Yeah, of course. Give me a second and I'll have it bagged up and ready to go."

They went to the counter, Alex quietly trailing Quinn. She paid for the vinyl and quickly walked out the store, her stomach churning with embarrassment. Her phone rang once she started walking down the sidewalk.

-Accept call-

"Hey, what's up, Sara?"

"Alexxx!" She yelled, elongating the last letter in Alex's name.

"You've gotta come to this concert tonight, some local band called 'Social Closure' or something like that. They're punk, you listen to that, right? I'm picking you up at seven, so you better get your ass ready soon. Okay? Byeeee!"

"Wait, what?"

"Concert! Tonight! Be ready at seven!"

-Call ended-

"I guess I'm going to a show tonight, then," she muttered to herself, making her way back to where her mom's car was parked.

Quinn-

"Dude, you good? That fall sounded like it hurt like a bitch." Jaime looked over at Quinn, concern in his eyes.

"Not really, I hit my shoulder really fucking bad."

"Shit, Quinn, are you gonna be able to play tonight? You might hurt it even more."

"Yeah, I'll be good, besides, I don't give a shit about my shoulder. This is the band's biggest gig, I can't miss it."

He walked into the back room and put an ice pack on his shoulder.

"What time does my shift end today, Jaime?"

"At 3:30, which is in half an hour, pack your shit up and go get ready for you gig. Take the ice pack with you if you need it."

Quinn packed all his things up and stuffed his bag with cans of Monster. By the time he was done, it was already time for him to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jaime. Don't get your ass kicked, unless I'm there to record it, of course."

Jaime responded to those words with a middle finger, and Quinn walked out the door.