Strings Attached

V

Quinn-

He woke up with a huge smile on his face. His stomach was filled with butterflies and there was only one thing on his mind, and that was Alex. Just the thought of her made him smile like a complete idiot. He couldn't stop thinking about their kiss on her porch last night. He felt happy for the first time in forever. He stumbled out of bed, groaning from his extremely aching shoulder. Soon he realized that he forgot to change his clothes from last night. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror he ran his hand through his messy, Billie Joe Armstrong, style of hair. His movements were slow and constricted while he washed his face and brushed his teeth. He walked back into his room, tripping over a small cardboard box that was neatly placed in the center of his room. He picked it up as he sat down on his bed. His mom must have put it there while he was in the bathroom. It took him a minute to get his head straight, he tried to recollect his thoughts of everything that happened the night before. His mom stood at the door of his room. She spoke with a thick Irish accent.

"Quinn, you need to get ya arse ready, it's nearly eleven thirty, don't you have work or somethin'?"

"No I don't, mom, today's my day off."

"Oh, well still, get off yer arse and do something. The house is for eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom. You're a teenager for cryin' out loud. Get out there and give the world who you are before it pulls your strings."

She walked out of the doorway and back into the kitchen. Quinn ran to the bathroom and took a shower before walking out the house.

Alex-

She was ready to go by nine thirty. Her face hurt from smiling so much, her mom even made a comment about it. She watched the clock excitedly as it read, 11:59 A.M. Quinn would be there any minute now. Just then she realized she hadn't worn enough makeup to cover her freckles(which she thought were ugly and annoying). But the moment she stood up to get her makeup, Quinn pulled into the driveway, she had no choice but to face him with barely any makeup on. Once he saw her, he had a huge smile on his face, like he hadn't seen her in months.

"Hey, uh, wow, you look amazing. I didn't notice you had freckles yesterday."

"Oh um, yeah, sorry about that, I didn't have enough time to cover them up."

"Cover them up? Why would you do that, they're really damn adorable in my opinion."

"Aw, thank you. We should hurry up, my mom wants to meet you, and the quicker we get out of here the less chance we have of dealing with that."

"Oh, alright then, If you say so."

They got into the car and drove off. She had a better view of what the car looked like now. Leather and wood grain interior, and a single necklace hanging on the rear-view mirror. It was crimson, and shaped like a guitar pick.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's that necklace that's hanging in the mirror?'

"The necklace? It was my dad's, he gave it to me before he passed, he told me to keep it for something important, he never told me what that something was, but that I'll know what that thing is when it comes along."

"Oh, do you think you know what that thing is?

"No, not really, but I really hope it comes along soon. And who knows, maybe I've already found it and I just don't know yet."

The rest of the car ride was silent until they reached their destination. A big open field. Alex stepped out the car while Quinn reached into the back seat and emerged with an acoustic guitar. He sat on the hood of the car and motioned for her to come sit next to him, and she did.

"So this doesn't look like the regular, stereotypical date at the movie theater, or at a fancy restaurant ."

"Well uh, I guess my idea of a date is singing songs to you on the roof of my car in the middle of an open field until the sun sets and we can watch the stars."

"Aw, that's perfect. We haven't even done anything and this is already the best date

I've been on."

"What, really?"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure it's because this date is with you."

Quinn had a smile on his face, he looked so happy that Alex enjoyed spending time with him.

"Well um, do you want to hear a few songs, or have you had enough of my singing from last night?"

"I'd love to hear another song, just don't scream at me because you're an anarchist."

"I promise I won't, okay."

He smiled again and started playing. He was so much better at playing guitar than it seemed like last night. The chords flowed perfectly together, almost too perfectly, did he write this himself? Then he started singing, god it sounded amazing.

"Tell me where to find, find a life in paradise. Please let me close my eyes and dream of my life in paradise. The dream that rests in your eyes. Shining like the stars that fill the night sky."

His voice was so soft and peaceful, compared to the way he sang last night. One voice was so peaceful and innocent, and the other, wasn't. It was perfect. Could somebody fall in love with someone just over a song?

Quinn-

He was so nervous. He had written this song last night about Alex, and didn't even get a chance to practice. All he could do was sing his heart out and hope it went well. When he looked at Alex she was smiling like that was all she knew how to do. He really loved her smile, it looked so perfect.

His singing lasted for a while until the sun started to set, casting a blanket of various shades of orange, red, and yellow. The color almost matched Alex's hair.