"Daniel, I know you don't want to do this. So put the gun down, and let's talk about this." Phoenix stepped forward.
"What is she doing?" Eric whispered to Quinn.
"I have no idea. But she does. Let her try it." Quinn told Eric.
"No Phoenix. I need to do this. You heard what Quinn said before. Everyone at theater hates me! Never cared about me, no one ever checked in on me to make sure that I was okay." Daniel shouted. Henry rolled his eyes.
"That's not true. Kris was your friend. She made you laugh all the time at the diner. I was your friend. I trusted you with everything!" Phoenix shouted.
"My father wants me to be just like him. Killing people. I can't be treated like I'm some worthless human! Killing people makes me feel normal." Daniel grinned.
"That's sick." Phoenix shook her head.
"Phoenix. I have to kill you. But I'll make it painless. As for the others, I don't know if I can make the same promise." Daniel glared at Quinn and Eric.
"Daniel don't!" Phoenix leapt for the gun in Daniel's hand.
One shot.
Two shots.
Three shots.
People died that night. Someone called the police, and they took them away to the hospital where they would lay.
Sasha got a call saying that some people died and that her daughter was involved. The police couldn't say who had died for reasons of their own.
Sasha, Mr. Rembarc, Mrs. Rembarc, Daniel's mother, and Eric's mother were called and hurried down to the police station where they saw three people lying on hospital beds.
Daniel, Henry, and Quinn.
Eric and Phoenix were waiting to hear from the doctors to see if Quinn made it through the surgery. Eric had never been more broken, and Phoenix kept having to do laps around the hospital to wrap her mind around it all.
"She'll be okay." Phoenix told herself and Eric.
"But what if she's not?" Eric looked away.
"She will be. I've known Quinn for forever. She's the toughest person I know. She'll be okay." Phoenix assured Eric. She also told herself.
An hour later a doctor came into the waiting room. Eric and Phoenix stood up immediately.
"She's out of surgery. Things seem a little groggy to her, and she's not awake yet. Talk to her. Happy memories. It always wakes them up." the doctor told Phoenix and Eric.
They nodded and walked down to Quinn's room. Her eyes were closed.
They each took a seat on either side of her.
"Do you want to start?" Eric asked.
"Sure." Phoenix cleared her throat. "Quinn, I don't know if you can hear me, and if not then I'll sound pretty stupid, but do you remember fifth grade? The four of us- Mimi, Kris, me and you ruled the school. All of the other fifth graders loved us. Then my dad died. You were the only person who stayed the night with me until his funeral. You stayed with me til the very end, and I have never forgotten that." Phoenix smiled.
"Quinn, hey. It's Eric. Do you remember that one time in sixth grade when we first met. You were the prettiest girl in the sixth grade and everyone was so jealous when you talked to me. I was this wimpy kid. But you didn't care. You liked me for who I was inside. Then we drifted, but two years ago, in eighth grade we connected again. I miss you, and if you can hear me, I want you to know that you are my best friend, and that you see me for who I am and that is my favorite thing about you." Eric looked at Quinn.
"Truth or dare was always your favorite game. You loved asking the questions. You thought that you got to know people better, but I knew you better than that. You liked getting people's secrets out..."
"When you said I love you to me I was so scared. I thought about it, but I knew that you would always be the one for me no matter what happened in our future..."
"Mimi and Kris were so jealous of your new shoes in second grade that they tried to chase you up the slide but they fell and it was so funny to watch..."
"You rescued me from the record place and you showed Billy and Alice who's boss. You are so caring, and you made sure that I was okay..."
"But most of all, you care. Whether you pretend to be sad or edgy or whatever, you care about everyone."
"I love you, and everyone misses you so much. You have to come back."
Inside Quinn's head it was a swirl of memories coming back to her. Moving in with Phoenix, saying I love you to Eric, elementary school with Kris and Mimi...
Then she saw her future. She was walking down the aisle and Eric was on the other side. Phoenix was walking her down and Kris and Mimi were at the altar.
"Do you Quinn Rembarc take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
Fast forward. Her and Phoenix we're sitting together and Phoenix had asked her to be her maid of honor.
All of these future events and past memories swirled together and Quinn opened her eyes to see Eric and Phoenix staring back at her.
"What did I miss?" Quinn rubbed her eyes.
