Compulsion by Alex Lane

Author:Alex Lane [Lane, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter sixteen

Zoe squinted a little, as if she were trying to figure out a difficult puzzle. “You and Rain,” she said. “As in, you and Rain. Together.”

Quinn was sitting at a cafeteria table with Kevin and Zoe. He had decided to tell them about his relationship with Rainbow, since he figured it would be worse if they found out through the school rumour mill. Rainbow was sitting with her own friends, probably having a similar conversation. Probably more polite, though. “Me and Rain,” he agreed. Me and Rain. I like that, he thought. “We’re dating.”

Quinn was aware of Kevin and Zoe sharing a look. He was less concerned with that than he was with their emotions. He had expected some surprise, but it shouldn’t have been too out of the blue. They already knew he liked Rainbow. He had told them that before he had told them he was an empath. It was the disbelief he found offensive. They feel like they think I’m lying, he thought.

Zoe took a breath. There was another look to Kevin before she spoke, but Quinn decided not to comment on it. “Now, don’t take this the wrong way–” She began, which raised alarms for Quinn. People only ever say that if when they know they’re about to say something offensive, he thought, but didn’t say. Zoe continued. “– but are you sure?”

Quinn thought about it, but couldn’t figure out what she meant. The only reasons he could think of that it might be a bad idea was because of her strength, which they didn’t know about. “What do you mean ‘am I sure’? Am I sure of what?”

Zoe rubbed at her neck, reluctant to proceed. Kevin was not as unwilling. “Are you sure you’re dating?” he asked, completely serious.

“Am I…?” Quinn stared at him, at a loss for words. “Yes, I’m sure we’re dating.”

“It’s just that it seems a bit odd that suddenly you have a girlfriend, days after I get one,” Kevin said. “You didn’t really need to worry. We don’t think of you as a third wheel, girlfriend or not.”

“I’m not making this up,” Quinn said, feeling a flicker of irritation. Why is his first assumption that I would lie about dating Rain, just so I wouldn’t be thought of as a third wheel? Is it really so unbelievable that I could have a girlfriend? “Why would you think I am?”

“We don’t think you’re making it up,” Zoe said. Kevin made a face as if to disagree, but Zoe talked over whatever he might have said. “It’s just a little odd. I mean, we know you’ve had a crush on her for a while.” That was an understatement. Years was a little longer than ‘a while’. “And yes, she started hanging out with you recently… but maybe you’re reading into it a little too much?”

Quinn stared at her. “Are you asking me if I’ve misunderstood whether we’re actually dating?”

“Well…?” Zoe shrugged. “I mean, it’s not unheard of for empaths to confuse emotions.”

This is really not how I expected this to go.

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