“I think I did well, Mother!” I tossed behind me, running to my room and searching below the bed, quickly finding my 3DS.
“Today was physics?” she continued.
“Yeah!” I nodded, trying to communicate as wordlessly as I could that I was frazzled and needed to leave.
Luckily, she noticed quickly. “Where are you going? School is done. Do you have work today?”
“No, I’m off today. I was actually hoping to — I’m going to hang out with Morgan.”
“Morgan? Your girlfriend Morgan?”
“Yes Mother, my girlfriend.”
“And not Taylor, your girlfriend Taylor?”
I groaned. “I’m not dating two people, Mother.”
Mother smiled at me. “You fooled me, Quinn. It seem like you fool yourself too.”
I don’t know why, but that comment made me stop thinking about leaving and just stop.
Mother nevertheless continued. “Your girlfriend can wait. You need to tell me about your final! No arguing.”
I glanced over at the sink and remembered how, like me, Mother hated doing the dishes. “If I can leave right now, I’ll do all of the dishes when I come home, Mother. All of them.”
That made Mother stop in her tracks, then slowly break out into a smile. “This was too easy, Quinn. Your girlfriend is going to walk all over you when she gets to know you!” She paused. “Gàn ba! You’re standing there, staring at me, I didn’t realize I’d raised such a soft boy.” She gave me a knowing smile, then made the ‘shoo’ motion with your hands.
I knew I’d come to regret it later, but I smiled back at Mother and left, thanking my lucky stars. The only person who had grown more accustomed to my lack of a social life than me was Mother, and it was clear she was still in shock from me evolving from Loser to Not Quite a Loser.
When I got back to the car, Taylor gave me a look. “What took you so long?”
“My mother. Thank whatever deity you worship that you haven’t met her.”
“Thank wha…?” Taylor asked.
“He thinks his mom is scary,” Morgan clarified, then turned back and smirked for me.
I cringed. That couldn’t have boded well for my sexual congress with her. I couldn’t help but look away, which I’m pretty sure caused her to chuckle. Taylor ignored the both of us and piped up. “So I can go to the gym now, right? No more stops?”
“Go, bitch,” Morgan laughed, still enjoying the moment. “Is Joel going to be there?”
“Ugh, no,” Taylor grumbled. “The dick cancelled on me last minute. Why do you think I’m so pissed off?”
As if she could read my mind, Morgan looked at me again and raised her eyebrows up and down. She was clearly milking my situation as best as she could.
I was silent for the rest of the trip, and only thought to say something when we were in the lobby of the gym.
“Don’t I need a membership or something to go in?” I asked Morgan.
“Is this your first time going somewhere with Taylor?” Morgan asked me playfully. “Only went back to her place, never thought to ask her out, huh?”
“I thought to ask you out, though,” I countered with a smile.
She smiled back. “Watch this.”
I turned to see Taylor practically saunter her way up to the counter. “Heyyyy Grant,” she practically purred.
A fit white young adult looked up from whatever he was reading. “Oh, hey Tay. Good to see you again. You and Morgan again?”
“Actuallyyyyyyy, we were wondering if we could let a friend of ours in with us this just, just once. Is that cool?”
Grant looked over at me, then back to Taylor. “That guy? You sure he’s ever been inside of a gym before?”
I hadn’t, so I guess I had no right to be insulted at that, even though Morgan thought to murmur “sorry” towards me.
“Gym rules, I can’t let anyone in without a membership. He can buy one now though.”
“Oh, please?” Taylor whined. “I don’t wanna pay for a whole month for him, couldn’t you make an exception just this one time?” She put on her best pouty voice.
“Can’t he just wait out here or something? What is he, your boyfriend? You got a boyfriend now?”
Taylor gave a sultry laugh. “No, silly, of course he’s not my boyfriend, Grant! You know I wouldn’t do that to you,” she purred as if they were sharing an in-joke. “He’s just a friend. I’m still single for you.”
I immediately looked at Morgan with eyebrows raised. She met my gaze, but didn’t say anything.
I looked back at Grant and saw that behind the facade, Taylor was getting frustrated things weren’t playing out in her favor. “I won’t use any of the equipment,” I offered. “I’m just here to be company for Morgan and, uh, Taylor here.”
Grant looked back towards Taylor and sighed heavily. “You’re gonna get me fired one of these days.”
“For this or for the… y’know…?” Taylor teased him. “We haven’t been caught yet, have we?”
Grant rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Don’t cause me trouble. Go on in.”
“You’re the best!” Taylor practically shouted enthusiastically, then walked past him to the changerooms.
Morgan and I followed, with Morgan waiting until after we were out of earshot to tell me, “Don’t get the wrong idea, she and Grant haven’t done anything. She just likes doing that with guys who like her.”
“She still implied she was single for him when she’s not,” I countered.
“Believe me, that’s more about Grant being an asshole than her,” Morgan replied with a distrusting tone.
I didn’t really have anything to say to that, so I left it there. Morgan and Taylor went into the girls’ changeroom while I awkwardly walked through the guys’, then awkwardly waited in the gym on the other side for the girls to come out.
The gym was loud and echoey, with a really high ceiling and fans keeping the place a little cooler than I’d like. There were mirrors everywhere and the whole place smelled like plastic. I definitely felt out of place and the girls could clearly tell when they made it into the gym, judging by their laughs when they looked at me.
I decided to own it. “I’m surprised I had to tell him I wasn’t going to use the equipment, huh?”
Morgan chuckled, as did Taylor. “Oh, Quinn,” Taylor giggled. “Come with us! We’re doing the bikes first.”
Morgan turned to her friend with a cocked eyebrow. “Nope, I’m doing the machines first. Finish with light cardio, reps first.”
“Yeah, because the best time to do cardio is after you stretched yourself sore like a rubber band.” Taylor rolled her eyes.
“You’re just scared to use the machines,” Morgan practically sang.
Taylor eyed her friend curiously, her eyes flickering back and forth to me. “Are… are you trying to look good in front of your new boyfriend?” She turned to me. “Quinn, she normally starts off with cardio like me. She’s just trying to look good for you.”
“She doesn’t need to, she already looks good to me…” I said with a shrug.
Interestingly, as if they never argued at all, both girls ‘Ooh’ed at my comment. “He’s quick, he’s quick…” Taylor congratulated me, nodding, with Morgan saying something similar at the same time.
“Well, just so we don’t split up, we can do cardio first if you really want to,” Morgan conceded.
“And I do,” Taylor finished proudly. “See that, Quinn? She puts on a good show for you, but she listens to me.” She spun around towards the bikes and flipped her hair dramatically as she began to walk towards them.