I had told Jasper I needed fresh air and it was true. I needed to clear my head. I restarted the car and drove to the trailhead of Calico Basin Trail just outside Summerlin. The trails were closed after sunset, but the parking lot was a good place for star-gazing. In high school, it was my refuge from loud post-game parties. I used to run into Quinn there. She had loved laying on the hood of her car and picking out constellations.
So, I should not have been surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and spotted her. Quinn was stretched out on the small hood of the economical little car her father had given her and Sienna. It was perfect for commuting back and forth between L.A. and Vegas. She sat up as my headlights swept across her and jumped to the ground.
"Hey, don't go. It's just me," I called out the driver's window.
Quinn stopped with her hand on the door handle. "Owen? What are you doing here?"
"Getting some fresh air," I said. "What did you think? That I'd be spending the night in a jail cell?"
"Well, I know you have all those severed heads in your freezer, so it was a safe bet," Quinn said.
I laughed and got out of my car. "If only it had been that exciting. The cops were pretty disappointed when they didn't find anything at my place."
"What were they looking for?" she asked, leaning against the hood of her car.
"Drugs. You know, gamer smokes pot, that whole stereotype," I said.
"That's terrible. You know, my father's a lawyer. Maybe you should talk to him."
"About what? ‘Hey, Mr. Thomas, you know how you think the worst of me? Well, so do the cops. What should I do?’ I think he'd lobby for locking me up." I joined her on the hood of her car.
"Yeah, maybe not," Quinn said. "But you think maybe someone set you up?"
"Now that I think about it, I should add your father to the list of possible suspects. If you think about it, he makes perfect sense. He hates me. He has connections in the police force, and he'd be able to get a search warrant," I said.
"As much as I could see how that might be true, I think my father has other things on his mind than setting you up," she said. She nudged me with her elbow. "He never forced you and Sienna apart. He just hoped you'd drift apart naturally."
"Yeah, well, he got his wish," I said.
Quinn looked up at me, her chocolate brown eyes wide in the dark. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that Sienna and I drifted apart. You know it’s true, Quinn. It was happening all along, but when she left for UCLA it was real."
"Every couple goes through ups and downs," Quinn said. She inched away from me. "Long distance is hard."
"But it wasn't that," I said. The whole story was on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to pull her back against me and confess it all.
"Sienna was really busy at school, that's all. I barely saw her. She loved you, anyway," Quinn said.
"Sienna loved the idea of me. The real me was a project that never quite fit her standards."
"No. When you're dating someone, you just want them to love everything you love. That's how it is with me and Trent."
"Wait," I said. My hands turned to ice. "Who's Trent?"
"My boyfriend," Quinn said.
CHAPTER FIVE
Quinn
I woke up in the morning and realized just how little sleep I had gotten. Owen had left the parking lot of the Calico Basin Trail shortly after he arrived. The only problem was his words echoed through my head all night.
He and Sienna had drifted apart?
I knew he was telling the truth, I just could not believe he was telling me. There was something so serious in his tone. I knew there was more to it, but I panicked. After so many years of desiring Owen from afar, I was completely terrified by how close and available he was sitting there next to me on the hood of my car.
I worried he was clearing the path and he needed to know there were other big obstacles. I had started dating Trent three months back and had never mentioned it before.
I rolled out of bed and grabbed my phone.
"Hi, sweetie. I was wondering when I was going to hear from you," Trent said.
"Hear from me? You were supposed to be here for the funeral," I said.
"Whoa, so we're going to jump right into that, huh? Quinn, honey, don't be mad…"
"Trent, you missed my sister's funeral. I needed you here," I told him.
"Not really time to meet the parents and do that whole show. I thought I was doing you a favor," Trent said.
I could hear him put a hand over the phone and whisper to someone. "I thought you said you didn't care about them. You were going to come to support me." I felt too tired to have the conversation, but it was too late.
Trent was exhausting. The constant upbeat pace of his personality was what first attracted me to him. He was 5' 9", lanky with dyed white hair cut short. He stood out and was always the center of attention. So when he noticed me, I was swept into his life. At first, I was happy to be along for the ride. Trent was funny, knew everybody on campus, and was the king of the perfectly timed compliment. He was just the person to pull me from my shell at college. But lately, I was realizing how much he drained my energy.
Trent was not a cuddle on the couch and play video games kind of guy.
"I do support you, baby. And I thought I was doing you a favor by staying here. You should have seen me, killing rumors about your sister at this big campus party," Trent said.
"You went to a party?"
"Oh, you know me, it was just some get-together until I got a hold of this sweet set of speakers," Trent laughed then cut himself short. "So, tell me about the ceremony."
"There was a visitation here at the house and then the interment at the cemetery. It was awful. My parents were awful. All the people remembering the saintly side of Sienna were awful. Her whole high school class showed up."
"Ugh. I can imagine. Every time I go home, I feel like I need body armor to deflect all the high school reunion crap. People are always telling me how great I look now. As if I was a total slug then or something," Trent said.
"It was just really hard that no one wanted to remember the real Sienna. My sister was more than some peppy go-getter, you know? She had ups and downs just like everyone. It was like watching a real 3D person turn into a 2D photograph right in front of me," I tried to explain.
"Oh, speaking of photos, you need to go online and check out the pics of me at the art show. There's this one where I swear I look just like the guy from that movie you like. You know, the cool one with the suit and sunglasses?"
"Trent! I'm talking about my sister's funeral."
"I know, I know, sweetie. I get it. I'm just trying to lighten the mood. When are you coming back to campus?" he asked.
"I don't know. My parents want me to stay another day or two, but-"
Trent interrupted, "Sounds good. I mean, you need family time and all that. Come over right when you get here, okay? Miss you!"
I listened to the dial tone and resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall. Trent was right, though. I needed to lighten my mood, and staying with my parents one more day was not going to help.