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everything so I didn’t. I said- it’s not- it’s not like that. They’d

be fine with me being here. I’m going to tell them as soon as I

get home.”

Quinn turned away. She put her hand up to her face, let it

hover there, then dropped it into a curled fist at her side. “I’m

stupid. I’m so, so stupid.” Quinn paced back and forth. She

was breathing loudly. Angrily. Too fast.

“Quinn, no. You have to listen to me. It’s not-”

“Danica told me to be careful. She was basically trying to

tell me not to be dumb. I knew that I was being dumb before I

even talked to you at your hotel room, but I did it anyway.

You’re like- you’re like- this- this horrible light and I’m the

poor moth that keeps getting sucked in. Except you’re not

light. You’re this crappy darkness. You have a circle of

badness around you. Bad decisions. That’s what I keep getting

sucked into. I don’t know why I can’t help myself.”

“Quinn. You need to calm down and we need to talk.

You’re thinking this is something that

it isn’t. My parents

wouldn’t have stopped me from coming here.”

“No? They wouldn’t have stopped you from getting in

contact with me? Once they find out that you did, you won’t

cut me off again?”

“No and no! I meant what I said, about them accepting me

for who I am and that includes the fact that I’m a lesbian and

that I will always date women. They’ve supported me for

years. I’ve had other girlfriends. Brought them home. My

parents didn’t have a problem with that. They were willing to

grow with me and admit where they went wrong.”

“But do they regret moving? Tearing you away from us?