Page 55 of Hard Hitter

"As a girl,"Alaina said, "oddly, yes. Part of it may be that girls now know- or at least think- that you're sexually experienced and they find that attractive. Others just want a guy they know their parents won't approve of."

Looking down, Quinn raised an eyebrow, puzzled, "Is that supposed to make sense? I mean, I guess the first part sort of does, but why would you want to be with a guy who ditches a girl after getting cum all over her three hundred dollar homecoming dress?"

"You got cum on her dress?" she looked up at him, seemingly amused.

"No, just a rumor I heard," Quinn said. "I got called an asshole for not replacing the dress I ruined, and then another girl who'd been listening in asked me what I was doing this weekend."

"And what did you tell her?" Alaina asked, tucking her long, dark curls behind one ear.

"The usual," Quinn shrugged, "plotting new forms of sexual humiliation and looking for available masochists willing to test my wicked methods."

"Okay, wait," Alaina stopped walking and turned toward Quinn, putting her hands up. "The rumors of you being a sexual sadist are completely untrue- from what I heard of therealstory, she sort of attacked you- but you'reperpetuatingthe rumors anyway?"

"Fighting it seemed like too much work," Quinn said simply.

"You just like that you're getting all this attention," said Alaina with a smirk.

Quinn considered this assessment, "I guess it's not all bad being known as more than 'that poor kid who's really good at hitting a ball'."

"Or Raelyn DeRose's sidekick?"

That stung a little. Partially because he wondered if that's really how people saw him, and partially because he'd actually been enjoying this interaction that had yet to poke at that still-sore wound.

When Quinn failed to respond, Alaina said, "When I got to school and everyone was talking about you and Raelyn, honestly I was sure you two had finally got together. I was surprised to learn they were two separate rumors."

"Yeah, well," Quinn sighed heavily. "You were at least right abouthergetting together with someone." He began walking again, not particularly interested in this new topic of conversation.

Alaina caught up with him and continued anyway, "You guys never really made sense to me anyway."

"Why would you say that?" Quinn asked. His tone was flat, though he was mildly curious.

"Isn't it hard to connect with someone like her?" Alaina questioned. "A trust fund kid whose entire life has been handed to her on a sparkling silver platter? She has no idea what people like us have to deal with."

People like us?

Quinn gave her a sideways glance. Her dark brown hair hung in loose curls past her shoulders which were bare in her off-the-shoulder sweater. Her olive-colored skin looked soft and flawless, and he found himself focusing on the nape of her neck. He'd never considered what kind of life Alaina Costello might have had and he began racking his brain for everything he did know about her. She was artistic, he remembered. She was an excellent painter, sculptor, and sketch artist. He remembered the school making a big deal about one of her sculptures being displayed at the Grand Rapids Art Prize festival, in which artwork was displayed all over the city. She was one of the youngest artists chosen that year. Quinn wondered if art gave her the same feeling of calm and relief from her life as baseball and other sports did for him.

Maybe he did have more in common with Alaina than he did with Rae.

"What makes you think you know anything about what I have to deal with?" Quinn asked, looking ahead and avoiding eye contact.

"You called yourself a poor kid like two minutes ago, so that's something," Alaina said.

"Something we have in common?"

"Among other things," she replied.

"Like what?" Quinn glanced sideways at her again. "You gonna tell me you've got a single mom who's a complete train wreck, too?"

"No, but Idohave an alcoholic father." Alaina's tone was conversational and casual. "My mom might as well be a single parent, as much parenting as Dad does."

Quinn wasn't interested in explaining as much about his own situation. "I'm sorry, that can't be easy to watch."

"I can't ever decide if it's better or worse that I have a little brother to go through it all with," Alaina continued. "I mean, it's nice to know I'm not alone, but I'm also the one who has to calm him and take care of him when Dad goes off."

"Goes off?" Quinn hadn't meant to press- it really wasn't his business.

"Usually just yelling," Alaina clarified, "He can get pretty mean and belligerent...sometimes he'll break something or throw shit."

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