Page 73 of Hard Hitter

The final two days before winter break had passed unbearably slowly. Opting to take a break from all boys, Raelyn had invited a bunch of the girls from the swim and soccer teams to stay at her house for a stereotypical girly slumber party. They swapped gossip, caught up on each other’s love lives, though Raelyn’s was sort of all over the school by now, and ate pizza while watching aOne Tree Hillmarathon. It had been refreshing. Raelyn spent so much time with the guys even before her ill-advised relationship with Liam, she rarely got in any girl time.

When the girls left on Saturday, Raelyn cleaned up what was left of the mess in the living room and her dad had wandered in to help.

"It was nice having the girls over this weekend, huh?" her dad remarked as he helped Raelyn fold a large blanket.

"Yeah, I need to do this more often," Raelyn said.

Now that the house was empty and the distractions were gone, her thoughts of Quinn returned. She had tried calling him multiple times since Wednesday after leaving Liam's house, and he hadn't returned any of her texts. She hadn't given away much in the messages that she'd sent him. She was starting to think she needed to break the ice by telling him exactly what had happened at Liam’s. Sure, he'd respond, but he may also take a trip to Liam's house and finish what he started. It would be a little harder trying to keep Quinn out of legal trouble if he attacked Liam at his own house.

"I get the feeling you've got a lot on your mind, kiddo," Charlie said, tilting his head as he looked at his daughter.

"Just a lot of stuff has happened this semester," Raelyn sighed.

"I can't help noticing I haven't seen Quinn recently," he commented. When Raelyn simply glanced up at him and then down to the side, he continued, "I can't imagine your injured hand and wrist have something to do with that…"

"I already told you I forgot to wear gloves at my aerobic kickboxing class," Raelyn said in what even she knew was a much rehearsed tone. Liam’s strong grasp had left a very distinct hand-print-shaped mark on her left wrist, and she’d had to ice the knuckles on her right hand after punching him square in the face.

"Mhm," her dad raised a skeptical eyebrow. "No Liam all weekend, either?"

"We broke up," Raelyn stated. She grabbed an armful of blankets and left the living room, heading for the stairs.

Charlie followed her up the staircase with his arms also full of blankets and spare pillows. In the guest room, they both unloaded their arms, putting everything back into the closet.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Charlie said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Raelyn turned away with a shrug, "I'm not."

She heard the chuckle her father let out behind her. Continuing down the long hallway and into her bedroom, she was aware that her dad was still following, not ready to drop this conversation. Raelynflopped onto her bed with her back on her pillows, and Charlie dipped into the room shortly after, hands in his pockets and head bowed slightly.

"We don't have to talk about it," he said. "And for the record, I'm not really sorry you broke up either."

Glancing up at her father, she couldn’t stop the small tug that turned up the corners of her lips. Her dad was sort of her person. The one she went to when she needed to solve life’s problems. Well, actually, Quinn was her person, but as he was clearly unavailable, her dad was the next best thing. "It's sort of a long story."

Charlie lowered himself onto the edge of her bed. "I've got time."

Oh boy…where do I start?How many of the details did she really want to share with her dad? He was level-headed and understanding in almost all respects, and he was protective, but also knew that teenagers did teenager stuff and that was perfectly normal. He wouldn't freak out on her over locker room talk, and she doubted he'd flinch hearing about Quinn's new reputation. Deciding that he would let her know if she was oversharing, she began with the day Liam asked her to the homecoming dance.

"...and there was this huge fight in the locker room the other day. Chris and Jett told me Liam was sharing...intimateand private details of our...physical relationship,” Raelyn was explaining. Her dad put a hand up and assured her he did not need to know those details. “Right, well, apparently it pissed Quinn off. AndthenLiam made some snarky comment about how I just think he's a charity case or something.”

Charlie’s eyebrows shot up. “What a little prick. What did Quinn have to say?”

Anxiously picking at her comforter, she continued to explain about her interaction with Quinn while he cleared out his locker. “And then!" Raelyn's pace and volume were rising as she described this scene that still had her fuming, “He walksaroundme and just shoves his tongue down Alaina Costello's throat- can you believe that?Alaina Costello!”Raelyn scoffed. "He knows I don't like her. And then they just walk outtogether like they're some couple! Just because he chose her to make out with for no apparent reason!"

“Isn’t that sort of what you did to him?” Charlie questioned. “Just picked the person you knew would piss him off the most because you were upset with him at that moment?”

Staring back at her dad, she chewed her lip, reflecting on this point. “Okay, Dad, are you here to be reasonable and give me sound advice? Or are you here to back me up? Because you can't do both.”

With a nearly silent laugh, Charlie put his hands up in surrender, "I'm always here to back you up, sweetie. I'm just making connections." He sighed, then furrowed his brow in concentration. "Do I know Alaina? The name sounds familiar."

"She's the girl who hates me because you and mom have money," Raelyn replied contemptuously. "I've known her since the sixth grade and she's just always been unpleasant toward me. And she constantly makes snarky comments about me being a spoiled rich girl. She's all dark and cynical and has this stupid The World Is Out To Get Me attitude. And no matter what you say or do to be nice, she just has this chip on her shoulder. It's like a vendetta against anyone who doesn't have a completely dysfunctional family."

"Sounds like maybe she and Quinn have some things in common," Charlie said thoughtfully.

Raelyn looked at her dad through narrowed eyes. "No. They don't. Quinn is nice and pleasant to be around. And funny. And fun.Alainais just...moody and hates everyone."

"You do realize that's how Quinn looks to everyone except you and his closest friends, right? How many noses has he broken? How many teeth has he knocked out?" Charlie asked.

"Uh, when he was younger, yeah," Raelyn defended, "but he's not that angry, pessimistic kid anymore." Charlie raised his eyebrows and scrunched his face. "Okay, he's still a little angry, apparently," she admitted with a restrained giggle, "but he doesn't let his situation keep him down. He doesn't go around blaming everyone else because of the shitty hand he was dealt."

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