We Were Birds

Four; the fight

They met in Biology class.

Well, that was a bit of a lie. They'd known each other since they were toddlers, but they'd never spoken for the seventeen years that they'd known each other. They knew of each other, sure, but it wasn't like either of them had any particular feeling for the other - except maybe a bit of annoyance that they were stuck with each other as lab partners instead of getting their friends. To Fern, Quinn Sutherland was the type of boy that her father wouldn't approve of. He wasn't the type of boy who was going to go to college or university after he graduated, so in the Professor's book, he was not someone that Fern should associate with. To Quinn, Fern was one of the pretty, perfect girls who parents gave them everything they wanted.

They both believed they had nothing in common. Fern loved birds (in possibly the opposite way that her father did), the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes and dreaming. Quinn loved his father, their house and the sea. They were simply two people who would have to deal with being in each other's presence for an hour and twenty minutes every other day.

In class they sat at a small table, right next to each other. Quinn's long legs took up most of the room under the desk, which annoyed Fern, but she'd never say anything. She'd been taught better than that. She wouldn't be so common as to complain. She spent the class taking meticulous notes and doodling in the free space on her paper the birds that took shelter in her father's aviary. Quinn watched her when she didn't think he was, he watched her hands with their long, pale fingers sketching absentmindedly.

It was their unspoken rule to talk only when necessary, when they were doing labs. But one day, Quinn broke that rule.

He looked at her birds, leaned over, propped his elbow on the desk and put his chin in his hand and said to Fern: "You must really love birds."

Startled, she dropped her pencil and looked with alarm at Quinn. His voice had been quiet enough and no one had noticed he'd said anything, but Fern's best friend in the world, Sarah Llewellyn, was sitting right in front of her and was partnered with Fern's boyfriend, Liam Lourdes. And when Fern had been paired with Quinn as partners, Sarah had given Fern the most sympathetic look possible. She did not approve of Quinn's floppy, uncombed and unwaxed brown hair, his shady stubble at his jawline or his worn and torn clothes. And more than anything, she thought he stunk. He smelled like the sea, always, which actually Fern sort of liked, but she'd never tell anyone.

Fern looked up at Quinn carefully. He was smiling lazily. His teeth were perfect and white, which Fern thought was strange, because she honestly doubted he'd ever had any orthodontic work. "Well, my father is a professor of ornithology." She paused, he didn't stop smiling. "He teaches the study of birds at the local university. He keeps an aviary in the back of our house. After seventeen years, I should at least know how to draw a bird," she said, her tone verging on bitter.

Her voice suprised Quinn, but he'd never let her know that. She wore a shirt of lavender and khaki pencil skirt. On her feet she wore black ballet flats and in her long, gold hair, she had slid a lavender head band. Her strained voice betrayed her perfect appearance.

"Well, my pa's been a fisherman my entire life and I don't know how to draw a fish," said Quinn with a shrug. With a noncommital noise, Fern drew a fish. It was juvenile looking. "Everyone can draw a Jesus fish," Quinn told her bluntly. "It's not difficult." He took her pencil out of her hand and drew the exact same fish right underneath hers. Fern couldn't help but notice that his hands were rough and calloused. They were very different than Liam's. His hands were smooth.

A little embarrassed, Fern snatched her pencil back from Quinn's hand and started taking notes again, this time with fervor. Quinn had attempted to write something that was more than just a to-do list of what he needed to get done that afternoon, but he was continuously distracted by Fern's intense note-taking. He couldn't help a laugh.

Liam Lourdes looked back at Quinn with dark eyes, who met his steely gaze easily. With a roll of the eyes, Liam looked at Fern, who was still deep in her notes and turned back. Quinn cracked a self-satisfied smile and leaned into Fern. He couldn't help but smell her - she smelled like orange, but the scent wasn't particularly sweet. It was a little bitter. It was pretty. It suited her. "I don't think your boyfriend likes me much," he said into her ear, using this an excuse to sniff her hair gently.

Fern turned her head up at Liam and then to Quinn. They were close, and he pulled away. "Yes well, you are...you know, talking to me." Quinn raised an eyebrow and Fern put down her pencil and leaned into him. "No offense, but my friends don't exactly think you're, uh, worth knowing."

"Don't worry, the feeling is mutual," Quinn whispered, smiling.

Sticking her chin up, Fern looked like she was the one offended. "You know, maybe if you actually tried in school and got involved in things and didn't make fun of people and...I don't know, but maybe if you were...different, they wouldn't think that."

Quinn crossed his arms around his chest. "I don't think so. I would never change myself just to get attention. Especially from people who don't care about me anyway." He smirked at her then, but realized that she looked different. Her eyes went wide and she clutched onto the desk. Her knuckles were so white it was strange. She looked frozen. Quinn's stomach turned in guilt. He turned towards her. "Listen, don't worry about me. I'm just a nobody kid who will never get anywhere in his life anway," he joked, but she wasn't listening.

Fern turned her head and looked out the window of the Biology room. Outside there was a tree. And on the tree sat a small chickadee. Quinn's words had a bigger impact on her than he probably would have ever thought. He didn't know that what he said was how she felt. Like she was constantly changing herself to get her father's approval. Like she was trying so hard just to see him smile. It used to be so easy, back when Mother was still there. He'd laugh freely. But then she'd left suddenly, leaving behind a note saying only I'm sorry. And suddenly Fern had not been good enough at anything.

When the bell rung to end the class, Fern dashed out of the room before Quinn could say anything, and watching her leave in that sort of rushed made him feel like the worst kind of asshole. From in front of him, Liam turned to Quinn, nose up and chest out. "What did you say to my girlfriend?" he asked - and Christ, he should've just added scum to the end of that, his tone was pompous and snide enough.

Quinn's mouth twisted into a cold smile. "I really don't think it's any of your business what I say to her." At those words he gave Liam a curt nod and walked out of the Biology room. Apparantley, Liam wasn't finished with him, because as soon as Quinn was out of the door, Liam's hand was on his shoulder. Quinn looked back, holding his Biology book and was about to say something nasty when Liam's aristocratic fist collided with Quinn's nose. There was a dull thud and blood began to pour out of his nose and his eyes instantly watered up.

The pain of his newly broken nose was nothing compared to his annoyance that Liam Lourdes, the worlds biggest prat, had been the one doing the breaking. So without much hesitation, Quinn pulled back and let his own fist thud it's way into Liam's nose. He been half expecting Liam to defend himself, but Liam was nursing his knuckles the moment before Quinn had hit him. But as soon as Quinn punched him and they heard the crack of the bone, Liam staggered backwards.

"I'm dead!" he screamed. "You've killed me! You've killed me!"

That was, of course, when the Biology teacher came over and dragged the two boys away, Quinn letting his nose bleed all over his salty shirt with a smirk planted firmly on his face and Liam screaming that Quinn had killed him.

Fern knew about it only twenty minutes after it happened. She'd gone in the opposite direction as fast as she could - she'd still been reeling from what Quinn had said and didn't want to talk to anyone right then - and had been down the hall and up the stairs by the time the fight had happened. She heard about it from Sarah, though, who had been standing with Liam. She heard what Quinn and Liam had said to each other right before the fight and realized that the stupid thing all started, well, because of her.

First she felt guilty. Then she felt ashamed. And then she just felt angry.

As soon as school was over, Fern walked all the way to Liam's house. And the moment she got to his room where he was eating ice cream and watching television, she broke up with him. Then she turned away from him, left the house and walked down to the sea, down to Quinn's house. She'd seen it once before, by accident, she'd seen him walk into it when she was driving by with her father. It was small and old; perfect for Quinn.

He answered looking disheveled, still wearing the bloody shirt. He'd cleaned up his nose, but had the same double black eyes as Liam had had. Before he had a chance to talk though, Fern spoke. "If your nose wasn't broken already, I'd break it again," she said with venom in her voice. "I cannot believe you hit Liam back!"

Quinn looked angry now. "Oh yeah? And what did you expect me to do? Just stand there and let him punch me out?"

"Liam has never hit anyone before in his life," Fern said, matter-of-factly. "I honestly doubt that he would have done much hitting after that. His fist probably hurt too much." She groaned. "You should have just walked away. You could have been the victim."

"Yeah and be the laughing stock of my friends, getting my nose broken by the rich prissy kid." Quinn scoffed at that.

Fern took a deep breath and looked straight in his eyes. "I was mad at Liam, but with you I'm just...dissapointed." The words hit Quinn and Fern saw the obvious hurt in his eyes. Good, then, she'd done waht she wanted to do. She'd hurt him, the way he hurt her. She was mad at Liam for starting the fight, sure, but the fact that Quinn continued it, the fact that he couldn't walk away...it made a different part of Fern upset. A different kind of upset.

"Is that all you have to say?" asked Quinn icily.

"Yes," Fern spat back, straightening her back.

"Then you should probably get back to tending your poor wittle boyfwiend."

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," answered Fern, and she turned away. She meant to make a dramatic and sophisticated exit, but Quinn was bounding after her with that and grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back to him. Above them, seagulls flew. Quinn's house sat on a dirt road right next to long beach grass and beyond that was the wide expanse of sand and then water for miles and miles and miles. Quinn looked at Fern with surprised interest.

"You...broke up with him?" he asked. Fern nodded uncomfortably. "Because he hit me?"

A flush came over Fern's face as he said the words. He made it seem like she'd broken up with Liam for Quinn. She snatched her arm out of Quinn's grasp. "Any self-respecting woman would never date a man who hurts another person," she said with a somewhat haughty sniff. Quinn was silent. Fern looked at Quinn's bloody shirt and tchd. "Really, you should wash that shirt. Blood is hard to get out when it dries, you know." She looked at Quinn, who had a faint smile on his face and a far-off look in his eyes. "Fine, well, I've said my part. I'm leaving."

He let her go, then, and watched her walk down the dirt road. Ahead, he saw the huge house at the top of the cliffs. Quinn always knew she lived there. Now he watched her walk for a moment and finally turned back to his own, small, cozy house.

Pa was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper, when Quinn returned. "What was that all about?" asked Pa in his gruff voice. His large beared covered most of his mouth so his words were always obscured and a little hard to understand.

The strange feeling of elation hadn't left Quinn's chest yet and he looked at his father with the same wonder that he'd looked at Fern with. "Pa..." Quinn said quietly, in a far off voice. "Pa, I think I'm in love."
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I know I said I'd update Lament. I have a chapter in the works. It will happen.