The Ballerina and the Rocker

Quinn

“You could work at the movie theatre?” Audrey suggested as she and Quinn sat beside the pool, soaking in the warm California sun.

“Yeah maybe,” Quinn said. “I just don’t want to spend my whole summer selling popcorn.”

New York wasn’t cheap. Even though she had a part-time student job at the box office while school was in session, she definitely needed a summer job to save up money. So far the prospects weren’t very enthralling.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Audrey continued. “Most of the summer positions are filled already.”

“Dammit.”

As she and her sister continued to brainstorm summer job possibilities, a thought occurred to Quinn. Sure, she needed a job to make some money but she was halfway done with college so she might as well start building up her resume with something more meaningful than just another sales job. Instead of deciding to just keep applying to different stores around town hoping someone was hiring, Quinn decided to take matters into her own hands and headed down to her old dance studio later that same day.

“Hi,” she said to the brunette receptionist at the front desk. “Um, I was just wondering if there’s anyone here I can talk to about employment?”

Before the receptionist could answer, a familiar face walked by. “Quinn?” the shaggy brown haired boy asked.

“Oh my god, hey Jackson!” Quinn said when she noticed her fellow dancer.

“How’s Juilliard?” he asked excitedly.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s great. I love it.”

“Awesome. So, what brings you back here?”

“Actually, I’ve been looking for a summer job and was hoping there might be one here?”

Jackson smiled. “We’ve got a lot of dance camps starting soon, and I just so happen to be one of the coordinators…”

He paused purposefully and Quinn couldn’t take the anticipation. “...and?” she continued.

“And I think having a current Juilliard student and Huntington Dance Academy alum would be a great addition. Let me just look through the schedules and I’ll give you a call later today.”

Quinn screamed internally and kept saying “thank you” over and over again. She couldn’t wait to get home and tell Audrey and her mom the good news.

“So, I’m pretty sure I just got the best summer job ever!” she said as soon as she walked through the front door, loud enough so that anyone in any part of the house could hear her. She heard the laughter of both her mother and sister coming from the living room, so she made her way over.

“Did you hear what I said?” she asked when she got to the room. “I’m going to be --”

Quinn froze and didn’t allow herself to finish that sentence. Sitting next to her mother on the couch was her father dressed in his khaki casual naval uniform. He stood up immediately and looked at his youngest child.

“Hi, sweetie,” her father said with a huge smile.

Ignoring the tears that had welled up in her eyes, Quinn rushed over to her father who immediately embraced her. She couldn’t remember a time where a hug had felt so good before.

This was going to be the best summer ever.

Zacky

Zacky lay on his bed, mindlessly strumming his guitar and enjoying the air conditioning. He closed his eyes as he strummed and imagined just how awesome it was going to be to play on Warped Tour in front of so many people.

He thought of a mosh pit forming in the ninety degree heat as they played their songs and pictured himself playing guitar up on the stage, hoping he looked as cool in real life as he did in his head.

“What are you doing?” Quinn’s voice said, bringing him out of his little daydream.

Zacky stopped humming along with his guitar playing and opened his eyes to see his girlfriend standing beside his bed looking down at him, a smug grin on her face. He sat up and placed his guitar to the side so Quinn could sit down on the bed beside him.

“Oh, nothing,” he began. “Just practicing, you know?”

“You guys are going to play Billie Jean?”

“It was the first song that popped into my head,” he explained, playfully. “And anyway, who says we can’t cover Michael Jackson at Warped Tour?” That earned a laugh from Quinn before she leaned over and gave Zacky a quick peck on the cheek.

“When do you guys start?” she asked.

“Two weeks.”

“Wow, that’s so soon.”

“Yeah, but at least it starts here so we don’t have to rush off anywhere.” Zacky took a moment to pause before he continued speaking. He had rehearsed the next part over and over again in his head to make sure it came out just perfect.

“Hey, I was thinking,” he said, looking straight into Quinn’s attentive blue eyes. “You should totally come along with us. It’ll be great! I know Val would love the help with merch and stuff, plus we’d be able to spend the whole summer together. And there’s still time to sign you up for passes, I think. What do you say?”

He looked at Quinn and waited for her to respond, but she didn’t say anything right away. Her smile seemed to droop a bit. She was going to say yes, right? She had to say yes. Why wouldn’t she say yes?

“Zacky,” she began with a hesitation in her voice. He felt his own smile droop. “I’d love to, but I’ve got a summer job here teaching at the dance studio.”

He wasn’t going to let her get off that easy.

“Oh okay, well,” he said, thinking on his feet. “Well, how often will you be teaching?”

“A few days a week. They’ve got a bunch of dance camps and clinics going on this summer, plus private classes. It’s a really great opportunity and I could really use the money.”

Of course he understood her need to work, but he was a little taken aback at how quickly she turned down his offer to go on the tour with him.

“Well, maybe you could come join us when you’re all done?” he tried pleading again. “You’ve got to have some free time, right?”

“I’ll have days off, sure, but that’s not enough time to come meet up with you in some random city!” She took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Also, my dad’s only home for the summer,” she continued, her voice now more mellow. “And then he’s going to be gone again for god knows how long… and I want to spend that time with him while I can.”

“Yeah… yeah, totally. Of course.”

“But I can come to your California shows.”

Zacky smiled a melancholy smile. “I know. I was just hoping we’d be able to spend the summer together since, your know, you haven’t been out here in, like, a year.”

“Yeah, I’m aware at how long it’s been,” she said, raising her voice. It made Zacky jump back a little.

“Whoa, Quinn, calm down. I was just saying that it’s been a long time.”

“Sorry, it’s just… never mind.”

“No, come on. What is it?”

“Nothing.”

No. He was not going to let this happen again. He was not going to deal with another situation where things that need to be said aren’t said. Something was clearly gnawing on her and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

“Quinn, you always do this,” he said, trying to stay calm.

“Do what?”

“You have something to say but you never say it, so things get awkward.”

Quinn looked down at her fingers and began picking at her cuticles. “I just meant that I know it’s been a long time,” she practically mumbled.

“Well, you knew where I was.”

Quinn

And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Quinn stopped picking at her finger and looked up at Zacky.

“You did not just say what I thought you said.”

“What, that you knew where I was?”

“Ding ding ding!”

“Well you did! You just got upset when I said how long it’s been since we’ve seen each other, but I’ve been here the whole time - it’s not my fault you never came out to visit this past year.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Quinn felt her cheeks burning up, only this time it wasn’t because she was blushing. Upset, she got up off the bed and stood instead. “Yeah, I knew where you were,” she continued. “But you also knew where I was!”

A puzzled look crossed Zacky’s faced. “What?”

“Oh come on,” she said, annoyed at how clueless he was being. “You could have just as easily come out to visit me in New York.”

Zacky stared at her, shocked. His mouth was open but he couldn’t seem to find any words to say.

“I had band stuff,” he finally voiced sheepishly.

“Yeah, and I had school and family stuff, so….”

She crossed her arms and leaned against the bedroom wall. Zacky got off the bed and walked over to her.

“Are you mad at me for not coming out to visit you?” he said, placing his hands on her arms.

“Yes! Yes, I’m mad.”

“Why… why didn’t you tell me?”

She sighed. “I shouldn’t have had to tell my boyfriend that I wanted him to visit me.”

Zacky

The two just stood in front of each other in silence, hoping the other would speak up first. This certainly wasn’t how Zacky was hoping the conversation would go. He felt like a complete asshole and never meant to make Quinn hurt the way she was hurting right at that moment.

“I - I’m sorry,” he managed to say, his voice almost at a whisper.

“Me too,” Quinn said, her voice shaky. She brought her hand up to her face and wiped away a stray tear. “Um,” she continued, softly. “I came over here to see if you wanted to come over for dinner.” She opted to look down at the carpet instead of at him when she spoke, which was like a knife through his heart.

“I’ve got plans with the guys tonight,” he said apologetically.

“No problem. I’ll see you later, then.”

Before Zacky could say another word, Quinn quickly left his room. Not through the window like she normally did, but through the door. Zacky reached for his clock radio, which happened to be the nearest object to him, and threw it against his closet. It broke instantly.