The Ballerina and the Rocker

Quinn

He had kissed her...

Quinn stayed in the bed the next day to catch up on the sleep she missed out on while preparing for the ballet.

She also didn’t want to risk running into Zacky and embarrassing herself.

Zacky

Pop covers of Christmas carols poured through the mall’s sound system as people scurried from one store to another. Matt and Zacky weaved their way through the throng as they headed to the record store.

A majority of the time Matt kept on about his Christmas gift predicament for Val (“Should I get her jewelry? Or is that too sappy?”), and Zacky would do his best to listen and shrug and mumble when necessary.

“You alright, dude?” Matt asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Zacky replied halfheartedly. Truth was he wasn’t fine. He actually wasn’t sure what he was; elated because it was finally Christmas break, but also a little melancholy. It had been a few days since he had kissed Quinn and she literally bolted out the window and they hadn’t seen each other since. Having a girl run away after you kiss her isn't really a good sign.

He knew she was intentionally avoiding him.

The boys made it to the record store and immediately began perusing the new and used CDs. Zacky was sifting through the Ls when he looked up and saw a girl, who donned the same dirty blonde hair as Quinn, looking through a stack of CDs on the other side of the shelf. Only it wasn’t Quinn -- she was clearly a few years older and the hair was shoulder length. She picked up a CD and studied it carefully. Zacky eyed it as well and noticed it was Aoxomoxoa by Grateful Dead.

“That’s a great album,” he said to the girl without thinking. She looked up from the CD case and smiled. She had the same blue eyes as Quinn.

“Yeah, I know,” she replied with a smile. “I think it’s their best work, and one of the most underrated albums of all time.”

“Fuck yeah, it is. I mean, it was the first recorded album to use a 16 track. And if anything captures the psychedelia of 1960s America it’s that album.”

The girl stared at Zacky impressively, as if he had just discovered a cure for cancer.

“You’ve got great taste in music,” she noted proudly. Zacky’s enthusiasm quickly melted into humility.

“Thanks. Sorry, I tend to go off on stuff like that.”

“Hey, me too. I’m trying to educate my sister, but I think she’s a lost cause.” Just then, Quinn came walking up to the girl Zacky was talking to.

“Do you think Mason would be mad if I got him the Cher CD instead of Eminem... Oh, hi Zacky,” she said, the timbre of her voice changing when she saw him. He felt his gut churn over.

“Hey,” he replied as best he could.

“Wait, Zacky?” the other girl said. “As in the Zacky?” Quinn shot the girl a shut the fuck up look. Zacky was curious - was that a good thing he was know as "the Zacky," or absolutely horrible?

“Zacky,” Quinn said, glaring at the girl. “This is my sister, Audrey.”

“Nice to meet you,” Zacky said.

“Yeah, you too!” Audrey smiled back, just as Matt walked up beside Zacky. Quinn introduced her sister once again.

“I know it’s not for another week, but you guys should totally come over to our place for New Year’s,” Audrey conversed with the boys. “My parents always have a party, and I’m sure this time is no exception. The more people, the better, right?”

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Zacky replied. He looked over at Quinn who quickly averted her eyes down to some random CD.

The sisters then said their goodbyes and left the record store. He had never seen Quinn walk so quickly.

Quinn

“He’s cute, Q,” Audrey said to her sister as the two drove home from the mall. Quinn didn’t respond. Instead, she stared out the passenger window and thought about how stupid she was and what Zacky must have thought of her... he probably thought she was a total bitch and she didn’t know what to do.

“You can just talk to him, you know,” her sister continued as if she could read her thoughts. “You can’t just kiss and not talk about it.” Again, Quinn remained quiet.

She knew Audrey was getting tired of talking to a brick wall, so if she just stayed silent enough she would change the subject. Right now, Quinn was not in the mood to discuss Zacky.

“I’m going to tell mom and dad about dating Sam,” Audrey said, shifting the conversation just as Quinn predicted.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. And tell them it’s short for Samantha.”

Zacky

The Baker clan had a pretty good Christmas. Zacky got a card from the Anderson’s, and in it was a check for two-hundred and fifty dollars. His jaw almost dropped to the floor.

All that guitar playing will pay off one day. Merry Christmas, much love - Rob and Jen Anderson

This was probably the first time since the Anderson’s moved away that Zacky actually thought about how much he did miss them, and he didn’t want that to happen with him and Quinn.

Quinn

“Oh, she can have a glass!” Dan Hartford happily exclaimed as his wife intercepted a glass of champagne intended for their daughter.

“She can have the sparkling cider in the fridge,” was Jo’s stern response.

“Come on, honey. It’s New Year’s!”

“Mom,” Quinn interjected. “It’s fine, I’ll just go have a Coke.” It really wasn’t that big of a deal, but she knew how much of a stickler her mother was about alcohol and, despite it being New Year’s Eve, the argument would be futile. Quinn wasn’t all too keen on drinking again since Halloween, anyway.

“No luck?” Audrey said to her little sister as she followed her into the kitchen.

“Nah,” Quinn said as she took a can of Coca-Cola from the fridge. “Whatever.”

“She probably just wants all the alcohol for herself. You know -- drink herself into a stupor to deal with my new-found lesbianism.” Quinn laughed in admiration for how her sister was dealing. If Audrey could come out to their parents then there was no reason Quinn couldn't muster up the courage to talk to Zacky again...

She opened up the can and took a sip before continuing.

“At least she’s been decent in front of everyone.”

“Because she’s too involved in this party to worry about my gay rubbing off on people.”

“Who’s rubbing people?” Mason’s unmistakably deep voice boomed as the eldest Hartford sibling entered the kitchen. He was a staggering six-two, athletic built young man. Unlike his two younger sister’s, Mason had a head full of dark brown hair, but his eyes were just as piercing blue.

“Nothing,” Audrey said. “Mom's just being annoying.”

“Annoying? She’s being an asshole. Hey Quinn, can you pass me a Coors?” Quinn obliged and grabbed a glass bottle of beer for her brother. “Thanks. You guys should come out back. I’m chatting with Quinn’s friends; they’re pretty cool. It's about time she got some good ones.” Audrey looked over at Quinn with a knowing smirk. Quinn’s eyes widened in embarrassment. “What?” Mason said as he noticed his sisters’ looks.

“Oh nothing,” Audrey said slyly, to which Quinn responded by mouthing the words I hate you.

“Whatever. Just come outside.” Mason left and Quinn hesitated to follow.

“Quinn,” Audrey said, sensing this hesitation. “You can’t avoid him forever.”

“I’m not avoiding him,” Quinn shot back, more so to convince herself rather than her sister. With a knowing glance, Audrey grabbed her little sister’s hand and led her through the sliding doors to the backyard.

Zacky

The backyard fence served as the perfect backrest as Zacky sat on the grass, sipping a beer Matt had snatched for him. Even though he was surrounded by his buddies, Zacky couldn’t help but be locked up in his own little world. The past two weeks had been the longest and most awkward of his life. He kept thinking over and over again about his kiss with Quinn and the aftermath that followed. Did she hate him now? She barely spoke to him anymore, and if they had happened to see each other she quickly averted her eyes, just like the time at the mall. He hadn’t thought the kiss was terrible, but then again maybe it wasn’t the kiss that had upset Quinn but rather the person who had kissed her…

He couldn’t wait for the year to end.

“Ah, the Hartford clan graces us with their presence,” Brian said. Zacky snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. “You know,” Brian continued. “It’s rude to host a New Year’s party and not show up to it.”

“Sorry,” Quinn said. “I was trying to coax my mother into letting me have something a little stronger than soda.” Quinn’s gaze caught Zacky’s and he quickly turned his eyes from her back down to the beer in his hand.

“Well, that’s why you come out here,” said Matt. “We’ve got our own stash away from prying eyes… unless…”

“Oh, I won’t tell,” Mason said, finishing Matt’s thoughts. “Trust me; I’ve done my fair share of underage drinking.”

“Don’t you have curfews and stuff, though?” Brian asked. “With being in the minors?”

As Mason proceeded to regale Matt and Brian with baseball stories, Zacky picked away at the paper label on his Miller Lite bottle. He continued to pick and pick until he saw Quinn’s silhouette facing him. He looked up at the girl who had taken a seat on the grass opposite him and felt his heart begin to pound.

“Hi,” her hesitant voice quivered.

“Hey,” he responded. A brief silence followed, in which time Zacky was able to take in how beautiful she looked; the way her long hair was pinned away from her face and how her light purple tank dress clung to each line of her body was enough to make Zacky want to kiss her again. But, given the reaction that followed from the last time, he knew that wouldn’t be the best idea.

“Um,” she nervously and awkwardly continued, “I’m glad you came.”

“Yeah, well traffic wasn’t bad, so…” He was glad his joke made Quinn smile. A small, soft smile, but a smile nonetheless. Hopefully the awkwardness between them would end soon.

“Hey, you two,” Matt said. “It’s almost time!”

“Well,” Zacky said as he stood up. “I guess we should go inside and join everyone. Don’t want this Y2K to happen without us.”

Quinn

“Two minutes everybody!” Maria shouted over the noise of conversation that saturated the Hartford household. Once Zacky and Quinn had walked back inside, he immediately darted over to his boys while Quinn meandered to her sister who was on the opposite side of the living room.

“Here’s a confetti popper!” Audrey said as she handed a small plastic bottle to Quinn. “What did you say to Zacky?”

“What… did I say?”

“Yeah, you guys were talking?”

“Oh yeah, um…” Quinn stammered. She didn’t know what her sister was getting at. Audrey started laughing. “What?”

“For being such a smart girl you sure are stupid when it comes to boys.”

“Says the lesbian.”

“Hey- boys, girls, romance is the same. So here it is: He likes you, Quinn. You know he does. And I know you like him, too. The way you talk about him all the time. It’s obvious, and you’re oblivious, and you should really say something to him. It’s that goddamn simple... TEN, NINE, EIGHT…”

Audrey’s words rang in her ears.

SEVEN, SIX…

She did really like Zacky. And that scared her a bit.

FIVE, FOUR, THREE…

But… could they be together? They had only known each other a few months. And they were both planning on leaving after the school year.

TWO, ONE…

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

The entire house rung out in shouts and cheers, and a drunkenly happy rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” soon burst out. Quinn had been too preoccupied with analyzing what Audrey had said that she was still clutching her confetti popper while everyone else had already wasted theirs. She looked around and saw her parents share a kiss, while other people whistled and hugged. Across the living room, Zacky was jumping up and down with Matt and Brian, covered in confetti, and Jimmy screamed, “WE SURVIVED Y2K” over and over again.

“Are you gonna pop that or what?” Audrey said. Quinn snapped out of her trance and smiled up at her sister.

“No, not yet.”

It’s that goddamn simple.

After another hour or so of celebrating, the guests finally cleared out and went home (or to a bar). The living room looked like a Unicorn had thrown up, but everyone was too tired to care. After a few more “happy new year”s and “good-nights,” the Hartford’s retired to their bedrooms.

Quinn threw her dress into a corner in her room and slipped on an oversized tee shirt and plaid boxershorts. After putting her hair up into a ponytail, she grabbed her un-popped confetti popper and pushed the bay window open.

Glancing across the way, she saw the light in Zacky’s room was on. With a deep breath and her mind made up, Quinn bravely stepped onto the sturdy tree branch and carefully climbed to the other side. When she made it, she held onto the tree with one hand and used the other, still holding the popper, to tap on Zacky’s window multiple times.

The window opened, revealing Zacky in blue boxers and a loose fitting gray muscle tee.

“So is this a thing now?” he said with a surprised smile.

“Can I come in?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Zacky stepped back, allowing Quinn space to step safely inside his room. Quinn looked up into his perfect, jade colored eyes and couldn’t believe how stupid she had been before. Of course she liked Zacky, and of course she had liked it when he kissed her before. It had just taken her too long to soak it all in.

“So, uh,” she began nervously. “I just wanted to say that I’m… sorry.” He stared blankly at her, not knowing what to say. Thankfully, she continued. “It’s just… well… I didn’t know what to do, I mean… Look, promise you won’t laugh at me?”

“I promise,” Zacky said with a nod. Quinn closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.

“Ok. See, when you kissed me that night, well -- oh god, this is embarrassing, um -- that was, kinda, my… first kiss...”

Zacky looked like he had the wind knocked out of him. He must have thought she was some kind of joke.

“Wait, what? It was?” Quinn nodded.

“Well, unless you count Thomas Henrikson in 7th grade, but it was a stage kiss in front of the entire school and it was really embarrassing.” Zacky chuckled and Quinn smiled nervously.

“Quinn, look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know -”

“I know! I don’t want you to feel bad or anything, I just… didn’t want you to feel like you did something wrong. I was just caught off guard and didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry, I’m not very good at this. At talking about stuff.”

“You’re fine.”

“Zacky?”

“Yeah?”

“... I like you.” A huge weight had been lifted, but Quinn felt like she was going to pass out. Zacky looked the same way. “Can you say something, please? This is really embarrassing...”

“Sorry. I just didn’t expect any of this.”

“What… what do you mean?”

“With how you reacted when I kissed you… well, I would have never guessed you felt that way about me.” Zacky smiled. “I’m glad you do, because I really like you, too.”

Quinn smiled back and finally popped the popper, showering the both of them with colorful confetti.

“Happy New Year, Zacky.” She looked into his eyes and brought her hand up to his cheek. As she did so, she felt his arm wrap around her waist and slowly pull her closer to him.

“Happy New Year, Quinn.”

And this time, she didn’t bolt out of the window after they kissed.