Beautiful Things Never Last (4 page)

“Shayna, what is that?” I ask, trying to swallow a laugh. My brothers’ girlfriend rolls her eyes and sets the pan full of burnt crust onto the counter top.

“Peach pie, obvs,” she says, gesturing to the murky goo with a confused smile. “I thought it’d make it feel more like home.” Her voice drops off a little. I want to say something snarky, but Shayna looks sincere. She’s really the only one of us in the room that has a family worth going home to for the holiday, and, instead, she chose to spend it with us assholes.

Shayna showed up in Southern California a few months ago wanting to spend her summer here rather than in the soaking humidity of Georgia and has pretty much been a permanent fixture ever since. Plus, she sort of helped Carter get sober, so I owe her. She and Carter have a complicated relationship, in that she is completely into him and he isn’t ready to settle down with anyone, especially since he just stopped drinking, but Shayna makes him happy so she stays.

“Ben, you want to watch the game?” Carter asks, looking at the kitchen he so doesn’t want to be stuck in with a weird panic.
 
 
 
 
 
Ben scoffs. “Really, dude?” He jokes because sports are so not his thing, but he follows Carter into the living room anyway as a mercy gesture.
 
 
 
 
 
“So, what’s up with you two?” Shayna leans over the countertop and watches me scoop the stuffing out of the way-too-big turkey, settling in for the conspiratorial chat Carter knew was
coming and was desperate to avoid at any cost.
 
 
 
 
 
“What do you mean?” I am taking an unfair amount of aggression out on the innocent turkey hanging on my counter.
 
 
 
 
 
She applies a slow coat of lip gloss and scoots a little closer, pushing a bowl of cranberries out of the way with her newly manicured finger. “I mean, he’s usually attached to your hip. But he’s in there watching golf or something.”
 
 
 
 
 
“Football,” I correct with a snicker.
 
 
 
 
 
“Whatever. What’s going on?” She raises an eyebrow and bumps her hip against mine, like in solidarity. That one tiny gesture gets me to put down the stuffing and consider letting it all spill. Without my high school best friend, Sydney, around and with no real friends other than Ben here, I’ve been lonely. Shayna’s olive branch is so damn tempting right now, it’s sad.
 
 
 
 
 
I inhale sharply. I could tell Shayna that Caroline called. I could.
 
 
 
She’d understand. She’d probably even call her back. But Ben told me to trust him, and I do.
I have to.
Because doing anything else only proves that I haven’t changed, and I think I have. I hope I have. I don’t want to ruin this bubble of perfection by being the girl I used to be.
 
 
 
 
 
“Do you eat sweet potatoes?” I ask Shayna.
 
 
 
 
 
“Huh?” At the question she purses her shiny lips and narrows her eyes.
 
 
 
 
 
“Sweet potatoes? Do you like them? I made a sweet-potato soufflé. I’ve never made it before, but if, you know, if they’re not your favorite then who gives a crap if I screwed it up, right? Ben says he can take them or leave them—”
 
 
 
 
 
“Quinn, cut the crap. What’s going on?” She leans forward, her long hair grazing the counter with the food on it. She doesn’t seem to notice. Or care.
 
 
 
 
 
I stab at the bowl of stuffing with my fork. “Ben’s ex.”

Shayna smiles and drags her eyebrows together all at the same time. “What about her? Wait, you’re not worried about her are you?”

“She called today,” I admit, my voice revealing every petty, stupid thing I’ve been trying to pretend I don’t feel since the call came through.

“What’d she want?” Shayna asks, her eyes sharp on me.

“I don’t know. He didn’t answer. But why is she calling at all?” I shove the stuffing bowl away and brace my hands on the counter.

Shayna looks over her shoulder toward where the guys are sitting on the couch, Ben silent and confused, Carter jumping up and screaming at the TV every minute or two. “Has she before?”

“He says he isn’t sure. Maybe.” I follow Shayna’s line of sight and try not to focus on how much I love Ben’s confused face. I need to clear my head, and getting dopey over how he frowns just a tiny bit when he’s watching a football game isn’t helping.

“Do you believe him?” The question is wide open, and I know Shayna won’t judge me no matter how I answer.

“Why would he lie? She’s all the way in Kentucky. He’s here with me. There’s nothing to worry about, right?” I whirl back to the oven and start the laborious process of jamming remaining dishes that need to be warmed into the tiny appliance, glad for the sweaty, frustrating distraction.

Shayna comes to the side of the oven to watch me and shrugs. “I don’t know. Sometimes, people don’t need a reason to lie. They just can’t help themselves.” Have I mentioned that Shayna is a psych major? She throws out these helpful, paranoia-inducing tidbits all of the time.

“Ben isn’t like that,” I say as I manage to wrestle the oven door shut with a satisfying slam, smoothing the wrinkles in my apron, trying to iron out my nerves in the process.

“Let’s hope not.” Shayna pipes leftover icing onto the tip of her finger in neat little swirls and eats it off.

So much for a friend to take the place of Syd. What I wouldn’t give for my sweet bestie’s nauseatingly sunny spin on life right now. This is payback for all the times I gleefully rained on her little optimism parades just to be a sour asshat. “Thanks for the confidence-building talk, Shayna. I can tell you’ll go far in your chosen profession.”

“The truth hurts, baby,” Shayna says with a wink as she consumes dangerous amounts of icing. I don’t smile back. She tosses the icing bag aside and tilts her head down to see my face.

“Oh, come on, you know I’m kidding. For whatever reason, Ben is crazy about you. You guys have a good thing going here. Don’t blow it with your insecurity, Quinn.”

“I’m not insecure.”
Maybe if I say it enough times, it’ll be true.

“Right.” Shayna rolls her eyes dramatically. “Because women that are completely secure in their relationships worry about girls that are a thousand miles away.” Shayna continues her random pre-dinner grazing session by biting into a carrot stick, and I will her to choke on it.

“Caroline just has this whole ‘babe-in-the-woods’ act down. And I’m not buying it. I’m just not sure Ben sees that.”

“Quinn. Get a grip. Seriously. You’re leaving soon, don’t ruin the last few days you have with Ben before Italy stressing over a non-issue. Freak.” Shayna mutters the last word under her breath. Shayna is the closest friend I have, but her version of ‘keeping-it-real’ seriously makes me hate her sometimes. I miss Sydney so much it aches. She would empathize with me over all
these inane
problems and always tell me what I wanted to hear—which I love about her—and miss so much right now. But I’m glad Syd is where she is, even if it isn’t near me—she’s coaching gymnastics in Texas, engaged to Grant. Safe and happy, just like she always deserved. I know I always made fun of her upbeat belief in happily ever after, but I’m so glad she got hers, it makes my heart squeeze.

God, I miss her.

“It’s time to eat,” I say, stabbing a knife into the peach pie. “Oh, and Shayna, I hope you get all of the hair in your food.”

Three
BEN
 

Quinn kicks me like a mule for the twelfth time in her sleep before I get up out of bed. As soon as I’m up, she stretches out like it’s what she’s been waiting for—to have the entire space to herself.
 
 
 
 
 
It used to be that she couldn’t sleep without me next to her. She would form herself to my side and fall asleep on my chest every single night, clutching onto my t-shirt. But I guess most fears  wither that way, and I have gone from being something Quinn isn’t sure will be there in the morning to something she counts on to be there without fail. Quinn used to cling to me for dear life. But slowly, her grip has loosened. Slowly she’s begun to trust that I’m not going to go anywhere.
 
 
 
 
 
I rummage around my nightstand for my keys and grab my camera as I slip on flip flops. In November. And stumble out the door, locking it behind me.

I get in the car and drive, rolling the windows down in the chill of the early morning because I love the way the cold air opens my lungs and clears my mind. I love the way it smells here so much, it’s weird to think I didn’t even know this smell existed a few months ago.

This whole move has been exciting and weird and huge.
 
 
 
 
 
When we first moved here, it felt like total culture shock. We didn’t exactly live in the sticks before, but the change in pace was the biggest difference.
 
We went from our slow-as-hell town where the only things going on were midnight showings of old movies, or driving into the city. But in California, there’s always something going on, and for the first couple of months, we were blowing and going like the two irresponsible kids our parents always told us that we were. Going to festivals across the state—even if they were devoted to avocados-- or food trucks that specialized in fish tacos, or to watch professional sand castle competitions, or listen to free shows by wild bands in all kinds of parks…we wanted to see it all—together. We’ve settled down, not only because we quickly learned just how far our extra financial aid money
wouldn’t
stretch, but because once we got our tiny apartment set up, there was nowhere else in the world we’d rather be.

I pull down the highway, knowing exactly where I want to be. I only have a limited amount of time, but I try not to speed, not to make any stupid mistakes that will put us in jeopardy. The last thing we need right now is a ticket or a fender-bender. Not that we’re doing so badly; but if we want to get ahead, we need to keep on our toes.
 
Quinn’s been in culinary school and working part time at an Italian joint. I’m finishing up my degree in Digital Photography, and working as a photographer’s assistant. It sounds glamorous, but in reality, I’m really just a baby wrangler. I make a kids laugh, run or play so that their parent can have the perfect photo to mount above their fireplace. But what I really love to take photos of are the quieter moments--ones that don’t contain mini sweater vests, infant bow ties and orchestrated smiles.
 
 
 
 
 
When I get to the spot where I need to be, I park the car, get out my gear, and set up my tripod, put my camera in manual mode and adjust the intervalometer to take a photograph every second. I probably look like a huge creeper up here on a dark overpass, but I’ve wanted to get a good time lapsed sequence of traffic on the freeway since we got to California. The constant ticking of the camera is the most calming sound in the world.