Page 19 of Through Quick and Quinn
“Oh, that close? Was it hard to move schools?” There I went again, deep diving into the uncomfortable topics. It was like I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t know how to spend time in the shallow end.
Quick set his gaze back upon the blades he was slaughtering. “Eh, it was fine. My folks thought it was the right time, in between junior high and high school.”
“Oh, so you’re an only child?” I was very curious about him, and I found myself wanting to learn more about this mysterious introvert, especially if we were going to be spending so much time together.
“Yeah, kinda,” he sighed. Quick then proceeded to flick off his shoes without untying the laces and tossed his bundled-up socks right next to them. Now it was I who was completely dumbfounded. I didn’t know if I was more shocked, appalled, disgusted, perplexed, curious, or humored. I could not help but stare as he buried his feet in the long grass, nestling them in until they were no longer visible.
“Are you grounding right now?” I asked, probably with a little too much enthusiasm in my voice.
“What?” He looked at me quizzically, like I had spoken to him in a foreign language.
“Grounding. Earthing. Like, connecting with the earth. Never m—” My statement was abruptly halted by the eruption of maniacal laughter bursting from Quick’s face. His entire body convulsed from the hysterics and he flopped backwards onto the grass, clutching his stomach with one hand and slapping the ground with the other. A smile stretched across my face as I watched the ridiculous scene unfold, and strangely, I felt a solid truth in my core: There was no contempt or disparagement to Quick’s outburst, and I was not the least bit offended by it. Before I knew it, I too was overtaken by an overwhelming fit of giggles. It felt so good to let go like that, to release any tensions through that type of uncontrollable reaction. It was liberating.
I did not fully understand why I suddenly started laughing in the first place, but I absolutely knew exactly why I stopped.
Quick pointed at something over my left shoulder as his eyes seemed to dart about. “Hey, look! There’s a dragonfly…”
***
Quick / 7:19 p.m.
hey
Quinn / 7:25 p.m.
Hello.
7:25 p.m.
sorry we didn’t get anything accomplished at the meeting today
I even had some ideas for our brainstorm list
7:25 p.m.
That’s okay. It was nice to sit outside if nothing else.
7:27 p.m.
yeah
I hope you know I wasn’t laughing at you
7:28 p.m.
I do, but thank you for saying that.
7:34 p.m.
anyway, sorry I got weird there for a minute
guess I wasn’t expecting the questions
7:35 p.m.
No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry or make you uncomfortable.
I think we have something in common, by the way.
