Chapter Text
BAM!
“What the fuck-” Quinn stood up and looked to her right. Following the dull thud, she could hear the sound of scuffling before another sickening thump was on the floor. This wasn’t the first time Quinn had heard what sounded like the attempted murder of a small animal coming from next door. Except, there was no small animal because she made sure to ask if her neighbors had one.
She remembered the interaction vividly because the boy whom she asked looked at her blankly for a full minute, which immediately made her self-conscious. She was still embarrassed by her rambling.
“I was only asking because the other day I could swear I heard something moving and it sounded small, like it was close to the floor, but I wanted to make sure, just in case he got out or something.” Quinn internally winced as she added, “The dog, I mean. If you have him. Or one, in general.”
The boy (who looked bored with her at this point) replied with a simple no before walking into his house and slamming the door behind him.
There was another bang that made her decide that she couldn’t just stand doing nothing any longer. She slid out the door in her socks before haphazardly shoving her feet into shoes. Reaching her fist up to the door, she knocked loudly, three times. At this point, it was silent in the house. Just when she was wondering if she had made a mistake bothering these people, the door swung open.
Instead of looking up to see the boy she had talked to earlier, she moved her gaze down. Opening the door a couple of inches was a young boy. He had shaggy brown hair that nearly touched his ears, and his fingers curled around the frame of the door. He only had one eye peeking out through the crack. Quinn hadn’t thought of a plan if she got this far, but the sight of this boy made her more concerned.
“Hey! I’m sorry to bother you, I’m your new neighbor! Is your mom home?”
She figured if she could speak to an adult, she’d be able to get more context about the noises. The boy, however, shook his head. Not wanting to leave him alone just yet, Quinn decided to ask the boy what he knew.
She lowered her voice to say, “I’m Quinn. What’s your name?”
“Stevie,” said the boy in a low voice. The door had opened a little further, and Stevie looked at her with a frown. “What do you want?”
“Are you okay? I heard some noises from next door. I was worried that someone was hurting an animal over here, but I’m guessing the other guy I talked to, who also lives here, is your brother? He let me know you don’t have any pets.”
Stevie looked uninterested in the conversation, but Quinn kept pushing.
“If you’re home alone and you want to come over, let me know. I know we just met-”
Quinn trailed off, unsure of what to offer. She hoped Stevie wouldn’t think she was weird, but she didn’t know what else to do. She didn’t want to accuse Stevie’s brother of anything or make the situation worse. Stevie was silent for another moment before Quinn decided she wasn’t helping the situation.
“Well, I’ll just head home th-”
“Do you have food?” Quinn stopped, surprised, before a smile arose on her face, unbidden. She laughed before saying,
“Yeah, I have food. Do you like Indian food?”
He looked at her with curiosity. “Are you Indian? Like with the tribes?”
Quinn rolled her eyes at the question she’s received many variations of.
“I’m from the country India. Now, if you’re done with stupid questions, you can come over to my house. You never answered, though. Do you like Indian food?”
Stevie looked at her for another moment before stepping through the door and closing it behind him.
“I’ve never had it before.” He says, but follows her into her apartment happily enough anyway.