John
I loved how Quinn had used his style to invite Mia to a party. I hadn’t been expecting that. That was so smooth and I chuckled to myself. Of course, what had I been expecting? That was Quinn. He was as smooth as a rock.
We got to the car, ignoring the ladies on the way who cast glances at us. Some were even bold enough to throw kisses at us. We ignored them all. We knew how these things work. If we showed them that we weren’t interested at all in ladies, they would give up soon and not torment Mia. If we acted like we were interested in them and gave them up, they would all fly around Mia like vultures, trying to use her to get to us and there was only one outcome for that.
Mia wouldn’t tell us of their affections on their behalf. She would only get mad and hate us – and that is what we didn’t need at the moment.
We knew she didn’t like us but she didn’t have to hate us more than she already did.
Three of the ladies crowded out there decided to be bold and walked up to us. I could tell that they were friends which was why they moved towards us among all the ladies gawking at us and preferring to show us their affection from afar.
They were bold and moved as a group to give one another moral support. I liked their boldness and asides that they were beautiful, but they were not Mia. I knew my response was going to be the same as that of my brothers.
They were not Mia, regardless of how bold and beautiful they were, and so we weren’t interested.
They must have made some plans and discussed who they wanted among themselves because they didn’t waste any time. They moved to us, picking us one by one and slipped us a note. They gave us a wink and turned back, swinging their hips as they walked.
I looked down at the note in my hand and noticed that my brothers were looking at the one in theirs as well. They had moved so fast, pushing the note in our hands that there was no doubt that they had been doing this for a long time.
I glanced at the number they had written down and scowled. As if I was going to call them. I glanced up and realized that the girls were standing at a corner, looking at us with a smirk on their lips.
They had a confident look on their faces like they hadn’t ever been rejected by the men they wanted and we wouldn’t be an exception to that achievement. They reminded me of ourselves and that wasn’t a nice feeling to have.
I didn’t like some girl thinking that she was so good that I wouldn’t be able to resist her. Even as much as I liked Mia, I didn’t become a total idiot whenever she was around. I wanted to tear the note into pieces and throw them on the ground while they were watching. I wanted their ego to be burst but I only refrained from doing that because of Mia.
These ladies were a clique and we wouldn’t want that Mia would be suffering for what we had done, without even having an idea of why it was so.
I saw Quinn clench the note in his hand and walk towards the car. He would drop the note once we were in the car. Jack smirked at the ladies before he walked away and I knew that he was going to do that. Among the three of us, it was impossible for him to walk away without a reaction.
We all got to the car and sat in the way that we had come, leaving Quinn alone to be at the front. Mia’s absence at the front was truly felt even though she had done nothing but sulk all through the ride.
I missed her and knew I was going to miss her when we got home. This was surely going to be a long and boring holiday since she wasn’t at home. If only she had agreed to my plans of letting us provide for her and cruising round town.
We could all have fun and she wouldn’t have to live at that place with the possibility of jealous ladies who could hurt her for being close us to us because they wanted us.
I suddenly felt like dashing out of the car and running to her apartment to protect her. I didn’t want to leave her with these ladies. I didn’t want to go home without her. I wanted to protect her.
“Should we go home?” Quinn asked.
“Of course not.” Jack whistled, lying lazily in the car. “We had finally finished a difficult sailing mission. We should go to a bar and have some good time.”
I smiled. Of course, he would want some good time. It was unlike Jack to sit still and let himself get bored, which was what was going to happen if we went home.
“Let’s go to the bar.” I agreed.
Quinn turned the car towards the most upscale bar. When we arrived at the bar, some sexy women were dancing on the dance floor.
Jack stared at the daringly dressed beautiful women but his interest was lacking. He pushed away the women trying to flirt with him.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked him eventually after I had watched him push the seventh woman who had made advances towards him.
He was behaving unlike himself. The Jack I knew would have jumped right into the midst of the women the moment we got to the bar, twirling his waist in rhythm with them.
“I don’t feel excited about these women. I think Mia is much more beautiful.” He confessed to us.
“You have a crush on Mia.” I laughed and teased him.
We drank together and started talking of Mia. I wondered if Mia was going to be different this time to us and I told my brothers exactly that.
“Do you think that she is going to be a bit kinder to us this holiday?” I asked.
“I don’t think so.” Jack sighed.
Even Quinn shook his head, agreeing with Jack. “It is not that easy. I read the self-narration of a victim of campus violence. She said that those memories would stay with them as they grow up and cause significant psychological trauma. I learnt a lot from that article and believe that it’s not going to be that easy for Mia to forgive us as long as she still clings to those hurtful memories we had given her. Making Mia accept us would be a long process, John.”
I sighed as Quinn ended his speech. I didn’t even know he had taken the time to read an article on school bullying victims. He must be really affected by Mia’s hostility than he let on. I realized that we were all affected in our own way by her reluctance to forgive us and let go of old wounds.
It wasn’t that easy to make her accept us. I agreed with Quinn with an exasperated sigh. I guessed I was the only one deluding myself that we could be one big united family, with Mia especially.