Sunday, February 24, 2008 Who: Quinn and some Ciri Where: Kelley's apartment and then the lake When: afternoon - evening What: a visit and introspection
Quinn felt sick to her stomach about her journal post, the magazine and a couple of other things as well. The first solution that came to mind was to call her sister Abigail because her older sister had always been there to help her in the past. The two were close and she really needed Abigail's advice right now. She called her on her cell phone, and they started to talk. Quinn unburdened all her insecurities onto her sister, who did the best she could to help. 'Don't let your worry get in the way of continuing things at your new school,' Abigail said. So Quinn wouldn't.
The best way to get rid of her sour mood completely was to find someone who was happy and the only person she knew that happy was Ciri. She brushed the strands of hair out of her face, wiping her cheeks and headed to the apartment. It took a few minutes before she was there, knocking on the door. A little while passed until Ciri answered the door and Quinn was surprised to see how downtrodden she looked. "Hi, Ciri," she said. "Am I disturbing you?" Maybe this was a bad idea.
Ciri saw Quinn standing there and her spirits lifted, but she did not smile. "No, you are not." She could use the company while Onyx slept and she had no idea where Tad was. The combination of the two made for a bad day and all she wanted to do was slump around the house.
When the most cheerful person she knew was depressed for some reason, it was definitely not a good sign. Quinn bit her lip for a moment, determining what to do know. How would she be able to help Ciri when she could not help herself right now? "What's the matter?" she asked and Ciri let her into the apartment.
Walking into the living room, Ciri slumped on the sofa. "Tad is not talking to me or Calvin," she said. "He stays in his room all the time and once he yelled I was really annoying. I did not do anything to him."
Quinn sat on the sofa next to the woman, reaching out a hand to touch Ciri's. "I'm sorry. This is probably a phase and he'll talk to you eventually." This was awful, nothing good came to mind what to say.
"Thank you." Ciri looked down at her hands. "I am afraid I am not good company today."
"I won't disturb you anymore, but please contact me if you need to talk." Quinn said her goodbyes and walked out to the newly formed lake in the back of campus. She closed her eyes and sank into the water, liquid form. Being connected to water like this, as part of something, was one of the most wonderful experiences ever.
She forgot everything and just was.
Hours passed before she emerged and dressed in the darkness. One important fact remained: she had arrived here to teach and that was what she'd do.