Ellie & Quinn ❄️ || WLW (Eng)

CHAPTER 3

You want my opinion — no one asked your opinion
My opinion you've got
You asked for my counsel — no one asked for your thoughts
I gave you my thoughts
- Achilles Come Down, Gang Of Youths

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

Just as Ellie came back upstairs after fetching herself something to drink, she encountered Quinn who awaited her at the top of the stairs.

"Uh, sure," Ellie said. She was a little surprised at the fact that Quinn wanted to talk to her. When Ellie had returned from her visit at Mister Saunders' shop, Quinn had still been gone. Only Pasta had been there to welcome her back, lazily wagging his little tail. Quinn's mother had come home almost at the same time as Ellie and shortly after, the other adults arrived. Quinn had be the last to come back, red cheeks and her skis in hand. She had ignored Ellie — and her parents — and had disappeared into her room. There, she had stayed until now.

"Is something wrong?" Ellie asked when she noticed that the blonde girl at the top of the stairs was looking a little displeased.

"I guess you could say that, yes," Quinn said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "where were you today? And why didn't you tell me you were planning on going out?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Ellie replied completely caught off guard.

"I came home for lunch around one and you were gone," Quinn explained, "you left Pasta alone."

"Is... is this about your dog?" Ellie asked, still utterly confused.

"Pasta is fourteen years old," replied Quinn, "you can't just leave him alone for hours on end!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" Ellie asked defensively. Quinn was hovering over her and still blocking the way up the stairs. Also, Ellie really did not like the way Quinn was talking to her but also did not want to provoke a fight. Still, she thought that her host's behavior was a little unjustified.

Quinn opened her mouth to answer but a voice from downstairs interrupted their conversation:

"Dinner is ready!"

Quinn groaned and walked down the stairs with her arms still crossed, squeezing past Ellie. Without thinking about it, Ellie extended an arm and grabbed Quinn's sweater by the sleeve.

"Look, I'm sorry I left Pasta all alone," Ellie said calmly and conciliatory and took a step towards the taller girl, "I didn't know, okay? I'm really sorry."

"Whatever," Quinn just shook her guest off and ran down the stairs. Ellie sighed and followed slowly, not taking her eyes off her glass of water.

In the kitchen, Quinn's mom had cooked some chicken and vegetables for everyone. Ellie went over to her own parents who were sitting on the couch, looking at some plants and other nature-objects they had spread out on the coffee table.

"Oh, is this what you collected today?" Ellie asked and carefully picked up a pine cone.

"Yes, these are some of the things we found," said her dad, "but let's look at that later, dinner is ready."

Ellie nodded and followed her parents back to the table, sitting down on the same seat she had already sat in yesterday. However, the situation was now a little awkward since every time Ellie looked up from her plate, she was looking directly at Quinn. The other seemed rather icy; she did not meet Ellie's gaze a single time and stared at her plate throughout the whole meal.

Her parents tried to get her to engage in the conversation but Quinn stayed silent except for short answers to questions and a request for a bottle of water.