They ended up having a sleepover and woke up early Saturday morning to loud blaring music.

“Argh! Laken I swear to god!” Stratus growled as she sat up bed.

“Not exactly.” Quinn smiled at her from the doorway where she was carrying an old boom box on her shoulder. She flipped it off and stared at the girls with a wicked smile on her face.

Each of the girls had felt like they had gotten caught doing something they weren’t supposed to do. Guilt twisting up their guts. It’s not like they had been talking about Quinn badly, or that they purposely excluded her, but for some reason that did nothing to hide the guilt that they had a great time without her.

“Hey, where were you yesterday. I called.” Stratus stood and stepped over Izzy and Harley on the floor to walk to Quinn.

“Busy, but that is not why I’m here. Get dressed girls we are going out this weekend.” Then she watched as Quinn walked back downstairs and turned into the living room.

The girls shared a look before slowly getting up to get dressed. When Stratus walked downstairs Quinn was talking to her mom, the two were laughing at an inside joke. Stratus frowned. She walked over casually and said,

“What are you guys laughing about?”

“Nothing, nothing. It’s an inside thing.” Her mom giggled.

“Had to be there kind of thing,” Quinn said.

“Oh.”

“You girls want anything before you go? I can whip up breakfast.”

“No thanks, Mrs. Belview. We can pick up something on the way.”

“Well alright then, try not to have too much fun.” She patted Quinn on the head.

“You know me.” Quinn smiled.

“Don’t forget to feed Casper before you go.” Stratus’s mom directed at her.

Casper is Stratus’s pet rabbit.

“I’ll meet you in the car,” Quinn called over her shoulder before grabbing the boom box off the counter and walking out the front door.

“Told you,” Neveah said as she followed Stratus to the garage where Casper was.

“Pins and needles,” Izzy confirmed.

“She is acting, odd.” Harley finally admitted.

“Well, what do you want me to do?” Stratus felt herself getting defensive again.

“Ask her what’s up.”

“Yeah, see why she's all extra freaky.”

“But be gentle about it,” Harley added.

Stratus sighed as she pet Casper before reaching down in his enclosure and placing some celery for him to eat.

When they walked outside, they saw Quinn leaning against the brick wall, her eyes closed, almost as if she was listening for something.

“What are you doing?” Nevaeh asked.

Quinn flinched at her unexpected voice before casually playing it off and walking back over to her hatchback.

“Nothing, let’s just go already.” She snapped.

They all took their usual seats. Stratus on the passenger side. Nevaeh and Izzy got a window seat, while Harley sat in the middle.

“You okay?” Stratus asked.

The girls grew silent.

Quinn turned in her seat too give everyone an icy glare before starting the car without a word and reversing out of the driveway. The radio came to life and was blaring rock music. The other girls jumped at its unexpectedness.

They stopped at a local diner to get breakfast, the atmosphere still tense.

“Mason and I went on a date last night.” Harley tried to break the tension.

“Really?” Quinn said sounding like her usual self.

“Yeah, we went to the movies, it was so romantic…” Harley trailed off as someone walked into the diner and Quinn’s eyes darted to the door as if she was afraid someone was going to walk in.

Again, the girls shared a look.

“So, where are we going?” Izzy started the conversation again.

“It’s a surprise, you’ll see when we get there.” Quinn turned her attention back to her French toast.

“I love surprises.” Harley cooed.

“Yeah, let’s just hurry up. It’s going to be a long drive.” Quinn said looking around the diner.

They made small talk, once again going back to Mason and S. A. T.’s though Quinn hardly participated in the conversation. Her eyes darting around every few seconds. Stratus noticed that Quinn was subconsciously scratching her burn scar, something she only did when she was nervous.

She didn’t say anything.

When they got back in the car Quinn checked the time before starting the car and driving back onto the road. For the better part of an hour, the girls fought over the radio, changing it from rock, to pop, to rap, to country, to punk and alternative. Singing along to songs they knew and arguing about who got to pick next on songs they didn’t. Quinn let them do what they wanted, her eyes lazily watching the road.

During a lull when every station seemed to be synced up and playing commercials Quinn turned the radio down. The girls chatted amongst themselves, Stratus couldn’t help but notice that Quinn was lost in deep thought.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked, breaking the conversation between the girls in the back.

Everyone was silent as they waited for her answer.

“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little heads about.” She smirked.

“Quinn come on, what’s going on with you? Where were you yesterday?”

Quinn’s exterior seemed to harden at this question, no longer did she look relaxed. Her hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel. Stratus eyed her hands.

“You guys really want to know?” Quinn said seriously.

“Yeah.” Izzy leaned into the conversation.

“Dressing up a murder.” She said.

The girls grew deathly silent. Each sharing a wide-eyed disbelieving look.

Then Quinn just burst out laughing.

“You guys are so gullible, seriously you should have seen the looks on your faces!” she laughed.

“Asshole.” Harley smacked her in the shoulder.

“Wait so that was all a prank?” Izzy asked.

“Well no duh, liked I’d tell you idiots if I killed someone.” She rolled her eyes.

The girls erupted into giggles each making fun of the others scared face. Stratus was the only one who gave Quinn a puzzled look, Quinn was acting strangely that was for sure. She was staying quiet and saying things she normally wouldn’t say, it was very out of character.

They drove another hour and a half before they pulled off into a side dirt road that led them deep into the woods. The road was so remote that sometimes it didn’t look like they were on a road. Still, Quinn confidently drove through the woods to a hidden cabin that had a large lake in the back.

“No way! Where are we!” Harley squealed in excitement.

“Welcome to my family cabin girls. This is where I sneak off to when I want to get away. I came here yesterday but I was so bored without you guys, so I went back to get you.” She stepped out of the car.

“This is your cabin?” Neveah said her eyes wide.

“Sure is, grab your stuff, let’s go in.” Quinn grabbed the boom box and headed inside.

“This is amazing!” Izzy cooed running to the door.

“I like to think of it as my perfect hideaway.” Quinn unlocked the door and the five girls walked inside.