and good looking and athletic and—”
“Rich. Don’t forget rich.”
“Doesn’t matter!” Quinn snapped. “The only real difference between him and you is that he gets what he wants because he believes he can.”
“And he can brutally dominate me on the football field.”
“You’re making me nuts, Tuck. Where’s your head? Good stuff doesn’t just happen. You have to fight for it. But you don’t. You don’t even have the guts to talk to Tori Sleeper.”
“Forget Tori! Who says I want to go out with her anyway? That’s just you pretending to know everything about everything.”
“But I do.”
“No, you don’t. Why are you so obsessed with me getting a girl anyway? Worry about yourself.”
“I’ve got a girlfriend.”
“Who?”
“Neema Pike.”
I laughed. “Really? Just because she friended you on Facebook doesn’t make you a couple.”
“Whatever. This isn’t about me. We’re talking about you and Olivia.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. She’s leaving the island soon anyway.”
“Irrelevant, but go on.”
I took a breath to calm down, then said, “I like Olivia. I liked hanging out with her this summer. But if she only likes guys who have a boatload of money and can wreak havoc on a football field, I’m not interested.”
Quinn shook his head with disappointment. “Typical. Whenever you think something’s out of reach, you back off and say you didn’t want it anyway. What are you afraid of? Losing? Looking bad? That hasn’t stopped you from playing football.”
“Yeah, well, I’m quitting the team,” I said softly.
“What!” Quinn shouted. He hadn’t expected that. I thought his head was going to explode. “You’re giving up on that too?”
“What’s the point? I’m getting killed out there. I’m telling the coach today that I’m done.”
“This is so typical. You were fine when nobody expected you to be any good but now that you’ve got to step up you just…give up.”
“I’m being a realist.”
“Realist?” Quinn spat as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth. “What does that mean?”
“It means I pick my battles.”
“It means you’re afraid of failing,” he said with disdain.
“What makes you such an expert on football anyway?” I asked. I was losing patience with Quinn’s accusations. “And girls?”
“This isn’t about football or girls. It’s about vision. You gotta have a vision.”
I laughed. “Really? What’s
your
big vision?”
Quinn went uncharacteristically silent. That threw me. I was expecting another quick, cutting comeback.
“I don’t know yet,” he said with total sincerity. “I’m being honest. I don’t know. But I’ll tell you something I absolutely believe: One day I’m going to leave this island and do something that people will remember me for. Something important. Bet on it, and don’t laugh. I see you starting to laugh.”
“I’m not laughing,” I said, suppressing a laugh.
“My parents want me to go into medicine but I’m thinking politics. I’m smart. I could run things as good as the next guy. Or maybe research. There’s a lot of undiscovered stuff out there waiting for somebody like me to uncover. Big stuff. But whatever happens, the one thing I will
not
do is stay here and grow old on this chunk of sand.”
I wasn’t sure how to react to that. So many thoughts flew through my head, not the least of which was the odd reality that Quinn had given me a straight, heartfelt answer for a change. The other was that I was somehow a loser for being happy on this “chunk of sand.”
“Then go for it,” I said. “I’m sure whatever you do, you’ll be brilliant. But just because you feel that way doesn’t mean I have to. There are lots of important things you can do. They don’t all have to be written about in history books. It’s just as important to take care of the little things.”
Quinn let that roll around in his head for a while, then nodded thoughtfully and said,
“Rich. Don’t forget rich.”
“Doesn’t matter!” Quinn snapped. “The only real difference between him and you is that he gets what he wants because he believes he can.”
“And he can brutally dominate me on the football field.”
“You’re making me nuts, Tuck. Where’s your head? Good stuff doesn’t just happen. You have to fight for it. But you don’t. You don’t even have the guts to talk to Tori Sleeper.”
“Forget Tori! Who says I want to go out with her anyway? That’s just you pretending to know everything about everything.”
“But I do.”
“No, you don’t. Why are you so obsessed with me getting a girl anyway? Worry about yourself.”
“I’ve got a girlfriend.”
“Who?”
“Neema Pike.”
I laughed. “Really? Just because she friended you on Facebook doesn’t make you a couple.”
“Whatever. This isn’t about me. We’re talking about you and Olivia.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. She’s leaving the island soon anyway.”
“Irrelevant, but go on.”
I took a breath to calm down, then said, “I like Olivia. I liked hanging out with her this summer. But if she only likes guys who have a boatload of money and can wreak havoc on a football field, I’m not interested.”
Quinn shook his head with disappointment. “Typical. Whenever you think something’s out of reach, you back off and say you didn’t want it anyway. What are you afraid of? Losing? Looking bad? That hasn’t stopped you from playing football.”
“Yeah, well, I’m quitting the team,” I said softly.
“What!” Quinn shouted. He hadn’t expected that. I thought his head was going to explode. “You’re giving up on that too?”
“What’s the point? I’m getting killed out there. I’m telling the coach today that I’m done.”
“This is so typical. You were fine when nobody expected you to be any good but now that you’ve got to step up you just…give up.”
“I’m being a realist.”
“Realist?” Quinn spat as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth. “What does that mean?”
“It means I pick my battles.”
“It means you’re afraid of failing,” he said with disdain.
“What makes you such an expert on football anyway?” I asked. I was losing patience with Quinn’s accusations. “And girls?”
“This isn’t about football or girls. It’s about vision. You gotta have a vision.”
I laughed. “Really? What’s
your
big vision?”
Quinn went uncharacteristically silent. That threw me. I was expecting another quick, cutting comeback.
“I don’t know yet,” he said with total sincerity. “I’m being honest. I don’t know. But I’ll tell you something I absolutely believe: One day I’m going to leave this island and do something that people will remember me for. Something important. Bet on it, and don’t laugh. I see you starting to laugh.”
“I’m not laughing,” I said, suppressing a laugh.
“My parents want me to go into medicine but I’m thinking politics. I’m smart. I could run things as good as the next guy. Or maybe research. There’s a lot of undiscovered stuff out there waiting for somebody like me to uncover. Big stuff. But whatever happens, the one thing I will
not
do is stay here and grow old on this chunk of sand.”
I wasn’t sure how to react to that. So many thoughts flew through my head, not the least of which was the odd reality that Quinn had given me a straight, heartfelt answer for a change. The other was that I was somehow a loser for being happy on this “chunk of sand.”
“Then go for it,” I said. “I’m sure whatever you do, you’ll be brilliant. But just because you feel that way doesn’t mean I have to. There are lots of important things you can do. They don’t all have to be written about in history books. It’s just as important to take care of the little things.”
Quinn let that roll around in his head for a while, then nodded thoughtfully and said,
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