Chapter 1.5 - Firsts

The weeks flew by and then it was months. Suddenly they were getting close to their first year finals. Quinn was constantly stressed out because she felt as though she had yet to master Photoshop and everyone else in her class seemed light years ahead of her.

Kaz would always coolly remind her that the best photographers didn't need Photoshop, whereupon Quinn would retort that Professor McCaffrey clearly didn't agree with that logic. They would bicker back and forth and then end up laughing at the insanity of college.

One night Kaz challenged any man in the dorm to a pool match, seeing who could out-perform the other with their tricks. Quinn, who had never played a game of pool in her life looked on laughingly as Quinn showed up braless and wearing only a tiny tank top and a skimpy pair of underwear. Most of the guys ended up slightly distracted.

Kaz won, of course, but Quinn had to admit that even if she'd been dressed in a snowsuit, Kaz's trick with the xylophone was definitely the best. 

Their dorm decided to throw a party before finals. Kaz bet Quinn that she could get Anoki to kiss her before the end of the night. 

Quinn had been watching Anoki all year and noticed that although he seemed like a large, happy, bear-like man in his demeanor, there was a quiet stoicism about him that made Quinn think that perhaps he would be harder to seduce than Kaz imagined. However, if anyone could do it, Quinn reasoned, it was Kaz. 

And she tried. She kept 'accidentally' bumping in to him all night, jumping on his back and drunkenly asking for a ride and, once, attempting to wrap her legs around his head while he helped her do a keg stand.

Anoki was clearly getting annoyed but Kaz was drunk by that point and she didn't appear to notice.

Quinn, who had never hosted a party in her life, made a ton of food for all their guests. After consuming a hearty portion of what she'd cooked, Derek offered to help her do her first keg stand.

She had waved him away but some of her dormmates began to chant "Q! Q! Q!" and much to her chagrin Derek took this as a sign that she was game to try it. 

For the better part of a year, Quinn had managed to avoid any upside down drinking at the various parties she had attended. She always kept a red plastic cup of beer, or occasionally vodka and orange juice, clenched in her hand in order to avoid the time-honoured ritual of the keg stand. Standing empty handed had been her downfall she realized belatedly.

Quinn had heard that drinking from a beer-spouting hose upside down made you drunk faster and yet that knowledge did nothing to prepare her for the actual experience. Or make her less drunk for that matter. She could feel Derek's firm hand on her belly as she leaned in towards the spout and even as she swallowed the foamy liquid, she could hear one male voice chanting above all the rest and wondered vaguely who it was.

She was drunkenly trying to dance alongside Kaz a little bit later when her friend pointed out that someone had been staring at Quinn all night. 

"What?" Quinn slurred. "Don't be silly!"

"I'm serious Q!" Kaz insisted. "Look, one of us needs to get a little action here and I have done everything I can to hook up with Anoki. For the love of dragons, I quite literally tried to shove my vagina in his face!"

Both girls started laughing so hard that they ended up in a heap on the floor, with Kaz furiously trying to whisper the name of Quinn's admirer between gasps of laughter.  "His naaaahhhahahahaha!" she howled, trying to choke out her words. "His name is Jaaaaah-Oh my God, your knee is in my back Q! Your knees are so fucking pointy!" This just made them laugh harder until tears were streaming from both girl's eyes.

When they finally caught their collective breath, Kaz managed to point out Jacob, a very attractive student from a neighbouring dorm. "Gooooo kissss him!" ordered Kaz from the floor beside one of the potted plants. Quinn wiped at her eyes and shoved down her laughter as best she could while Kaz motioned for her to put her 'serious face' on. Quinn found this rather difficult to do while she was taking orders from a drunk person on the floor hugging a large fern.

Quinn finally managed to compose her face after forcing herself to look away from her friend who now seemed to be animatedly chatting with the fern. She wandered over to Jacob, stumbling slightly, said "hello" and then just smiled drunkenly.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself!" exclaimed Jacob, after introducing himself.

"Yeah, it's hard not to have fun with Kaz," Quinn said grinning. "Oh! And my name is Quinn," she added, realizing that she had forgotten to introduce herself.

"I know." Jacob smiled at her and playfully poked her on the shoulder. "And I hear it was you who made all the delicious food tonight." 

Quinn wasn't drunk enough to be unaware that Jacob had clearly been asking about her but she was too drunk to know how to respond. A torrent of thoughts seemed to inundate her mind at once. Why is this hot hunk of man talking to boring little me when he could be talking to Kaz? she wondered. I'm just a messed up chick in a baseball shirt who makes a decent burger. And then, Kaz is the one who's charming, stylish and witty. For a moment, Quinn just stood staring at Jacob, trying to muddle her way through her drunken thoughts.

Quinn was forced back in to the moment when she noticed that regardless of her insecurities, Jacob's focus was clearly on her. She managed to pry her eyes away from his piercing gaze long enough to note that Kaz had left the fern on its own and was nowhere in sight. Shit, she thought. What the hell do I do now? 

Jacob's gaze lowered itself to her lips and she felt a flood of heat rush through her body. Suddenly her stomach seemed to be  dropping away from her while little pinpoints of electricity rose upwards, making her very aware of her own lips. She wet them with her tongue, unsure of what to do, yet enjoying the experience. All of her previous thoughts seemed to melt away and she felt like she could stay in this space with Jacob forever. Eyes, lips, eyes, lips.

Jacob leaned forward and whispered something in her ear, but the music was too loud. "What?" she asked him, clutching at his arm as if that would somehow help her to hear him better.

"I said" he replied, raising his voice above the music, "that I really want to kiss you.'

Quinn's jaw dropped a tiny bit. Somehow Jacob telling her that he wanted to kiss her without actually doing it seemed more exciting than if he had just leaned in and stolen the kiss from her lips.

She looked at him through slightly lowered lashes and surprised herself with her bold reply. "I really want you to kiss me." 

And then all of a sudden they were kissing and Jacob's tongue was in her mouth, pressing against her own. His soft lips seemed to consume her and she was vaguely aware of his unshaven scruff rubbing against her chin. 

Quinn felt her entire body alight with electricity. Her mind finally gave up and gave in to the experience. She forgot where she was, that she was in the middle of a room full of people. She only existed in that moment with him, their bodies pressed tightly together, his hand delicately caressing the back of her neck.

Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, a tiny voice was giddily whispering Your first kiss!