Quinn peeked into the living room where Shirley was sitting, reading a magazine. She walked in and Shirley looked up.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." Quinn said, sitting down in Zac's favorite armchair, right beside the couch where Shirley was sitting.
"What's up?" Shirley asked. Quinn bit her lip, thinking of how to phrase her question.
"When you and Taylor...When Taylor asked you..um.....when you and Taylor became boyfriend and girlfriend...what did he....how did he ask....no, I mean....uh.."
"How did I know?"
Quinn smiled. "Yeah."
Shirley laughed. "Is that what you were trying to ask me?"
"Yeah."
"Oh...well, he asked me."
Quinn's hopes fell. "He just asked you?"
"Well....come to think of it, no. Up until a few weeks before you came, we fought. Constantly. We've been fighting ever since we started dating. But then..something happened, and we decided never to fight again. I'm not sure how it worked, but it has so far."
"But how did you know that you could call him your boyfriend?"
"Well...the next morning, he called his mom just to talk, and she asked how his girlfriend was right before he hung up. It was so funny. He's like, 'Girlfriend?' and then when he hung up, he goes, 'Are you my girlfriend?"
"Then?"
"Then I said yes, dorkus. What do you think I said?"
The two women laughed. "So....I take it Zac hasn't asked you yet?"
Quinn sighed. "No." She said flatly.
"Why are you worried about it?"
"Well because...when they go away on tour, I don't want him to forget me. I'm so happy being with him now; and I know that the tour is going to be tough."
"But you went away for four years and he still is gaga for you." Shirley pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but we weren't so....I dunno. It's different this time."
"How so?"
"Well...it just is. Like, before we never kissed. Or held hands. Or anything else. I fell like I can tell him even more than I could when we were little. It's the same, but it's different."
"Okay." Shirley nodded.
"And...I'm just afraid that if I'm not his girlfriend when he goes on tour, he'll forget all about me."
"Oh."
"There will be millions of girls everywhere...all of them prettier, richer..."
"Quinn, you can't do that."
"I know-"
"If he loves you, he won't do anything with those girls. Sure there will be chances and opportunities, but if he knows you're worth it, he won't. Everytime Taylor goes away, I know he has tons of chances to cheat on me. And he used to. But that's because our relationship wasn't strong enough. You have to go through some things to become stronger."
"I'm just scared." Quinn admitted.
"I am too, still." Shirley said.
"I want to be his girlfriend so bad."
"What is that? That word; girlfriend."
"Yeah?"
"It's just a title. If he's on tour, out everynight, around millions of girls, a title won't keep him from messing around."
"What will?"
"Love."