Laughter echoed through the street as those fresh from the Christmas break settled back into college life. Excitement filled the crisp air as new adults were on their own again, reinventing themselves, discovering who they were, and ready to go out and make mistakes.

Then, there was Quinn.

There were many ways to describe Quinn but the most common one, which was both a complaint and a compliment, was that she was comfortable with her seclusion. She was sociable when the occasion called for it but was immersed into starting her career as a marketing manager. Because of the workload, she had dedicated her spare time to accelerating that track at the cost of a social life.

"What could you possibly be reading already?" Quinn's housemate, a short and curvy girl with long, brown hair bounded into the small room and plopped on the twin bed. She rolled on her back to look at her studious friend who sat at the nearby desk reading a not-so-small novel.

"It's just a book that I'm finishing up." Quinn glanced over to see the young woman had raised an eyebrow to her. "Alright, Teagan, you got me. I'm rereading it but it's when you read it again that you see the stuff you missed the first time."

"You know how I solve that problem, Cotton Candy?"

"You don't read it the first time."

"I don't... read it... the first time," she repeated with flair as she flipped on her stomach to analyze Quinn's face. To her dismay, the wavy pink haired housemate just frowned and went back to her book. "That was funny, dammit! I thought we decided you were going to get a sense of humor over the Christmas."

"Santa didn't bring it."

Teagan gasped dramatically as she sat up. "Quinn, did you get coal for Christmas?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and held the book more formally to show she wanted to be left alone. The two had been roommates since they started college and after their first year, decided to rent a small place together. They knew eachother's studying habits and had made it past the irritability and pet peeves generally unscathed. Teagan would often joke that the two of them should get married once they graduated since neither of them were doing too well in the dating scene. Quinn would remind her that they were both hetero and Teagan would start singing The Golden Girls' theme song.

The brunette rolled off the bed in a fluid motion and wrapped her arms around her solemn friend. Bending down to her ear, she whispered seductively, "Please tell me you at least got laid."

Quinn used one hand to cover Teagan's face and pushed her away, unamused by the question.

"Life isn't a big screwfest." Quinn frowned as the other girl fell on the bed dramatically.

"But what if it's love?"

"Newsflash: There's more to life than falling in love. You can fall in love with anyone."

"No, you can't," Teagan threw a pillow up into the air and caught it. "Try telling that to the LGBT clubs on campus. You'll get murdered."

"I'm not saying that sexuality is a choice. I'm saying love isn't this big immovable tree on the road. Everyone is so caught up in thinking the 'one' they are meant to be with is on a collision course with them. There is no 'one'. There's just hormones and lack of willpower."

"You still don't believe in fate?"

"I believe in statistics. I don't believe the one handchosen for you miraculously happens to have been born in the same state as you because some divine being is playing matchmaker for billions of people at one time. You can fall in love with anyone if you're desperate enough."

"So basically everyone is bisexual? Or is it pan now?"

"Ugh! I hate labels!" Quinn tossed her book onto the desk and rested her head on her arms.

"You gotta cool it with this label tirade." Teagan sat up and wagged a finger at her. "Our generation happens to like labels. It makes things easier."

As if by felicity, a reoccuring argument could be heard between their two regular neighbors across the street who often argued about the Pride and Confederate Battle flags they had hanging at the front of their houses. Nothing ever escalated and the two were actually good friends but alcohol, free time, and politics never mix.

"Clearly." Quinn tilted her head and gestured to the opinionated mess they would have to listen to all semester. "What I mean is that I don't bother with the idea of love. I'm not going to go out every weekend looking for a connection, I'm not going to put my studies on hold because he knocked me up, and I'm not giving up my career for his. I'm not going out and fishing for a fish I know I don't want. If anything I'm the fish they should be wanting to catch."

"Humble as ever," Teagan said unamused. "Listen, big fish, come to this party with me tonight. Let's let loose before we get bogged down with homework and... books no one assigned."

"Fine."

"Fine?!" Teagan's hazel eyes widened before she narrowed them at Quinn. "That was too easy. I thought I'd have to force you to go, kicking and screaming."

"I don't scream," Quinn said flatly. "And you know I don't mind parties as long as it's not some gross building with ratty couches and gum on the walls. I'm not a homebody, I just have priorities."

"Wow. Maybe this will be a good year after all."

---

Quinn sat on the ratty couch and stared at the gum on the wall across from her where two star-crossed lovers discussed their life plans with their tongues in each other's mouths

Quinn sat on the ratty couch and stared at the gum on the wall across from her where two star-crossed lovers discussed their life plans with their tongues in each other's mouths. The gum had been freshly abandoned and with every advance of the extremely forward guy, he pushed the extremely horny girl dangerously close to the awaiting wall-gum.

Obnoxiously close to Quinn, a couple of guys were loudly arguing over possible Game of Thrones theories. Quinn watched blankly as she waited for Teagan to bring back drinks but she had been waiting for a while and knew Teagan had found Mr. Right-Now somewhere along the way. The company was lacking so the gum would have to be her entertainment while she waited.

"Oh, hon!"

Quinn's eyes darted to a tall woman with short blonde hair in a black long sleeve crop top who was walking with her friends through the room. The blonde ripped a piece off a nearby event poster and reached next to the lovebirds to rip the gum off of the wall. She held it out for them to which they grinned at her before resuming their spit swapping.

The Savior of Hair tossed the night's entertainment into a trash bin before looking around, her eyes locking on Quinn who stared at her blankly. The pixie cut blonde smiled as she gestured with her thumb towards the couple then pretended to gag. Quinn nodded politely but didn't smile or pretend to laugh. The tall woman frowned slightly before shrugging her shoulders and followed the sounds of her friends who called to her over the pounding music from further in the disgusting building.

Then, at that exact moment, at that exact spot, a guy who was standing exactly next to Quinn spewed vomit exactly onto Quinn's grey sleeveless shirt.

"What the fuck!" Quinn pushed the dry heaving guy to the ground. Pissed, she ran to the bathroom with God-knows-what sliding off of her.

The fluorescent lights flickered above her as she entered the dimly lit excuse for a restroom. Carefully, she stretched her shirt to rinse the chunks off before she attempted to lift it over her head.

"Better to have a wet shirt than a puke-covered one," she muttered as she rinsed it in the sink.

After wringing it out as best as she could, she put the shirt on and walked out to look for Teagan. The evidence was still on the floor in the room as the couple was still sucking face but barf-boy was gone. Carefully, she walked past the puddle and entered a larger room where the music was pounding and the smell of alcohol and regret filled the air.

At the bar, she saw Teagan playing arm candy to a large, illegally tanned guy. As Quinn walked up to the two, Teagan opened her mouth to say something but her face contorted as the smell that still remained on the shirt wafted up to her.

"Oh my God! What the hell happened?" She exclaimed while plugging her nose. Her new toy huffed in annoyance at having Quinn so close.

"You didn't hear? I just met my true love," Quinn made the symbol of a heart with her hands and held it over her chest. "I'm heading out."

Teagan frowned and looked up at the big alpha male. "I'm so sorry, Cotton Candy. I'm not ready to go yet."

"That's okay. I already called an Uber. I'm gonna stand outside and hopefully, the cold will keep the smell down." She gave the brute a disapproving glance up and down. "Just be careful, okay?"

Teagan nodded and cozied into the guy who smirked down at the pink haired girl. Quinn rolled her eyes before walking out of the suffocating building and into the cool air where she waited on a rundown bench. The street and sidewalks were empty apart from the odd person stepping in and out of the other decrepit buildings that somehow passed for bars.

A rolled up shirt was shoved in front of her and she followed the slender arm in a skintight black sleeve to see the Savior of Hair, Slayer of Chewed Gum smiling down at her.

"What's this?" The pink haired girl asked flatly.

"I saw it happen. I figured you'd need it more than me. You look like a medium, am I wrong?"

She took the shirt from the blonde and nodded, gratefully. "Wait, why were you carrying a spare shirt?"

"Why you looking a horse in the mouth? Put the damn thing on."

She began to pull off her shirt and the tall woman sputtered. "Jesus Henry Christ! You normally take your shirt off in front of strangers?"

"There's no one around." She pulled the black shirt over her head and looked at the local radio station's logo on the front. "And it's not like you haven't seen a bra before."

"But what if I was a lesbian?" She emphasized saliciously.

"I don't care if you are or not," she said with a strange sincerity that made the blonde pause. The pink haired girl looked up at her and scowled. "Does that offend you or something?"

The tall girl shrugged nonchalantly and pulled out a cigarette. She lit it and inhaled the smoke deeply as she noticed the solemn girl fidget nervously on the bench.

"Does my lung cancer offend you or something?" She smirked but her mocking was met with a pout.

"Your lungs don't matter to me."

"So what, you got asthma or something?"

"Yes."

"Oh, shit!" Dropping the cigarette, she quickly stomped it out and frantically waved the smoke away from her victim. "I'm so sorry! Don't you have an inhaler or something?"

"Where would I put it?" She stood up showing her tight highrise jeans and sat back down to blankly stare across the street with her chin in her hand and her elbow resting on her leg.

"Wow, your pants are as tight as my boyfriend's."

"I thought you were a lesbian," she said monotonously.

"It's a joke." The taller woman fought against pulling out another cigarette. "So you straight?"

"Ugh!" She threw her hands up. "I freaking hate labels! What does it matter what I am?"

"Oh, wow! You're one of those people! How retro. I just assumed you may be otherwise because of the hair."

"Thanks for not being condescending." She pulled her hair in front of her shoulders, tugging at it. "And lesbians don't have the rights to pink hair."

"I'm joking. Obviously." She smiled brightly at the girl but was only met with a straight mouth. "Do you ever smile?"

The shorter woman threw her head into her lap and her pink wavy hair flew over her. A rosy blush bloomed on the blonde's cheeks.

"I smile when I want. I don't smile just to satiate someone's ego," she said as she sat up, flipping her hair back. She turned to the girl with the same flat mouth but her blue eyes were softer. "Sorry, I'm not meaning to snap at you. The whole puke thing has me pissed."

"It's okay. If you don't want to smile, you shouldn't have to." The blonde sat down next to the pink haired girl. "So, you leaving?"

"Waiting on an Uber."

"Fancy." They sat in silence. "So, 'No Label', you go to school here?"

"Yeah. Junior year."

"Me too! Well, it would've been but I dropped out last year."

The other girl's blue eyes widened and her mouth slacked open. "You dropped out!?"

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom. There's more to life than getting a degree."

"Yeah, it's called having a degree and using that degree."

"Oh, God. You're one of those types."

"What type?" She challenged with ice in her blue eyes.

"The type that still doesn't know how to take a joke!" Her laughter echoed off of the old buildings but she found the other girl remained straight-mouthed. "What do you do when you need to smile, like school pictures?"

"I fake it just like everyone else. No one is really smiling during those." The blonde raised her eyebrows but nodded her head.

"So, show me."

The pink haired girl smiled with her teeth and the blonde girl blushed again.

"What?" The smile faded instantly and the pink haired girl frowned at her challenger.

"Nothing. It was just a lot better than I thought it would be. I was going to make fun of you."

A car pulled up and the two stood up.

"This is me," the girl said as she pulled her messy pink hair back and off of her shoulders. "Oh, I need your number."

"Wow. You move fast for a straight girl." The blonde girl smirked.

"It's to return the shirt," she frowned.

"Oh, you can just--" She thought for a moment as the other pulled her phone out. After clearing her throat, she nervously gave her number.

"What's your name? So I can put in my phone."

"Evangeline." The pink haired girl's head shot up and frowned at the blonde who smirked at her. "What, you think it's fake?"

The shorter girl looked the taller girl over and scrutinized her face. She had a tousled pixie cut that accentuated the sharp angles of her jaw and cheeks but she was still very feminine--despite her nearly permanent side smile.

"No, it fits you really well actually." She walked to the waiting car. "Thanks, again."

"Wait, you didn't tell me your name," she called out as the other opened the door.

"I'm Quinn."

"The circumstances sucked but it was nice meeting you, Quinn With No Label," she smiled brightly but the girl still had a straight mouth.

"It was nice meeting you too," she paused, "Evangeline the Lesbian."

The blonde winced. "When you say it like that, yeah, labels do sound pretty bad."

Quinn smiled at Evangeline and shook her head as she got into the car. Evangeline watched the car drive away with her mouth open.

"Now, that was a smile," she whispered to herself.