The evolution of Sage and the MC's relationship is not stupid in any affinity, what was stupid was cutting off such an organic evolution by crying about not being the rebound guy. And it's even more stupid if you're already his fuckbuddy in the Dik affinity, why create such a rich path, where you could feel the closeness both in words and gestures to cut it all off in a speech more like the snowflake who ran away when he found out about Josy and Maya?
the worst part of this twist is that it is completely unnecessary and does not bring any evolution
MC complains about being the rebound guy (without this ever having given him any problems, to be precise he might have complained about it, but it's a choice in a dialogue that doesn't change anything else), Sage says she understands and is willing to wait, and waits 15-20 seconds
in the end Mc if he was the rebound guy is still the rebound guy, nothing at all has changed, except that we now know that Mc is dissatisfied with the relationship he had with Sage
It is in Quinn's interest that Maya and Josy don't join the Hots since they add expenses without contributing to the restaurant; Josy joining the Hots puts them at odds, FACT. On top of that, if Quinn had quashed the rumour in the first place, Maya would never had attempted to join, meaning she and Josy would've been able to look for alternate solutions earlier and not suffer the relationship strain it caused.
If you still can't see it then I give up.
but what solutions do you want two girls who didn't even talk to each other to find? Maya arrives at BR already framed (we will find out how much) by her father's loan/scam.
and the BR, or another college, was the only oasis where they could find themselves (choice made before knowing that Quinn existed in the world) and Maya without the illusion of free tuition the only thing she could do was to surrender to her father's ultimatum
in my opinion a character can be said to be antagonistic to another only if he voluntarily obstructs or damages another one
Then, to say that Quinn damages the relationship between Josy and Maya because she indirectly and unwillingly allows Josy to enter the HOTs, which Josy is happy to do, to escape from a danger that has nothing to do with Quinn (Maya's father) seems to me a logical stretch.
isn't it enough for Quinn to be the nemesis of Maya and in the future probably of Sage?