Quinntana Week 2014

Day 1: Quinntana Begins

author: summer_rain

A/N: This is going to be raw as 1) havent gotten round to polish it 2) I wrote it at like 2am in the morning. I apologise for any mistakes/lack of flow in the fic :) also if you have time check out my other quinntana week submission: This Love Will Be Your Downfall (Day5 AU [mafia])

NB: this is more of a friendship fic than one of romance

The hot rays of the summer sun shone down onto my skin, beads of sweat had begun to trail down the side of my face and my chest rose and fell rapidly, the only indication of the physical 'torture' I had just undergone. I remained composed, straightened up and attempted to place a mask of indifference onto my face, it was what Frannie had taught me. In actuality, though all I wanted to do was to collapse onto the ground on my knees and just breathe. I could picture that, picture myself panting, gasping for oxygen. I felt my eyebrows crease together and shook the image away. Air steadily whistled into my nostrils, filling my lungs, I held my breath slightly, prolonging that burning sensation that was already present, before exhaling once again. From somewhere behind me I heard another girl release a large sigh of relief. I was immediately curious as to what would warrant such an action, we had finished the 'hard' part of our try-outs a while ago... Just as I was about to turn around, a shadow partially blocked out the sun. Instead of feeling relieved from the harsh heat, I suddenly shivered instead as in front of me stood a tall woman clad in a red tracksuit.

"Quinn Fabray." Sue Sylvester's intimidating and scrutinising gaze fell over me, I the hairs on the back of my neck tingling. "Yes Coach?" I tried to speak with as much conviction as I could muster, remembering at the last minute to couple my words with a snarky eyebrow quirk; another thing I had learnt from Frannie. Sue looked slightly bemused, her cold eyes widened minutely and a small devilishly smile appeared on her face. As Sue's gaze swept over me, I could feel her sizing me up, watching me like a hawk, waiting for me to break down-but no I would not give her that satisfaction, I was born and raised Fabray after all.

Stop beating so loudly, heart will you calm down!

I had crossed my arms and leaned on one hip, hoping that Sylvester wouldn't sniff out my fear, and the nervousness that threatened to freeze me in place. I knew that my palms were clammy, but hopefully she would think the sweat was from the 'training' we had to undergo this afternoon. I wondered if Sue could hear the beating of my heart as it thudded furiously against my chest.

Sue narrowed her eyes, and frowned at me, the way the sunlight fell upon her face made her face seem even more demonic—her cold eyes judging everything about my existence. To her, this cheerleading team was serious business, and to me, it was as well. It would determine whether I was at the top of the food chain, worshipped by me fellow peers, or a loser, a lowly bottom feeder, destined to live out a life filled with bullying or at best invisibility. I knew what it was like to be at the bottom. I realised that may have been a huge reason as to why I had decided that I needed to change myself. And apparently changing myself meant trying out for Cheerios...my previous loser status made me so determined to show the ones who had bullied me that I was in fact, Quinn Fabray, a queen, revered and feared by her classmates.

This was the moment, the moment when Sylvester would judge ones strength of character. I had spent the majority of summer with Fran, my older sister, an ex cheerio perfecting my new persona-no, perfecting myself, the loser Lucy Caboosey no longer exists. The Lucy who everyone laughed at and teased, Lucy, she is gone. I am Quinn Fabray.

Sue straightened back up and seemed to dismiss me with an indifferent wave of her hand before moving onto the next hopeful candidate. A sense of dread washed over me, it was accompanied by a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, and suddenly the world around me grew out of focus. If i had failed, my father... i could picture the disdain that would colour his face. i never knew why i tried so hard for him, to him i would never be able to live up to Frannie's perfection. The foreign and devastating sensation of failure began to bud within my heart. The feeling grew and grew like a twisted plant of some kind within me, tangled branches of negative emotions fighting to break out. I struggled to contain them. With difficulty, I swallowed the hard lump that had formed in my throat. The more i thought about Sue's dismissal, the more I felt a bubble rise from my chest, forcing its way up, bringing with it warms tears of failure. I didn't know why I was so affected by this, I was so weak. I angrily clenched my fist, at my frustration. Everything had gone to plan, I had trained all summer for this, I had changed myself for this and yet I had still failed. I wanted to cry, I want to run away, to hide in the locker room, to be left alone. Maybe I was destined to remain as Lucy forever, Quinn was someone who I could never be.

"Someone's having a bad day? You in a pissy mood or something?"

Anger coursed through my veins, I snapped my head up at the sound of the voice, one of the mean remarks I had learnt from Frannie settled on my tongue, waiting to strike harshly at whoever had spoken to me.

"No seriously, what is up with you, you look like you're going to murder someone."

The insult I was about to utter was severed completely and became stuck in my throat when I saw who it was in front of me. The unmistakable dark locks, the mocha coloured eyes, and that signature smirk of…Santana Lopez.

When I had first seen Santana, at summer camp (my parents had forced me to attend), I thought she had been the epitome of 'perfect' in the standards of a high schooler. It was what Quinn Fabray was meant to be and was what the people who had bullied Lucy was like. Santana was attractive, confident and snarky. I had also heard that she did not care about getting into trouble, which meant that she was, she was ruthless. I froze as my mind registered the fact that she may become one of my many tormentors.

"I…I...umm," I stuttered trying to gather my thoughts, "I'm Quinn." I managed to get out. I mentally face palmed, Santana knew that already, Sue had made us introduce ourselves in front of the others, something about "I need a team who can work together, so tell us your name and then work together, simple!"

Santana just nodded in acknowledgement, "I'm Santana." There was an awkward silence that fell between us, I felt the need to start a conversation...i had never been comfortable with silences. They had always made me-made lucy think that the other person was mentally judging you, picking out your every flaw, ready to use it against you.

I fidgeted nervously, "So…"

"Oh my god! Look who it is!" A familiar voice laced with fake sweetness cut through the air. Footsteps moved closer and closer to where Santana and I stood. My muscles tensed preparing to flee, there was no way I would not be able to recognise that voice. I bit my lip, and I dug my nails into the soft flesh of the palms of my hand as panic threatened to consume me. I swallowed forcing myself to remain still. Santana seemed to notice my tension and unease, and a small crease formed between her furrowed eyebrows. she tilted her head slightly as if to silently ask me if I was okay. I turned away not wanting to meet her eyes, not wanting her to see my vulnerability as i knew that as a 'popular' girl she would soon side with them, and I would be left alone.

"I can't believe it!" A second voice joined in with the first, I decided that if I was going to face them, I might as well try to fight back, even if it meant that I would be miserable for the rest of my high school days. Steeling my resolve I turned around and unsurprisingly, the two people who had made my Elementary and Junior High School life a living hell stood before of me.

Eliana and Tiffany.

Santana looked confused, she had never encountered either of these girls as Santana had moved to Lima only a year ago. In addition, she had gone to a different school from the three of us. I gritted my teeth at the sight of the two girls.

"I can't believe you even have the nerve to show up Lucy. You're just a loser, like you even think you have a chance of getting into the Cheerios?" Tiffany's mouth curled into an unpleasant sneer. "Get off this field before I throw up, you're repulsive."

Something in Santana's demeanour seemed to shift at the cutting words that were aimed at me. Her expression darkened and her eyes did so too, seemingly becoming an ominous dark brown.

Eliana picked up from where her friend had stopped. "Yeah Lucy Caboosey, get your fat ass off the field!"

I saw Santana's eyes widen at her recognition of me, of Lucy Fabray, the loser at summer camp. Even with the weight loss, new contacts and braces, I was still Lucy.

I frantically looked around for the Coach, but she was nowhere to be seen. I could feel a sense of hopelessly crash into me, hitting me like a ton of bricks, panic seized me and my breathing became erratic. I gasped for breath but no matter what I did I could never rid myself of the tightness that was constricting my chest, hindering my breathing. My hand began quaking and the field became a messy blur or colours, everything felt distant and bizarrely close at the same time. I heard the mocking sounds of laughter and suddenly felt claustrophobic. The world was muted but I could barely make out sounds of shouting. I wanted to run away—this whole thing had been a bad idea. Who I was kidding! I would never be able to become one of them.

"Quinn?" As my eyes struggled to focus, a husky voice spoke softly, slowing drawing me out of my panicked state. "Focus on my voice, Quinn, look at me."

My eyes blinked several times before they settled on calm brown orbs of melted chocolate, "Can you tell me how many tyres a car has?" My face contorted slightly, bewildered as to why Santana would ask such a question…then I realise who it was, Santana! I jerk away suddenly, and my eyes widened, I felt the fear and helplessness return again. Of course, she would want to make me look like a fool! Santana tugged at my wrist gently.

"Quinn." She said more firmly. "Please answer the question." For some reason, I yielded to her assertive tone. As I tried to concentrate on answering her question, I felt myself relax and the fogginess that had clouded my mind before dissipate into the atmosphere.

"Four." I concluded after a while.

Santana smiled mischievously at me, gently bumping my shoulder as she replied. "And a spare tyre makes it five."

I allowed my mouth to quirk into a smile and rolled my eyes at her antics.

"We've met right? You're Lucy Fabray, from summer camp?" I ducked my head and nod. So much for the plan of leaving Lucy behind. No matter how hard I tried to get away, Lucy still haunted me.

"Santana…I get it if…" I swallowed nervously, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "I get it if you don't want to hang around me…"

Santana rolled her eyes and just grinned at me. "Quinn, you serious right now? You were pretty good out here today. You're going be the next Head Cheerio and I wants to be on your good side. I needs an ally who isn't batshit insane. We're going to rule McKinley together."

Santana paused for a second, before her face turned dead serious.

"Besides, I already went all Lima Heights on those bitches." I glanced around and I found that the two girls were nowhere to be seen, at this I smiled brightly.

There was the sound of static before Sue brought the megaphone to her mouth. "Pathetic wannabe baby Cheerios!" Sue's voice crackled over the megaphone. "If I call you name, please step forward, for the rest of you please get lost! The smell of mediocrity is making me sick."

Sue adjusted her glasses before she glanced down at her list. To say I felt nervous was an understatement. On one hand I felt reassured by Santana's word but on the other, I remembered the dismissive look that Sue had given me when she had been sizing me up. My teeth gnawed at my bottom lip and I stood there fidgeting with my hands. I sensed Santana's nervousness emanating from her as she shifted awkwardly on the spot trying to calm herself.

"Fiesty Latina." There was a murmur of confusion amongst the crowd and Sue cleared her throat exasperatedly spoke again. "Santana Lopez, hurry up! How many feisty Latinas do you see?" Santana looked surprised for a second before she slipped into her usual demeanour and stepped forward with an air of confidence. A smirk now replaced the nervous look she had on a minute ago. She gave the waiting group a once over, sneering at Eliana and Tiffany before giving Quinn a soft and encouraging smile.

"Tweedle-Dumb" When there was no response, Sue shook her head. "Brittany Pierce."

"Mary Johnson, Jackie Layman, Tina Hawthorne…" The names rolled off the Coach's tongue and faded into one another as the number of people who had made the team grew. I couldn't help but feel the sinking feeling once again.

"Tiffany Burkett, Eliana Carmel…" I watched as the two girls strode forward, Tiffany turned her head and locked eyes with me, her mouth twisted once again into a mocking sneer. I forced down the building feeling of unease once again. I may not have looked like Lucy anymore but it was in moments like these that I felt like I was still that same girl.

"And last but not least, I would like to congratulate this final person, who clearly has the most potential amongst all of you, with the exception of maybe fiery Latina here." Sue paused. The entire field was silent, some were waiting for the announcement of a rival, and others were hoping to make the team. I held my breath, heart racing fast, if by some miracle it wa-

"Quinn Fabray."

I remained composed but I was screaming ecstatically inside. I could not believe it. Sue had said I had a lot of potential.

With new-found confidence I stepped forward and for the first time in my life, I felt like Quinn.

"That is all, dismissed!" Coach Sylvester curtly announced.

When I found Santana, she didn't look the slightest bit surprised. I couldn't tell but I would say she even looked a little bit proud of me. "Told you Q, you were pretty good on the field." I blushed. We had began to move towards the change rooms. I'm not sure whether I blushed because of her compliment or from the fact she had just called me 'Q'.

"Wait what did you call me?"

"Q? For like Quinn."

"I've never had a nickname." I admitted quietly.

"There's a first for everything, Q."

A part of me beamed at this, and I smiled genuinely at Santana. She returned my smile, before frowning again. "You needs to works on your HBIC glare, especially if we're going to rule the school."

"Santana, we have two weeks!" I rolled my eyes at her. "Anyway maybe you could 'teach' me then, since you are obviously so good at it."

"Yeah, well what can I say, I'm good at a lot of things." She wriggles her eyebrows at me, and I blushed.

"Give me your phone," I looked at her blankly for a second. When I glanced around, I noticed that we were already in the changing rooms and she had taken her phone out. I cringed at my slow reaction and hurried to find my phone, tossing it at her. Santana effortlessly caught my phone and punched in her number under a new contact. While she was doing so, I found myself staring at her. She had raven locks of hair that were tied neatly into a ponytail, a set of captivating mocha colour eyes, full lips and a defined jawline. The way she was currently biting her lip with concentration was actually very distracting. I admired her beauty, taking in her every feature. I think i ought to have felt jealous in moment, but there were no such feelings. Only a warmth which spread out from my chest to my extremities. Santana was prett—

no she was more than that, she was beautiful.

Santana looked up from my phone, and her dimples showed as her lips formed a smile. "Call me or text me or something, Q. I'll come pick you up and we can hang out."

Santana patted me on my arm before sauntering towards the exit.

"Mum, just texted, she wants me home. So I've gots to go, well I guess I'll see you 'round Fabray."

"Okay, I'll text you then, Santana."

I released a sigh of content after she had left.

For the whole afternoon, ever since I had talked to her, one name had kept running through my mind.

Santana Lopez.

My phone buzzed.

Santana Lopez: "beat you to it, Q."

Santana Lopez: "Oh and about what those 2 bitches said, ignore it. Fabray, you are beautiful. Lucy is part of your past, accept that, but ultimately you are still whoever you want to be, which is probably hot bitch or something."

Quinn Fabray: "it's not hot bitch! That's defs you..."

Quinn Fabray: "but thank you San, it means a lot"

Santana Lopez:"that waht friends are for right?"

Santana was right, there was a first for everything...maybe high school would actually be mildly enjoyable.

A/N: hope you enjoyed it, but personally, I'm not really all that happy with this, btw, Quinn was extremely insecure due to this being her first time interacting with 'new' people as "Quinn"and not "Lucy". First time writing from Quinn's POV in first person. It was hard, I think I'm more comfortable writing Santana's thought processes (maybe) :) reviews always appreciated :)