Quinn settled down into Mrs. Nelson (the preschool teacher's) desk chair smiling to herself. Sunshine Day Care, was the best part of her day, her mom had volunteered Quinn to be a teacher aide here when it was posted on their church bulletin. It was nice to be away from all stress of the Cheerios, a break from her tedious, always distracted by something boyfriend, Finn, school, and most importantly her parents. She had always loved kids, and found some sort of attraction to them and saw them as the few people who could do nothing wrong unlike herself. To whom her parents saw as the person who could do everything wrong in their eyes. Watching them play, hearing what they had to say, even their small actions brought back a time when she was that little, where she was her dad's doting daughter who could actually do nothing wrong.
It was 2:05, which was when everyone would get their coats and bags from their cubby and would wait at the small circle tables that cluttered the room. It took about a half an hour for all the parents to come and pick them up so Quinn usually used that time to sit with some of the kids just to hear what they had to say. The small naïve thoughts always made her smile, and the parents always found it amusing how deep she would get into the conversation. The kids reluctantly would leave but at 2:45 it was always left to one little girl who would patiently wait everyday for her parent. Quinn usually left before they came but today she figured she could give the girl some company. She already felt self-conscious about her body, but the small toddler chairs usually made her feel like a huge giant sitting in them. She pulled one out and sat by the brown haired girl that was playing with the hem of her dress.
"Hello.", Quinn said smiling at the girl who avoided Quinn's eyes.
Reluctantly she looked up, "Hi.", she said shyly so that it was almost a whisper.
"You're Sarah right?" she asked resting her head on her folded hands.
The girl nodded, once again playing with her dress. "I'm Quinn, but you probably already know that since I'm here every week."
She nodded once again this time with a small smile on her face.
"Is your mom and dad coming to pick you up?", she asked curious if this girl even had a ride.
Sarah sat for a moment like she was processing the question, "I don't have a dad." She said simply, avoiding the rest of Quinn's question.
"Oh you don't? So your mom is coming then?"
"Yeah, he left my family when I was a baby." She said bluntly, not acting like it was a problem but like she was talking about the weather.
Quinn didn't know what to say, she tried to avoid the 'no dad' topic but she kept bringing it up. Finally the girl spoke again after a bit of silence. "But my mom's at work so my brother is coming to pick me up." She nodded agreeing with herself.
"Well that's very nice of him. How old is your brother?"she asked more than happy to change the subject.
"I don't know, but he's really big."
Quinn giggled getting up from her seat. Answers like that always made her day. "Well, I'm going to go talk to Mrs. Nelson for a second so just stay put, and let us know if your brother comes."
Sarah nodded still playing with her dress, staying concentrated on the small seam at the bottom. It wasn't until 3:00 that Sarah's brother did finally come. Quinn got up from a chair near Mrs. Nelson's desk curious as to who the 'really big' brother was, so she slowly walked over to Sarah. It wasn't until she saw his Mohawk and beat up letterman jacket that she knew she recognized him. He went to school with her; they never really talked except for one time at a Cheerios party. As soon as Quinn approached his actions became awkward when hurrying up his sister.
"Uhh...c'mon Sarah." he mumbled gazing up at Quinn every once in a while.
"Hey.", Quinn said moving closer to them curious as to why he was in such a hurry. "Noah right?"
He straightened up like a recharged battery suddenly looking more confident. "Puck actually, but whatever suits your fancy."
"Why Puck?" she giggled at the name he had for himself.
"Because," he put his hands over Sarah's ears "it's bad ass." He smirked. "You know like Puck, from my last name…Puckerman."
"Oh. Well you go to McKinley right?" even though she already knew the answer she felt the need to keep the conversation going.
"Yup.", he nodded. "And you're Quinn Fabray president of the 'No Sex' club and the head cheerleader and all that shit." He smiled covering her ears again for the last word.
"Pretty much." She giggled normally offended by dissing Celibacy Club, but he had an innocent way about him, like a little kid.
"Well I have to get her home, it was nice talking Fabray." He said heading out of the front door of the day care.
"Bye.", she said quietly waving to the guy who had already left. "Like a little kid." repeated in her head for the rest of the day, bringing a small smile to her face every time.