"Quinn?"
The blonde flinched at the sound of her name and buried her head deeper in the book she was currently reading. Cursing herself for not finding a better hiding spot, Quinn dearly hoped that it wasn't any of her co-workers for she knew they would rat her out. It couldn't be her boss because Daniel, constantly high, could barely remember her name let alone that she even worked in Lima's only bookstore. Having worked here for two weeks now, she had discovered that the travel section was the least visited for the fact that barely anyone in Lima made it out of the state. Quinn also came to realization that people didn't really visit this bookstore and had taken it upon herself to hide out in the travel section until her shift was up.
Looking up with dread, Quinn was surprised to see the one and only Rachel Berry before her dressed in tiny white shorts that emphasized her bronze skin. "Oh. Rachel. It's just you." Quinn said with relief and closed her book.
"Who were you expecting?" Rachel asked with curiosity.
"My boss." She replied flatly, the relief wearing off.
Rachel looked at the girl a little stunned. Quinn working? At a bookstore? It just didn't seem to fit, but what did she really know about Quinn anyway? The brunette had just been glad that junior year ended on good terms with the moody ex-cheerleader. Sure, she may have won Finn in the end, but by the last day of school it didn't even seem to faze Quinn when the two held hands or did a duet together. "So, you're working here for the summer? That's nice."
Picking herself off the floor, Quinn nodded and quickly eyed Rachel up and down. The girl seemed thinner and shorter, if that was possible. Her eyes seemed to droop as though she hadn't slept in days. Feeling bad for the girl, Quinn decided she could try and be nice no matter how much the brunette bothered her. "So, what brings you to the most deserted section of the bookstore?"
"Well, my fathers are taking me to New York City at the end of the summer and they wanted all the information I could find. Of course I insisted that we didn't need any since I know that city back and forth, but they forced me to come and find some informational books." Rachel grinned and bit her lip when she realized that Quinn didn't really care. "Uh, could you help me find some?"
Quinn crouched down and found the section filled with books about New York City. She finally settled on two that seemed fitting for the Berrys. "Here." Quinn handed over the books and gave a soft smile. It felt weird talking to one of her peers during the summer since she hadn't really seen anyone since school ended. She'd hung out with Santana and Brittany once, but ended up feeling like the third wheel and didn't be put in that situation again. She'd also hung out with Sam twice, but it was clear he wanted something more than a friendship and Quinn was not into that idea.
"Thanks!"
The girls then stood there, unsure what to say next. "How's your summer been?" Quinn asked as she leaned up against the bookshelf.
"It's been ..." Rachel racked her brain for what to say. 'Good' felt like such a lie and 'fine' was a word Rachel Berry wouldn't use. In all honestly, the past four weeks of summer weren't the best. "It's been nice."
Quinn tilted her head to the side and cocked her eyebrow not believing what the girl had just said. It was clear on the shorter girl's face that her summer hadn't been 'nice'. It was also evident in the droopy eyes, the faulty smile, and her eye's lack of sparkle. "You don't expect me to believe that, right?"
Rachel looked away not wanting to talk about what was upsetting her and pretended to be interested in the cover of 'What's in Ireland?'. "I swear Quinn, my summer has been great. Wait, no, really great!" She nodded with enthusiasm.
"Please Rachel, I can tell when you're lying."
"I don't appreciate you accusing me of lying." Rachel stood up straighter. "How's your summer been, Quinn?" she asked with slight irritation.
Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly? Boring." Lately Quinn's days consisted of working at the bookstore and then going home to her mom who kept trying to cheer the blonde up by taking her shopping or renting Quinn's favorite movie, Gone With the Wind. She was happy with her mom's change, the woman was actually trying to be a good mother, but she missed hanging out with people her own age. Maybe she could try to make an effort with Mercedes, but that felt so forced now. The two had drifted apart once Quinn left her house and for some reason both girls never made the effort to maintain it. "My summer has been shit. My mother is driving me crazy, Sam's constant texts are irritating, Santana and Brittany are in their own little world, and I'm at this fucking book store." Quinn spat with frustration that had been pent up inside of her since school ended.
A surprised, almost scared, looking Rachel backed up a few steps and instinctually held her hands up. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked hesitantly and then gave an encouraging smile. Rachel instantly saw this as an opportunity for Quinn and her to be friends.
The blonde eyed Rachel wishing she could swipe that grin off her face, but then realized how great it felt talking to someone. Even if it was Rachel Berry. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to listen to my problems." Quinn sighed with indifference and played toyed at the book in her hands.
"Of course I want to listen. Even though we haven't always been the best of terms, I still consider you my friend." Rachel rested her hand on Quinn's arm.
Having spent the past four weeks of summer with Finn Hudson and her fathers, it felt so nice to talk to a girl. Hell, she even missed Quinn. Rachel felt there had been few moments when she really saw the blonde for who she was, a brave and courageous person. Often Quinn's insecurities and desire to be popular overshadowed those admirable qualities, but Rachel knew that there was some one really special beneath those flaws. "My fathers are cooking dinner tonight. Would you want to come over, hang out?" Rachel spoke quickly, unsure of what she doing, but she just really wanted a friend right now. A friend named Quinn Fabray. "You can say no if you'd like. I would understand. They're making this dish with corn and tofu. It's really-"
"Alright, I get it Berry." Quinn giggled at the rambling girl in front of her and wore a look of disgust at the sound of tofu. When she caught Rachel's reaction to Quinn's scrunched up face, Quinn instantly felt bad. "As much fun as that sounds I'm going to have to turn down that offer. Tofu's not really my thing."
"Oh. That's fine." Rachel gave her a mega-watt smile as though the Quinn's decline didn't affect her.
"But my mother's having a party tonight if you'd like to join. Actually, I'd really like if you came. I don't know if I could handle those people alone." In that moment Quinn had never seen Rachel's face light up so much and so she took that as a yes. "Come around seven."
"Really" That sounds great." Rachel nodded and held the books tightly with excitement. "Should I eat before or will there be food fit to my diet?"
Quinn rolled her eyes and assured Rachel there'd be food for her. "And wear something nice Berry. No animal sweaters or plaid."
"Of course, Quinn." Rachel stuck her tongue out and headed towards the cashier.
x - x - x
"What's wrong with plaid?" Rachel asked herself as she stood in front of the mirror. Plaid was classy and sophisticated. With an annoyed sigh, Rachel shimmied out of her skirt and searched through her closet for something to wear to the Fabray's. If she had a shot at becoming Quinn's friend she knew she knew things needed to go over smoothly tonight. She didn't think she could handle another conversation about X-box with Finn. Finn ... Rachel had experienced a whole different side of the jock once summer rolled around. He was different, more temperamental and he often took his anger out on Rachel. To Rachel's luck, Burt Hummel was taking Finn out to some sports game tonight and knew that the boy wouldn't be bothering her.
Rachel's eyes finally fell upon the little black dress she had purchased a while back, but never worn. Slipping it on, Rachel felt the tight dress fit along her curves and stepped in front of the mirror. She felt good in it, pretty even. Feeling it would be a little too much for the party tonight, Rachel slipped on a light cardigan that covered her bare shoulders and closed one button."No animal sweaters. Check. No plaid. Check."
x - x - x
"I hate Rachel Berry. I hate her, I hate her, I hate her." Quinn Fabray muttered as she threw the kitchen towel on the ground. For the past forty minutes she had been trying to cook a vegetarian dish for Rachel, but unfortunately Quinn had no cooking skills.
"Sweetie, let me take over." Her mother, Judy, giggled at the girl's sad attempt. Looking into the dish, Judy tried to figure out what her daughter was attempting to make, but it looked like slush. "I'm sure I ordered some sort of pasta dish without meat." Judy shut the stove off and gave her daughter a suspicious look.
"What?" Quinn asked with confusion and crossed her arms. "Is there something on my face?"
"No, I just find it surprising that you went out of your way to cook for this girl who you seemed to really dislike three months ago."
Quinn shifted uncomfortably and shrugged her shoulders. "I should go get ready." She mumbled and headed up to her bedroom not wanting to go into that conversation.
After quickly taking a shower, Quinn sat on her roof to let her shoulder length hair dry naturally. This was her favorite spot in all of Lima thanks to the privacy and feeling of security it gave her. She vividly remembered an eight year old version of herself sitting on this roof in an attempt of blocking out the sounds of her parent's fights. It pained her to think about the memories of her mother agreeing to her father's degrading demands and promised herself she would never marry someone like him.
It sometimes pained Quinn to see the way Finn treated Rachel, like she was below him. Of course Finn understood the talent and beauty that was Rachel Berry, but she felt he never appreciated it enough. If in twenty years, the two were still together, Quinn could see Finn treating Rachel the way her father treated her mother and that really bothered her. Sure Quinn had been with Finn, but she had never been in love with him, at least not the second time and knew she could come out of that relation unscathed, but could Rachel? That girl just seemed so damn attached to him.
Quinn finally dragged herself threw the window and over to her closet in search of something to wear tonight. With one quick look she decided on one of her white summer dresses. It was simple and fine for tonight. Who did she really have to impress anyway?
Three hours later, Quinn gave her fake 'it's-really-great-to-see-you-even-though-I-don't-know-who-you-are' smiles to one of her mom's co-workers and even gave a cute shrug of her shoulders to make it look like she was genuinely pleased.
"Oh, Daniel." Judy playfully slapped the man's arm at some compliment he had just payed her. "If you're thirsty we have an open bar in the back."
"Perfect." The man grinned at Quinn and received an eye roll.
Where the hell was Rachel? It was already seven thirty and she knew the tiny brunette was never late. Quinn was tired of having to falsely smile and pretend like she was interested in cars or what colleges they had attended back in the day. "Quinnie, follow me." Judy dragged the blonde over to a family of three. "Mason and Sarah, so glad you came."
"Judy, there you are." The woman kissed Judy's cheek. "This is our son, Lucas."
Quinn eyed her mother once she figured out was going on. The three parents gave each other glances of excitement as Lucas extended his hand towards Quinn. "Hey." He gave a toothy grin and Quinn did everything to keep from laughing. "So, you're Quinn?"
"I'm Quinn." She responded and tried to ignore the looks she was receiving from her mother.
"I've seen you cheer at football games. I go to Carmel." Lucas told the blonde. "You were really good." He smiled and let go of her hand. Lucas was tall, nicely built, and had perfectly brushed chestnut locks.
She could tell from the silence of her mother that she had hopes of these two becoming more than friends. Sorry mom, but this is definitely not going to happen.
"Let's go get some wine and leave these two kids to talk." Judy gave a thumbs up to Quinn and motioned for Lucas's parents to follow.
Quinn tapped her foot with annoyance and picked at the nail polish on her fingers. Sure, this guy seemed nice, but she really wasn't interested in anything right now. She was sick of dealing with boys and their stupid boy logic. It became infuriating.
"Do you still cheerlead?" Lucas asked Quinn in hopes of starting a meaningful conversation.
"No. The coach was a bitch." Quinn sighed and looked at the door. Where the hell is Rachel? I swear to God, if she doesn't show up within the next ten minutes I'm putting meat in her pasta.
"Yeah, Sylvester, right? She seems a little crazy. I remember seeing her on the news when she had that -" Lucas paused midway, his eyes instantly falling on someone other than Quinn. "Oh. Wow."
Quinn quickly turned to see what the boy was the staring at. When she noticed what had caught the boy's gaze, her jaw fell agape and her eyes grew wide. "Oh my - Rachel?"