The sun was barely visible through the heavy sheen of clouds blocking its direct rays. Refracted and blocked light allowed the world to be seen in a soft grey glow. This wasn't unusual for the wintertime weather of Ohio, so Quinn wasn't off-put much. She sat in a hot pink dress and matching pastel cardigan on the bench across from her former high school.
Like clockwork, every day at 7:20am she would watch the various students slug into the brick building and watch the occasional Cheerio's morning practice, then return at 2:10pm to sit to watch the children from William McKinley exit the building they called their prison, then would promptly go sit upon the bleachers overlooking the football and track field to watch the newest jocks muck around and the newest cheerleaders enduring Coach Sue's latest winter murder workout session.
Some would think she was torturing herself, watching her peers and friends from her youth grow-up and continue life without her; to see a fresh wave of students enter the school that she never knew, but she saw it as a comfort. It was the only thing that kept her remotely sane as she was forced to sideline the rest of the world.
It had been just a few months since she realized she was going to be stuck in this plane of existence. It had been an awfully sad year, but some of her friends were still at the school. Sweet, sweet Brittany for instance was pushing strong on the Cheerios and in the glee club. Quinn had gone to see her favorite crew of outcasts on a few occasions, the first being just shortly after she passed… she waited a month before going back after that. It was too painful.
Quinn hadn't been back at the club in a while however, because she had begun to feel uneasy as Brittany always seemed to stare at her whenever she entered the room. She knew from experience that the girl couldn't hear her- just like everyone else in the city, and she knew no one could actually see her, but something about Brittany put her on edge.
So here Quinn sat hearing the school bell chime announcing the end of the day. She modestly stood up and looked both ways before crossing the street; left, then right, then left again. She had been struck by a car once in her existence, so she didn't favor to do it again. She favored taking to the grass to walk to the bleachers because she didn't want to get run into, and it's not as if the grass would stain her pumps in any way.
As she walked to the back of the school she caught sight of Brittany talking to a short blonde bitch named Kitty. Or rather, Kitty was talking at Brittany, while Brittany's eyes looked easily over the shorter girl's shoulders and into Quinn's. Quinn held the gaze for a few seconds before turning her head and rushing to the bleachers.
The usual metallic clunking noises made by trespassers of the old rig no longer played their tune for Quinn. It was a sound she never thought she would miss, but it was just another reminder that she didn't belong here.
Taking up her usual seat on the top row in the corner Quinn sat and leaned her head back against the railing. There were a few openings in the sky allowing for quick glimpses of a blue sky. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly as she longed for the warmth of the sun's rays. She was caught in a limbo of the unfeeling. She shifted the front of her cardigan closer to her as she imagined the brisk wind that howled through the trees. She felt both cold and hot, constantly shifting in her skin as she wished for a constant temperature.
She allowed a faint smile to grace her lips as she heard Coach Sue's megaphone, "You think this is hard! I once skeletoned for the Olympics on only my stomach. THAT'S HARD!" It was a comfort to know that some things hadn't changed.
"Ya'know she misses you" said in a soft voice coming from her side. Quinn's eyes snapped open as she whipped her head to the voice. Brittany was sitting beside her, her face looking towards the football field.
"I miss you too" she let out softly as she turned her face to Quinn, her eyes slightly glossy and cerulean in color and nature.
Quinn didn't know what to say so she just sat there silently as Brittany didn't leave her side until Coach Sue threatened to call her parents while adding how she wasn't liable if Brittany turned into a popsicle.
This process continued over the next few days as Quinn was constantly intercepted by Brittany on her way to the bleachers. She had even tested to see if it was a fluke and sat on the other side of the bleachers, but sure enough Brittany was right next to her. It was hard to believe that the girl could see her when no one else could, but stranger things had happened.
"Brittany" Quinn tested the waters, "Can you see me?" She didn't say it nearly as loud as she would have liked, but she couldn't stand the thought of it not being true and wouldn't risk her voice failing on her.
A few minutes passed by and Quinn concluded that Brittany couldn't hear her, and she felt her heat sink. What's the point of seeing someone if you can't even talk to them, she thought bitterly, and as if by some cruel joke, she got her answer-
"Q" she started slowly, "I'm really glad you're here with me. I really miss San. And the others too, but I'm really glad you're still here" she finished whilst twiddling her fingers on her lap, unsure that she said the right thing, but if there was one thing Quinn learned while she was alive was that Brittany was always right.
"I'm glad to have you too Britt" Quinn responded and reached over to place her hands onto of Brittany's fiddling fingers. She saw more than felt the girl react to her with a shiver, her head moving fast enough to cause whiplash and a wide smile on her face.
After that afternoon, Quinn took the liberty of messing with her depressing daily schedule by shadowing Brittany all day.
She sat on the bench as she waited for Brittany to roll onto the school parking lot. Now that Santana had left for college Brittany was left without a ride and was forced to either walk or be creative hence she had taken up roller-skating. The girl was a true prodigy on wheels as she glided her way down the sidewalk backwards and with a small spin at the end to right herself before entering the parking lot.
Left. Right. Left.
Quinn struggled to follow Brittany as she proceeded to jump the few steps entering the school and slide down the hallways, the ground slick with wax helping her fly. Quinn hastened her stride when Brittany seamlessly spun around all traffic and into a corner hallway, her pleats twisting in the air. By the time Quinn got to where the girl had been she couldn't find her.
"Boo!" Brittany's head popped out from a door and Quinn gasped with her hand to her chest. Then proceeded to burst out laughing. She never thought she would experience any emotion aside from sorrow and remorse for the rest of her days. Brittany was a godsend.
Whether Brittany could hear Quinn laughing or not, she too began laughing. "Quinn!" she squealed, "I knew you were following me today!"
The rest of the morning was the most fun Quinn had had in a long time. Quinn continued to follow Brittany through the hallways as Brittany blabbered on about Lord Tubbington's recent addiction: canned cheese, all while never taking off her roller-skates. It was kind of nice for Brittany to have cleared a path for Quinn to walk along because she wasn't keen on having hordes of children pass through her. The highlight of her morning was seeing Brittany speed skate around the school's two security guards when they told her she wasn't allowed to skate at school.
"I know you can't really talk back with me, but I'm having a lot of fun talking to you. I love having my best friend back! It's like Casper the Friendly Ghost, except you're not really friendly and you don't have three grumpy uncle ghosts… do you?" She turned her eyes away from her locker to look at Quinn dead in the eyes; she wasn't sure how Brittany was able to do that.
"I really wish you could hear me Britt" Quinn sighed as she leaned against the neighboring lockers when Brittany returned to what she was doing.
"Hey Brittany!" Sam sidled up next to Brittany while stepping into Quinn and stopping.
Quinn immediately felt heat bubbling into her chest and through her limbs and she began to shake. It was a sensation she had never experienced before and it was as close to feeling pain as she was going to get while being dead. He was sucking the cold out of her.
"Woah!" Sam jolted and held his body close, "Am I under an air vent or something?" He foolishly looked above and around him for any offending openings.
"SAM! You just stepped into Quinn!" Brittany's eyes bugged out as she yanked on the boy's shirt to move him from Quinn, who brashly stepped out further from Sam and tried to punch him in the arm which only led to pin prickles on her fist and the forearm that travelled through his bicep.
"Quinn?" He paused with a furrowed brow, "Brittany, are you okay?" Sam asked with a low voice thick with concern, bending his head down a tad to block out the noise from the bustling people around the three.
Quinn was getting worried at this point; she didn't want Brittany to get in trouble because of her. She knew that it wasn't normal that Brittany could, whatever it was she could do to tell she was there, and didn't want Brittany to end up in some white jacket. She decided it was best if she just disappeared from the school- one day was enough. She was thankful for Brittany but she wasn't going to let Brittany risk her life for her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and furrowed her brows thinking hard about being anywhere but where she was, and when she reopened them she was at her gravesite.