Smoke and Pink
Rachel looked determined and walked with purpose as she heads towards the bleachers where the small gang of troubled girls known as The Skanks hang out during lunch period. She made an effort to exude an air of calm confidence as she approached them. She wouldn't let her nervousness prevent her from speaking with Quinn, who seems to have fallen in with a bad lot. As team captain of glee club it was her duty to act as shepherd when one of her flock has lost her way and bring her back into the fold. Her lost lamb in this case was now dressed in suggestive black clothing and dyed her shortened hair pink, which flayed out messily in several directions. Which Rachel admittedly found to be a good look on Quinn, but there were other drastic changes in the girl's appearance which distracted from the flawless beauty of the former cheerleader. She thought that the nose ring and distastefully chosen tattoo on her lower backside marred the natural feminine beauty of the girl. But it was not so much the appearance that concerned her, it was the way Quinn had withdrawn completely from her… and everybody else from glee club.
Raucous laughter of the girl gang could be heard as she neared the corner where they loitered behind the bleachers. She paused in her steps for a moment, taking in deep breaths to steady her nerves. She didn't want to think what may happen if they were like certain species of wild animals who could actually smell fear. Once she felt confident enough she began moving her legs again and rounded the corner to reveal her presence.
She immediately recognized Quinn's backside, as she was facing the others and preoccupied with their conversation.
The one dark haired girl called The Mack is the first to spot Rachel and calls out, "Well if it isn't the singing hobbit...Raquel."
Quinn quickly turns around and looks surprised to find Rachel standing there.
Rachel tries to keep her expression harmless and friendly as she replies, "It's Rachel actually. Rachel Berry."
One of the two larger skanks that's plopped down on their makeshift bench eyes the singer disdainfully. Her name is Sheila and has no shame admitting to once eating cat food. There's a plastic spork hidden in her leather jacket at all times, so she's always prepared for snack attacks or whenever the skanks are running down lunch money out of some of the weaker members of the McKinley population. Her response to the small diva is a loud, "Your name can be Bimbo Baggins for all I care."
The other plus sized girl who's wearing a leather cap heartily laughs, "I think you mean Bilbo."
"Say what?"
"Bilbo Baggins is the name of one of the hobbits. Not Bimbo."
"Don't be telling me what I mean Ronnie. When I say bimbo, I fucking mean Bimm- Bo!
The Mack cackles as she turns towards the plumpest skank. "Never took you for one of them lord of the dance nerds."
A sensual voice husks out, "It's called Lord of the Rings."
Everyone's attention turns towards the newest member of The Skanks as she continues, "It's a famous novel by J.R. Tolkien. Bilbo was the hero of The Hobbit. Frodo Baggins was the hero of Lord of the Rings."
There's a moment of silence as they all stare at the skank with the pale and creamy smooth skin. She hasn't been a skank long enough for her body to lose its well-toned definition or her skin to lose its clear complexion. Pink highlights in her hair, clothes that were dark and shredded in places and a nose ring were the only things that gave her the appearance of being one of them.
Rachel smiles amusedly and there's a shiny gleam in her brown eyes as she takes in the pink haired girl.
Quinn shrugs her shoulders in a nonchalant manner adding, "I've seen the movies."
Quinn takes a puff from her cigarette then exhales the smoke from pink colored lips as she gracefully flicks the ash off to her side watching as it scatters lightly to the ground.
If Rachel didn't find the cancerous habit so disgusting it wouldn't be difficult for her to find Quinn rather sexy while performing this simple act. Though it wasn't something she would actually say out loud. There was an inherent grace and beauty in everything Quinn did, even while she was partaking in such a vile habit. In all honesty she still found something erotic about the way the pink haired punk performed these series of simple gestures – it drew attention to her perfectly shaped lips and long slender fingers in a way that was almost mesmerizing. However, she was here on a mission and had to focus on the task at hand.
"As much as I'd love for us to continue this fascinating discussion about fantasy film and literature about little people that live underground, I have something rather more important to discuss with you Quinn…if you have a moment?
Quinn says nothing for a few seconds as she looks at Rachel. She's trying to decide if she should take her leave of the skanks to give Rachel a moment alone with her, or if she should just tell Rachel to have her say in front of them. If she gives into the silent plea that she sees behind chestnut brown eyes it'll be seen as a sign of weakness by the rest of the skanks. With her recently acquired status as a skank she not only changed her appearance, but adopted a new attitude as well. One that doesn't give a shit anymore…about anything or anyone. That includes Rachel Berry.
Although the pink haired punk stood still and wore the mask of cool indifference, Rachel caught the momentary hesitation flicker within her hazel eyes. They were even more impressive when heavily accentuated with black eyeliner.
"Please Quinn. I won't take up much of your time" the brunette added with a steady gentle voice.
The former cheerleader turned punk blinked.
Damn it Rachel…
Why was it was so hard for her to say no to Rachel? There was an irresistible tug someplace deep within her whenever she looked into those pair of expressive brown eyes. They always seemed to convey her emotions so easily, and the sound of the singer's voice was like a velvety smooth balm for her wounded spirit.
The punk girl shifted in her frozen stance, rolled her eyes as she huffed out, "Fine Berry, I know you won't leave me alone until you've had your say. So let's go get this over with."
She tells the skanks, "I'll catch you guys later", before moving swiftly passed Rachel who catches up to her side as they walk toward an empty part of the football field where they can have a greater degree of privacy.
After walking in silence for a minute the pink haired skank spins around and faces the shorter girl. "All right let's hear it."
Rachel is taken slightly aback by the rapid motion and the abrupt way the punk speaks. "Quinn…it's just that I..I mean we – that is everyone at glee really misses you."
"Is this what all this about? Really? You just want me to come back to glee?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing…"
"Well you should have saved yourself the trouble because I'm done with glee club. So if that is all you have to say-"
When the taller girls starts to leave Rachel surprises both of them by quickly grabbing hold the punk's slender wrist and yelling, "I'm worried about you Quinn!"
Quinn looks contemplatively at the smaller hand wrapped around her wrist and glances up to meet her eyes. She leans her taller body in closer to her, invading her personal space as their eyes continue to gaze into each other's. Her voice takes in a low sultry tone when she says with easy deliverance, "Since when are you worried about me Rachel?"
Rachel is momentarily stunned by the close proximity and the intensity of her hazel gaze that when she opens her mouth to speak no sound escapes.
Her mouth quivers in her struggle to find words, but before she can find them Quinn pulls back muttering, "That's what I thought", as she briskly moves away.
"Quinn, wait!" Rachel runs after her but the punk doesn't look at her as she continues to stalk towards the school building.
"There's nothing to wait for. I'm not coming back to glee. So don't come talking to me again, especially when I'm hanging out with the skanks. It's not exactly good for my reputation to be seen talking with you."
"You-your reputation? So I'm… what - someone who's too embarrassing for you to be seen talking with now?" she cried out indignantly.
Quinn comes to an immediate halt in her steps and spins towards Rachel again. "It's not that you're embarrassing to be seen with, it's just that I'm now part of a crowd where you just don't fit in."
"Perhaps you don't fit in with them either. I mean really Quinn. Besides this new look you've adopted what do you have in common with them? I know you may think that -"
"You know nothing!" The flash of anger that showed in Quinn's eyes and the harshness of her voice stop Rachel in her tracks.
"Well tell me Quinn. I want to understand..."
"You'll never understand. Now please, just leave me alone."
Rachel watches her leave and doesn't move from her spot until she sees the girl with the pink hair disappear into the building.
For the next few days Rachel sees little of Quinn. Whenever she catches a glimpse of pink hair in the hallway she looks intently hoping to see a sign of approachability from her, but the punk never makes direct eye contact with the singer. She breezes right past her without a glance, as if Rachel has become invisible to her. It stings her heart more than she'd care to admit.
One day while waiting for glee to start in the choir room she's sitting next to Tina, who's noticed that the diva has been unusually quiet lately. Although she finds the singer's diva personality trying at times, she doesn't like seeing her look sad either. So she gently starts a conversation with her, hoping the normally talkative girl will share what's bothering her and relieve some of her apparent melancholy.
Somewhere during the conversation the subject of Quinn's strange transformation is brought up and Rachel starts ranting about her failed attempts to get the pink haired girl to return to glee. Her speech fulminating around the punk's infuriating attitude, the dangers of smoking and how ridiculous it was to mutilate such a perfectly good nose with a nose ring. As the singer's rant rolls onto the perils of falling in with the wrong crowd, an idea begins to form in her mind. She becomes more like her usual vibrant self as she asks if Tina will help her with her plan which involves a make-over for herself. Although the quiet girl now wonders what she may have gotten herself into when she engaged the singer in conversation, she wants to be a good friend and readily agrees to help.
Rachel has arrived that evening at Tina's house and they go through some of the clothes that's been put towards the back of the closet.
"I want a look that's a little more edgy", the smaller brunette says as Tina offered her a simple black top.
"Well there are some things I have but never got to wear since Principle Figgins called me into his office and told me that I had to stop dressing like a Goth. I got so upset about not being able to wear my new clothes I actually considered scaring him by sneaking up on him dressed like a vampire. Can you believe a grown man like him actually believes vampires are real?"
"I'll believe anything about a man that puts a video of him caressing his legs while wearing silk stockings up on YouTube."
After looking through some of the items Tina had put on hold Rachel found what she was looking for. It wasn't difficult for Rachel to convince her to let her borrow the clothes, saying that she was willing to accept whatever the consequences may be. Once the clothes were picked out they experimented with the singer's hair and makeup until Rachel was satisfied she had found the right look for her plan to succeed.
The next morning Rachel strutted down the halls of McKinley with a new found strength and purpose. She came in wearing her new clothes, a black gothic style short dress with white frilled collar. The ensemble looked complete with accessories like a black tie with an obsidian gem in the center, black laced fingerless gloves, and black nail polish shining on her finger nails. Her hair dyed a darker shade, and blue streaks running down the front ends of her hair. She paid no mind to all the surprised looks she received as she strode towards her locker to begin her day. After placing her bag in the locker she set out to find the punk. She already had an idea of where she could be found because she spotted her during one of her earlier reconnaissance missions during first period when she slipped out of study hall. She had previously spotted the girl leaning against the fence by the track field several hundred yards beyond the bleachers.
As she arrived at the location she was relieved to find Quinn alone in the same spot, leaning against the fence smoking a cigarette. When the pink haired punk spotted her approach her jaw loosened leaving her mouth hanging open, and her eyes widened in surprised.
Rachel tried to keep her expression neutral, but a tiny smirk played across her lips when she noticed the surprised look on the girl's beautiful face. She shifted the neutral expression back in place as she came closer until she stood in front of the taller girl. She smiled softly as she spoke smoothly, "Hey Quinn."
Quinn quirked an eyebrow as she looked bemusedly at the gothic looking brunette.
"Hey... Rachel."
Hazel eyes slid down the length of the newly transformed Rachel and danced their way back up to her face as she looked into chestnut brown eyes that looked more intense behind smoky eyeliner. She lifted a cigarette to her lips and inhaled deeply before blowing smoke off to the side.
"So I'm not sure if I really wanna know…but why are you dressed like that?"
Rachel turned and leaned against the fence so they were now standing side by side.
"Why Quinn, don't you like it?"
"So you dressed this way because you thought I would like it?" Quinn smirked, taking in a sidelong glance at Rachel.
Rachel huffed and crossed her arms. "Maybe you're not the only one who's decided that it's time for a change."
The punk lightly nodded her head. "So this is all about needing a change."
"Yes. This is the new Rachel Berry. I'm going to stop going to glee club, forget about all my friends and pick up new habits that make me look cool. Like right now I have the sudden urge to pick up smoking. So I'd like a cigarette now if you don't mind."
Quinn nearly fell off the fence when she doubled over in laughter at Rachel's earnest expression. Every time she looked at the smaller girl who glared at her the laughter grew louder. After a minute the punk had to stop and tried to catch her breath when the laughter finally ceased.
"Oh my god Rachel…I-I can't remember the last time I laughed like that."
"Are you going to let me have a cigarette or not?"
The pink haired punk smirked as she detected the hint of a challenge in the brunette's voice. There was an intense look in her chestnut brown eyes that she had whenever the pint-sized diva had her mind set on something.
She husked out. "All right Rachel, if you're sure you really want one." She lifted the pack of cigarettes from her denim vest, took one out and offered it to her. Rachel slowly lifted it between slender fingers. Quinn flicked on her lighter and lit the cigarette and noticed the slight trembling of Rachel's fingers as she held it between her plump pink lips.
"You have to inhale for it to get lit." The punk said bemusedly after a few seconds.
Rachel inhaled deeply and immediately coughed out a plume of smoke. Her face scrunched up in disgust as she continued making loud hacking noises. She slapped at her chest with her free hand trying to relieve the burning sensation deep in her lungs and throat. She wondered if the damage inflicted from inhaling a lungful of the poisonous smoke was now irreparable.
Quinn giggled softly and reached out to gently stroke her back. Rachel was mildly surprised at the touch, but found it oddly soothing.
"I take it you were a smoking virgin before this."
The brunette nodded as she wiped the tears away from her eyes squinting from the smoke.
"Quinn…why would you do this to yourself?"
"You get used to it after a while. Then it becomes a habit."
Rachel shook her head. "I don't mean just the smoking. It's just one of the things that you're doing to yourself that's so unhealthy."
"I was wondering when you'd get around to the lecture."
Rachel dropped the lit cigarette and smothered it under the toe of her shoe.
"I want to understand why you're doing all of this. If it means becoming a nicotine addict, dropping out of glee and joining the skanks then that's what I'm prepared to do."
Quinn looks in astonishment as she studies the serious expression on the smaller girl's face. Eventually she turns her gaze away and drops her finished cigarette to the ground and stamps it out with her boot.
"Why Rachel Berry…who knew that you cared so much for me?" The words are spoken with a sardonic expression and her lips turn upward in a smile that almost looks feral.
"I do care for you Quinn" the singer answers using all the power in her voice to convey her sincerity.
Quinn takes a step closer moving in front of her so that they're facing each other. Hazel eyes lock onto brown as she gradually leans her body closer towards the smaller girl. She slowly lifts her hands to grasp at the wire fence behind them, affectively pinning the brunette between strong slender arms.
The brunette shifts back slightly against the fence and her breath hitches at the intimacy of this posture, but maintains eye contact with the pink haired rebel.
Quinn's smile softens into a more seductive one as she speaks in a low husky voice that sends vibrations throughout Rachel's body. A quiver felt somewhere down below making her tremble all over.
"Besides a poor attempt at smoking what else are you willing to do to show just how much you care?"
The smaller girl felt her heart flutter at the suggestive tone in her voice. "Quinn…" Rachel breathes out softly as she becomes entranced by the seductive power of hazel green.
Without consciously aware of moving forward the brunette captures soft pink lips with her own and they both meld into the kiss. Smaller hands grasp at the punk's waist pulling her forward until their bodies merge. Moans escape from both girls as lips move hungrily in sync. The kiss quickly becomes more heated as tongues slip out seeking to deepen the contact. They nearly lose themselves in the moment until they hear a bell ring in the distance, sounding the end of the first period.
They slowly pull back and both are breathing heavily.
The pink haired rebel bites her lips as she looks at Rachel, with a carefully guarded expression.
Rachel smiles in reassurance as she straightens herself off the fence.
"I hope that answers your question Quinn." Soulful brown eyes glisten with a look of hopeful anticipation.
Quinn grins back and nods. "I think it does…"