Title: Gifts (1/3 – "Material")
Author: melissagleek
Rating: G, eventual NC-17 in later chapters
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Word Count: 2,227
Disclaimer: Glee is the property of FOX and Ryan Murphy. The only payment I'll receive for this story will be in the form of comments, and I can't buy anything with them.
Summary: Quinn Fabray treasures all of the gifts that Rachel has given her throughout the years.
Author Note: This is the first time I've ventured out of the rq_meme universe and into an original plot idea. This came to me while I was drying my hair one night. I have the entire story mapped out. This is the part one of what will eventually be a three-part story.
September 1999
Quinn Fabray can feel the straps of her pale pink backpack digging lightly into her shoulders, as her right hand clutches the My Little Pony lunchbox that her mother, Judy Fabray, recently bought for her. Quinn's left hand firmly holds her mother's right one, and the young girl lets out a small whimper when she feels her mother let go. Kneeling down, Judy places her hand on Quinn's cheek and soothingly whispers, "Quinnie, remember what Mommy told you. You're a big girl now, and big girls go to kindergarten. I know this is hard for you, but I promise that the other kids will be very nice. This is their first day of school, too. There's nothing to worry about."
"Ok, Mommy," Quinn replies.
"I love you, sweetie." Judy places a kiss on Quinn's forehead and then watches her youngest daughter walk into Mrs. Anderson's kindergarten classroom.
"You must be Quinn!" Mrs. Anderson exclaims when she sees Quinn walk through the door. "Welcome to Lima, Ohio. And most importantly, welcome to Sylvester Elementary School!"
Quinn looks up shyly at Mrs. Anderson. The middle-aged woman has brown, curly hair. She's dressed in a pair of dark khakis and a forest green shirt. Her reading glasses hang on a chain around her neck. But the thing that Quinn chooses to focus on is the kind smile that seems permanently etched on the woman's face.
Smiling, Quinn says, "Thank you. I'm very happy to be here."
Turning to the fifteen other children in the room, Mrs. Anderson explains, "Class, this is Quinn Fabray. She recently moved here from Georgia, so she doesn't know a lot of people in Lima. I know you will all make her feel right at home."
As Quinn searches for a place to sit, her eyes land on an empty seat next to a small, brunette girl. Unlike the other children, who are dressed in shorts and t-shirts from various Nickelodeon cartoons, the girl wears a plaid skirt, white knee-high stockings, and a white, short-sleeved button up shirt.
When the brunette looks up and notices Quinn looking at her, she smiles brightly and says, "You can sit here! My name is Rachel Berry. It's very nice to meet you." As Quinn moves closer to the other girl, she hears her say, "Everyone else paired up as soon as they got here. There was an odd number, so I sat by myself."
As soon as Rachel finishes speaking, Quinn smiles brightly and takes her seat next to the girl. A few minutes later, Quinn hears a bell ring, signaling the beginning of the school day.
Mrs. Anderson stands at the front of the room at the front of the classroom, her smile even bigger than it was when Quinn first walked in the door. "Welcome to kindergarten, everyone! I'm sure that most of you already know each other, but I thought you could all make a nametag, so that I can learn your name. This will also help Quinn, since she's new here. Now, crayons and markers are in the back of the room, and glue is on a shelf by my desk."
As the students get up to collect art supplies, Mrs. Anderson places a blank nametag on each desk. When Quinn returns to her desk, she grabs a pink crayon and begins to lightly shade in her nametag, creating a background. After a few minutes, she looks up to see how the other students are doing, and she is dismayed to see them all reaching into their backpack, pulling out assorted stamps and stickers. In the corner, two boys, one with short, dark brown hair and the other with longer, dirty blonde hair, are cutting out pictures of football players and pasting them onto their nametags. When Rachel sits down beside Quinn and then proceeds to pull several sheets of stickers from her backpack, Quinn feels completely, utterly out of place. All she has is a stupid, pink crayon.
As Rachel begins to decorate her nametag, she notices that Quinn has stopped working on hers. When she looks closer, she notices a tear beginning to form in the corner of Quinn's eye, threatening to break loose at any moment. "Mrs. Anderson sent everyone a letter over the summer, telling us to bring stickers and other pretty things with us on the first day," Rachel explains, keeping her voice low.
"I just moved here last week," Quinn sniffles, already feeling like she didn't belong in this school—or in Ohio.
"Well, I think your tag is pretty. My favorite color is also pink," Rachel says.
"Thank you," Quinn replies.
Quinn picks up her crayon once more and continues to color. A few minutes later, she feels Rachel lightly tap her on the arm. When she turns her head, she sees Rachel's hand pick up her last remaining sticker sheet and place it on Quinn's desk. "These are for you," she tells the blonde.
Blushing lightly, Quinn says, "They're all gold stars."
"That's because I'm going to be a big Broadway star when I grow up," Rachel plainly states.
Quinn has no idea what Broadway is, but she smiles just the same and replies, "Thank you, Rachel." She then carefully peels off the gold stickers and places them on her nametag.
For the next nine months, Quinn looks at that nametag whenever she has a chance. And in June, when the entire kindergarten class says goodbye to Mrs. Anderson, Quinn grabs her nametag and carefully places it in her backpack because the five gold star stickers on it are a gift from Rachel, and Rachel is her very best friend in the whole world.
April 2004
It's a Thursday morning in the middle of spring break, and Quinn is spread out on the sofa, watching a repeat of the most recent American Idol performance show. As she prepares to watch Diana DeGarmo murder an Elton John song, she hears the phone ring. A few seconds later, she hears her mom call out to her. "Quinn, Rachel's on the phone!"
Quinn reaches over to the coffee table and grabs the cordless phone. "Hey, Rach. How's your break going so far?"
"It's ok. But I have some important news to tell you. Daddy has a really bad cold, and he doesn't feel well enough to go to New York City with Dad and me. So, I was wondering if you would like to go with us."
"New York City? Really?" Quinn excitedly asks Rachel, making sure she heard the other girl correctly.
"If you can't go, that's ok. But, I think it would be really fun if…" Rachel stops talking when she hears Quinn on the other end of the phone, asking her mother if she can go with Rachel and her dad. Rachel can't hear Judy's answer, but she doesn't need to. Quinn's loud squeal is the only answer she needs.
When Quinn first enters Times Square, she is absolutely speechless. Every New Year's Eve, the three Fabray women gather around the TV and watch the ball drop from the same spot where Quinn is now standing. "It's big, isn't it?" Rachel asks. Though she has been to the city several times in her young life, Rachel feels like she is once again seeing it for the first time. She grabs onto Quinn's hand and says, "You have to see the Colony music store! They sell all of the sheet music for the musicals that I will eventually star in on Broadway! Dad promised to buy me the music for Evita!"
Quinn just shakes her head at Rachel's enthusiasm. After five years of being Rachel Berry's best friend, she is now very aware of what Broadway is. Of course, that doesn't mean she understands what all the fuss is about. Once, when Rachel made her listen to a cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof, Quinn fell asleep from sheer boredom. And even though RENT sounds like a cool musical, Quinn has to admit to herself that she really doesn't understand most of the songs, especially "La Vie Boheme." So, when Rachel picks up the Evita sheet music and promptly holds it up for her best friend to see, Quinn just smiles at the other girls and says, "That's great, Rach."
On Saturday morning, Quinn rubs the sleep from her eyes as she hears Rachel whisper, "Quinn! Wake up! It's Saturday!"
"Yep," Quinn replies, pulling the sheets over her head.
"Quinn!"
"What is it, Rachel?" she asks, slowly pulling herself up, so that she's resting against the bed's backboard.
"It's Saturday, and that means…" Rachel reaches into her pocket, pulls out an envelope, and hands it to Quinn.
Opening the envelope, Quinn pulls out three tickets and reads what is written on them. "Wicked. What in the world is Wicked?" she asks.
"It's a musical! A new musical! Starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth!" Rachel bursts out, unable to control not only her excitement, but also her annoyance. How could someone not know about Wicked? Clearly, Quinn must have been living under a rock for the past six months.
Realizing that she is in the middle of a losing battle, Quinn puts on her happy face and says, "That sounds great! I can't wait to see it!"
"It's going to be amazing!" Rachel exclaims, as she jumps off the bed and rushes into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for the big event—which, according to the tickets in Quinn's hand, wouldn't even be happening for another six hours.
At 1:00, Sam Berry smiles as he watches his daughter run up to the front entrance of the Gershwin Theatre, pulling Quinn along with her. "Dad! Take our picture!" Rachel shouts, as she positions herself and Quinn next to a picture of Kristin Chenoweth telling Idina Menzel that she will make her "Popular."
Hours later, when the final notes of "Defying Gravity" ring out and the lights come back on, signaling intermission, Quinn hears a strange noise coming from her right. When she turns to look at Rachel and she sees the other girl crying tears of joy, she suddenly understands this whole musical theatre thing.
When Quinn gets home from New York, she puts her Wicked ticket in a frame and places it on her dresser, where can look at it and think about future trips to the city. After all, her best friend is Rachel Berry, and Rachel Berry is going to be a big Broadway star someday.