A/N: My first story that features a Quinn & Tina pairing. Punk Quinn & Goth Tina.
Reviews are always greatly appreciated.
Tumber:AeonUS
The Goth and The Skank
Tina stands before her open locker when she first notices the profile of her in front of the bulletin board. Various flyers and sign-up sheets for different clubs litter the wall diagonally less than 20 feet from her. The girl she was now focusing on was very attractive, taller than her by at least a few inches, with pink highlights in her blonde hair cut short just above her shoulders. She had the look of messy perfection, a stylish punk - a hot mess that she couldn't help but notice. The shorter girl could be called more of a Goth type of girl, and she's been unable to pull her eyes away from the pinkish punk since she first saw her and is now watching her curiously as the girl seems to be studying the sign-up sheet to audition for the recently reinstated glee club. Tina had already signed it a couple days ago, and auditions were being held later today. She watches as the girl's facial expression changes from mild curiosity into something of a sneer before settling on a look of amusement. Strangely enough, the usually somber looking girl feels a small surge of excitement when she sees the pink haired girl quickly pull out a pen from her jean vest, adding her own name to the list, while subtly biting down on her lower lip. And she's far enough away that she doesn't quite make out the sound of a low mischievous chuckle as the taller girl puts the pen back in her vest pocket. She then gives the sheet of paper a small smirk before turning and walking down the hallway in the opposite direction from her, with a sensual sway in her hips. Its only when the girl turns the corner and is out of sight that Tina suddenly realizes that she has spent the entire time staring at her for as long as she had been within view. Not that that necessarily means anything. When a girl is as striking as that one was, its only natural to look, right? She closes her locker and walks towards the board. Curious to know her name, especially If they're going to be in glee club together.
The list of names is a short, even with the newly added sixth one. The girl's handwriting is beautifully legible, without being fanciful or adding anything to draw attention to it (unlike the gold star sticker next to a "Rachel Berry"). It is strong, clear and distinct. Tina reads the name aloud as though committing it to memory...
"Anita Goodlay…"
Throughout the rest of the day Tina's thoughts return to the punk named Anita. With so few people signed up there's a pretty good chance that they'll both be invited to join the Glee club. She wasn't sure if she should look at her as a potential future competitor or a potential new friend, though she hoped for the latter. Her shyness with new people hasn't made it easy for her to make friends and the Goth look she wore had a way of turning some people off. It was as if that was all they saw of her and was enough of a repellent for them to not want to associate with her. This was certainly true of the popular jocks and cheerleaders. They usually paid her no mind, since she was one of the school "losers". And from what she's already seen during the short period of time she's been at this school, there were worse things than being ignored.
She hasn't had any luck with finding other like minded people to connect with yet either. A few of the other Goth type students sat with her during lunch once, but it didn't go too well. She felt the sense of an impending break with her new found friends when their conversation veered into a debate about which one of those god-awful Twilight movies was the best. The girls in the group then started to moan how badly they all yearned for a hot vampire boyfriend and she nearly gagged on her lunch. When she expressed her opinion that Edward Cullens was a pathetic excuse for a vampire – as well as a sexist, emotionally abusive douchebag - she quickly found herself without lunchtime companions again.
So Tina was hoping that when the pink haired girl showed up for the auditions that they would both end up joining in Glee club and maybe even become friends. Even though she knew nothing about her, except that her name apparently was Anita Goodlay and she had the sexiest way of moving through a crowded hallway that she's ever seen…and was undoubtedly the hottest girl at McKinley High… Tina somehow sensed she could be a kindred spirit. They may not run in the same circles yet (not that Tina had found her circle), nevertheless she reasoned that they both had at least had a few things in common. They both liked their clothing to be dark and unconventional. They also had a fondness for adding colorful highlights to their hair. And they were among the very few people in all of McKinley to sign for the Glee club audition. And with any luck Anita was also someone who firmly believed that real vampires shouldn't glitter in the sun nor roll around in fields of daisies with dull high school girls.
When classes finally ended for the day Tina anxiously headed towards the auditorium, ready to perform the song she had chosen and had practiced for the last couple of days.
After a few minutes of smoking behind the outdoor bleachers and listening to the chatter of the 3 other girls who were part of the gang that called themselves The Skanks, Quinn is ready to leave. She drops her cigarette to the ground and squashes it with the toe of her boot.
"Well I'm off. Catch you guys later."
"Already? I thought we'd go shake down some kids for lunch money" Sheila whines out.
Quinn rolls her eyes. "Lunch was over almost 4 hours ago and school is out in case you haven't noticed."
"So? There are always a few nerds hanging around for one of those after school clubs. Besides, I'm hungry for a snack and we can all go to Denny's if we can snag us one of those spoiled, rich kids to cough up the dough."
"Well I'm not hungry right now, but you all can go knock yourselves out if you want." Quinn turns and casually walks back towards the school building. She felt a curiousity to check out the losers who were going to audition for glee club. She knew by now that if she invited the other Skanks to join they'd go for the laughs as well, but they would be loud and stupid enough to get them all caught. They got kicked out of so many places over the summer because they just didn't know how to act around other people without setting something or someone off. School had barely just started and already she was wondering how much more of them she could take. It was getting a little tedious to always feel like she had to dumb herself down whenever she was around them. At least two of them were actually a couple years older than her, yet in the same grade because they devoted much of their time and energy loitering or harassing other students. She only became friends with them during summer because they accepted her in a way her family never could and in a way that most other students wouldn't. The Skanks didn't give a rat's ass if she was gay. The one called The Mack actually liked making out with her on occasion, whenever she wasn't too busy messing around with truck drivers. It gave Quinn the willies to think about how many guys the girl has been with, so they never actually went all the way and Quinn planned on keeping it that way. She let out a sigh as she opened the door and walked inside…If only she could meet a nice girl who actually liked doing more constructive things with their time that didn't involve dunking other kids' heads into toilets.
The hallways were unusually quiet and empty as Quinn found her way towards the lecture hall. She quickly glances behind her shoulder to make sure none of the other Skanks has followed her and opens the stairway door that lead to the balcony area of the auditorium. The final verse of an Aretha Franklin song "Respect" fills the air as Quinn quietly maneuvers into the darkest shadow of the balcony where she can quietly sit unnoticed. She listens to the girl onstage with dark brown skin belt out the final note to the song and thinks that she has a pretty impressive voice. She certainly has enough lung power to hold a note for a very long time anyway. The curly haired man sitting a few rows from the stage then calls out for the next student to audition. A somewhat pale and petite looking boy comes on stage and Quinn recognizes him as one of the losers being tossed into the dumpsters just before school that morning. Apparently he was able to clean himself up and looks shiny and new as his high pitched voice sings a song from the musical Chicago.
Quinn now considers leaving as show tunes aren't really her thing, but the squeaky sounding boy finally finishes and another student takes his place on stage. The girl with almond shaped eyes is dressed in a goth style that wasn't too garish, but enough to give her a hard, edgy look. She's wearing a black knitted cap, and her long dark hair has blue highlights that flows just past her shoulders. She doesn't look like the type who would sing old R&B or Broadway show tunes, so her curiosity is piqued enough to at least find out what her song choice will be. She's not going to stick around if the girl starts crooning out a Marilyn Manson song though. Quinn cocks an eyebrow as soon as the music starts and she recognizes a familiar Katy Perry pop song. She isn't singing it like a pop diva though, more like a punk rock star who doesn't give a damn about what the lyrics are about. It is somewhat of a bold choice to sing a song like that for an audition in a school located in a place like Lima Ohio, and Quinn covers her mouth to stifle a laugh from escaping when the girl grabs her crotch during mid-performance. She may not have the best voice she's ever heard, but she definitely got Quinn's attention with her gutsy performance.
"Okay! Well uh...thank you…Tina" she heard the voice of the only other audience member exclaim loudly. She could only see the back of the curly haired man's head, and wonders what his face looked like during that performance. To Quinn's ears, he sounds full of insincere exuberance. It was the kind of condescending voice that she's heard all too often from adults before and one she's learned to despise, especially coming from teachers. She silently vows to herself that whoever this guy was, if he excludes Tina from his Glee club then he's likely to soon find his tires slashed in the school parking lot.
To Quinn's surprise there's a shy smile on Tina's face as she nods at the man and quietly leaves the stage. How can a girl perform that kind of song one minute, and then smile so sweetly with an innocent look on her face the moment she's done?
As she ponders this, a short brunette with a huge smile struts onto the stage with an air of determination and importance, as if she was about to perform in front of a packed house at Madison Square Garden. She then launches into a show tune; a song from Les Misérables. Quinn wouldn't be surprised if it's the same girl who put the gold star by her name. She decides its time to make her escape. Though the small girl had a surprisingly huge singing voice and is easily the best singer she's heard so far, there were only so many show tunes that she could sit through in one day.
She skips down the stairs back down to the first floor level and heads back out into the hallway. She decides to make a final stop in girl's bathroom before finally leaving the building for the rest of the day.
By now the school is even more deserted than before so she is a little surprised to find the same goth chick she just saw audition at the sink washing her hands. She seems a little startled as she turns and sees Quinn standing there.
Quinn smirks a little when she sees the girl's eyes widen and her lips twitch into a nervous looking smile. Maybe she's heard about the Skanks' reputation for giving swirlies to other girls in the girls' bathroom? But it isn't fear she sees in her eyes, its more like surprise and….something else...almost like she was kind of happy to see her, but Quinn can't imagine why.
They continue staring at each other a moment before Quinn recovers from the awkward moment and gives her a charming smile and an eloquent "Hey…"
"H-hey…hi" Tina smiles back and feels a little giddy seeing the girl that's been on her mind a good part of the day standing in front of her and speaking to her. When she didn't find her with the others backstage at the time they were required to meet she had thought the girl had changed her mind about auditioning. She figured that it was just too good to be true that someone as cool as the pink haired girl would actually show up for a Glee club audition. From what she surmised as she waited with the others before auditions started, only those on the very bottom rung of McKinley's social ladder would show any interest in something like Glee. Nevertheless it was something she wanted to pursue, even before she saw the captivating and beautiful girl add her name to the list.
"Liked your song" Quinn adds, her voice had a low husky tone as she took a step closer and leans against the counter.
"Oh…th-thanks!" Tina stutters out feeling a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. The girl with the pink hair stands out in more ways than one, and she can't imagine how she could have escaped her notice if she was there. Now that she's standing face to face with her, she realizes just how really stunning she is, in a punk girl sort of way. With a nose ring even. She never thought she'd find that particular accessory attractive on anybody, but the taller girl really carries the look off well.
The Skank tilts her head to the side as she takes in the girl's reaction. It was kind of cute how bashful she now appears given the song she sang and the way she sang it.
"So are you trying out for glee too?" Tina offers her a friendly smile.
Quinn's quirks an eyebrow before she lets out a throaty chuckle and shakes her head in response.
"No, but I was sitting in the balcony and watched some of the auditions", she answers seeing the confused expression on the smaller girl's face.
"Why'd you sign up then?"
It was now Quinn's turn to look confused. She had forgotten the little joke she played while perusing the short list of names on the sign-up sheet.
"What makes you think I signed up?"
"Well I thought I saw you earlier today…at the sign-up sheet and um…your name is Anita right?"
Quinn grins then erupts into laughter that reverberates within the tiled walls of the bathroom.
"No…that was just a-a…joke! You didn't really think my name was Anita Goodlay did you?"
Tina thought her surname was pronounced as though it ended sounding like "lee" instead of "lay" and now that she hears it spoken aloud by the pink haired girl she blushes furiously.
"Ohh haha…I get it...yeah, that's a good one" Tina lets out an embarrassed laugh and feels like the world's biggest idiot.
"It'd be even funnier if I showed up and the guy with the oily curls called my name out loud."
Tina now laughs more easily, recognizing the expression on the girl's pretty face was more of harmless amusement, not ridicule. "Yeah it would have been really funny if he fell for it like I did, imagine seeing the look on his face when he realizes what he said out loud."
Quinn chuckles lightly and part of her wishes that she did show up at the audition using the name she had given.
"So what's your name? Mine's Tina", the smaller girl feels a pleasant thrill inside thinking that maybe she would get to be friends with this strangely alluring girl after all.
"I'll tell you my name if you answer me one question."
"Um…Okay?"
"When you sang that song…was it from experience?"
"Wh-what do you mean?" Tina feels the return of the nervous feeling when the door swung open and she caught sight of the pink haired girl.
At firsts Tina thinks it must be in her imagination when she sees her smile turn into a flirtatious smirk. No one has ever looked at her like that before, like ever. Certainly not in the girl's bathroom. So this couldn't be what it looks like, could it? Its a surreal feeling, experiencing what she's only read about in gothic romance novels - about people falling under the spell of a beautiful vampire (the good kind, not that Twilight shit) where the girl becomes enthralled, hypnotized or mesmerized while under the gaze of the alluring vampire…yet that is precisely what she is now experiencing as she's held captive by the way the girl tilts her pinkish blonde head down ever so slightly, and gives her a steady hazel eyed gaze under long eyelashes.
"Have you ever kissed a girl? And did you like it?" She husks out.
When the words hit her she thinks that none of this could be real. Surely it was all just some sort of game the odd girl was playing at.
"What? Nn-noo…it's just a song!" Tina exclaims feeling more flustered than ever before.
Quinn is taken aback by the forcefulness behind the shorter girl's outburst and thinks that maybe she shouldn't have come on so strongly.
"No…I-I mean…" Tina feels that maybe she was too hasty in her defensive response. True, she's never kissed a girl, not like that, but she didn't mean to come across like it would be such a bad thing. When she sees how the girl's face nearly falls in response, she now wonders if she's been too quick in assuming the girl was only attempting to make fun of her.
Quinn's raises an eyebrow, saying nothing but allowing her time to finish whatever she was going to say.
"…well I haven't …not yet anyway." The dark haired girl quietly amends her answer as she shyly ducks her head, feeling a little overcome by the unexpected turn in the conversation. She wasn't sure how to respond to her blatant flirtation, but she couldn't deny that she felt a sense of exhilaration from it. The pink haired beauty was not only physically attractive but she had a way about her that was undeniably alluring. At the moment Tina couldn't imagine anyone not feeling some kind of attraction for her.
The taller girl gives into an impulse, reaches forward and presses her glossy pink lips against hers. Its a soft and tender kiss, nothing forceful or messy…just a slight melding of soft against soft. You only get one first after all, and she wants to give this quietly brave goth girl a sweet and gentle kiss that hopefully she'll always remember. When she feels the kiss being returned with equal amount of pressure and interest, her own lips turn up in a smile and she slowly pulls away.
The only thing she says before she turns and leaves is, "My name is Quinn."
Tina is alone again in the bathroom and is in a daze until the short brunette with a thing for gold stars swings into the bathroom. She gives her a concerned expression and asks if she's okay. Tina just smiles and nods before silently leaving the bathroom.
So now if Tina ever sings that song again she can gladly say it was from experience. She kissed a girl, and she liked it…a lot.
