A Friendly Wager

Chapter 1

Author's Note: Based on the episode of Degrassi where J.T asks out Paige. Had that date gone on better… Might be multi-chapter.

"Oh look, it's Frodo from the shire." Santana had whispered into her ear as she spotted the approaching diva, travelling at light speed. The statement earned her a shove from Brittany who whispered 'quit it, she's nice, San' before the offending Latina stopped snickering.

"Excuse me, Quinn?" The brunette had queried awkwardly, looking the former head cheerleader up and down. "May I say that you look rather radiant today, as you always do…though even more so today if that's even possible -"

"Cut to the chase, Frodo."

"Oh um..." The brunette fumbled, running her words together as she concentrated on getting them out. "Would you mind, if you're not busy...consider…um….possibly…"Quinn raised an eyebrow, waiting impatiently. "Going out with me?"

Confused, Quinn kept her mouth shut, waiting for the brunette to explain. "You see, I'm just asking for one date, one chance to make you see the real me. If we click, then we can figure out where we go from there. Commitment and such."

Internally battling with herself, Quinn cringed out of pity. The girl in front of her was so awkward, so tongue-tied. Was this how she'd stolen Finn from her last year? She smirked, wondering how such a ruse would have worked.

Suddenly, she broke down into laughter, and turning away, led her friends into the girls' bathroom, where she knew Rachel Berry wouldn't follow them. A flash of hurt streaked across Rachel's face, though she knew Quinn had never seen it, always turning away before she could see the damage she could do her.

The door closed behind them with a thud, and in their solitude the Trio began their morning ritual, unsheathing their purses and glaring off the one or two unfortunate freshmen that didn't know any better.

Quinn reached for her eyeliner, as Santana scrutinized her complexion in the bathroom mirror. Brittany, on the other hand, did nothing, instead leaning placidly against the door. Santana always insisted she was perfect and didn't need such commodities.

"Has my reputation fallen to the point where a loser like that has the nerve to ask me out?"

At this, Brittany made it a point to frown. Beside her, Santana could feel her unease and in a fake sneering-type voice said. "It's hilarious, really. You should totally go through with it."

Quinn whirled around, hardly believing her ears. "No way in hell, Lopez." The blonde reached for the compact tucked deep inside her purse. "Besides what would Finn think?" She said, applying a little blush in the mirror.

She frowned when she heard her friends snickering behind her. Santana reasoned, leaning against the wall cordially with bent elbows. "Your boyfriend wouldn't even notice if you switched to another school."

"He's not that obtuse." She defended the boy feebly, though now that she thought about it, he always did seem so confused in Spanish, and had once confessed to her that 'it was as if they were speaking a whole other language'. As if reading her thoughts, they snickered and she cursed herself for always being so...readable.

"Please, Frankenteen tries to cheat off Brittany during tests." The Latina scoffed, and then added quietly beside her. "No offense, B."

"None taken." The blonde nodded in agreement, spurring to life with enthusiasm. "Besides, Rachel's been so lonely nowadays."

"It's her choice." Quinn retorted, criticizing herself in the mirror, unhappy with what she saw. Flicking on the tap, she rinsed off the makeup and started over. "She's the one that wants to be single. Being a diva, and successful and getting out of this hell hole and all that."

"Not anymore it seems." Santana drew beside her, offering her a paper towel to dry her face. "Frodo wants you." She made kissy noises, and Quinn sneered, affectionately shoving her where Brittany could catch her.

"Go through with it. Everyone has their price. What's yours?" The Latina edged forward menacingly.

"Nothing you could pay me would ever amount to an evening of torture with Berry."

"How about I drop out of the race?"

Quinn's ears perked up, suddenly paying close attention. Knowingly, Santana smirked. "I'll drop out of the race for Prom Queen if you date Rachel Berry. And I'll encourage all my voters to transfer to you."

The blonde raised a suspicious eyebrow, still unconvinced. "Say I was interested…How am I supposed to know that you'd honor this sort of…arrangement?"

Leering at her with intent, the Latina strode forward. "I only joined in the competition to win over Brittany. Now that I have her, I don't really care. It's just a consolation that I've already won over thirty percent of the votes. Guess it goes to show how charming I am."

Bending back proudly, Santana gave her trademark smile and Quinn scoffed at her. "Fine, we have a deal."

At that, Santana bent forward intrusively towards her best friend and taking an invasive finger, smeared Quinn's makeup. With a devilish smile, she tugged on Brittany's hand, pulling them both out of the bathroom before Quinn's mini implosion.

Scowling intensely, Quinn returned her attention to the mirror and frowned at the mess her best friend had made. "Why, Santana? All I ask is why?"

"It's got to be a real date. Like what Santana does with me." Brittany chirped into her ear, as the Unholy Trio made their way into Glee. Quinn shuddered, she didn't need things to get that real.

Sensing her unease, Brittany added happily. "Dinner and a movie."

With a sigh of relief Quinn held the door open for her. "A movie? A dark secluded place alone with Berry? No way." The former cheerleader replied haughtily. "Just dinner."

"Fine, dinner. But not at some cheap diner – you're taking her to Breadstix." Beside her, the Latina added cruelly. "And you're paying."

"Wait, what?"

"And pull her seat out for her; treat her like a lady, Q." That was Brittany, sashaying to her seat.

Uneasily, Quinn frowned. It was as if they were actually setting her up on a date…but no, that couldn't be happening. They knew she was straight as an arrow and even if she wasn't… Awkwardly, she coughed in her hand, ignoring the fleeting thought.

Santana nudged her. "Look…there she is…" She whispered in the shell of her ear. "Go get her, lady killer."

Rolling her eyes, she made her motions towards the brunette - who had obviously been crying, the bloodshot eyes giving her away. A pang of guilt stabbed her, and she drew a shallow breath, watching the way Rachel's eyes lit up when she saw her.

"Oh, Quinn." Rachel said, sniffling and wiping her eyes to no avail. "What brings me the honor, the privilege – "

Quinn raised a hand, cutting her off effectively. "I accept your offer, Berry. You and me at Breadstix. Six O'clock sharp." She turned, catching Rachel's megawatt smile anxiously cresting. "And don't be late."

"Please tell me you don't plan on wearing that to your date." Santana's face contorted into disgust as she stared open-mouthed at the grey hooded jacket, black slacks and converse the blonde had opted to wear. Hours before her 'date', they had taken it upon themselves to invade the Fabray household and criticize her on her fashion choice.

"Why not?" Quinn asked defensively. "I don't want anyone to recognize me." To make her point clearer, she held up a pair of ominous sunglasses. "See?"

"Your date won't even recognize you."

"What's the big deal? It's Rachel! You guys are treating this as if it's a real date."

The two girls wavered quietly, guilt painting their faces and Quinn stared cotton-mouth at them. Reaching into her backpack, Brittany threw her a pair of black skinny jeans.

"At least look hot while you're doing it." She said, and Quinn jaw-dropped. What did she mean by 'it'?

"We just want to get the most out of this deal, alright? Get Berry all hot and bothered. You can't do that in that get-up."Quinn nodded satisfied with the excuse as Santana produced a purple cardigan, and shoved it at her. "These are our extra-slushy clothes, now that we actually need them…"

In her bedroom, Quinn sighed, only a little apologetic. "I'm sorry about making us quit the Cheerios. Totally ruined my extracurricular on my college app…But I did it for Finn."

"You didn't do it for Finn." Santana muttered in a hush voice, glowering when Quinn looked at her as if posing a question. "Just get dressed."

At six sharp, Quinn stood outside of Breadstix warily, with a handful of babysitting money tucked into the back pocket of her jeans, which Santana had deemed 'Fabray-ulous'. With a deep breath, she pulled into the restaurant and immediately caught sight of the short brunette situated in the center of the room, already seated.

She was looking around warily, as if looking for her date. Nervously, she fumbled with her fingers and occasionally pulled a small, star-shaped mirror from her purse, studying her complexion with a fine eye. Quinn smiled at this, she was almost cute when she was this nervous. Wait, cute?

Shaking the thought aside, she mustered a hard face and pushed her way through the dense atmosphere, standing at the table Rachel had reserved, smirking when the girl looked up at her with surprise.

"I didn't think you'd actually come." She gaped.

Studying the other girl, Quinn took a seat and breathed out. "I'm on honor roll, straight A student, I was accepted into Stanford and forced to work with Sue Sylvester of all people. Expect punctuality."

Rachel laughed, a hearty sound, and Quinn smiled gingerly. "So I see, Quinn. It's a very favorable quality."

"Favorable? Please elaborate." Smirking, Quinn crossed her legs under the table.

The brunette blushed intensely at the question, mentally debating her answer. "Attractive, yes. But then again, everything about you is."

Slack-jawed, Quinn chuckled, uncrossing her legs and smiling, greatly diffusing the tension. "Haven't you seen the posters yet? They're plastered all over the school. That's me - I'm Lucy Caboosey."

Rachel coughed into her hand awkwardly, her nervousness made Quinn hesitantly grin wider. "You look completely amazing, Quinn. You can balloon up or shrink down, switch back to coke-bottle glasses, and shed your designer clothes for heavy, turtle-neck sweaters but as long as you smile like that…the way that you do – you can light up the world."

Her voice was sincere, so much so that the sound of it made Quinn's breath hitch in her throat, and she folded her hands on top of the table purposefully.

"Can I ask you a question?" Quinn said, leaning in. Blushing furiously, Rachel nodded. "Why now? Why me? I thought you were so into Finn last year and now, it's me."

"It's not that easy. I mean, I didn't just flick a switch and choose to think of you like this. It's just…during our duet we seemed to have a lot of chemistry. More so, than I've had with any of my male leads. Not as though, I hadn't felt it before - because I have. I just assumed that the feeling was loathing though." Shyly, Rachel crossed her index fingers. "Not attraction."

"You felt chemistry?" Motioning between, pointing to some invisible connection, Quinn inquired as though it were the most unnatural thing she'd ever heard. Which it would have been had Brittany not decided to share with her, her great knowledge about cat diseases. Shudder. "Between us?"

"Didn't you?"

Quinn took a deep breath, in the corner of her eye suddenly aware that Brittany and Santana were at the next table, watching her with anticipation. "Yes."

A waiter circuited by, dropping their menus in front of them and as Rachel studied the list for vegan entrees, she sneered towards her two best friends. Unfailingly, they gave her sarcastic thumbs-ups and she face-palmed defeated.

"Jerks." She muttered, quiet enough to prevent Rachel from hearing her. "Complete jerks."

Their date ended some two hours later, after the vegan stir-fry and Quinn's steak and after they had both fought over who would pay the bill, a battle Quinn had eagerly won. Quinn had pulled out Rachel's seat as she stood up, being greeted with a quiet 'how chivalrous of you, Quinn' which made her smile until she felt sick with herself.

They had headed outside, shoes clacking against the sidewalk, drifting closely beside each other, though not hand-in-hand when Rachel had stopped suddenly just as they were about to part ways.

"Quinn, may I ask you something?"

The blonde nodded amicably, halting in her tracks and whirling towards the brunette, who was nervously playing with her hands, folding and unfolding them.

"It's just…I might…never get the chance to do this again…and I really want to…I always want things so much..." She stumbled over her words.

"What is it, Berry?" There was no answer, so she gave in, her curiosity getting the best of her. "Just go for it."

And like that, Rachel leaned forward, wordlessly reaching up and pressing her lips against Quinn's. Her jaw dropped in shock and Rachel eagerly took advantage of her unpreparedness, wrapping her tongue around hers. In the heated battle she was having with her own internal voices, Quinn never found the willpower to separate their bodies. Rachel, surprisingly, was the one to pull them apart.

Breathy, the nervous girl asked. "Was that alright?"

"That was great." And then, because she wasn't quite sure what to say after that, she added in a cracking pubescent voice. "Thank you."

Then she coughed, because the voice seemed so abnormal, so unsure and so alien to the commanding tone she had always known. "I'll see you in Glee?"

Half-way through her stride away, Rachel whirled around. "Absolutely, Quinn."

Absentmindedly, Quinn smiled, shoving her hands in her pockets coolly. Her eyes lingered, watching the brunette smirk, then walk away, float away to her car. Quinn's eyelids fluttered closed as she spun around, making her way to her own car. However, just as she jammed her keys into the ignition, she looked up through her windshield, halted by the image she saw before her - her two best friends, huddled near the entrance of the restaurant, congratulating each other and high-fiving...

Well now, that was weird.