AN: Hey there! This is my first Faberry fanfic and well… I'm kind of iffy about the whole thing. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.
Summer Camp
Chapter One
Quinn needed a summer job.
With her father no longer in the picture, money was not quite as easy to come by in her house. While her mother was able to provide money to pay their bills and basic spending needs with her new job, there wasn't exactly much cash left for Quinn to buy new clothes for school or for any other activities, like going to the movies with friends.
Her Fabray pride would not let her be the only kid still wearing outfits from last year or be left out of activities because of a lack of funds. So she set out to find herself a summer job.
She tried to have a positive outlook on the whole having to work thing, like thinking of it as a way of showing just how responsible she had become.
It helped if she didn't think about the fact that Santana and Brittany would be spending their time tanning and lounging around a pool while she was trying to make some cash.
Finding an opening in Lima for the summer had been a difficult task. Chances are she wouldn't have found a job at all if it hadn't been for one of her mom's coworkers.
If Quinn remembered correctly, the coworkers name was Cheyenne, or maybe Cheryl. Regardless of what it was, she and her mother had been discussing what their children were doing for the summer. Judy had mentioned that Quinn was looking for a summer job and Cheyenne/Cheryl had immediately proceeded to tell Judy that the summer camp that her youngest daughter was attending was always short on counselors.
Judy was thrilled with the idea and thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for her daughter so she had asked for more information from her coworker, who gladly gave her the necessary info needed to contact the camp.
That night Quinn listened to her mother gush about how perfect the job was for her. Judy had researched everything about the job for her already. Three weeks as a camp counselor at an overnight camp where she would be fed, given an air-conditioned cabin to sleep in, and a group of girls approximately ages 7-9 to look after with another fellow counselor.
Quinn couldn't really see anything wrong with the job, except for maybe the fact that it was an hour or so away from Lima. Other than that the pay was pretty good and if she really thought about it, maybe putting a little bit of space between her and Lima for three weeks would be a good idea.
So she agreed with her mother and applied for the job. Within a week of applying she had had an interview over the phone and was almost immediately hired.
That was how she ended up at camp a day early for the mandatory day of training for all incoming counselors.
xXxXx
Quinn pulled her car up to the designated parking area for camp staff. She'd passed a rather large sign that had the camps name, 'Camp Deerlake' written in large letters across it. Quinn hadn't bothered to ask where the camp got its name. She hadn't seen any deer on the way over, but she figure it was just one of those generic camp things, squishing something outdoorsy with the word lake.
Deciding to leave her bags in the car till she knew where she would be hauling them, Quinn peeled herself off her hot car seat and followed the arrows that had been posted to show the new staff where to meet up.
A jumble of teenagers and twenty something year olds sat around a covered picnic area, scattered around several tables in small groups. It reminded her of the lunch tables at McKinley; already she could pick out cliques forming.
Quinn inhaled deeply. This was where she would make her first impression on the people she would be working with for the next three weeks.
On the drive over she had been mentally preparing herself for this, telling herself that nobody here knew her and that she could be whoever she wanted to be.
She didn't have to be the bitch that she often was and regretted being during the school year.
She wanted to be the 'nice girl' for once. Not just fake nice, but genuinely nice.
With that in mind, Quinn tried her best to put a friendly smile on her face as she approached her coworkers.
The smile was on her face for a total of five seconds before a very familiar voice called out to her.
"Quinn?" Quinn froze before she turned towards the voice, already knowing who she was about to make eye contact with, but still praying that it was her imagination.
"Berry…? What are you doing here?" Quinn asked, trying to mask the annoyed tone in her voice with surprise.
Rachel seemed to have either missed the miffed tone of Quinn's question or was so used to it that she didn't it acknowledge it at all. Instead she walked up to the blonde, offering her a trademark Rachel Berry smile.
"I'm working here as a camp counselor this summer and while I tend to disapprove of assuming, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you are here for the same reason as well." Quinn nodded when Rachel was done speaking, hoping that keeping her mouth closed would stop her from saying anything catty to the shorter girl.
Rachel Berry was probably the last person Quinn would want to be stuck working with all summer. Well okay, Rachel ranked higher than Jewfro, but the short teen still made her want bash her head against the nearest wall at times. Or in this case tree, Quinn couldn't see any buildings from where she was currently standing.
While her and Rachel had been on slightly better terms recently, that still didn't mean that she wanted to spend any extended amount of time around the diva. Especially not three weeks.
She didn't hate Rachel, but she wasn't exactly a fan either.
But… She had had that rather long conversation in the car inside her head earlier about not being a bitch and trying to be genuinely nice…
So when the brunette smiled at her hopefully, Quinn did her best to force a smile of her own.
xXxXx
The head counselor had called them to attention and was in the process of welcoming them to the camp and explaining several ground rules.
Throughout the speech Quinn kept glancing over towards Rachel, who was sitting at the same picnic table as her. Quinn was somewhat surprised that Rachel had followed her to a table and sat down next to her as if they were friends. She tried her best to tell herself that she didn't mind Rachel sitting next to her.
It wasn't long before it became apparent to Quinn that summer time Rachel Berry wasn't that much different from rest of the year Rachel Berry. Rachel raised her hand several times to question the head counselor and did not hesitate to ask the man to elaborate on certain rules.
All of Rachel's comments were pulling attention towards the table that she shared with Quinn. The blonde could feel the eyes of those around her on her and she silently sank into her seat, wishing that Rachel would have shut her mouth five minutes ago.
Even with all of her questions, the diva still seemed somewhat calm. Well… as calm as Rachel could be, especially compared to how she normally acted in glee club. On closer examination, Quinn could see that Rachel was fidgeting with pure excitement, her leg bouncing with the extra energy.
The head counselor, who Quinn now remembered had introduced himself as Joe, had finished up his speech and was now ready to take the new staff members on a tour of the camp so that they wouldn't get lost when they had to lead around their campers.
The mass of staff members were herded towards the mess hall to show where meals would take place, then to the lake, activity centers, infirmary, and finally the cabins.
During the tour, Quinn had tried to introduce herself to at least a few of the other counselors and had been somewhat successful. Rachel had wandered off to mingle with different people as well to Quinn's relief. She had already had her fill of Rachel Berry time.
Joe stopped the group in the middle of the circle that was formed by the surrounding cabins.
"Okay everybody, listen up! As you all already know, there will be two of you in each cabin along with ten campers. I've gone ahead and assigned you all to cabins. So go back and grab your stuff and check the bulletin board by the mess hall for your cabin assignment. Then I'd like everybody to meet back at 7 for dinner. Got it?" A collective "yeah" was heard from the staff and they began to head back towards the parking lots.
Quinn had tried to be sensible and only pack what she had deemed as necessary. Rachel apparently did not have the same mind set.
The shorter girl was weighed down with several different bags and pulling along one bag with wheels. Quinn sighed. She knew what the new nice Quinn should do, but she was rather tempted to fall back on old Quinn's habits and pretend that she never saw Rachel struggling with her bags at all.
Quinn shouldered her bag and sighed again.
"Hey Berry, let me help you." Quinn didn't even bother to ask, if she was going to attempt to be nice then she wasn't going to give Rachel a chance to turn down her help.
Rachel eyes widened and a look of surprise crossed her face, mixed with something else that made Quinn grimace internally with guilt once she realized it was suspicion.
"While I appreciate the offer, I am quite capable of carrying my own-"
"Look Berry, it's not like I'm going to throw your stuff in a lake. Just let me help you." Quinn gritted out after cutting of the diva. She tried her best to not sound too annoyed, she really did.
Rachel searched Quinn's face for a moment before finally nodding and handing the blonde one of her bags. Quinn accepted it and threw it over her other shoulder, somewhat proud of herself for not snapping at the shorter girl.
They walked in silence, or really Quinn was silent while Rachel babbled excitedly. Quinn reasoned with herself that ignoring Rachel's rambling and occasionally nodding as if she were paying attention was much nicer then telling her to shut up.
Several of the other counselors were already surrounding the bulletin board with cabin assignments tacked to it. Rachel looked about ready to burst with excitement.
"Isn't this exciting Quinn? It's just like looking for your name on a callback list!" Quinn found the metaphor to be a bit dramatic, but then again being dramatic was what the brunette was known for.
"Yeah, just like that…" Quinn mumbled back.
Quinn got a clear view of the list before Rachel could due to her height advantage. She scanned the list looking for her name and cabin assignment.
Her face paled.
Cabin 6:
Quinn Fabray
Rachel Berry
You've got to be freaking kidding me. Smashing her head against the nearest tree was starting to sound appealing again.
Rachel had finally worked her way through the crowd and was now trying to find her own name. A brief spark of shock appeared on her face, but then disappeared as she glanced over at Quinn. The blonde had a hand to her face and looked somewhat frustrated.
Rachel tried to fight the twinge of hurt that she felt when she heard Quinn sigh almost inaudible in annoyance.
Quinn shook her head slowly. She felt eyes on her and turned to find Rachel watching her. Quinn groaned mentally.
Remember that you're trying to be nice now. Making a scene in the middle of a crowd would make you look like a bitch. Suck it up and be nice to her.
"Come on Berry, let's go unpack" Not waiting for an answer or looking back to see if Rachel was following her, Quinn headed for cabin 6.
xXxXx
Cabin 6 was in Quinn's opinion, nothing fancy. It contained six sets of bunk beds, one of which was towards the front of the cabin and was obviously meant for Rachel and herself. The other bunk beds were spread around the cabin along walls and in corners. At the back of the cabin was a bathroom that included a shower.
Both girls shrugged the bags off of their shoulders and stood silently, eyes taking in the space around them. It was quiet for a total of sixty seconds before Rachel could no longer take it. Not having anything in particular to say, Rachel went with the first thing that came to mind.
"I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I'm terribly afraid of heights and therefore I'm calling the bottom bunk." Quinn had zoned out for a second, but this caught her attention.
"I don't think so Berry, I move in my sleep and I don't want to die. I need the bottom bunk." Quinn argued at the diva.
"But Quinn, I have a phobia!" Rachel whined.
"And I could fall and die." Quinn deadpanned. If she thought about it a little, it was rather odd for them to be fighting over the bottom bunk. Most people would fight over the top bunk but then again, Rachel wasn't the most normal of people.
"But there are… more dust particles floating around the air towards the ceiling and those dust particles will collect in my throat and lungs and ruin my voice and then I might as well be dead!" Rachel was now entering what her fellow glee club members often referred to as 'full drama queen mode'.
"That's not even a thing, you made it up." Quinn stated, trying to keep herself in check. Rachel looked away from the ex-cheerio, embarrassed that she had been caught lying.
"Furthermore, if it was a real thing, then why should I have to be the one to lose my voice?" Some of the annoyance she was feeling seeped through into her words.
"You're right, it isn't a real thing and I wouldn't want you to lose your voice… but please Quinn?" Rachel's eyes held a mixture of apology and pleading.
Be nice. It was quickly becoming Quinn's mantra. She groaned mentally.
"Fine Berry, you can have the top bunk, but if I fall and crack my head open in the middle of the night, it's your fault." Rachel grinned from ear to ear and it made Quinn feel slightly better about caving in and letting the diva have her way. Only slightly.
"Thank you Quinn!" Rachel started to unpack her bags and Quinn watched her for a second before doing the same.
At dinner Quinn sat at the first open table she found. Back at McKinley she was used to people flocking to whatever table she was at. Rachel had wandered off to go sit by some other counselors that Quinn had seen her talking to earlier.
Quinn was glad for the break from the shorter girl; it was much easier to be nice without her around. Rachel just had a way of unintentionally pushing her buttons until the blonde felt like she was going to break the nearest inanimate object out of sheer annoyance.
It was five minutes into dinner and Quinn was still sitting alone. It wasn't exactly an ego boost…
"Hey, your name's Quinn, right?" Quinn looked up from half-heartedly stabbing her dinner; standing on the other side of the table was a girl that she faintly remembered introducing herself to earlier.
What was her name again? It started with an 'Am'… Amy? Amber?
"Amanda, right?" Quinn took a shot in the dark, praying that she was right.
"Yeah, that's me. So is it cool if I sit with you?" Amanda asked with a smile.
"Please do" Quinn answered almost immediately. Amanda bobbed her head in thanks and sat herself down across from Quinn.
The ex-cheerio examined the girl across from her as nonchalantly as she could. Amanda looked to be possibly a few years older than Quinn, with medium length light brown hair and a pretty face.
"So where ya from?" Quinn blinked a few times, she had momentarily zoned.
"Lima, you?"
"I'm from the Columbus area." A brief pause then she followed up with another question. "So that Rachel chick, the one that talks a lot, you two know each other or something?" Amanda stabbed her fork into a slice of potato and promptly popped it into her mouth.
Quinn's eyes narrowed. Ten seconds in and the conversation had turned to focus on Rachel. Another blow to her ego.
"We go to the same school." Quinn answered curtly. If she looked past Amanda she could see Rachel smiling and talking to a few other teenagers at her table.
"Is she currently dating anyone?" Quinn gave the older girl an odd look. As far as she knew, Rachel had rejected Finn after their kiss at nationals. Last she heard there wasn't anything really going on with Rachel and that sleaze ball St. James either. If the brunette wasn't dating Finn or Jessie, then there wasn't much chance that she was dating at all.
"Not currently, no. Why do you ask?" Quinn watched as Amanda seemed to mull over an answer for a few seconds while chewing.
"Just wondering. She seems like an interesting person." Quinn nodded, it was an acceptable answer. Interesting was a fitting description of the diva. As was over-dramatic and short.
"And she's cute." Quinn choked on her food. That was not acceptable.
"Excuse me…?" Quinn coughed out, trying to clear her throat.
"I said she's cute. You don't think so?" Amanda turned to look at Rachel and Quinn could not remember a point in her life where her eyes were wider than they currently were now.
"N-no, I'm not-" Quinn stuttered before being interrupted.
"Gay?" Amanda finished for her. Quinn could only nod furiously in response.
"Neither am I, but that doesn't mean I'm not up for some fun." She smirked at Quinn and the blonde's jaw dropped.
Is this chick for real?
"Rachel's not like that." Quinn stated, still trying to recover from shock.
"We'll see about that." And with that, Amanda winked then picked up her meal, making her way to sit at Rachel's table.
Quinn could only sit there stunned.
xXxXx
After dinner the counselors had played a few team building games. It wasn't Quinn's style, but she couldn't say that she hated the experience. Every time she glanced at Rachel, she could tell that the girl was having a wonderful time. Rachel did live for this kind of social interaction.
Two hours later the games had come to an end and Joe called them all into a huddle for a quick talk about preparing for their campers to arrive the next day, all of the counselors had been sent back to their cabins with instructions to get a good night's sleep.
Quinn arrived back first and took the opportunity to change into her sleepwear. She was ready for bed by the time that Rachel finally returned, a large smile etched onto her lips.
"Hello Quinn! What an excellent evening, don't you agree? Though I must say that they are quite lacking in the way of vegan dishes, but I found enough food to survive. Other than that, it was a fantastic night!" Rachel ranted before beaming at the blonde.
"Such nice people too! I've already become acquainted with several people, all of which seem to be rather nice." Rachel continued to babble on as she picked out some clothes to change into, grabbed shampoo and conditioner and practically danced towards the shower.
"I'm just going to take a quick shower before going to bed. We've got to get up early tomorrow to meet the new campers!" Rachel squealed excitedly, before shutting the door and ending their rather one-sided conversation.
Within seconds of the water turning on, Quinn could hear Rachel belting out something unfamiliar, but definitely Broadway-ish. Not surprising in the least bit. It would have surprised Quinn if the shorter girl hadn't started singing in the shower.
Quinn climbed up the small ladder to her top bunk. She pushed her back as close to the wall as possible in an effort to stop herself from rolling over the edge in her sleep. Making herself comfortable, she now had the chance to think.
She'd gotten herself a job. That was good.
She was stuck with Rachel Berry for three weeks. Annoying, but she would survive.
Some random girl had come up to her to ask about Rachel before revealing her true intentions of wanting to have some 'fun' with the singer. That was an odd situation… Quinn would have to come back to that thought. Was she supposed to warn Rachel about that kind of thing? Was that even something to warn her about or was she supposed to let the diva deal with the whole situation by herself. Maybe Rachel was into that sort of thing and warning her would offend her.
Do I even care enough to warn her? Quinn thought as her eyes began to slide closed.
Yes, but why?
Because you promised to try to be nicer and being nicer includes telling Berry that that some girl basically flat out told you that she's going to try to get into her pants.
Oh… I guess I'd want her to do the same for me. I'll tell her tomorrow or whatever. Quinn's thoughts were getting a bit hazy.
With one final yawn, Quinn could only focus on the singing she could hear coming from the bathroom before she fell asleep.
AN: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you think of it so far.