Don't stand out. Fit in. Keep it under control. Don't mess around. Don't do anything stupid. Pretend. Keep a low profile. Be invisible. It was always the same. Different city, different school, but the same story. Quinn was tired of it all.

It took months to convince her brother to let her join at least one club at her new school. It took months, but it was worth it. Quinn was ecstatic. Three weeks ago, when they moved to Lima, Ohio, she couldn't wait to apply to her new school. She could join a club. She could make friends.

It was dangerous, her brother said, making friends and forming relationships.

Things weren't always like this. They hadn't always hidden. They lived a normal life. Well, as normal as it could get. They had friends. They went out. Made memories. It was a perfect life. Until one day, it wasn't. After that one day, her brother had a new rule. Don't make friends.

So when her brother agreed with her request, she thought she was dreaming. Since she was fourteen they had been moving around every time they got attached. It was a rule. And now, she was at try-outs for McKinley Female Soccer team. Life was good.

That had been three weeks ago. Now, she realised that life wasn't that good after all.

She was captain of the McKinley soccer team. She was popular. People wanted to hang out with her. They invited her to parties. She always refused.

It's hard to understand, but she didn't want to be friends with these people. Sometimes she wondered if her brother had planned this all along. Let her join the club, only to realize the McKinley was the cruellest place in the world. McKinley was an awful place. Not the building, that was fine, but the students. Quinn didn't like almost anyone. For example, take Kitty. She was the head cheerleader. She was the devil incarnate. She walked down the hall with her always-there smile, glaring at everything that moved. If you accidentally stepped in her way, she would slushy you. If you looked at her, she would slushy you. And God help you if you tried to talk to her. And this, of course, applies only to the so called losers. They weren't losers. They just weren't cheerleaders or jocks. It was completely unfair.

What bothered Quinn the most was that she couldn't do anything about it. No, she could do something, but she wasn't allowed to. Her brother would kill her. Sometimes she thought it would be worth it. Sometimes she wondered would if it would be better if she just died. Was life even worth living life like that?

It physically hurt her when she saw two kids talking about their favourite Marvel movie and then get slushied and called nerds. It took everything in her power not to go after the stupid jock and teach him a lesson. Her self-control had to be enormous, really.

And then there were Brittany and Santana, her team mates. When she met Brittany for the first time, she didn't know what hit her. Literally. She was crushed in a bone-breaking hug, and the all air from her lungs escaped. Her first instinct was to fight back. And when she was ready to do something, Brittany realised her and looked at her with big, blue, innocent eyes. She hid her hands behind her back. After that day, she always wore her bike gloves to school.

Soon after that, she realised that Brittany was the kindest person she ever met, which couldn't be said for Santana. She had a strong feeling that Santana liked her, or better yet, tolerated her only because of Brittany. And Quinn was totally okay with it. Santana was kind of a bitch anyway.

And that was it. The only friends she made were Brittany and kind of, but not really, Santana. She was tired of it all.

It was one of those days. Her head was throbbing, her muscles aching. She had ignored her powers for too long. Usually she skipped a few classes and went to some abandoned park in the city and got it out of her system. But, y'know, Lima was so freackin' small that she had to wait until night. She was going insane.

And Santana sure as hell wasn't helping.

''Come on, bitch. Go just once. One party. That's all I'm asking.'' Santana said, leaning against the lockers, while Quinn grabbed some books for her next class.

''I already said no, Santana. Why do you want me there anyway? I know you secretly hate me.'' Quinn said closing her locker.

''I think that hate is a little bit too strong a word. Let's just say that if the school was on fire I wouldn't worry about your sorry ass.''

Quinn rolled her eyes.

''And to answer your question, I want you there because Britt said I won't get any tonight if I didn't convince you to come.''

''I don't know why Brittany is trying so hard to get me into the parties.''

''Something about you being a lonely sad panda. If you ask me, you're just pathetic.''

Quinn started to walk away. ''Then, I guess, this isn't your lucky night, S.'' She just wanted to go and spend some time in silence. Maybe smoke a cigar. She didn't know why, but cigars calmed her down. They didn't do anything else other than that. They couldn't hurt her in any way. Being not-really-human had its perks.

''Don't you dare walk out on me, Q.'' Santana said, grabbing Quinn's forearm.

As soon as Quinn felt Santana's hand on herself, she lost it.

In one swift motion she had Santana's hand in hers and at the same time she managed to pin Santana on the lockers. ''Don't you dare touch me,'' she said in a low, threatening voice. It took every muscle in her body to stop herself from punching Santana or doing something worse.

Santana looked at her with astonishment. Quinn was scaring her. Quinn closed her eyes and took a few calming breathes.

''Qu-Quinn you're hurting me.'' Santana crocked out.

Quinn looked down at her and realised she was still holding Santana by her wrist. Shit. She released her immediately. Santana's wrist was an angry red.

''Shit. I'm sorry I didn't…I didn't mean to…I'm sorry. I got to go.''

Quinn turned around and run to the other side of school. All of the classrooms were on the other side of school. There were only homerooms and the auditorium on this side, which meant that she could be alone. It was the middle of the day, and soon the brake would be over. Her brother was going to kill her if he found out about what almost happened. The key word almost. She just has to convince Santana not to tell anyone. That should be incredibly easy.

She groaned in frustration. The new turn of events weren't helping her headache at all. She couldn't deal with Santana now. This time she could seriously end up killing her.

She focused on calming herself. Breath. Inhale. Exhale. Long deep go. Release. All of a sudden, she heard something from the auditorium. Or more specifically, someone. Someone was singing.

Her body found a way to the auditorium door without her noticing it. Her entire being focused on that voice. She pressed her ear to the door.

And every demon wants his pound of flesh,

But I like to keep some things to myself.

I like to keep my issues strong,

It's always darkest before the dawn.

Heavenly. It was the only word her mind let her use. The sound was pure, amazing, perfect, flawless. Heavenly. Her head wasn't hurting anymore. Her muscles aren't aching. When she though about it, she couldn't really feel any part of her body anymore. Does she even exist? Did she die? She wouldn't mind as long as the voice was here.

And I've been a fool and I've been blind,

I can never leave the past behind.

I can see no way, I can see no way,

I've always dragging that horse around.

Somewhere far, far away, she could hear the school bell ring. She honestly couldn't care less. She wasn't going anywhere. Well, she wasn't going anywhere until the voice suddenly stopped. Quinn frowned. Where did it go? She took a step back.

A few moments passed by until she remembered how to properly use her legs again. One step at a time. When she finally managed to open the door, the person who was singing was already gone. She did catch a glimpse of a brown hair and knee high socks as the girl exited the auditorium on the other side. She considered the idea of running after her, but dismissed it soon after. It would be pretty hard to explain to the brunette how she heard her when seconds ago the auditorium was empty. Or how she managed to catch up with her so easily. And what would she even say? Hi I'm Quinn, your voice helps me keep my powers at check, would you like to sing to me some more? Yeah, no. The brunette would probably think Quinn was crazy, and she'd never talk to Quinn again. And Quinn didn't want that. She'd just find another way to get to know her. For now, she was going to class.

When she entered her last class of the day, Trigonometry, she was sure she was going to die. Every single atom of her body was aching to use her powers, and she was losing all her strength in fighting that urge.

If anything, she managed to avoid Santana the whole day. However, she did see a bandage on her wrist. She would be sure to apologize again tomorrow.

She slumped on the last seat in the row and hoped for the class to end soon. If you ask her, Trigonometry was completely useless. She'd never need it in real life. Ever.

Mrs. Byron was explaining the Pythagorean Theorem to the class without much success. Everyone was either looking out of the window or staring at Mrs. Byron like she was an alien. Finally, she sat down and gave them a few problems to solve.

Quinn looked around the class to make sure nobody was watching her. She lifted her hand from the table a tiny bit and pointed it to Mrs. Byron's desk. Her professor opened her notebook and reached for the pen. But when she tried to grab it, the pen moved out of her reach. Mrs Byron furrowed her brows.

Quinn tried not to chuckle.

When Mrs. Byron tried to grab the pen once again, the pen somehow fell to the floor. She looked at the class and then stood up to get it. When she returned to her desk to write down whatever she intended to, she realized her notebook was closed. The look on her face was priceless. Quinn softly chuckled.

She decided to leave Mrs. Byron alone and looked around the class. Santana was staring at her.

Great. Just great.

As soon as the bell rang, Quinn was out of the class and in her car. She was sure she was breaking few laws, but she couldn't find it in self to care. She just wanted to get to the woods as soon as possible. Thank God they didn't have practice today.

When she reached her house she ran out of the car, the door closing after her. She fidgeted with her keys for a few seconds. She entered her house and realized it was empty. Her brother wasn't home. Quinn was glad for that. She tossed her backpack on the couch and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. She was going to need it.

She climbed up the stairs and entered her room. She changed into black tights and matching hoodie and tied her hair into a messy bun. She left the house and locked the door.

Once outside, she ran.