Well, my computer crashed, and I completely forgot about this within the time it took to get it fixed. So, I apologize.
Chapter 2: Six
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Noah and Quinn had become best friends since last summer. They had play-dates almost everyday. Some days, she would come over to his house and play Power Rangers and Sonic video games. Other days, he would agree to playing Barbies and having girly tea parties. She knew he would be worried about Finn or any of the other boys finding out, so she promised him that it was just between them. And he got to spend time with her, so he didn't mind very much.
He was devastated when she went back to Connecticut for two weeks. Finn would come over with buckets full of action figures for them to play with. It was enough to cheer him up for a few hours of the day. When Finn wasn't available, he sat around and watched TV or sat on the front porch, waiting for Quinn to come back.
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In class, Noah got to sit at a table with her. However, Mrs. Cleary had to separate them a few times for talking during the lesson. Not that it helped anything. He made silly faces at her from across the room, causing giggles she couldn't stifle. When they were allowed to sit together again, Mrs. Cleary caught him looking at her paper during math hour. He got lectured about how cheating is wrong and that if he can't control his wandering eyes, she would have him permanently separated from Quinn. She wouldn't even give him the chance to explain that he was just looking at how pretty her handwriting is.
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Quinn was good at math. Noah was good at spelling. Luckily their strong points, were the other's weak points. Quinn would help Noah with addition and subtraction using jellybeans and scenarios he would understand.
"The Ninja Turtles have only have one pizza pie, but each brother wants their own. How many more pizzas do they need to order?"
Noah wasn't as good of a teacher as Quinn. He couldn't come up with any spelling strategies like she did to help him with math. He tried his hardest to help her, though. Every week when they had spelling homework, they would sit as his kitchen table and arrange Scrabble tiles to spell out that week's words.
One week, Quinn ran to him after class, showing him her A+ spelling test and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you.
They stuck with those study methods for a while.
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Noah swung his pumpkin bucket around while he waited for Quinn to come down from her room.
"Careful, Noah. Don't break anything," his mom lightly grasped his sleeve to stop him.
He impatiently removed his red Ninja Turtle eye mask and slumped down next to her on the sofa.
"Why do girls take so long?" Finn asked asked after he adjusted his blue Power Ranger mask.
At that moment, Quinn and Judy came down the stairs.
"Sorry, her hair had to be curled and her make up was smudged," Judy explained.
"You look pretty," Noah looked at Quinn's sparkly Cinderella dress and slightly dramatic make up.
"Thanks," she smiled at him, her front two teeth missing, "I like your shell."
Noah did a turn, showing off the inflatable turtle shell making Quinn and Finn laugh.
"You kids want candy?" Carole got their attention.
"Yea!"
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"Okay girls! Are we all ready?" Sabrina, Quinn's ballet teacher clapped her hands. All the girls gathered around, awaiting further instruction, "You all have worked so hard this season, and I'm so proud of you all. Let's go put on a show okay?"
The girls all cheered in unison.
"Let's have our Clara," she glanced at Quinn, "get ready for act one."
Quinn loved ballet. She got to spend time with Brittany and Santana. Also Rachel, who was a little peeved that she didn't get the role of Clara. Her sister, mother, and grandmother had all done ballet when they were her age. She wanted to take acting and singing lessons, but her mother insisted on ballet. It would keep her fit for when she joined cheerleading. During the show, Quinn soaked up the attention that she loved so much. Nothing made her heart race like the sound of an applause just for her.
Glancing out into the crowd, she noticed Noah waving wildly at her. As much as she wanted to wave back, she kept her stilled position, but shot him a bright smile.
He gave her flowers after the performance.
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"I'm getting a baby sister," he mumbled as he swung back and forth
"Noah, that's so exciting," she swung next to him.
"I guess..."
"You're not excited?"
"I think I'd be more excited if it were a boy. I don't like girls."
"You like me. And I'm a girl."
"That's different, you're..." he trailed off.
"I'm what?"
"I dunno. You're not like other girls. You're cool. You can name all the Ninja Turtles. Santana and Brittany can't do that."
"Well, they don't have a best friend who's in love with them. I do. And you can teach your sister who the turtles are and how to play Super Mario."
"And you can teach her about dolls and girly stuff."
"She can be like our baby!"
"No way! I'm never having kids." Noah shook his head in disgust.
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"Have you ever kissed anyone?" she asked him one day from her perch at the top of the slide.
"No one but my mom and my nana," he hung upside-down from the trapeze bar, "Why?"
"I saw Frannie kissing a boy last night," she frowned.
"Gross!"
"I know!"
"I thought only married people kissed," he wondered aloud.
"Well, Snow White wasn't married when the prince kissed her. Jasmine and Aladdin kissed. They weren't married either."
"I don't wanna get married til I'm twelve years old!"
"Me either."
"Why would Frannie kiss anyone anyways? Why does ANYONE kiss anyone?"
"I dunno," she slid down the slide, "Maybe we should...try it. To see what's so great about it."
"I guess so," he shrugged.
"Close your eyes and stick your lips out," Quinn ordered before doing the same and leaning in, connecting her lips with his; Pulling away just as quickly as she leaned in.
"I don't see what the fuss is," Noah told her, not making eye contact, "It's late. I should go home."
"Me either. But umm...I'll walk you to the front."
They walked in an awkward silence to her driveway. Noah kept his hands in his pockets while Quinn fiddled with her fingers.
"I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," he mumbled.
"Yea," she sighed, "Bye."
On a whim, Noah pressed his lips to her's once more before speeding off down the street, leaving Quinn frozen in place.
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Carole brought them and Finn to the pool on the first day of summer. Noah and Finn jumped right into the deep end, splashing around and rough housing like boys do. Quinn sat on the edge and dangled her feet in the water.
"Come on, Q!" Noah called out as Finn swam circles around him, pretending to be a shark.
"No thanks," she looked down at the water.
Noah swam over to and hoisted himself up onto the edge, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know how to swim," she whispered.
He just looked at her for a few moments, wondering how he could help her.
"Come on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her up, "Finn! Meet us over there," he pointed to the shallow end.
"Where are we going?"
"We'll teach you how to swim." he pulled her over to the 3-foot-deep water. Quinn carefully stepped in, the water coming to a stop around her mid section.
For the rest of the afternoon, Noah and Finn showed Quinn how to float on her back and hold her breath underwater. She was still afraid to leave the shallow end, but they had the whole summer to get her to the deep end.
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When Sara Puckerman was born, Noah, Quinn, and Finn were all there to welcome her into the world. Carole snapped pictures of the kids holding the small baby, and brought them all to the hospital cafeteria when Deborah needed to rest. The four of them went back up to the maternity ward after lunch, walking over to the nursery window to look for baby Sara.
Noah, Quinn, and Finn stood on the bench and looked through the glass window at the sleeping girl. Quinn smiled slightly and turned to Noah.
"She looks like you."
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Thoughts?
