Takes place during: "Acafellas"


"You need to go after these glee clubbers one by one. I want my full budget restored. I need a fog machine." Sue relaxes into her chair, lifting her feet and sprawling her legs across her desk. "Now, go. The Mexican gardener who shapes my toe nails will be here any minute and I can't have you ladies offending him with your non-professionally kept disasters."

With a crinkle in their brows and a slight tilt in their heads, Quinn and Santana exit Sue's office, the squeak of overused hand grips bidding them farewell as they leave.

"I vote we screw with the dwarf again." Examining her nails, Santana grunts as a callous smirk creeps into form. "Someone needs to smack that oompa-loompa." Rolling her eyes, she releases a jolt of air in a scoff-like exhale.

Quinn shakes her head. "That pygmy loser will be easy. She'll do the work for us." Her own smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth. "No, if we start at the bottom, the entire pyramid comes tumbling down. There..." Noticing Artie and Tina parting ways down the hall, Quinn motions towards the two and dips into an insidious tone. "We'll split up for now. I'll handle Art-" Stopping abruptly, she tenses at Santana's pointed look. It's an unspoken rule among the Cheerios to never let a loser's name grace their lips. She didn't mean to say it. It sort of just...slipped out. Biting her lower lip, Quinn swallows back the rest of Artie's name before continuing. "I mean that kid in the wheelchair. Take care of stutters." Quinn flicks her wrist in the general direction Tina was heading. "You know what to do."

"Oh, I got this." Raising a thin manicured eyebrow, Santana clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Wearing a pair of devilish grins, the two cheerleaders saunter their way down the hall towards their unsuspecting victims. Their hands are at their hips, their elbows wide, and the attitude that causes the rest of the student body to part way as they pass radiates with each step.

"Remember" Quinn whispers as they reach the end of the hall, leaning into Santana as she speaks. "They're weak. Exploit that."

Santana snorts within an intrepid sigh. "Please." She rolls her eyes. "I've been playing this game a lot longer than you." With arms crossed and predatory-like sights trained on the loser goth, Santana turns on a heel and leaves, her pony tail swaying back and forth in its signature way as she does.

Rolling her own eyes, Quinn mutters a breathy "Whatever" and tightly shakes her head.

Santana may be her best friend, but that isn't by choice. It's more of a...social rank decision. Quinn knows that popularity isn't just about who you are or what you do. It's about whom you associate with and Santana is one of those girls that is necessary to have on her side...even if the girl makes Quinn want to cat scratch her from time to time.

Having her own mission in queue (the mission known as Artie Abrams), Quinn turns to the library doors. As Quinn raises a hand to push on the doors, she takes one last look over her shoulder where she expects to see Santana cornering Tina at the girl's locker. She heaves a disappointed, yet unsurprised, sigh as she sees Santana pressed up against a wall by none other than Noah Puckerman. For a brief moment as Santana smiles and as Puck trails kisses along the girl's neckline, Quinn's devious expression falls and the corners of her lips pull downwards. Her breath staggers as well kept secrets flash behind her eyes. Pursing her lips, Quinn squeezes her eyes closed and blindly enters the library, leaving the thoughts that gave her pause behind.


Tapping a pen aimlessly against his history text book, Artie stares past the words on the page and smiles. His heart is doing that thing again. That thing where it beats faster and louder than his thoughts. That thing it does after every encounter with the fascinating and impressive Tina Cohen-Chang.

Fascinating? Impressive? Artie laughs a little at himself. At least he didn't think of something overly cheesy like...incandescent. Not to say he doesn't think she is incandescent. Not to say he thinks of her like that in any way to begin with.

Groaning, Artie slumps in his chair, dropping his head forward. The more Artie tries to disregard his growing feelings and the more he tries to steer his heart down a less emotionally wrenching path, the more awkwardly foolish he becomes. Sighing, he closes his eyes and listens to the intense beating of his heedless heart.

"Something wrong?" A breathy voice says as its owner falls into the seat across from him. "Let me guess. Girl troubles?"

Unnerved by the sudden sound, Artie drops his mechanical pencil and lifts his head with a befuddled expression. "Wha-huh?" He manages to say when his brain catches up and realizes Quinn is sitting across from him. He doesn't quite know how to act as she remains sitting there as if it's no big deal or that it's completely normal for the most popular girl in school to approach someone as low as him. Artie opens his mouth to question her intentions, but the stirring confusion renders him incapable of forming words, let alone sounds. Instead, he furrows his brows more so, adjusts his glasses and waits for her to make the first move.

Quinn shrugs as she takes to running her fingertips along the chain of her golden necklace. "I'm sure whoever she is will come around." She breaths a disinterested sigh, but stays seated, seemingly with no intent on leaving.

"I-I'm sorry..." Artie drawls as his sight wanders around, falling on anything, but her. Leaning forward, he points at himself and speaks, keeping his voice just above a whisper. "I'm a bit confused. Do you mean to talk to me?"

Capturing his gaze with her own, Quinn smiles one of those sweet smiles that Artie knows she reserves only for teachers, her boyfriend, and those she's attempting to manipulate. In that moment, Artie recognizes that something fishy is going on and pulls back, raising his mental guard in the process.

"It's just..." Quinn releases a sharp exhale through thin lips. "Finn and that thing!" She slams her hand against the table causing those surrounding them to look their way.

"That again?" He arches a brow as he tries desperately to ignore the prying eyes. Awkwardly, he begins to thumb the edges of his text book. "Rachel's still not backing off, huh?"

Her jaw visibly constricts as her fingers take to tugging on her necklace instead of simply running along the chain. "It's not just that." Relaxing her posture, she stares directly into his eyes, hazel-green ones connecting with addled blue ones. "Don't you...don't you feel like you're just there to be in the background? Like there's no real point in trying?" Her smile fades and her features soften.

Artie eyes his surroundings again, this time with more suspicion lingering in the back of his mind. Is that really how she feels? Like she was just background material? Artie mentally shakes his head. He doesn't know whether he believes her or not, her eyes didn't flutter and her voice didn't strain, but Artie decides to just go with it. There's a chance she's letting him see her vulnerable side and he wants to make sure he is there for her if that is the case. "C'mon Quinn, you know it's not like that. We're a team. Just because they get a lot of the solos doesn't mean we're just background. We'll get our chance."

She laughs softly and shifts more comfortably in her seat. "I guess. I just don't understand why they get all the solos." She moves again, resting her elbow on the table and placing her chin in her hand. "Don't tell Finn, but...I totally think you should get one. You sing just as well, if not better, as Finn. You deserve one."

His expression widens as he sits silently, unable to think of anything to say in return. Receiving compliments, in any form, from a girl like Quinn Fabray is nowhere near being a common occurrence for him. He's stunned, to say the least.

"I bet if we say something, the others will speak up as well and Finn and that thing will just have to deal with being pushed to the back like the rest of us for once." The edges of her mouth twitch with a contained smirk that Artie can tell wants to come out.

Scrunching his lips to the side, he internally sighs. Now he knows he shouldn't believe her. She most likely just wants to tear down Finn's confidence to give the jock a reason to quit and is trying to use him to do it. A feeling of disappointment sinks in his chest as he begins to wonder where that glimmer of the Quinn he once knew has gone. "A-as much as I would love a solo, I think that maybe it would be best if-"

"Don't you believe in yourself enough to know that you deserve more?" She cuts him off, something she has come prone to doing. "Don't you believe you're more than just a background singer? You need to say something, Artie. Wouldn't you like to see Finn and...It...knocked off their high horses just once? I know I do."

Artie smiles as he returns his attention back to his text book. "If you really believe in yourself, you don't have to bring other people down. I'm not going to resort to going behind their backs just because I want something." He glances back up at her and instantly knows that his words have hit her. Her mouth is hanging open and her sight is shifting rapidly back and forth in thought. Looking past her, Artie spots Santana at the entrance to the library, waving her hands in an effort to capture Quinn's attention. "Uh, I think you're being summoned."

"Huh?" She says within a forced swallow.

Artie nods towards the other cheerleader before refocusing on his studies. As Quinn turns to look over her shoulder, he doesn't offer her another word or another glance. Shakily, she gets up and leaves and for some reason he can't quite distinguish, Artie continues to smile.


A/N: Thanks for reading...and possibly reviewing!

In case it isn't clear, this takes place during the Kurt/Mercedes "Have you ever kissed someone?" scene and ends just before Santana and Quinn hook their arms with Mercedes'. Also, yes...the line Artie uses on Quinn is a direct quote of what Quinn says to Sue at the end of the episode. I liked the idea that she got it from him. Lemme know if it worked well for you. =)

Oh, I also realize that I always end with Quinn leaving...I hope to break that pattern soon. =P