Chapter 3:
Quinn went home that night feeling a lot better then she had at the start of the evening. She hadn't realized how much she had missed hanging out with Mercedes. Chant seemed like a cool place, and they had made a plan with Kate to meet there again next Saturday.
Quinn had loved the relaxed atmosphere, and was looking forward to singing at a place where it didn't matter if she sucked or not. Not that she did, of course.
Mercedes seemed less thrilled with it than she had before, saying that the bartender creeped her out. When Quinn had asked her if something happened between them, she got a funny look on her face and became very quiet.
As Quinn got ready for bed, her cell phone beeped at her. She picked up and saw she had received a text message from Kate. It said:
You were right. My socks are different colours. No idea how that happened…
Quinn laughed. She sent one back saying "I told you so".
She received a reply from Kate a few minutes later, and they spent the next few hours text messaging back and forth. Eventually Quinn realized it was past midnight, and had to go to bed. Kate's last text message of the night read:
G'Night Beautiful
Quinn read the text message, and considered responding but decided against it. She shut her phone, and went to sleep.
Quinn woke up in the morning, very abruptly, to a loud shrill ringing sound. She lay there, half asleep for a minute before realizing she was hearing the phone ring. She groaned, and leaned over to her night table to check to the caller ID.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
It flashed at her. Great. Now she had to pick it up, it could be someone important.
She grudgingly picked up the phone and asked who it was.
"It's Sam but PLEASE DON'T HANG UP" the voice on the other end shouted at her. She growled. He must have blocked his number from appearing, wily bastard.
"You woke me up" she responded angrily. "And yesterday you BROKE me up."
She quickly went over what she had just said, and realized it made no sense. "Broke up with me, I mean. I'm tired." She did not want to be having this conversation now, half asleep and very out of it.
"So gimme one reason I shouldn't hang up?" she continued, hoping she sounded threatening and not drunk, which was sort of how she felt.
"Because I am calling to beg pathetically for your forgiveness?" he said, sounding truly pathetic. She sighed.
"You have 30 seconds. Go"
"Ok, thank you. I wanted to say I am very sorry for upsetting you so much yesterday. Your a great person, and you were a perfect girlfriend. I never meant to hurt you."
She considered what he was saying...maybe he'd realized he had made a mistake, and wanted her back...not that she would take him back.
Of course not.
"Go on" she said slowly.
"But I think our break up was for the best because..." he continued, but Quinn cut him off. That was not what she wanted to hear.
"WRONG ANSWER" she screamed into the phone, making a sound like a buzzer. She knew it was childish, but she didn't care. Screw maturity...she thought, slamming down the phone.
She lay back down in bed, and tried to fall back asleep. This was not a good start to her first official day as a newly single person, and she wasn't looking forward to getting up and experiencing the rest of it.
The light from outside shone through her window, making it difficult for her to go back to sleep.
She sighed again, giving up. She was up, no use going back to sleep. Stupid Sam, he couldn't have waited a few more hours? She sat up, rubbed her eyes and reached for her cellphone. Without thinking, she sent a message to Kate.
Stupid ex called woke me up. Don't WANT to get up. First day single. Blehhhh.
Quinn got out of bed, and began getting dressed. She received her reply from Kate while she was brushing her teeth.
What'd he want? Beggin for you back?
Quinn read the text and groaned.
I wish, she thought, then mentally slapped herself.
No I do NOT wish. She told herself firmly. I do not need him, or...anyone.
Close. For forgiveness, but still says breakup was 'for the best'. FML. Today sucks.
Kate's reply came quickly, and was not anything Quinn wanted to read.
Oh its not so bad. Monday will be much worse. Enjoy Today :)
She made a face, groaning again. Kate was right. Monday was not going to be fun. She hoped Sam was smart enough to not talk to her...particularly after their conversation this morning, seeing him might set off something terrible.
Thanks for reminding me. Might kill him when I see him. Is that bad?
After she sent her reply to Kate, she went downstairs to get breakfast, taking her laptop with her.
When she got downstairs, the quiet of the house and a note on the table told her her mother had gone to the gym. Ever since she had left her father, she had been trying to improve her appearance. It sort of freaked Quinn out.
She sat down to eat her cereal, and turned on her laptop. She logged onto facebook and saw that she had one friend request.
She smiled, and accepted the request of KATE S., who immediately appeared in the Chat section.
She clicked on her name, and was about to say "hello" when a message appeared.
Kate S:
Hey, don't you love the finality of the facebook relationship status?
Quinn wasn't sure what she meant, until she looked up at her profile. Sure it enough, under "recent activity" it said: Quinn Fabray is now single.
She groaned for what felt like the 50th time that morning. Sam must have changed it last night.
She re-opened her chat with Kate.
Quinn Fabray:
Ya, its a wonderful way to wake up
Kill me now
Kate S:
:(
Quinn Fabray:
I don't know what I'm going to do on Monday…
Kate S:
Avoid him?
Or kill him?
Quinn Fabray:
I cant
Avoid him I mean
I suppose I could kill him…
Kate S:
I'll help you hide the body
Why can't you avoid him?
Quinn Fabray:
We have two classes together
Kate S:
Don't sit near him?
Quinn Fabray:
We also have Glee Club together
Kate S:
Skip it?
Quinn:
What if he talks to me? I might punch him.
Wouldn't be able to stop myself. Fists have minds of their own.
Kate S:
Ignore him?
Punch him and deal with the guilt?
Quinn:
Guilt is for the weak.
Kate S:
…
I like the way you think
:)
They chatted like that for the next few hours, until Kate had to go to a guitar lesson. Quinn decided she might as well do her homework. It wasn't like she had anything else to do...
She took out her spanish textbook and started working, thinking about Kate's advice as she did. She supposed ignoring him was the best option for now. She wasn't mad, as long as she didn't think about it.
When she started thinking about it, her stomach started to boil and her fists clenched up and...well, it was better to just not think about it.
Eventually, she knew she would move on and forgive him just like she did Finn and Puck. Then she could go out, and find some other brainless moron to get involved with, and repeat the whole thing…
No.
She would not do that. Not this time. She was done with men.
But for real this time.
Monday morning came, and Quinn went to school feeling more confident than she thought herself capable of. She had spoken, through text message and facebook, to Kate a few more times over the weekend and Kate had given her several of what she assumed Kate thought of as a pep talk.
They mostly consisted of Kate telling her she didn't need Sam, and more importantly didn't need to feel bad about getting dumped because through out her life time a lot worse things were going to happen, and she would need to save being sad for those instance's.
Despite Quinn's insistence that this type of advice was not helpful, after a few of these "pep talks", she was surprised to find she did feel better. Maybe it would be ok.
As long as he stayed away from her.
She went to school feeling confident and in control. She was determined not to let this minor issue disrupt her life. She was a strong, independent woman and she did not need a man to complete her*.
Her confidence lasted about 10 minutes, which was all the time it took Sam to find her at her locker and try to talk to her.
"Quinn, please talk to me. I feel really bad..."
She closed her eyes. How could he be so stupid? Did he not realize she was very much not in the mood for doing this? She was about to turn around and verbally murder him, when a familar beep-beep sound from her pocket distracted her, and probably saved Sam's life.
She took her phone out, shutting her locker and walking away like she hand't even realized he was there. She smiled as she walked, thrilled at how she had handled the situation, and mentally thanking whoever it was who texted her for snapping her out of her ready-to-murder daze.
The text was, of course, from Kate.
It said: REMEMBER TO IGNORE HIM!
Quinn laughed, and put her phone back in her bag. How could Kate have known her for so little and already know her so well? Maybe she was psychic.
The rest of the day wasn't much better.
Quinn sat on the opposite side of the room from him in both their classes trying to pretend she had no idea he was even in that class.
Blessedly he didn't try and speak to her in either of them.
At lunch, she sat with the cheerios. It had been awhile since she'd eaten with them (although "eaten" may not be the right word; they basically filled their plates with salad and then stared at them).
As she stared at her salad, not daring to attract attention by eating it, she thought about what she was going to do about Glee club. Mr. Schue would not be happy about her skipping with no excuse, and she couldn't do that all week…
As the cheerios began chatting about the things they thought were of utmost importance, Brittany became the center of attention, having discovered a new type of lipstick that when applied, had a dangerous chemical reaction with your saliva and created a pouty, bee-stung look.
"Its waaaaay better than the others that say they plump your lips, but really just make them feel like their buzzing on your face." She was saying, as everyone stared intently at her, completely transfixed with what she was saying. Quinn refrained from rolling her eyes.
"The first time I used one of those, I thought it had an evil curse in it that turned my lips to bees." She said, lowering her head sadly. Santana placed a hand sympathetically over Brittany's.
"So this one doesn't make your lips buzz?" Another cheerio asked. Brittany shook her head.
"No, see thats part of the chemical contraction. It temporarily shuts down all the nerve endings in your lips so you don't feel anything. It makes it hard to speak though...and swallow..." she said, tilting her head to the left. "But your lips look great. Here, I'll show you." She pulled out a tube of lipstick from her bag and applied it.
As everyone began oohing and ahhing over Brittany's new puffy lips, Quinn put her head in her hands, bored out of her mind. She didn't think she could take one more second of this. She was just about to excuse herself, when another cheerio, whose name Quinn was pretty sure was either Jessica or Angela, came rushing over about to cry.
"Whats wrong Rebecca?" Brittany asked. Ok, she had been close…
"I was just with Coach Sylvester, she caught me in the hallway. Apparently she was re-watching the video she made of our last practice, and on her 19th viewing she decided that we were all terrible and need to practice more."
"More!" Santana shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "How could we practice more than we already do!"
"I practice so much, I woke up the other day doing a hand-stand in my sleep. On top of my cat." Brittany said, with no expression on her face. "I'm pretty sure she peed in my hair."
A few cheerleaders grimaced, but most were so used to Brittany's over sharing that they didn't even notice.
"So when else are we going to practice?" Santana said, holding her nail file in her hand like a weapon.
"Today after school is when she told me" Rebecca sniffed.
Brittany's eyes widened. "But we have Glee then!" she complained, as Santana muttered what sounded like a death threat under her breath.
Quinn's eyes widened too, but for a different reason. Cheerio practice was a perfect excuse for missing Glee.
"Listen you guys" Quinn said, standing up. They all turned to stare at her. "If Coach Sylvester thinks we need to practice more, then we need to practice more. She must have a good reason for thinking we need the extra practice, and so we're just going to have to suck it up and do it..."
"...even if it means missing Glee club everyday this week" she added to Brittany and Santana, who each glared at her. Inwardly, she did a little dance.
Practice that day was brutal, something was definitely wrong with Coach Sylvester. Possibly someone had insulted her hair. She hated that.
She had them practice their routine 9 times, at an increased pace each time. Everyone that day went home sore and angry, with all feeling gone from their everything.
Quinn was in pain all over, but she didn't care. She had gotten through her first school day without Sam and no one had even mentioned it. In the back of her mind, she was a little bothered by that. At the height of her popularity, her break up with Sam would have made the front page of the school newspaper. Now, nothing.
She sighed, and crashed on her bed, telling herself she didn't care about that stuff anymore. It was better this way, she thought tiredly. A moment later she fell asleep, still covered with mud and grass stains and in her Cheerio's uniform.
Compared to Monday, the rest of the week was highly uneventful. On Tuesday, Rebecca had found her just after first period and told her Coach Sylvester changed her mind, and said they were performing brilliantly, as only a team coached by a genius could.
Extra practice was canceled, even though none had been scheduled past Monday.
Sam made another attempt to talk to her, but she ignored him again. At lunch, she sat with Mercedes out on the field, not being able to bear the thought of another lunch period talking about Brittany's chemically enhanced lips.
"So are you going to be in Glee tomorrow?" She asked, as they sat down on the bleachers.
"I don't know, Mercedes" she said, taking out her lunch, grateful that she was actually able to eat it today. "Sitting in Glee is different from sitting in a class together...it's smaller, we're closer together. I just think it can only end with me strangling him."
Mercedes placed her arm around her. "You really should do something about that violent streak you know. It aint healthy."
Quinn grimaced. "I know, I know. How about this, I'll go Friday, okay? Just give me tomorrow."
Mercedes agreed, and they didn't discuss Sam or Glee for the rest of lunch.
On Wednesday she went home directly after school, hoping that Mr. Schue would understand.
Thursday was also eventful, as Sam seemed to have realized that she was not ready to talk just yet. He did not approach her.
Friday came, and as promised, Quinn went to Glee club, determined not to kill Sam when she saw him.
"OK, I have had a brilliant new idea for next weeks theme!" Mr. Schue said excitedly at the start of glee club. He clapped his hands together, clearly very proud of this theme. Quinn sat up eagerly in her seat, hoping that she could get completely focused on whatever it was. A distracting glee assignment was just what she needed now.
"So, all of you have your niche genres in which you excel" he continued "Rachel and Kurt, you two are superb at broadway numbers, Finn you have classic rock, Mercedes your songs are strong and powerful, and the way you hold those notes..." Quinn looked over at Mercedes as he said this, and she smiled back proudly.
"But when your performing professionally, it won't always be what your most comfortable with," He continued, looking around at each of them. "Or what you can do best. You have to take yourself out of your comfort zones, and try something new."
Across the room, Quinn heard someone whimper.
"For next week, I want you to pick a song like no song you have ever sung. It needs to be new and different, and completely unlike you. But you'll make it fit. As performers, you will mold yourself to it." Quinn looked around at her classmates. Most of them were glaring angrily, obviously not pleased with this new assignment. A few of them, including Mike and Rachel, looked excited. Quinn felt excited too.
"So, you have the rest of the period to start figuring things out. Talk to a member of the club that has a completely different style from you, and maybe use their influence for your performance."
Quinn spent the rest of the period chatting to Mercedes, who suggested she do something very angry. "Get your feelings out, pick something loud."
"Hmm, I don't really want to make my feelings so public..." she said.
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? That's all we do in this club. You think most glee clubs know so much about their teachers love life. Hell no."
Quinn laughed. "I'll think about it, OK?"
*Totally stole that line from Freaky Friday.
A/N This is like the longest chapter I have ever written. But now the Quinn and Sam stories are almost all caught up.
