Chapter 4 – Sleepovers
"Good morning, Quinn," Rachel said softly as she sits up in the bed.
Quinn smiles a little before she looks at her watch "Rachel, why did you wake me up? It's only…" Quinn yawns "…six in the morning," Quinn moans. "Go back to sleep, Rach," Quinn pulls the cover over her head.
"Quinn, it's six a.m. We have a whole day ahead of us. We should get out of bed and enjoy this day." Rachel tries to pull the cover off Quinn.
"Rachel, you're lecturing me when I'm sleeping and that is not a good idea. Let me sleep! I always get up early, but not on Saturdays. It's the one day I get to sleep late. Do you have some hyper Berry thing going on?" Quinn sounds annoyed.
"No, I'm just use to getting up at 6 in the morning," Rachel notices that she was talking to herself halfway during the sentence when she heard Quinn snoring again.
Rachel gets up and goes downstairs. "Morning Judy." She smiles at her.
"Morning Rachel, you and Quinn can make your own breakfast, use anything in the kitchen you want. I'm going to be late for a meeting if I don't get going and it's about an hour's drive. Have a nice day, Rachel." Judy smiles as she walks out the kitchen. "Thanks, you too Miss. Fabray." Rachel hears the front door slamming. Rachel decides to shower. When she was finished she went down to the Kitchen.
Rachel remembers Quinn's favorite breakfast foods. She gets the ingredients out of the fridge and starts making them. She gets out the pan and turns on the stove. When she was done making them she serves it on plates, she even chooses to decorate the plates. When she was done it was already nine 'o clock. Time to wake Quinn up. She heads up stairs.
"Have you slept enough now?" Rachel asks, sitting on the bed.
"Yeah, too long actually." Quinn pulls the covers off of her.
"So how did you sleep?"
"I slept nicely overall, except for 6 a.m. when I was rudely awakened from my beauty sleep." Quinn stares at Rachel. "How about you?"
"I slept like a rock. Your bed is so soft." Rachel nods.
"Wait… do I smell… do I smell Bacon?" Quinn's eyes were alive.
"I made you some breakfast and us some dessert." Rachel beams seeing Quinn's reaction.
Without a second thought they head downstairs. Quinn followed by Rachel close behind.
"You better eat that bacon. It wasn't easy frying that."
"I will." Quinn bites into it "This is delicious! Mmm…" Quinn eats it all up.
"Thanks," Rachel beams. She waits till Quinn was finished. "Now for dessert or breakfast, whichever you want to call it." She gets two plates from the fridge.
"Is this…?"Quinn looks amazed.
"Apple pancakes," Rachel nods.
"How'd you know?"
"You told me yourself a long ago," Rachel blushes.
"How do you remember everything so easily?" Quinn bites into the apple pancake.
"I try to remember everything about my best friend," Rachel starts eating.
Quinn laughs a little "Let's see what I can remember. I know when you cry, a golden ring forms around the edge of your brown eyes." Quinn blushes.
"I never even noticed that." Rachel smiles awkwardly.
"I seem to remember the little things about you. Like when you counted on your finger you always started from your pinky and never from your thumb."
"You really paid attention to what I did. Well… You were always obsessed with the stars. You could easily show me any visible constellation in the sky."
"Okay enough about facts about each other. You're a really great cook. If performing doesn't work out, you can always go the culinary way," Quinn teases.
"Not that I will ever quit performing, but even then I won't be chef. I can't cook animals and chop them up. I could barely make that bacon." Rachel shivers and gets goose bumps.
"You won't be you if you did quit acting. By the way how did you know I loved bacon?"
"That's true. You kinda talked about it in your sleep." Rachel beams.
"You aren't serious!?" Quinn stares open mouthed at Rachel.
"You said it in a funny Australian accent. Something like 'I'd love me some bacon, mate' and I could've sworn you were doing a fist pump," with that Rachel laughs.
"I can't believe I did that in my sleep." Quinn's face is in shock, she refuses to look at Rachel laughing at her. "I actually know where I learned that phrase…" she says quietly.
"Where?" Rachel stops laughing.
"From my uncle Dan who lives in Australia, he used to visit when I was little and I think the phrase stuck," Quinn says softly.
"Interesting, so you got family all over the world?"
"Not all over the world but yeah. You know you could've made a fool of yourself?" Quinn smirks.
"What'd you mean?"
"I mean, I am mostly vegetarian and you making me pork would have been offensive," Quinn raises an eyebrow.
Rachel blushes, a shocked expression on her face "Y- You don't like bacon?"
"No I don't, but I couldn't have thrown it away now, could I?" Quinn frowns enough that it's just noticeable.
"But this morning? You were so eager? I didn't mean to…" Rachel looks down.
Quinn starts laughing and gets up "I love bacon Rachel, I was just teasing you."
Rachel looks flustered "That wasn't funny, Quinn."
"It's funny for me, Rachel."
"So what do we have planned for today?" Rachel asks.
"What about we play some games and watch some movies?" Quinn suggests.
Rachel nods in agreement "The rainy weather is perfect for that!"
"But first let me just take a shower and we can start. You can wait in my room while I shower." They walk upstairs. Rachel sits on the bed while Quinn showers; I probably shouldn't look through her things. I know I wouldn't want anyone to do that while I'm showering. Quinn is finished within minutes so Rachel wasn't tempted to go through her stuff.
As they walk down the stairs, Quinn asks "Why don't we play some monopoly?"
"That could work, but only if I am the banker," Rachel states excitedly.
"I never thought you to be the math type." Quinn can't help but smile as she gets the game from the cupboard.
"You don't have to be good in math's to be the banker in a game of monopoly, Quinn," Rachel's tone is condescending
"Probably not," Quinn shrugs and hands the game box to Rachel "You're the banker, right? So you set up the game." Quinn sat back across the table from her, arms folded.
"Where in the rules does it state that?" Rachel looks dumbfounded.
"In the section of Quinn's rules," Quinn smirks.
"Ha ha, but fine, I'll set up the game," Rachel sets up the game. Rachel chose the hat while Quinn chose the dog. The two played for about two hours before Rachel went bankrupt.
"Yes! I won!" Quinn smiles "You sure don't mind spending a lot of cash really fast. You were buying like crazy," she adds.
"Well, you weren't so slow on buying yourself," she counters.
"I was playing strategically. You on the other hand were using what-can-I-buy-next strategy."
"Are we really fighting about this?" Rachel raises an eyebrow.
"Looks like we are." Quinn grins before they started laughing again, when the laughing dies down, Quinn looks at her watch "Looks like it's time for lunch."
"What's for lunch?" Rachel enquires.
"How about some hot pockets?" Quinn suggests.
"I haven't had those since I was a kid," Rachel beams.
"Great, than it's a reason to make them," Quinn smirks as she walks to the kitchen.
When they were ready, Quinn serves them on two plates and hands one to Rachel and they sit at the counter.
"Do you remember our first sleep over?" Rachel asks.
"How could I forget it? Lots of things happened at that sleepover," Quinn smiles a bit.
Flashback:
"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy, guess what?!" Barbra jumps up and down with excitement.
"What, what, what?" I try to stop her from jumping by putting my hands on her shoulders.
"My Dads' said yes!" she squeals.
"Yes to what?" I ask calmly but her excitement is rubbing off on me, so I just smile at her.
"The sleepover, silly!" Barbra playfully slaps me.
"The one you have asked your Dads' for over 6 months?" I playfully punch her shoulder.
"Yes, that one. I can't believe I finally get to have a sleepover with you!" She squeezes me.
"Barbra! Barbra you're squeezing the life out of me!" I try to break free from her hug but it fails.
"Oh, sorry!" She lets go of me.
Before I catch myself I grab her and hug her. "I'm so glad we can have a sleepover." I feel a stray tear go down my cheek.
"Lucy, why are you sad?" she asks me and I see a tear roll down her cheek.
"I'm not sad, I'm just so happy I can finally have a sleepover at someone's house. It's the first time I will ever be sleeping over at someone's house. I'm just so happy," another tear rolls down my cheek.
"I'm also so happy, Lucy. This will be my first slumber party as well," her voice sounds faint and small which the last time I heard that was the day we met.
"Barbs, I like saying it like that… Anyways this will be the first of many to come," I smile at her and wipe away the tear on my face.
"I hope so too. Tomorrow night will be great!" Only Barbra can change her expression from sad to overjoyed within a second.
"Yeah, it will!" I smile as broadly as I possibly could.
She squeezes me again with a content sigh, and whispers "I'm so glad to have you as my friend."
"Barbs… Stop, you're going to make me cry for real this time. I wouldn't have it any other way. True friends for life," I squeeze her back.
"You two, get to class!" an old male teacher yells at us.
"We were talking so long that we didn't hear the bell ring." Barbra smiles.
We both laugh. "We better get to class."
We separate after a few seconds. "See you at break."
"You too, Lucy," she smiles that smile that always brings joy to my heart.
Friday: End of school day
"Barbs, are you ready to go?" I hook my arm with her arm.
"Totally, tonight's going to be awesome!" We walk almost to the end of the hallway before we are tripped or rather I get tripped and take Barbra down with me.
We were tripped by Elith Barbenheimer. She was really stupid and she had the body of a boy; muscular like and tall. I wasn't stupid enough to tackle her and neither was Barbra. She was simply too big and strong to tackle down. And stupid and big doesn't mix well so we steer clear of her, mostly. We even tried talking to her once and if I didn't grab Barbs out of the way, she could've broken her nose if it was a hit. Whenever we see her we turn around and take another route. I saw how she beat up a 6th grader. He had a bruised eye and a broken arm. Still they did nothing to her. She should have been expelled for that, bet there's money involved. We don't let ourselves be bullied anymore, but Elith is a different story. Another shocking fact is she is loaded. I don't mean well off. I mean they are multi-millionaires and she behaves like this. Talk about money can't buy class. Somewhere inside me I feel sorry for her. She has two henchmen with her. Shola and Ruby. Shola is a tan scrawny brunette. She is what you'd call 'as stupid as a rock'. I once told her that if she plants her homework it will grow out complete. I had to contain myself the next day in class when her homework was full of dirt. Ruby is short and has red hair. Ruby on the other hand is fast and the smartest of the bullying trinity. If you call just passing a test, smart. But at least she's not failing like the other two. I guess if Ruby was with smarter kids she would be smarter too. Those two are bringing her down. I should talk to Barbra about befriending Ruby and getting her away from them.
We get up off the ground and keep on walking like nothing happened. "Just ignore her, Barbs. And move faster, we have to get out of here," I whisper.
"There's my Dads, let's go." We rush to the car.
We got in the backseat of the car.
"Hey Daddy. Hey Dad," she kisses both of them.
"Hi Leroy and Hiram," it feels awkward to say it like that but after the parent student meeting a year ago they insisted I call them that.
"Hey sweeties." Leroy starts the engine.
We stop at my house to get my clothes before going straight to her house.
They had a beautiful house. The garden outside was beautiful. It looks like a perfectionist's work. A huge apple tree in the middle of the lawn. Then the roses are different colors, almost no bush is the same. There are red, yellow, white, pink, beige, purple and even an odd blue one. Somehow they had crossbreeds. Yellow roses with red stripes and so forth. There was a small fountain encircled by the roses. It was the most beautiful garden I've ever seen.
"Lucy, you coming?" Barbra taps me on the shoulder.
"Wow, Barbs. Your garden is beautiful," I state while I'm still staring at it.
"Thanks, Daddy has green fingers. You should see the backyard," she smiles.
"I would love to. But I think I should go put my clothes in the house first and I really need the bathroom like right now," I smile nervously.
"Okay, let's go." We walk inside and my mouth almost drops to the floor.
"Wow, the inside looks really amazing. Let me guess, Leroy did the interior decorating also?" I ask as I am still looking around.
It was a double story house. The staircase split in two against the wall and lead up to the left and right side of the first floor. To the left I could see a huge kitchen and what looked like a bar stacked with all sorts of alcohol. To the right was the entertainment area behind two doors. Each had a name tag on them. Games room. Entertainment Room. There was a big window above the staircase.
"Yes, he did the interior decorating. And thanks again."
I follow Barbra upstairs. Her room is to the left side. Just before reaching the top step of the staircase I look outside the window. If my jaw was loose it would have dropped to the ground. There are two huge trees at either side of the lawn. It's like a rainbow of flowers against the sides of the lawn. There probably isn't a type of flower that isn't here. In the far back of the lawn was a square with cactuses and stones neatly arranged in a square pattern. This all worked so well together.
"Lucy, you really should stop doing that, you're going to start drooling," she giggles at me.
"Sorry, but your place is amazing," I smile sheepishly. I really should stop gaping so much at everything.
"Thanks, let's go to my room." She walks quite fast to her room.
"Here we go," she says as she opens the door.
"Nice room, Barbra," I say slowly.
Her room is pale compared to the rest of the house. There's the big bed, probably king size. The mirror and makeup in the corner. Then a few posters of what I believe are musicals and Divas. Just two closets to the side of the room with a small bathroom behind a door in the middle. Save for the big bed, this would be a normal kids room.
"I know what you're thinking, Lucy. My room is the opposite of what the house is," she sighs.
"I wasn't thinking that," I say sheepishly.
"I wanted my room this way. When this place gets too much, I can retreat to my room and relax without being reminded of being so rich," her voice was soft and sounds like it was breaking a little. She stands up and looks out the window. "There they go again, as always," I could literally see her shaking a little.
I grab her by the arms and turn her around "Barbs, what do you mean as always?"
"Ever since I turned 10 a year ago, they thought they could leave me alone at home for days. They once were gone for little more than a week. Do you know how terrible this big house is when you're the only one inside it?" Now she starts crying and I automatically pull her into a hug.
"That's terrible. Barbra, invite me over when that happens again or come sleep at my house. You shouldn't be alone like this. What your Dads are doing is terrible. You're only in grade 5. Promise me, Barbra, you'll call me. I don't want you to be alone, never ever again," I lift her head up and she nods at me.
"Thanks Lucy, for everything. From not chasing me away that first time we met, to the time you refused to let me go alone to the principal. Even the little things, like sharing your chocolate with me," she is beaming now.
I can't help but smile back at her. "You were the one who saved me, Barbra. If you didn't sit with me I would have been all alone. And you defend me when some bully comes around and tries to bully us."
"We saved each other from a terrible childhood. Don't ever leave me Lucy, and I'll promise to do the same," she hugs me again.
"I promise I'll never leave you." I mean it with everything I have. I'll never abandon Barbra.
"Thanks," she says as she gives me a final squeeze. "Enough of this, let's enjoy the night." She yanks me out of her room downstairs. "I just want to show you something in the backyard. It's my little secret and I'm going to share it with you only," she drags me to the backyard, locking the house behind her.
"I feel honored." As funny as it may sounds, I kind of do feel honored that she would show something only to me.
Their house was built on a sort of hill. I didn't notice it before but in the backyard in the far back, there was a hole in the fence, big enough for a kid to fit through. We both clamber through and I follow her. We are at a big climbable tree. She starts to climb to the top and I follow her. I sit down on a branch right next to her.
"Looks like we're just in time," she beams and looks in front of her.
"For wha…" I didn't understand till I look where she is looking.
From where we sat it looked like all the branches in front of us were broken off for the view. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The sun was setting and you could see the whole city from up here. Everything turned golden as the sun set. Even the clouds were lined with gold. I glanced at Barbra and she looked golden. Slowly everything turned orange and then started to darken. Soon all the city lights were lighting up. It looked almost as amazing as the sunset. I could feel a certain brunette's eyes on me.
"Amazing, isn't it?" she beams at me while squeezing my hand.
"Amazing can't even begin to describe it. It's breathtaking," I say in wonder.
"I know, I've been seeing it for years and still can't get used to it." She is in awe.
"We should probably be getting back inside before it gets too dark," I suggest.
"Yes, we should."
We both climb down and we go back inside.
"Barbra, that was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen." I am still in wonder over the sunset.
"I know right. It's like seeing heaven for a little while," she is clearly also still in awe too.
"Let's get something to eat from the kitchen," we walk toward the kitchen.
"Salad or Burger, Lucy?" she asks me. But all I wanted was that KFC burger in her hand. I'm absolutely crazy for them.
"Burger, please." She takes two burgers out of the fridge and puts them into the microwave.
"Set the timer to 30 and press start," she mumbles to herself.
"How did you know I love KFC burgers?" I ask before I could stop myself.
"You told me a few times you would do anything for a KFC burger 'right now' at school, so I figured why not have it for dinner tonight," she smiles.
This girl knows me too well. I know KFC burgers are cheap and probably not healthy, but I love the taste of a KFC burger, it's absolutely finger licking good. I'll eat a lot of them if I could.
"I should be careful what I say around you. You remember everything I tell you," I giggle afterwards.
"Like how you slipped on an ice cube at the end of last year?" she teases me.
"How- I can hardly remember that," I gape at her.
"I have a great memory," she takes the burgers out of the microwave.
"So, wanna eat in the dining room or while we watch a movie?" she says while holding the burgers in her hand.
"This might seem rude, but while we watch a movie?" I shrug.
"Okay, please don't mess on the seats. My Dads' scolded me once for a drop of tomato sauce on a seat. Let's go," she gestures me to follow her.
"I won't let a drop fall on those seats." I follow her.
As I entered the room I wasn't surprised to see it could take 30 people at front and about 10 on the bar chairs. These people have it all. But it's not enough. Money can't buy happiness, well to a certain point. And Barbs here is a prime example that being rich doesn't make you popular or happy. Her Dad's are making matters worse; going away for days like that, really isn't good for any kid. Especially one as lonely as Barbra.
"So, barstool or couch?" I almost crash into her, being in thought as I am.
"Barstool sounds good," I smile at her.
"Okay, just don't sit in the last two, they're my Dads' favorite barstool and they hate it when even I sit in them," she scowls.
"Fine with me, I'll just sit her," I pick the fourth stool.
"I'll sit right next to you." She sits down and takes the big remote from the counter, switching on the screen. "What are we going to watch?" she points to the screen, which shows a catalog of movies.
"Why don't we watch the third one from the bottom, I really want to see that movie," I smirk.
"You like musicals?" she beams.
"I don't like musicals," I saw her face fall and I half smile, "I love them." She beams again. Damn I love making her smile like that. It really makes my day.
"Well, you won't be disappointed by this one. It's one of my personal favorites. I've really liked how in the end-" I put my hand on her mouth to quiet her.
"Don't spoil the movie for me. I'd really like to see how it ends myself," I glare at her with a smile.
"Sorry," she says making a puppy dogface. Both of us burst out in laughter not sure what's really funny.
"We should eat before our food gets cold," she says still trying to contain her laughter.
"I'm already halfway," I smile sheepish. I have this thing where I would absent-mindedly eat while I walk. I would arrive at the place I'm going to sit and eat at and the food would almost already be half eaten.
"Wow, you eat fast," she gapes at me as if I did something wrong.
"I absent mindedly eat when I'm walking and talking, it's just something I do," I look down embarrassed and annoyed.
"I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just stated a fact. I'm sorry," she puts down her burger and gives me a hug from the side.
"Don't worry about it, Barbs. I didn't take it that way," I smile back at her. "Let's finish eating. There's something I want to ask you."
"Okay, about what?" she looks confused.
"Eat first, talk later," was all I said.
When we finished our burgers she turned her stool to me.
"So what did you want to ask me?" she stares into my eyes almost like she can see right through me.
"You know Ruby from our school?"
She raises an eyebrow. "Bullying trinity Ruby?"
"Yes her!"
"What about her?"
"I was wondering… What would you say about us befriending her and getting her away from those two?" I wait for her response.
"Umm… I don't know," she shakes her head slightly.
"Think about it Barbs, she is not that dumb, and she is being brought down by those two. If she were our friend, maybe she'll be happier and her grades could go up. Before it's too late for her, we could rescue her from becoming stupid under the influence from those two. Plus, wouldn't it be better if we had another friend as well," I try convincing her.
"You know what? You're right. Having another friend would be nice." She smiles at me.
I hug her, "You're awesome, Barbs."
"Not as much as you are. Wanting to save a kid from a crappy type of life," she squeezes me tighter.
"We should talk to her as soon as she's alone and away from those two," I speak my mind out loud.
"What about tomorrow morning?" she suggests.
"It's Saturday, where are we going to find her?" I look really confused at her.
"When I have all this free time I spy on the neighbors and I found out she lives four houses from here," Barbra blushes.
I am kind of astonished that she spies on people, I think before catching my breath. "Then let's go to her house tomorrow. Can't believe you spy on the neighbors, you know that that's illegal right?"
"I know it is, but it's fun," Barbra grins. "Did you know I can read lips? Well all the basic words I can read," she shrugs.
"Wow, umm that's both freaky and awesome. Where did you learn that?" I sound sarcastic but didn't mean to.
"One of the maids that used to work for us helped me learn it," she says meekly.
"Sorry, didn't mean to sound sarcastic. Where are the maids now?" I ask.
"No, it's fine. We don't have any, Daddy keeps firing them because they steal from us," a small smile forms on her lips.
"Oh, maybe it's for the better. Let's watch that movie now," I smile at her.
"Let me just get us some popcorn from the machine," she grabs two popcorn containers that looks like the ones that are used in the cinema's and fills it up with popcorn.
"Here you go, the flavoring is over there," she points to what looks like about 14 different flavors.
We both sprinkle things onto the popcorn and sit down on the couch in the middle of the seats.
"Why is there a couch in here?" I kind of just blurt out.
"Because it's neither fun nor comfortable watching a bunch of movies sitting on these seats," she smiles and pressed play on the TV.
"Oh, smart idea," I give a light chuckle.
"It is. Shush! The movie is about to start." Her face gets a serious look and she puts her finger on my mouth.
"Okay," I mumble.
We sit and watch the movie in silence, until it ends. It was nice taking a break from talking so much.
"So what did you think about the movie?" she turns to me, play glaring at me.
"I thought it was boring, I honestly felt like I could fall asleep and have a better dream than this," I am trying to be serious and when that last word comes out of my mouth I smile a bit and she catches on quickly. We look each other in the eyes and I couldn't take it anymore. We have another laughing moment.
"Tell me what you really thought about the movie." She looks like she really wants to know, not just asking for the sake of asking.
"I loved it. The music was great and I thought the actors were pretty good too. Definitely a new favorite of mine," I smile at her.
"Awesome!" she shrieked and hugs me again. This is probably the most hugs I have received in a while.
"It's just a movie, Barbs," I shake my head slightly.
"I'm not talking about the movie. I'm talking about you. You're the best friend anyone can ask for. You're kind, you don't judge me and you make me smile a lot more than I ever did. I'm so glad we're friends," she starts to cry again.
I press her against me and try to keep the tears from forming in my eyes.
"You shouldn't have to keep everything in, Lucy. It's going to get worse the more times you bottle it up," she says with tears still falling down her face.
At this moment I kind of snapped. This time Barbra grabbed me into her arms. I've been trying to keep myself from crying for a while now but I kind of went full force on sobbing now. "I'm also happy we're friends, Barbs. Not because you're rich but because you also are very accepting of me and the way I look," my voice cracking from crying.
"There is nothing wrong with the way you look, Lucy. You're perfect just the way you are," she says with a strong but cracking voice. When she says those words I feel my heart beat faster.
"You're also perfect, Barbs. Don't let anyone keep you from being a star, the one you already are and the brighter one you are going to be." By now the sobbing became softer and not so heavy anymore.
"Thanks, Lucy. I will not let you down," she smiles at me again.
"Why don't we go shower and get into our PJ's?" I suggest.
"Okay, you can use the guest shower, it's right next to my room," she points in the direction, sort of.
"Okay, let's go." We stand up and she pushes the off button on the remote.
We go to her room and I get my things to go showering. I shower pretty fast usually, and tonight was no different. I go back to her room and I see that she was still in the shower. A thought crossed my mind. I grabbed a pillow and went to lean against the door of the one closet. I waited a few minutes for her to come and when she did, I hit her in the face with the pillow. "Pillow Fight!" I yell.
"No pillow fights. It will just mess up my room and I don't want to destroy those pillows," she whines.
"Okay, your house, your rules," I smile at her, a little disappointed.
"Do you want some hot chocolate from the kitchen?" she asks.
"Yes, please." I follow her to the kitchen.
End of Flashback.
