Hi, all! I know, I know, you probably hate looking at me because I totally abandoned this story. Well, I was getting all nostalgic and decided that I was going to resurrect it! I had so many great ideas to document Quinn Fabray's rise to status, I figured they may as well have been shared.
She didn't stop thinking of Finn all night, and into the next day, carrying on for days and weeks, her mind hopelessly taken over by this tall manchild with a boyish smile and overall awesomeness. Quinn thought of him on her morning jogs, hoping that one day she'd see him across the lake again. She thought of him in the dining hall, wondering what he was eating for lunch. She thought of him at practice, all of a sudden loving the football player/cheerleader dynamic.
This particular practice, two weeks after swimming across the lake, Quinn found herself in a lineup of girls all in matching t-shirts and cotton shorts. The numbers had dwindled drastically, leaving only the best of the best (and Quinn) there standing before Coach Sylvester, as she paced in front of them, her sneakers squeaking against the linoleum floor.
"We are going to get started on aerials this week. For some, this is a make-it-or-break-it week, because, frankly, all of you will be in the air at some point. I don't believe in that 'flyers', 'bases', 'spotters' nonsense. You're all cheerleaders, and you'll all be at least thirty feet in the air at some point in the next four years, got it?"
The low mumble emitted from the girls who, over a course of four weeks, had probably seen it all, so they were unfazed by Coach Sylvester's attitude. The woman took her whistle from around her neck and used it to point to the opposite end of the gym. "That right there is a trampoline. You're going to get on it one-by-one while I shout out orders to you." The girls waited for her to continue, but Coach simply raised her brows. "What are you waiting for?" she demanded. The group of girls jogged to the other end of the room, and a brave soul was the first to take a stand on the trampoline.
"Toe touch." Coach Sylvester shouted, keeping a pen on her clipboard. Quinn watched as the girl, a pretty blonde nervously hopped on the trampoline once, then once more, before touching her toes in the air. She could use some work, but Quinn decided that Coach looked impressed. After she called "next", the next girl came up and was demanded to do a back tuck. Brittany had been assigned a kick arch. Santana had been assigned a full down. One poor blonde girl tumbled off the trampoline and right into a neck injury, resulting in having to wear a neckbrace for a very very long time afterward.
Quinn was one of the last to go. Timidly, she hopped onto the trampoline. Coach Sylvester eyed her, and then looked at her clipboard. "Sky splits." She was nervous, yes, but also knew she could do this. Two years of the uneven bars in gymnastics allowed a girl to do the splits any kind of way she wanted. She hopped once, then once more before bounding into the air, and kicking both of her legs out horizontally, going much past a ninety-degree angle. After sticking the landing as best she could on the trampoline, Quinn timidly moved her way back into the crowd. But before she could get nestled in with Brittany and Santana, she heard Coach Sylvester call, "Fabray." She tended to put the emphasis on the first syllable of her last name. "I'm going to start calling you SkySplitz. SkySplitz Fabray."
She felt honored. She looked around and all of the girls had been already looking at her in amazement- No one had gotten a nickname from Coach Sylvester. Was Quinn the first…ever? She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and gave a small smile. "Wow, thanks." She chuckled. She got a few looks from happy girls, who were excited to see what nickname they'd get. (Spoiler: None of them got nicknames.) However, she got even more envious glares from girls who wanted to know what was so special about Quinn Fabray.
Was there something special about her? She'd never really thought about that. Sure, Quinn felt special to herself after she got pretty, but she never thought that maybe to other people she'd be special. She was SkySplitz Fabray. And that felt freaking awesome.
Once practice was over, Quinn was starved and tried to make a mad dash to her cabin, where Santana and Brittany had smuggled some Snickers bars over from the football camp, thanks to one Noah Puckerman. He'd agreed to bring the candy over by swimming across the lake with them in a plastic bag, in exchange for second base with Santana. At first, the thought kind of disgusted Quinn, but right now, as her stomach was grumbling, it seemed like a fair trade.
"Oh my God. SkySplitz Fabray. Coach Sylvester's never given a nickname to a Freshman before." Brittany had her hand on Quinn's shoulder as the girls walked to their cabin. "Right, San?"
Santana seemed less than thrilled as she filed her nails. "…Yeah, sure."
Quinn clutched her cross necklace and smiled to herself. "Really? I mean, it's weird. Everyone was staring."
"You want 'em to stare." Santana smirked. "That's how you grab life by the balls- make yourself known." The girl was cut off by a screech from their friend once she opened the door to their cabin. Santana ran ahead of Quinn and peered inside, to see what the girl could possibly be screaming about. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" she called inside. The words made Quinn's heart pound. Who was in there? Oh, God.
She hurried behind Santana and, lo and behold, her suspicions had been confirmed. The three football boys sat, perched on their bunkbeds, laying their backs on the floor, leaning against the wall…They were all wet, and all shirtless. And Quinn? She was sweaty, and disgusting, and starving. And there Finn was, smiling at her from her bed. Quinn could've died. He couldn't possibly find her attractive like this.
"We wanted to see your humble abode." Puck hopped from Santana's top bunk and landed stealthily on his bare feet. "We also wanted an excuse for you ladies to see us shirtless." He flexed his biceps. Quinn watched Santana roll her eyes and push her way past Puck as she crossed the room to sit on the opposite end of her bed, leaving Finn at least a yard away.
"You guys are gonna get us killed. If Coach finds out…"
The boy scoffed. "I'm surprised Coach Sylvester hasn't killed you yet."
"Au contraire." Santana smirked as she lifted her sweaty t-shirt over her head, nonchalantly changing into clean clothes, making every person with a penis in that room drool. "She's actually grown quite fond of Miss SkySplitz over there." She nodded her head to Quinn, who was blushing. She didn't need more attention on her right now- She was too busy trying to look cute for the super attractive sasquatch boy sitting shirtless on her bed.
"Splits?" Puck raised his eyebrows in Quinn's direction, to which she grimaced. In his dreams. Not even if she was hyped up on alcohol or feeling fat. "I'd like to see that."
Santana, now dressed, smacked the boy in the abs, her hand making a loud slapping noise against his wet skin. "Pick your jaw up off the floor, Puckerman. We're cheerleaders- It's kind of a thing we do."
"Yeah, but when I've seen you every day for four years, and I'm about to see you every day for four more, certain cheerleaders get kind of old." Quinn could tell by the look on his face that he knew that'd get a rise out of Santana. She watched the girl grit her teeth and punch Puck in the shoulder.
"You're such a tool, you know that? I'm from Lima Heights. I've got boys on mi barrio that will fuck you up if I asked. And believe me- I will ask."
By then, the rest of the room had tuned the two out. Brittany was sitting on the floor, talking to Mike Chang. That left Quinn and Finn, who were just sitting on opposite ends of the same bed, not saying a word.
"I don't think a stupid nickname is that great." He finally piped up. Quinn raised an eyebrow, and turned to him, not really able to say anything back. "I mean…I think you're cool being just Quinn."
"Just Quinn, huh?" she smirked, and moved closer to the boy. "I like that. Just works."She had been saying all summer, every time a family member called her Lucy, that she was 'just Quinn'. It was like he knew.
And just like that, the entire mood of the room changed. Almost as if someone had dimmed the lights, and turned on sultry music, everyone was in heat. Loud slurping noises indicated that Santana and Puck were making out against the wall. A quick glance would confirm Quinn's suspicion. She turned her attention to the floor to find Brittany planting small kisses on Mike Chang, leaving her and Finn twiddling their thumbs awkwardly, trying to figure out what to do. Surely, talking would kill the mood for the rest of them, and they barely knew each other enough to kiss.
"So, Just Quinn," Finn said, almost a whisper, ",what brings you to Camp McKinley?" he shrugged, scooting in closer. Quinn responded with a shrug of her own.
"I do gymnastics, I dance, I'm kind of qualified, I guess? I don't know."
"Oh, you weren't a cheerleader in middle school? That's cool. I couldn't really stand our cheerleaders over at Lima Jr. High."
She chuckled, and moved closer to him. "Well high school is going to be different. It'll be…great, I think."
"Yeah? I mean, with those eyes and that hair 'n stuff, you've kind of got prom queen in the bag."
"Prom queen?" Quinn wrinkled her nose. Sure, some little girl's fantasy, but was it really realistic for her? "…I'm not popular."
Finn smirked. "The Cheerios are the most popular girls in school. And if Sylvester already gave you a nickname, I wouldn't be surprised if you got head cheerleader. "
Quinn blushed. The boy just kept pumping out compliments, making her dream the impossible. He had no idea she was the biggest loser in her entire town for the duration of her life. He thought that she, Lucy Fabray, was going to be the head cheerleader and prom queen. Finn was perfect. Quinn gulped, and turned to him. What was meant to be one swift motion turned into a jerky, trembling attempt at leaning in to kiss the boy.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" He took her by the shoulders and stopped her mid-pucker. "Are you about to kiss me?"
Quinn didn't know what to say. "…Yes."
Finn was silent for a moment. He looked surprised. But then he uttered a small, "…Sweet."
Slowly, they moved in again. In her impulsive cloud, Quinn hadn't remembered that she'd never kissed a boy before. But now, as they got closer and closer, she couldn't stop thinking that she didn't know what to do. But when their lips met, it felt very natural. So natural. They kissed. And it was…amazing, even though she was gross and sweaty and disgusting.
And they kept kissing. There wasn't much movement, and their hands remained on each other's shoulders, but it was so nice. She'd met this boy twice and was already kissing him. Did that make her a slut? Or worse, a Santana? In that moment, Quinn didn't really care. She'd pray about it later. For that moment, she never wanted it to end.
All three pairs of girls were in for a rude awakening when the door of their cabin flung open. Quinn whipped her head around, leaving Finn kissing her chin, to find Coach Sylvester's tall form standing in the doorway, tall and statuesque, furious.
"Pierce, Lopez, Skysplitz, meet me on the field." She shouted, "And you three football-playing yetis can swim your asses back to camp with the piranhas."
Quinn followed Brittany and Santana shamefully out of the cabin, mortified that they'd gotten caught, but not able to wipe the smile off of her face. She'd just kissed Finn Hudson.
