Quinn woke from her slumber to the sound of a knocking at her door. "Quinn, time to get up. Let's go!" Shelby called out walking past the guest bedroom door that held her new tenant. Quinn groaned, rolling over to look at the alarm clock. Six am! Was Shelby nuts? The last time she had been up this early was when Britany wanted her to help catch the lawn gnomes at Britany's parent's house before the sun put them back to sleep. Smirking at that memory, Quinn rolled over and let sleep take over. There was no way she was ready to face the day.
Fifteen minutes later Quinn was still not in the kitchen, so Shelby decided to try again. She knocked on the door, and not hearing a response from Quinn, slowly pushed the door open. Quinn was sound asleep, the edge of the comforter wrapped in her arms like a security blanket. Shelby smiled and walked towards the bed sitting on the edge so she could wake the teen. "Quinn." Shelby said reaching across to gently shake Quinn's shoulder, "Time to get up. C'mon, we have to be there early. You have detention and I have to be there with you".
Slowly Quinn opened her eyes at the gentle shaking trying to focus on her surroundings. Beginning to feel awake, she looked up at Shelby who was still looking down at her and smiled. "You know, we could just pretend like I was there. I mean you do not really want to go to work this early, do you? I am sure there is something around the house you find to do for the next hour". Quinn smiled sweetly at Shelby thinking just maybe her suggestion would work.
"Ha. Good try." Shelby deadpanned. "Get up. Now. You have 30 minutes to be at the counter for breakfast. And yes, you will eat something," Shelby said with when she saw Quinn ready to protest. Shelby stood up and headed towards the hall picking up the clothes Quinn had thrown on the floor the previous night and placing them in the clothes hamper beside the door. "Up Quinn, now", Shelby said one last time leaving Quinn rolling her eyes, but sitting up.
It took her longer than normal to get ready that morning and she could tell Shelby was beginning to get frustrated with her when she popped the strudel in the toaster and told Quinn to grab a bottle of juice out of the fridge. When they were in the car, Shelby sighed and looked at Quinn who had been quiet since the strudel incident. Shelby realized she must have been too harsh in her rush to get herself, Beth, and Quinn ready for the day. This was going to be harder than she thought!
Shelby turned to Quinn before she put the car in drive and began to apologize to Quinn for getting annoyed. "Quinn, I am sorry if I was short with you this morning, but I will work on it. Sweetie when I tell you to get up, you need to do it quickly. I have a set schedule in the mornings so I can get Beth dropped off and get to school on time. My mornings are always stressful and I am a stickler for being on time. I need to learn to be a little more laid back, I assume," Shelby smiled trying to get Quinn feeling comfortable again. "I promise I am not angry."
"I am sorry I was a pain, Shelby, and I promise I will be better." Quinn said looking up at her teacher. Please do not make me leave she thought to herself.
"You don't need to be better. In this case, I do." Shelby said smiling at the girl. "C'mon. Let's get this detention out of the way so we can start on a better note this morning."
Soon Quinn found herself following Shelby into her classroom carrying her toaster strudel and orange juice. Shelby set her bag and keys beside her desk and told Quinn to follow her to her desk. Shelby opened her drawer and pulled out a dry erase marker. "Here. Take this and go to the board." Quinn took the marker from her teacher and walked up to the board.
"First word. 'Cheat – to break the rules in a game, examination, or contest, in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage' Write it fifty times. Go." Shelby said.
"What!" Quinn turned and glared at Shelby. This was not how any of her other detentions worked. For the second time today she wondered if Shelby was nuts.
"You heard me Quinn. Fifty times. You have an hour before the bell rings."
"Are you nuts?" Quinn exclaimed. "There is no way I am going to get this done before the bell rings!"
"Oh, you want to write it one hundred times? I think that seems a little excessive, but if you want to go ahead." Shelby said pointedly raising her eyebrow and shooting Quinn a glare that dared her to argue.
Quinn huffed and mumbled something under her breath. Shelby heard however, and stood up to stand behind Quinn. She spoke in a soft forceful tone and lectured the girl. "No Quinn, I am not nuts, and I would appreciate any further comments to be kept to yourself. Understand that you have an opportunity to make up for the guilt you felt for cheating on the test right now. Unless you were lying and you truly feel no remorse. In that case, I am more than happy to make the three days of detention I originally gave you to five. Not to mention that reprieve I gave you at home last night. I understand that you are having a hard time of it right now, but I am here for you now. Trust me when I say I can take this problem home with us as well, and then you can truly see what happens to girls that do not listen to their teachers. "
Quinn gulped, nodding her head. She certainly did not want to see that. Maybe staying with Shelby was not such a good idea!
"Good."
When the bell rang Quinn had eight-three repetitions of the definition of the word 'cheat' on the board. "Very good Quinn," Shelby praised.
"I am sorry for before," Quinn said looking down.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Just remember that I am your teacher and you have to listen to me. I know it is kind of a double-edged sword with me both here and now at home. It will take a while to get used to it for both of us. In the same regard, I know that when I was just your teacher you would have never questioned me. And if you disrespected me like that at home, you would probably not be seeing your phone for a week. We'll figure it out. Go on and get to class." Shelby said, turning Quinn towards the door.
Quinn did not say anything and started to walk towards the door grabbing her bag and throwing it over her shoulder. On second thought, she turned around, running back to Shelby giving her a hug. Shelby squeezed the girl tight. "Thanks. Shelby. For caring...you know..." Quinn said pulling away.
"Always", Shelby replied. "Be home right after practice."
"Yep. Later!" Quinn smiled. Today was going to be a good day.
And it was.
For Rachel Berry, however, it was a different story. She was in the principal's office for stuffing the ballot box so Kurt could get class president. Principal Figgins was sitting in front of her dialing her father's number right now. Lucky for her they were out of town on business.
"Well Rachel, since your dads can't seem to make it in here to talk with me about this, we are going to have to talk to a guardian or someone. Who is in charge of you while they are gone?"
"Ummmm..." Rachel thought. I could tell him Grandma, but I do not think she would even remember me. How about Shelby? She says she wants to be in my life, but does not want to be my mom. Maybe she would bail me out of this one, to make up for not being here for me. Hmmm. She might work.
"Rachel. I am waiting" Principle Figgins asks.
"Shelby," she blurted out before she changed her mind. I can get her to help me. She has to.
"Very well, Rachel. Go and sit out in the waiting area. I will call Shelby in."
Rachel got up and left Principal Figgins office to sit in the uncomfortable chair in the front office. Not five minutes later, she heard the clicking of heels getting closer. Shelby wears heels, she thought. Oh man, here she comes.
The door opened and there stood her mother. "Rachel!" Shelby said giving her daughter a once over, looking for any signs that she may be hurt. "Are you okay? I was told I needed to come to the office and it was about you."
"Uh..." Rachel stammered. How do you tell your mother that you are in major trouble?
"Ms. Corcoran, can you come in here please. We need to discuss your daughter's behavior?" Mr. Figgins glared pointedly at Rachel, opening the door for Shelby to step through.
"Her behavior?" Shelby questioned following Figgins lead into his office.
"Yes. It seems as if..." The sound of the door clicking shut ended the sound of Mr. Figgins discussion with Rachel's mother. She looked through the glass pane trying to see her mother's reaction to the story. She saw Shelby's mouth drop open and before she could look away, Shelby turned in her chair to glare at the young charge. At that moment, Rachel felt as if the world was ready to swallow her whole. Maybe having Figgins talk to her mother was not such a good idea!
R & R please!