The next day at school, the rumor mill was abuzz with the news: Quinn was pregnant. Everywhere Zimra walked, that was all she heard. It seemed like her little secret was forgotten. At least until Artie rolled up in his wheelchair with a plate of cookies on his lap.
"Here" he grinned, handing her the plate. "There's enough for everyone to have two…except Quinn, oh course." He looked at her, unsure if it was to soon to be making jokes.
Zimra laughed. "Artie, I'm a Cohen." She exclaimed. "It's what we do best. Make jokes inappropriately soon after a traumatic event."
"Traumatic?" a voice behind Zimra says. "That's doesn't even begin to cover it." Zimra twisted her head to find Quinn behind her, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Can I talk to you…in private" Quinn asks softly.
Zimra nods and the two of them sit down right there in the hall. Quinn stares at the ground as she whispers "I'm sorry about what I said. I was wrong. I never should have done that, you should have been able to tell s when you were ready." Quinn gasps as she squeezes her eyes shut, tears dripping from her soaked lashes onto the dirty floor beneath them.
"…It's alright." Zimra says, hesitantly patting her on the back. "I'm a sucker for heartfelt apologizes, and…what do you have first and second period?" She says, an idea appearing in her mind. 'And third to? Maybe even fourth, just to be safe…"she trails off
"Um…I have Algebra II, then AP English, Study Hall, and choir" Quinn responded, looking confused. "Quick," Zimra leapt up, grabbing her hand and dragging her hand, led her outside. "Sit here while I make a phone call," she told Quinn, taking out her enV touch. "It might take awhile, so get comfy."
Zimra opened her phone and smiled at her screensaver, a picture of her and Ivy at their favorite club in Chicago, Luckless. She pressed 2 and waited. It rang and rang. Then, a voice so loud that Quinn could hear it from 10 feet away. "Hello? Hello? Who is this? If this is Romano or Chico or Jacob or Mario, stop fucking calling! No, I don't want to fuck you! If you call again, I will call the fucking cops!" Quinn chuckled to herself, thinking that of course Zimra would call someone with the voice of an angel and the language of the devil.
[Author note—for this conversation, there will be very little stops. What is italicized is Ivy, what is normal is Zimra.]
"IVY! IVY! It's me, Zimra!" Zimra yelled at her. "One second!" Ivy yelled, and moved, for the loud music in the background suddenly vanished. "Now hang on, is this Zimra? Did I just hear my best friend in the entire fucking world's voice?" "Yes, you did." "Oh my fucking god, ZIMRA! You know that Tuesdays are my morning mixer days. What's up baby! I miss you lots and lots! You should come home. Those pricks don't even know what they've got. Damien's been asking for you…more than normal." "Ivy, can you let me talk? So, I've got a…friend here. She's pregnant and wants to hide it; At least for a while. And I thought of you. So what did you do to hide it?" "Well, I started shopping bigger sizes, especially in shirts and dresses. Pants will be soon. I would recommend that she start wearing sweat before she shows, that way it's not as odd. And NO exercise. And like, she should eat healthy, but when she's around people, eat badly, which can help when it starts to grow." "Awesome Ivy. You're the best god damn flower in the whole fucking garden." "You bet your sweet ass I am. Well, the tape done, so gotten jet. Love Ya girl!"
And with that, Zimra said goodbye to her best friend. She turned to Quinn and motioned with her head. Together, the two girls made their way to Zimra's car. It wasn't until they were on the highway 20 miles away that Quinn spoke. "Where are you taking me Zimra?"
Zimra replied with a slight grin "Ever heard of a small town called Granville?" Quinn nodded. "Well, we are headed there. There is a store there called the James Store that sells cute maternity clothing."
6 hours, $123. 76, and 5 giant shopping bags later, Quinn and Zimra returned to school, having missed not one, not two periods, but the entire day. They walked into the school, both sporting new outfits. Quinn had a mahogany shirt with lose black pants and black flats. Zimra was sporting new black skinny jeans with green flats and a black and green plaid coat. The two of them walked into Glee laughing and sipping on mochas, totally oblivious to everyone's stares.
"Where were you two in Spanish?" Mr. Shu asked immediately, looking annoyed. "No worries, Mr. Shu. Quinn and I went shopping." Zimra giggled at something Quinn said before slapping her on the shoulder. The confused eyes of every singer in glee peered at the pair of them.
