As promised, here's chapter 9. I hope everyone enjoys it. Let me know what you think!
Chapter 9: The Best Late Birthday Ever
Rather than her alarm clock, Quinn woke up the next morning to her phone beeping at her from its position on the bedside table, telling her she'd received a new text. Quinn stared at the phone in confusion. According to her clock it was only 6, and the Cheerios didn't have morning practice that day, so none of her friends should have been up yet. Quinn picked up the phone and saw that the message was from Rachel. She smiled and opened the phone to read the message.
Good morning, Quinn. I hope I'm not sending this too early. I would have texted you last night, but my fathers and I were out late seeing a show in Akron. -R
Quinn smiled at the thoughtfulness of the girl sending her a good morning text. She quickly wrote out a reply and sent it.
Good morning to you too. My alarm clock was about to go off anyway, but I prefer waking up this way over an alarm clock any day. How was your evening? –Q
The reply came a minute later while Quinn was in her bathroom getting ready for a shower.
It was acceptable. My fathers and I went to see a local production of Les Miserables. The actors were obviously not very well rehearsed, and almost all of them were singing off key throughout the entire performance. And how was your evening? If I remember right Finn went over to your house after school. –R
Quinn smiled and quickly replied.
Only you would criticize a local theater for not putting on a perfect performance of a Broadway musical. And my night was great. Finn and I hung out most of the night. –Q
Rachel's reply came almost immediately.
Why hold a performance if not to strive for perfection? You and Finn hung out all night? You must give me details. I thought you were going to break up with him yesterday? –R
"Quinn!" Quinn heard her mother shout. "Are you up yet?" Quinn groaned quietly to herself. Her parents must have come home early from their business trip.
"Yes, mom!" Quinn responded. "I was just about to get into the shower!" Quinn quickly typed out another text and sent it before putting her phone down on the counter.
I'll explain at school. My mom's up and I need to get moving. –Q
Her phone beeped with a reply, and it took every ounce of Quinn's self-control not to pick up the phone and read it. The blonde forced herself to shower, do her makeup, put in her contacts, and get dressed before she picked up her phone again.
Okay. Give me a ride to school? My dads have to go into work early, and I really want to talk to you. –R
Of course. I'll be there at 7. Have you had breakfast? We could stop by the Lima Bean and pick up something. They have good vegan food there. –Q
No, I haven't. And I'd love to accompany you to breakfast. I'll be waiting. –R
Quinn slipped her phone into her pocket, grabbed her keys and backpack, and headed downstairs, taking the steps two at a time.
"Where are you going, Quinnie?" her mom asked from the kitchen as she passed. Quinn shuddered at the nickname. Only her mom and dad used that name, and it never failed to creep her out because she knew they were only using it to get her off guard. "I made breakfast. You should always have something to eat before you start your day."
"I can't this morning, mom. I'm giving Santana and Brittany a ride to school. I'll grab something with them on the way."
"Lucy Quinn Fabray, come in here and have some breakfast right now!" Quinn froze at the anger evident in her mom's voice and the use of her full name. Only Scott ever called her Lucy anymore, and even that was rare.
"Let her go, Aunt Judy." Quinn heard Scott's voice speak up. "She promised Santana that she'd take her out for breakfast this morning since Santana's parents are out of town this week."
'Thank god he's still here.' Quinn thought.
"Yeah, and I need to go now." Quinn said, figuring it would be best to piggyback off of Scott's excuse. There was no way Judy would let her leave if she knew her daughter was going to meet Rachel Berry, the daughter of the two most open gay men in Lima, for breakfast. "We won't have time to eat if I don't leave. I promise I'll eat healthy. The Lima Bean has really good sausage biscuits and I can grab a couple of apples for the road. Plus Santana will be really angry at me if I'm late." It was partially the truth. Quinn had only been friends with Rachel for a few days, but she knew that Rachel valued punctuality in a person. And she tended to rant at tardiness.
"Fine, go. By the way, your father and I are going to another business meeting in Columbus tonight since our last one got cut short, so we won't be home until tomorrow morning."
"Okay. I'm going over to Brittany's after the game anyway. We promised we'd give each other manipedis." Quinn glanced down at her watch and saw that it was 6:42. If she didn't leave now, she'd never make it to Rachel's on time. "I need to go. I'm already late as is. I'll see you guys later." Quinn ran out the front door and jumped into her car. She backed out of the driveway and took off for Rachel's house. Somehow she managed to make it there with two minutes to spare, despite the trip being a 20 minute drive. Quinn parked in Rachel's empty driveway and found the girl sitting on the steps in front of her house fiddling with a wrapped present in her hands. Rachel got up and waved, then ran over to the car and got in the passenger seat.
"Good morning Quinn." The diva said.
"Morning, Rach. How was your morning? Rant about any bad performances lately?" Quinn teased.
"I'm going to go on one about your sarcasm, Ms. Fabray, if you do not stop teasing me."
"Sorry, couldn't resist. So why did your dads have to go in so early today?"
"I'm not completely sure. They were in too much of a hurry to explain. Although I think I remember daddy saying something about someone going into labor."
"That must be a great way to wake up in the morning." Quinn backed out of Rachel's driveway and drove in the direction of the Lima Bean. Rachel giggled.
"Yes, I believe it would be. Did you enjoy our morning conversation?" Quinn smiled and nodded.
"Yes I did. I prefer that to an alarm clock any day."
"I suppose I'll just have to start texting you every morning so you never have to get up to that accursed object then."
"I'd prefer you call me. I'd love to hear your voice in my ear every morning."
"Then I will make it part of my morning routine to call you every morning in order to wake you up."
"I was kidding, Rach. You don't have to call me every morning. Texting is fine."
"Quinn, you deserve to be shown the utmost courtesy in the morning. If you wish to be called instead of texted, then I will make it my personal mission to make sure it happens." Quinn smiled. None of her other friends would go out of their way to be that nice to her.
"Thank you, Rachel. That means a lot."
"Of course. That's what friends are for." The rest of the drive was in comfortable silence. A few minutes later Quinn pulled into the parking lot of the Lima Bean. The two girls were soon seated at one of the tables near the front of the coffee shop with a muffin and cup of coffee. Rachel's muffin was of course vegan. "So what happened with Finn? Weren't you going to break up with him yesterday?"
"That was the plan, but Finn explained things to me. He said that he wanted to ask you about ideas for presents for me." Rachel shot Quinn a confused glance. "Finn doesn't tend to think before he acts. I explained to him yesterday that what he did could easily be taken as his attempt at asking you out."
"I guess. I wish he would've actually explained his line of logic, though. I sort of freaked out when he asked me to go to the movies with him."
"Me too. I feel sort of guilty for freaking on Finn like I did." Rachel nodded in understanding.
"What did you two do last night?"
"We hung out in my hot tub and had dinner since my parents and Scott were out last night. I would have invited you, but I wanted to make it up to Finn for yelling at him yesterday."
"That's okay. I understand that you two needed some alone time. I wouldn't have been able to go because of the show anyway. Did he get you that?" Rachel pointed at the cross around her neck. Quinn nodded.
"Yeah. He even got it engraved." Quinn turned it over so Rachel could see the letter engraved in the back. Rachel nodded, a small smile on her face.
"It's very nice. It must have cost a lot."
"Finn didn't mention how much it cost; just that he had to go out of town to get it." Rachel nodded again, and then suddenly her eyes lit up.
"Oh! I just remembered…" Rachel reached under her seat and pulled out the beautifully wrapped present and set it in front of Quinn. The present was wrapped in striped white and gold wrapping paper, with a silver bow tied around it. From the square shape it was quite obviously a box. "…Happy belated birthday." Quinn looked at the present in front of her, then turned her stare up to Rachel.
"What's this for?"
"I told you I wanted to get you something because I missed your birthday Sunday."
"Rach, you really shouldn't have-"
"Quinn, you agreed that I could at the very least get you a present since I was not aware of your birthday. Please, just open it." Quinn looked back down at the box in front of her. She hesitantly removed the bow. She looked back up at Rachel, who was staring at her excitedly; almost unable to wait to see the look on the cheerleader's face when she opened her present. The diva motioned for her to keep going. Quinn gently unwrapped the present, being careful not to rip the paper, and gasped when she saw what was hidden underneath.
Rachel smiled brightly as Quinn stared down at the box that was sitting on the table. The box that contained Quinn's new Lumix GMC-D5 camera.
"Rachel…how…what is this?" Rachel giggled and smiled slyly at the blonde sitting across from her.
"I would think you of all people would know what a camera looks like, Quinn." Quinn nodded dumbly.
"I know it's a camera, but…Rachel, I've been saving my allowance for months to buy this camera. This is… how did you even know I wanted this?"
"I may have heard you gushing about it during one of your conversations with Finn a few weeks ago. And I heard you talking to Santana and Brittany about how much you love photography, and- well, I couldn't resist getting it for you."
"Rachel, this camera costs almost 800 bucks!"
"Yes, well, I may have a contact in the camera store who just so happens to participate in the same community theater program during the summer as me and owed me a few favors. I got it for about $80." Quinn looked up at Rachel in amazement.
"If you were a boy I would so totally kiss you right now. Rach, this is the most amazing gift anyone has ever gotten me! Thank you so much!" Quinn got up and pulled Rachel into the tightest hug she'd ever given anyone in her life.
"Quinn, while I appreciate your gratitude, you are making me unable to breathe properly." Rachel panted. Quinn quickly released her hostage and settled for beaming at her instead.
"Sorry. I just can't believe you'd do this for me."
"Quinn, you are the first real friend I've had in years. I know my personality is very high maintenance, and I understand that I can be difficult to be around at times because of it. However, you have stuck by me the entire time we've been friends. This is just my way of thanking you for that."
"Rachel, you don't have to award me for being your friend. Believe it or not, I actually find your high maintenance personality endearing now that I've gotten to know you. I think the only real problem between us was my believing you were trying to steal Finn from me and my freakish obsession with popularity."
"If I may ask, why are you so obsessed with popularity? It's much more important to be yourself. All of this pretending that you do at school is only making it more difficult for you to identify yourself." Quinn sighed.
"I wish I could tell you Rach, but it's sort of a long story with many bad memories. I'd prefer to not revisit that right now." Rachel nodded.
"That's okay, Quinn. Tell me when you're ready. I promise when you do tell me, I will not judge you on anything you say. How does this relate to your previous birthdays?" Rachel gestured at the camera. Quinn grinned, happy about the change of subject.
"Rachel, I can honestly say that this is the best late birthday ever. And I have a feeling it's only going to get better." Quinn pulled Rachel into another, more gentle hug. "Thank you so much."
"You are very welcome, Quinn." Quinn glanced down at her watch and saw that it was 7:30.
"Okay, we need to get going. We're going to be late." Rachel nodded. The girls grabbed their bags and coffee cups and left the café. Ten minutes later Quinn pulled into the student parking lot at McKinley. The lot was already busy, with students milling around and chatting with their friends while others were walking towards the school. Quinn and Rachel grabbed their bags out of Quinn's trunk and headed straight for the school. They both ignored the strange looks they were getting from anyone who went near them and focused on reaching the doors. They were only a few feet away when they were stopped in their tracks as Rachel was suddenly assaulted by a combination of purple corn syrup and crushed ice.
"Happy Tuesday, freak." The assaulter shouted over his shoulder as he walked away.
"Are you okay, Rach?" Quinn asked.
"Yes, Quinn." Rachel replied with her eyes clenched shut. "I'm fine. Would you mind grabbing the paper towels out of my bag, please? I've got corn syrup in my eyes, so I can't see." Quinn went to do as the girl asked. They both knew that they hadn't seen the end of the slushy attacks, so they both made sure to pack their own emergency kit in case they were unsuccessful in avoiding them. Just as Quinn was pulling the towels out of Rachel's bag, a hand gripped her wrist roughly and pulled her away from the diva. Quinn looked at the hand's owner and found Santana stomping ahead of her.
"What are you doing, Santana?"
"I'm the one who should be asking that question, Q." Santana said angrily. They finally stopped in front of Brittany and a bunch of other Cheerios who had all seen the attack. Santana turned to face Quinn, but kept her hand tightly around the blonde's wrist to keep her from running back over to Rachel. "Why the hell are you hanging out with Man-Hands?"
"I don't see why it's any of your business who I hang out with and why."
"I'm making it my business. At first I thought you were just setting the midget up for some kind of smackdown, but you would've already done it if you had planned anything."
"It just so happens that Rachel and I are friends now. And I would appreciate it if you would stop insulting her. Now if you don't mind…" Quinn ripped her arm out of Santana's grasp and walked back over to Rachel, the Cheerios staring after her.
"Looks like Stubbles has infected Quinn with the loser disease." One of the cheerios, Morgan, said. "Quinn would never hang out with that loser out of her own free will."
"Looks a lot like she is." Kendall, another cheerio, stated. "Other than wanting to hang out with the queen of the loser parade for whatever reason, that's still Quinn."
"Ladies," Santana interrupted. "We need to get Q as far away from that…thing as possible. And I know exactly who to go to." The cheerios watched as their captain led Rachel inside.
Here's chapter 9, a little later than intended. Unfortunately updates may be slightly less constant not long from now. I have two weeks before college starts, and after that I'll have about two weeks with no computer access. I'll try to keep things going before and after that, but I can't make any promises. Let me know what you guys think!
