The South Side of Anywhere Chapter 9, a glee fanfic

My Little readers! :) how are we?

Just quickly, I want to apologise in advance for spelling mistakes! Someone commented on my brittana fic about mixing up two words constantly and saying how it was stupid. I have to admit I laughed... its cute when people get their hardcore keyboard insults on and they're anonymous! GOSH. but yes I am sorry for any spelling errors, but its not as if this is a world class book thats been edited! it's FANFICTION...wow rant over!

AND yes I will continue this story for as long as I can, so to those who have asked to see what happens when everything is revealed... can I just say that I want to make this story longer than my last (and that reached 40 chapters!) so YES ;)

okay I'm shutting up now :) Enjoy!

Court

CHAPTER 9

High School, Sophomore Year

Made up languages with secret signs of vulnerability

When Quinn and her sister were little, they invented a language between them. Quinn had forgotten most of it, with the exception of a few feeble words: hiklar, which meant monster; pulinio which meant sunshine and raddlipo; which didn't have any human or English translation, it just described the intertwining of a sailor's knot, which was sometimes how they use to describe their relationship. Most days they were connected, other days not so much. In the winter, they would build snow forts. They had intensely dug out tunnels and woven mazes that her mother would always fret they would get lost in.

"Never," Frannie would say, "I'll always be able to find Quinn,"

They'd sit on ice made thrones until they couldn't feel their fingers or toes anymore and then Frannie would insist it was the only place they could really control. In spring time, they ate chocolate muffins on their grandparent's porch and discussed the possibility of the spice girls reforming. In the fall, they would climb their back fence to reach the acreage of McDonalds Orchards and Pine Trees. It was like a Christmas farm, lines of pine trees and small honey suckle bushes in between. Quinn would keep watch as Frannie snuck through the rows and collected the small honey buds, and then they would sit and eat the honey syrup until their mother called them inside. In the summer, they wrote secret predictions about how they thought the future would turn out. They sat in the backyard under the light of the fire flies and scribbled dreams that neither of them thought would come true. Then they would hide them in the hollow of the maple tree at the edge of their garden. Frannie would whisper that this was their time capsule, and when they grew up, they would come back here and see if the dreams had come true. It was the summer after Quinn's freshman year that things changed. Frannie had met Spyros, a Greek exchange student who filled her mind with endless possibilities of travelling the world. Quinn knew it, their parents knew it; this was the boy Frannie would run away with. It happened, not even a year after she had finished high school.

Quinn stared at Frannie's mobile number in her phone, trying to work out what time it would be in Greece right now. Trying to think of whether or not she should call her. What would she say? Hi Frannie, I know you decided to ignore me after I got pregnant, but I'm not pregnant anymore so I was wondering if maybe I could ask you some questions. Because you know I'm still your younger sister and I really need my older sister right now. She rolled her eyes at the thoughts swirling in her head. Her parents spoke to Frannie all the time, but they never gave any clues as to how she was going. Quinn didn't know whether this was a good thing or not. Sometimes people find themselves walking through life like their blindfolded. They'll do anything to blame circumstance, or chance or fate on why they were blinded in the first place. What a lot of people forget, is that we're the ones who secretly tie the knot ourselves. Quinn had been embarrassed to show her sister what her future predictions would be. So she had folded the paper five times over and pushed it right to the back of the small hole, praying that when they returned, they'd be old enough not to laugh at each other's. Quinn remembers what she wrote though, she remembers because for the rest of her life it will never change. She had written, to find somebody whose words I fall in love with.

"Quinn?"

Quinn jumped slightly from where she had been staring at her ceiling. How the hell her mind was so active at 7:30 in the morning she will have no idea. Her mother stood in the doorway, a cup of coffee steaming from the mug in her hands.

"Oh you're up," she smiled, "I was just making sure you wouldn't be late for school,"

Quinn lifted her head slightly out from the blankets, there was no way she was allowed to miss school today. It was regionals song choice discussions.

"Anything by Amy Winehouse and I'm goods," Santana said as they stood in the school car park, waiting for Brittany to find her mobile.

"Britts!" Mercedes whined, "I think you should tie your phone to your hand!"

Brittany popped her head up from where she had been peering under the driver's seat of Mercedes Volvo.

"Cedes," she said wide eyed, "They would call me phone hands!"

Santana laughed, "Baby leave it, the only person you call is me, and we have classes together all day today,"

Brittany sighed, "Yes but then I can't sext you in the middle of history,"

"I'm out," Mercedes grumbled, as Santana pulled Brittany into a fit of kisses.

Quinn grinned closing the door and catching up to Mercedes as the central locking switched on.

Car-pooling had started only a few weeks back, when Santana complained that all the petrol money they spent separately could be spent on Breastix meals.

"You thought about song choice?" Quinn asked her and Mercedes looked at her.

"Yes," she nodded, "But what good is it, if Rachel will be getting all the solos?"

Quinn chewed the inside of her lip.

Maybe she wouldn't be.

. . .

Quinn stared at the Cheerio's out in the field, from the library window. God almighty they sucked right now. With the exception of Santana and Brittany, but even they seemed to have given up. Quinn gritted her teeth as she watched Amber attempt to complete a left rounded back flip. She couldn't even land straight on her feet. Coach Sylvester was speaking to Mr Schuester just adjacent to the circle the Cheerio's were performing in. Quinn knew she was arguing with him; arguing because if Glee Club did not win regionals, she was having Principal Figgins pull it from the school curriculum. If Quinn didn't get back on the Cheerio's and Glee Club ended, where the hell did she fit in?

She pulled the letter from the binder and opened it; maybe her person was the only one left who would make her feel as though she belonged.

I found a song for you. It's so strange because I don't normally listen to songs like this, but I found it, and I thought of you, and us, and whatever us is, and I just wanted to share a bar of the lyrics with you, because I think, I think you've changed me.

I was born to tell you I love you
isn't that a song already
I get a B in originality
and it's true I can't go on without you
your smile makes me see clearer
if you could only see in the mirror what I see

Only I want to see you. I want to hold you. I know you're vulnerable, and I know you're scared, but I need you. Please say you need me back.

Quinn felt her hands shake; the small star had been stuck to the edge of the paper again. The past few weeks, Quinn had slowly managed to fill in the cracks that had formed along her soul. But what if revealing herself brought them back again?

. . .

Mr Schuester smiled as Quinn entered the music rooms.

"Hey Q," he said.

"Mr Schuester, Glee club doesn't start for another fifteen minutes, why did you want to see me?"

He shrugged off handily, "Have you had any thoughts as to what we should sing at Regionals?"

Quinn smirked, "You're asking my opinion?"

"Well you're part of this club aren't you?" he asked.

Quinn sighed slightly, "Mr Schuester, I know you don't want to talk to me about song choice, I'm pretty sure Rachel has that covered already, what is this really about?"

He leant against the piano slightly, "Where's your head at lately?"

Quinn bit her lip, was this a trick question?

"With what?"

"With everything, with Sue Sylvester not letting you back on The Cheerio's"

"She will," Quinn interrupted, "Eventually,"

Mr Schuester grinned at her, "Why can't you have that same drive for Glee?"

The same drive as what?

"I don't really understand what point you're trying to make Mr Schuester," she replied.

"What do you think Glee Club is about Quinn?" he tried again.

Quinn still had no other true answer other than singing and belonging but both of those didn't really seem like an over inspirational answer. When she stared back at him blankly, he held up his hands.

"Imagine something for me," he said. "Imagine you have a bank account that gives you a thousand dollars every day,"

Quinn frowned slightly; if that was the case she could afford an air fare ticket to Paris and never come back. Mr Schuester continued without letting her imagine sipping wine under the Eiffel Tower.

"Every day the bank will delete whatever funds you didn't use, it carries nothing over, it's just a fresh slate each and every day, what would you do Quinn? Because I would draw every single cent out!"

Quinn laughed as he re-enacted 'show me the money' from that old Tom Cruise movie.

"I wish that existed!" Quinn said, god the shoes she would buy.

"It does Quinn," he said eying her, "But it's not called a bank, it's called time, every day there's a new account for you, because it carries over no balance, and each night it burns the remains of the day. You can't overdraw tomorrow Quinn; you have to live every day in the present,"

Quinn finally saw the sense in what he was trying to say.

"I'm trying to tell you, that you should invest in the things that make you happy Quinn, if singing makes you happy, then I will give you solo's, you just have to believe in yourself a little more,"

Quinn smiled briefly at him, "You're a really good teacher, Mr Schue, even if everyone calls you a man-whore sometimes,"

He frowned at her, but before he had the chance to ask what in the world she meant, Mercedes and Puck had entered the room.

"If Rachel says one more thing about doing reprisals of Olivia Newton John I'm going to throw up," he said, throwing his bag into the corner.

"Alright guys," Mr Schuester said, "Just take a seat,"

Quinn hopped over to where Kurt was already perching himself near the instruments and she moved the chair slightly so Santana could sit down beside her.

"Rachel can you come up here for announcements please," Mr Schuester asked, to which Santana moaned.

Rachel ignored Santana's eye roll before casually announcing that she had made a list of songs for everyone to choose from.

"Pippi Longstockings you are making my ears burn, stop speaking," Santana said, and Rachel slightly slumped at the front of the classroom.

"Santana," Mr Schuester warned.

"Let her speak," Finn snapped to which Santana went to retaliate but Quinn put her hand on her thigh.

"Relax," she said and Santana immediately closed her mouth. It was the first time in a while that Quinn had omitted her charge. It felt good.

"I made a list," Rachel continued, "So it's up to all of you if you want to do these songs or choose others,"

Quinn frowned, was Rachel actually letting them participate in song choice? The pieces of paper were handed around the classroom, and Quinn took one from Brittany as she passed it to her.

She froze.

A small golden star had been placed just on the edge of the page. Quinn grabbed Santana's piece of paper.

"Jesus Q, calm down, they're all the same,"

They were all the same, a list of songs with a gold star stuck to the bottom.

"Rachel," she demanded, "What are these star stickers?"

Rachel frowned, "My signature?"

Santana moaned again, "Yes we all know you're going to be a burning bright sensation, no need to rub it in,"

"When did you start doing that?" Quinn asked again, more forcefully, and everyone's heads looked at her.

Mercedes was glaring at her as if she was acting far too dramatically.

Rachel shrugged, "I've always done it Quinn, so you're too late to start insulting me about it,"

Quinn was speechless, it couldn't be, it just couldn't be right?

"Mr Schuester," Rachel said, "I know we're supposed to be looking at song choices and everything, but I was wondering if I could sing a song today?"

"You always sing songs," Puck said from the back.

Rachel gritted her teeth, "I just really want to express something okay!"

Mr Schuester held up his hand so Santana couldn't respond with something smart, but Kurt had already interjected, "Just let her, she didn't do Madonna justice the other day,"

Rachel had one of her, 'yes I so did' faces on but Brad, the piano guy had already started punching keys on the piano, she had no choice but to begin what she wanted to sing.

Quinn felt everything fall out beneath her.

Share with me the blankets that your wrapped in
because its cold outside cold outside its cold outside
share with me the secrets that you kept in
because its cold inside cold inside its cold inside

and your slowly shaking finger tips
show that your scared like me so
let's pretend we're alone
and I know you may be scared
and I know were unprepared
but I don't care

Tell me tell me
what makes you think that you are invincible
I can see it in your eyes that you're so sure
please don't tell me that I am the only one that's vulnerable
impossible

It was almost like the world had stop spinning. Like everyone in the entire room had just disappeared and the only person she could see was Rachel. Quinn's heart had gone into some chaotic fit, this wasn't happening.

This wasn't true, this was just a series of coincidences, and surely her person couldn't be Rachel Berry.

It just couldn't be.