CHAPTER 2
Warm streams of sunlight blinded me through the curtain that wasn't entirely closed. I lazily roll over to see the time on the bedside table clock, 7:58. I groan and roll over on my back, grabbing my phone off the table in the process. Phone hovering above me, I scroll through my phone before it spontaneously starts to ring. I get startled and drop it on my face, not seeing who was calling. I scramble for it in the sheet to finally display a facetime call from Aunty Snix- I mean Aunty San. I accept it obviously.
"Happy Birthday B!" Aunty San was joined by Aunt Britt and Sugar. They were like a second family to me. When I saw them at Rachel's show I knew I needed to meet them. I know that they're friends with my 'mother' but I know they love me more than she ever did. They told me that in high school Shelby taught their own glee club called the 'Troubletones' and they swear they were by far the better glee club and I believe them if Shelby coached them they were definitely the best. They took me in after what happened with Shelby and actually recommended coming back to Lima only if they visit once in a while.
"Thank you Aunty San, Aunt Britt, Sugar" I reply in a groggy morning voice. I rub my eyes to get a better look at them.
"Beth, we told you, you're old enough to call us Britt and San" Aun- Britt said in her familiar sweet voice.
"How are you celebrating your birthday this year" San curiously asks.
"Where's Cam and Francey Baby?" I change the subject. San and Britt had 3 beautiful children that I was thankful and grateful that I met. I haven't seen my favourite addition to the Lopez-Pierce family in so long I almost forgot what she looks like.
"Cam's asleep and I think Franny might be awake" I see the camera shift as San moves towards something that looks like a crib.
"There she is," I say in a soft voice, I admired Baby France in the camera, standing in her bed, grasping the railings and bobbing up and down. She babbles when she sees me on the screen.
"She misses you, you know" I hear Britt from behind the camera.
"I know, I do too" This is making me miss New York. The busy streets, cars honking, flashing lights, Lima is so boring and sad.
"How is Lima anyway? Is it as trash as Mom and Mama say it is?" Sugar says into the phone. I could see Britt and San's reaction when she says that.
"Sophia Maria Lopez Pierce, who told you that?" Britt's protective mother kicked in. I couldn't help but smile. I miss this.
"Mama said it," She blamed. We all look at San and she was smirking.
"What? She's right though? Am I right B? Is Lima trash?" San asked.
"Lima is nothing compared to New York" I confess, "I miss New York so much" I whine.
"I rest my case" San's lawyering side kicks in now.
Suddenly a soft knock comes from my bedroom door and I sit up and cross my legs, phone still in hand. A blonde head pops through, it's Kitty and her baby daughter Lacey perched on her hip.
"Oh sorry, am I interrupting something? I'll come back later" She noticed the phone and was attempting to back away.
"Oh no, just Facetiming Britt and San," I turn the phone towards her to show the screen showing them.
"Kitty? Kitty Wilde? Is that you?" I hear Britt ask, her tone even more curious after each question.
"Oh my God, Britt! It's been so long, Oh hey Santana" Kitty walked closer to my bed to get a better look.
"It's good to see you, and your.. kids!" I can tell she spotted all 3 kids in the background of the screen. I guess Cam woke up and joined in making a full family.
"Hey Cam," I say through the phone grabbing his attention.
"Hey Bethy," His blonde hair was scruffy and he was still in his pyjamas.
I let Kitty talk to Britt and San, that means she let Lacey free. Lacey crawled around my bed and eventually finding comfort in my lap. She playfully grabs my hands and begins to fidget. She looks like Kitty, Blonde hair, big green hazel eyes, but she had Skylar's smile.
"Well, I better get going, Beth, breakfast is ready downstairs and the others are leaving for school in about an hour so if you wanna join them and, Happy Birthday" Kitty got up off my bed, returning my phone and scooped Lacey from my lap.
"Thank you, Kitty, I'll be on my way down" I smiled and so did Kitty. I get up off my bed and Kitty was already halfway out the door.
"Guys I gotta go, Thank you for the birthday wishes, talk soon" I sadly say and I hear multiple 'awws' through the phone.
"Bye B, call us when you get your present" San smirked adding a little wink at the end. I told them before I left that I didn't want anything but Santana is just so damn stubborn.
After 100 more goodbyes, I end the call and throw my phone on my bed only to be lost in my sheet already. I walk towards my closet and turn on the lights. The room is illuminated, presenting my minimal amount of clothing. Jeans, hoodies, dresses, all the usuals. I decide to wear what I wear almost every day, ripped jeans, a beige hoodie and a denim jacket over it matched with some New York stained white converse. I grab my packed bag and search for my phone in the sea of sheets and it flashed the time, 8:28. I trudged down the stairs to find everyone already at the table.
No conversation stopped for me, no staring, no whispering, exactly how I wanted it, no attention. I sit myself down next to Thomas and Stella, both have bowls of cereal in front of them. Stevie comes in with a plate of eggs and toast in one hand and baby oatmeal in the other, he passed the eggs down to me before returning to the gurgling babies.
"Hey Anna," Laura, who was on the other side of the table sipping coffee, "What grade are you in?" She asks placing her coffee down and resting her elbows on the table.
"Uh, I'm supposed to be a sophomore but I have been put up a grade so now I'm a junior, I just turned 15" I explained. Shelby taught me at a young age, I don't mean to brag but I could read and write at the age of 4.
"Oh cool, that means you're in classes with me, Tom and Sterling. When did you turn 15?" She's just full of questions that girl.
"Umm… today…" I say as quietly as possible, trying not to be heard by Laura. Unfortunately, she heard me.
"What! Happy Birthday, Anna! Why didn't you tell us yesterday, we could've got you something" Now instead of one pair of eyes on me, all 17 pairs of eyes, plus Stevie's were on me. An orchestra of birthday greeting filled the room, the last time I had this many greeting is when I celebrated my birthday with the cast of one of Shelby's shows.
"Thank you guys, it really means a lot" I blushed, "But seriously you guys, don't need to get me anything, letting me into your home was more than enough".
"Guys, we gotta go" Kitty came rushing around the corner, Skylar following close behind with a pair of car keys jingling as they dangle from his belt loop.
Everyone stands up, leaving Stevie and the babies. A range of farewells is addressed to Stevie as they leave the dining table.
"Bye Stevie," I say before leaving, "Bye Beth, Happy Birthday" I almost ignore him until it hit me, he called me Beth. My eyes widened and he just smirked. I quickly pivoted and left the room.
They all dump their dishes in the kitchen and I do the same. I see them all rush to the foyer and disappearing behind a door next to the stairs. I follow them and see a line of bag hooks with labels, the bag bay I guess.
I grasp my own bag that's slung over my own shoulder and walk behind the crowd. I see some kids hopping in the van and others walking in the other direction. I spot Tom and Laura with the walkers and run towards them, trying to catch up. I reach the crowd but I don't join, instead, I ruffle through my bag to find my headphones and plug them in, cancelling everything out. We walk for maybe 5 minutes and 4 from the group break off and walk in the other direction. I briefly look up and realise we're at Lima Elementary, I look back and see Elise waving goodbye. Without taking my headphones off I smile and wave back, she inaudibly giggles and skips off. Another 2 minutes of walking and a tap on the shoulder startles me and I almost jump a foot, I tug out my headphones and see Sterling behind me.
"Jesus Christ you scared me" I huff as I caught my breath and held my hand to my chest, feeling the rapid beating of my heart.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to surprise you with this" He holds up small Lima snowglobe.
"Laur texted me and told me it's your birthday and I got you this" He lifts it higher and I smile in amazement.
"I know that you also said no presents, Laura said so, so take this as a souvenir, not a present" He gives it to me and I admire it. In the glass dome housed a small hill and the word 'Lima' on it as if were the Hollywood sign drowning in water and glitter.
"Thanks, Sterling, this is great" I pull him into a small hug. He pulls his hands out of his letterman jacket and going in for the hug too.
"So you're a jock aye?" I ask still holding the snowglobe, shaking it and watching the glitter cascades down.
"Uh yeah, my two older brothers were on the team so I decided to carry on the legacy" He looked embarrassed but I think it's good what he's doing for his family.
We chat for the rest of the time being until we approach the school. Some guys out by their cars, dressed similar to Sterling, letterman jacket, jeans and dirty kicks were yelling out to him.
"Oh you can go join them, I gotta go to the office anyway" I put the snowglobe in the front pocket of my hoodie, joining my phone and headphones that I stashed away earlier.
"Okay cool, see you around Anna" He waves goodbye and jogs to his friends, who were watching us from a distance. When he finally approaches the group I see the push him around and tease him. I smile and bow my head trying to shield myself from embarrassment. I walked into the school with my head still low and only lifted it up once to read the school sign, William McKinley High School.
X
I haul open the heavy double doors and slip inside the school. Lockers, classrooms, posters, there was nothing special about McKinley. I notice the amount of sign up posters for the glee clubs at McKinley. I turn the corner and find the office and administration. I walk up to the desk, hands still buried deep in my denim jacket pockets.
"Um Hi, I'm Anna, I'm a new student here." I nervously say looking around the room, trying to find any sort of distraction.
"Ah yes, Anna, Who sent in your enrollment form?" The lady was polite and approachable.
"Uh, Kitty Wilde," I say leaning closer to the desk, attempting to take a look at the screen.
"Oh here it is, let me just print out your schedule" After a couple more clicks on the keyboard, the printer began to rumble and spits out my schedule. She grabs the freshly printed sheet and hands it to me.
"Good luck on your first day" she smiles, "Thanks, I will" I reply as I whirl around exiting the office as smoothly as possible.
I was only halfway down the halls heading to my locker when I froze at the name that I dread to hear my entire life.
"Quinn?"