Next chapter let me know what you guys thinks :)
"Quinnie." Mrs. Fabray called up to her daughter. Quinn checked the time. That would be Santana and Brittany.
"I'll be right down." She had had her doctor's appointment today and he had confirmed that she was ready to go back to school tomorrow. When she entered the living room she saw Santana sprawled out on the couch with her head in Brittany's lap. The blonde absentmindedly ran her fingers through the other girl's dark tresses. Quinn blushed at the sight. "Can you guys not be so…affectionate? My mother's in the next room." Santana rolled her eyes but sat up. She knew Quinn came from an uber-conservative Christian home but it's not like she and Britt were even lesbians.
"So what's the verdict?" Santana asked.
"I'll be back tomorrow." Brittany squealed at the admission and hugged Quinn.
"Thank god Q. School's not the same without you."
"Thanks Britt. So anything new with the girl that tried to steal our lunch table?"
"She joined Glee club and she has a wicked set of pipes on her."
"Her voice sounds like how Lord Tubbington's would if he stopped smoking." Brittany added. Quinn quirked her eyebrow quizzically at that.
"She's good." Santana clarified. "And her name's Rachel something."
Quinn froze at that. Rachel, her Rachel. Could she be back? But there had to be a lot of girls named Rachel who could sing, right? What if it was her though?
"Quinn…earth to Quinn, you still with us?" Santana said trying to get the girl's attention back from wherever it went away to.
"Yeah I'm fine. You sure you don't remember her last name?"
"No." Santana answered not understanding the significance. "But you'll meet her tomorrow." The idea brought no peace to Quinn.
Later that night in her room Quinn pulled a box out from under her bed, a box she hadn't looked at in quite some time. She skimmed over old letters the brunette had sent to her, all the way to the last one. It was heartbreaking to read. She wanted to know, she begged with her words, why Lucy wasn't returning her letters anymore but Lucy didn't exist anymore. Instead Quinn had received those letters and Quinn was determined to cut off everything from her former life. It's not like she was ever going to see the tiny diva again so it was better this way for both of them. Now she wondered if this Rachel who could sing was the same girl and she didn't know how she felt about that. Part of her was excited. Rachel was her first real friend and still the only person who knew who Quinn really was and what she was really like. The other part was scared. Rachel was from her old life and she didn't need to deal with that again especially since her life now was so perfect. Her parents were proud of her. They valued her as a prized member of the household. She was still a good student and captain of the Cheerios. Every boy wanted her and every girl hated her because they wanted to be her. She had everything she should want to be happy. Who cares that none of her friends really knew what she was like or about her past? Who cares that she didn't like any of the boys and only went with them for the added status they gave her? She was pretty, popular, and powerful. She was all she ever wanted to be.
If this Rachel was Rachel Berry, then Quinn would just have to ignore her. Maybe the girl would be dense and not put two and two together. Maybe she wouldn't realize Quinn used to be Lucy.
Quinn went to put away the box when a picture at the bottom caught her eye. It was a picture of two girls, one pudgier than the other with glasses on her face. Quinn immediately flipped it over. She didn't want to see what she used to look like. It was as if doing so physically hurt her but in the short glimpse she had, she saw something else and she had to look and be sure her eyes didn't deceive her. She remembered that day. Rachel and she had taken a trip to Cleveland and went to Rockefeller Park. They wandered around in it for hours. Lucy had felt so peaceful and safe there with Rachel. It was one of the best memories she had. When she flipped it over again, she instantly realized she had been right. She looked happy in the picture, happier than she ever remembered being. Was it possible that at one point as Lucy she had been happy? Was it possible that it was because of one girl, Rachel?
Quinn always thought she was exaggerating the way the tiny brunette had made her feel. Her mind had a tendency to do that. She was a dreamer or used to be anyway. Just cause Lucy had one friend, she made that friend out to be the greatest in her mind but it couldn't possibly be true. One person can't make you feel that good, Quinn rationalized. She had built Rachel up in her mind in all those years. If she saw her tomorrow, she was sure she would find just an average girl that made her feel nothing.
Finally she put the box away again and started on the homework Santana and Brittany had dropped off. She had spent too much time in the past and now she had to get back to her present.
The next day Rachel entered McKinley High cautiously. She walked lightly through the halls and peaked around every corner. She was on the look out for Quinn. She figured she would know it when she saw the girl. She knew the girl was a cheerleader. Rachel expected her to glow with the light of a thousand splendid suns and to walk on air, her delicate feet never touching the gross floors. She couldn't even imagine how beautiful the girl must be. She had to be beautiful and charming and smart to have the pull over this place like she did. Cheerleaders and football players talked about her as if her return to school was akin to the second coming of Christ. She had to be influential to have had Rachel slushied. Even when she wasn't around, people obeyed her. Rachel was kind of scared, not that she would show it, but this Quinn already targeted her and they hadn't even met.
Rachel entered her first period Spanish class and held her breath every time someone walked through the door. She recognized everyone's faces and had seen them in this class before and there were no cheerleaders. She felt safe at least for the time being. Second period passed in much the same way and by third period the breath Rachel had held every time someone walked in the door was no more. Maybe Quinn and Rachel weren't even in any of the same classes and the time they would see each other would be minimum. Maybe Rachel would fade off this girl's radar. Then again maybe Rachel was foolish for thinking these things.
When the last stranglers filed in and the bell rang beginning class, Rachel smiled and opened her notebook eager to learn. She hated math, hated it with a passion. She didn't have time to play around with numbers when she could be singing. But class beginning meant no threat of Quinn and, Rachel was one step closer to getting through her day. She was relieved…until Ms. Harper took roll call.
After her name Rachel basically stopped listening and started doodling music notes her in her book but then Ms. Harper called, "Quinn Fabray," and Rachel was pretty sure her heart stopped beating. Fabray as in Lucy Fabray as in maybe she and Quinn were related. Quinn as in the Quinn who already disliked her and had her slushied. This was too much for Rachel's brain. Her head shot up and she looked around but no one was raising their hand.
"Quinn Fabray." Ms. Harper called again and looked up. "I guess not. I was told she would be back today." She said mostly to herself and just when she was about to move on to the next person, the door to the class opened. And an angel walked in the door, an angel in a cheerleading outfit. She was beautiful and Rachel could understand how she had people do whatever she wanted. She also looked familiar like Rachel had seen her before, which helped her theory that Lucy and Quinn were related. Maybe they shared a family resemblance.
"I'm here." Quinn said and Rachel's heart decided to start beating again, wildly and erratic. She knew that voice. That was Lucy's voice. She would recognize it anywhere. She had spent countless hours on the phone with that voice and listened to it read out loud more times than she could count.
As Quinn passed in her tardy note she scanned the faces in the room as if she was looking for someone. When she got to Rachel, their eyes locked for a split second and Quinn immediately turned back to face the teacher. Rachel recognized those hazel eyes too. That voice and those eyes were more than a family resemblance. Was what she was thinking even possible? That Quinn had once been Lucy? It sounded crazy even to Rachel who had come up with some pretty crazy ideas on her own.
"Okay Ms. Fabray, please find a seat so we can begin." Quinn scanned the room again, this time for an empty desk. She made no attempt to hide her groan when she realized the only one was in front of Rachel.
"Something wrong?" Ms. Harper asked.
"No, nothing at all." Quinn walked to her seat and sat down not once looking at Rachel and Rachel sat there unsure what to do. Should she get the girl's attention, maybe tap her on the shoulder? Should she whisper 'I know you're Lucy'? No that would be creepy but what should she say. She debated in her head the best way to begin. Before she could say anything though Quinn turned slightly, not fully facing Rachel but just so the girl could see her face in profile.
"I can feel your eyes burning holes in the back of my head. Please stop." Quinn said through clenched teeth. "I can't deal with this right now." She finished more softly and turned back around.
The rest of class Rachel tried to focus but more than once she caught herself staring at Quinn's head again and thinking about the girl. When she did, she would redouble her efforts to pay attention to Ms. Harper droning on and on about the Pythagorean Theorem. When class ended Rachel stretched out a hand to stop Quinn from leaving. The last hour had been torture and even though Quinn said she couldn't deal with this right now, Rachel had to talk to her. She just needed some answers about what was going on. But before she could reach the girl, Quinn jetted out of the class as if the room was on fire. Rachel was left with her arm in midair staring after Quinn.
Quinn practically ran to the bathroom after Geometry. She pushed open the door and saw a couple girls talking by the sinks. "Get out." She growled at them. They looked down not daring to make eye contact and filed silently out the door. Quinn checked under the stalls and was happy no one else was in the room. What the hell was she going to do? It was one thing to think the new girl might possibly be the Rachel from her past but to actually be confronted with it was a whole different story. Her stomach had done somersaults when her eyes landed on Rachel's. They were the same warm, brown eyes she had found comfort in so many times years ago. She couldn't do this she thought. Rachel looked good, like the girl she remembered but older. Her face had lost some of its childlike qualities and was more mature hinting at the woman she would become. She was beautiful now but Quinn knew she would just become more gorgeous as the years went on. She pictured Rachel on stage in a flowing gown, singing her heart out to a full house of adoring fans. They would be mesmerized by her voice, her beauty just an added bonus to her talent. Quinn also pictured herself front row and center beaming with pride as she watched the girl she…wait Quinn shook the thoughts from her head. This wasn't right.
Quinn had already planned how her future would go. She would go to college, find Mr. Right, they would settle down have kids. She would be the perfect wife, the trophy wife. Her parents would visit and her mom would remark about how wonderful the house looked and how well behaved the children were, comments that were to be taken as compliments on what a great wife and mother Quinn was. Her father would talk to her husband about business and golf. They would get along grandly. He would smile up at Quinn and that smile would say 'You did good' and 'You picked the perfect boy. If I had a son, I would want it to be him.' They would be proud of her. Quinn had to remember these things. That was the life she wanted.
She turned around from leaning against the sink to look in the mirror and touch up her lip-gloss. She looked good and had worked hard to look good and take control of her life and make it as it was. She would be damned if she was going to ruin it now especially over some girl. After all she wasn't some stupid boy. She decided she would just ignore Rachel like she had said before, no talking to her, no talking about her, no being alone with her, and the hardest of all no thinking about her. It would be as if the girl didn't exist. That shouldn't be too difficult, Quinn reasoned, she already ignored about half the student population anyway. She would also have to tell her friends to leave the brunette alone. If she was trying to ignore the girl, and they were talking about her it wouldn't work at all. She would tell them no bullying, no slushieing…oh god, she had had Rachel slushied. Quinn felt terrible instantly. She should apologize she thought, no she had to ignore Rachel. She would just pretend it never happened and give no explanation to the girl. Maybe Rachel would think that was just how all new students were welcomed to McKinley.
Quinn sighed to herself. Things had been going so well. Now this had to happen and throw her off her game. But no she resolved she wouldn't let it. She was Quinn Fabray. She ran this school. Her little pep talk to herself had started to get her confidence back up when she heard the door open. She turned around and there stood Rachel Berry.
And it's all going to go down in the fabathroom. Obviously would you expect anything else from these two? :)