GRADUATION
"This is your fault."
Quinn sighed from beside Jesse as she continued going through her locker. He had been doing this since yesterday morning.
After New Directions was finished performing at Nationals, the remaining three choirs sang their songs, and then everyone was given their final waiting period of anxiety. Instead of a posted sign, this time the results were given on stage. All five contenders stood in front of the audience, and one by one, they were all awarded; smallest trophy to the largest. Afterward, they exited the stage to a somewhat patronizing applause. Like some lame draw of fate, New Directions was one of the two remaining show choirs. Hands clasped, they stood together hoping not to hear their name. But their lame fate ran out that quickly, and they didn't get their storybook ending. Triple crowns were hard to come by.
For a good, awkward moment, no one knew how to react. The air had been completely let out of all of them. For those outside of New Directions, their collective shock was probably amusing. It ended up being Brittany and Blaine that saved them from further embarrassment. When the awkward seconds were thru, the two were quite proud of the second place finish, and soon most of the club was joining in the celebration on stage. A small handful that consisted of Jesse, Rachel, Kurt, and Santana were still considerably surprised and disappointed. So Jesse played leader and put on one of Quinn's polite-smiles before going to collect their trophy and congratulate the real winners.
The rest of the night was at least better than last year's final night after Nationals. There were no tears. No one was trying to kill anyone. No one was disappearing to rooftop parties with former rivals. For the most part, it was actually a fun night. Despite the small divide in the club, Lauren's after party still went on in the boys' room because most wanted to celebrate their silver medal. The rest, who saw it as all-or-nothing, spent the night trying to be persuaded into joining in the fun. The happier members didn't understand seeing as they were ten spots better than they were before, and the only one ahead of them was the same team that took first last year. It was something to be proud of.
By the next morning, opinions hadn't really changed. They flew back to Ohio shortly after waking up and then proceeded to go home and rotate between either unpacking or sleeping off the night. It was a day off, and as planned, they would not be attending school until Tuesday. Jesse had still made it a point to spend the day at Fabray Manor. Apparently, he wasn't joking about the scapegoating. Somehow their second place finish had been entirely Quinn's fault. He had made it clear that it had nothing to do with her performance, but it was the fact that she had given him several distractions over the last few weeks that caused less than stellar direction from himself. Clearly the only reason why they didn't finish first. Frankly, Quinn didn't care and just allowed him to vent. She was just happy that he was leaving Rachel out of it. Rachel had been upset enough for everyone.
"If you weren't so stubborn about every aspect of your life, then we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jesse. I'm sorry that I'm responsible for making the other team better than us."
"They were not better."
"And yet they beat us because?" She challenged, shutting her locker. "Second place is a good thing. You need to get over it."
"But the name Jesse St. James just shouldn't be associated with something that isn't first."
"And New Directions probably shouldn't be associated with something that's above a twelfth place finish."
Jesse turned away and turned around to lean back against the lockers. "I almost wish I had another year with them. One more year and everything would be improved. There wouldn't even be any competition." They were arguably inexperienced. Sure, they had been there before but not with the mindset of a winning team. Now they knew exactly what it took. "I could do this you know. I could train winning show choirs." He informed. "If there's one thing I learned from this year, it's that I could also have a future as a director if need be."
"A yet another possibility added to your list."
"Yes, versatile is my main adjective." He turned his head to address her. "Yours would be detrimental."
"Actually, right now I think mine is patient." She said meaningfully. "Look, I understand that you aren't familiar with the concept of losing, I really do, but second place is great. And yes, if you had another year with all of us, then I'm sure we would get better. By only one spot. Because that's how close we were." She added dryly.
"It does not matter how much you lose by. A loss is a loss." He pushed off the lockers.
"Except we didn't lose."
"We didn't win."
"Whatever, the point I'm trying to make is that you don't have another year. New Directions does not have another chance at this. So for once in your life, could you try not being a jerk? No one in glee is going to want to be exposed to your special brand of insults this week."
"You know that's why I'm only exposing you, correct?"
"Yep, and one day we'll figure out how to eliminate displaced anger from our relationship."
"I wouldn't hold my breath." He joked.
The pair stepped away from the lockers and finally headed down the hall in the direction of the choir room. Jesse had sent everyone an emergency text for a morning meeting. Not that it was necessarily vital, but he liked to enforce urgency. Once in the room, Quinn sat down in the chairs with the rest of her teammates who had already arrived. Jesse stayed on the floor.
"I'm glad to see you've all made it." He addressed the club.
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "You say that like we don't make it every time."
"Yes, well. Either way, we have things to discuss."
"Is this like the part where you tell us we suck for not finishing first because we'd probably rather not hear it." Sam told him.
"No." He answered simply. "After recent conversations, it's been instilled within me that second place is its own accomplishment and something to be proud of. I am, however, terribly disappointed that I will not be able to lead all of you as I have all year in a dashing performance of 'We Are the Champions' as we are not the champions."
"Yes, because we only reached second." Rachel pouted from her chair, informing everyone that her mood had not changed since yesterday. Quinn still thought it was adorably sad. Like a wet puppy. "A place that is not first. Or anything."
"What are you talking about?" Finn asked Rachel with a smile. He still didn't like that some members were upset about where they finished so he continued on jokingly. "Second has always been the best. You know, first is the worst, second is the best-"
"Third is the one with the half-bent chest." Santana finished for him.
"It's hairy chest." He corrected her.
"I know. I was talking about you."
Rachel looked over at her ex before he caused Santana to retaliate with anything else. "Thank you for the sentiment, Finn, but that rhyme was clearly created for children who were not as talented as those ahead of them. I had witnessed it being used on several of my lesser opponents during my early years."
Jesse nodded. He knew firsthand what Rachel was speaking about. He always felt such a great pity for those children. He never wanted to be responsible for their future emotional damage. "Nevertheless, you're better than what you were the last two years, and you can take with you the knowledge that only one show choir was better than you were which in my opinion is a stretch. Personally, I think that you were much better than everyone else. Given that it's me, it's quite the statement."
"See, and Jesse's never even liked us." Finn tried to rally the troops once more.
"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that we'll only ever have a second place trophy." Kurt gestured over to the trophy sitting atop the piano to make his point.
"About that," Jesse began, "I talked to Figgins this morning, and that's why I called you here. A couple of points: One, Figgins wants us to take a club photo tomorrow morning with the trophy before he puts it in the awards display in the hall. So try and be here a little early again." Jesse took a moment to pause. He respected that this next bit of news would be upsetting to most. "Since I'm sure you're all counting down the days, you graduate this weekend. And in case you didn't know, which I don't see being possible, I will be moving to New York for next year." Normally, he would smirk here, but it truly wasn't the time. "Figgins said he'd keep glee club open next year as long as students show a continued interest in it. Unless a new batch of musical freshmen come in, I don't necessarily see that happening. So, as you should know, this may very well be the final week of New Directions. I understand that you're probably all considerably upset about this."
"They seriously can just cut it? Just like that?" Puck questioned.
"None of us will be here, Noah." Rachel answered. "This really shouldn't be coming as a surprise." It had been something that came to her attention months ago. This was just the first time any of them were really facing it.
"Right." Jesse interrupted them. "Well, I leave it up to you. We could end it all now or you could come here after your finals for a final free week. Though if you do, try not to need anything in here. This room has to be boxed up by Friday."
They sat in a dejected silence for a moment until one of them spoke up.
"Yeah." Finn answered for the group with no protests. "We'll definitely do one more week."
The morning bell rang out around them, and Jesse nodded once more. "Then I guess I'll be seeing you later."
The gleeks sullenly left the choir room and headed to their first day of classes after Nationals. Though most of the hallway was filled with excitement since the end of the year was in smelling-distance, the fifteen members of New Directions were mostly quiet. Brittany, however, saw the perfect reason to talk as she walked through the halls with her favorite person.
"Maybe we could like create a facebook glee community."
"I don't think everyone in glee has a facebook, B." Santana told her girlfriend gently.
"Well we'll make one for them." Brittany concluded. "We need to find a way to stay together. I don't want glee to end."
Santana didn't really care all that much but, for Brittany, agreed anyway. "Then we'll talk to them."
"Cool." She smiled. "I'm still happy, though. This summer is gonna be awesome. Like I know I have school and everything, but this is the last time we'll all be here before people start leaving. We totally need to do something together every week." Brittany looked over at Santana. She didn't seem nearly as excited about her awesome idea. "Do you not want to? We could drive down to the Columbus Zoo first before it gets too hot out and all the animals just lay around like they want to die."
Santana shook her head halfheartedly. "No, it will be fun."
She didn't really think this. Santana wasn't all that excited for summer nor was she that despondent over the fact that a few glee members would eventually be leaving. But Brittany wanted this, and Santana would be engaged in the plan if it made Brittany happier. She would rather just be one of the ones leaving. If she didn't leave Lima now, then she was never going to leave. That's historically what happens. You graduate high school and you either leave or get stuck here for life. But like Quinn reminded her, she didn't need to be thinking about any of this yet. These thoughts didn't need to be on her mind. Santana could wait until the end of summer. Besides, she should probably be focusing on the last week of school right now anyway.
Yesterday had technically been the final day of school. Today and the remaining three days were finals. For most seniors, it was the only finals week in their high school career that was not something to dread. Most had made up their minds and were set up to go where they enrolled next year. Therefore, most could bomb these tests and have absolutely no repercussions. Plus, as always, they did have a week of shorter days. It also didn't hurt that this was all leading up to them finally being free of this place after Sunday afternoon. Sure, they still had graduation practice Saturday morning, but it was a small price for their diplomas.
The week ended up being more boring than anything. Books were returned, pointless tests were taken, and then for some reason nostalgia began kicking in. Not for everyone of course. Some students (and teachers) dreamt of a possible night fire that burned the school to the ground. (A night fire ensured that there were no casualties.) But for everyone else, it was very upsetting that they'd never see another Titans poster or that they'd never figure out why the upstairs of this school had lockers or never have Mr. Kinney inappropriately flirt with them or never throw another slushie. Saddest stuff ever. And to mourn these losses, some random seniors were throwing a party in Lemkau Woods.
Lemkau Woods were part of a forest preserve on the outskirts of Lima. There were several parks inside the woods, and typically, it was a place to rent out for large company picnics, birthday parties, barbeques, etc. It wasn't a place necessarily designed for a graduation party that invited everyone in the senior class for a night of bring-your-own-everything. There was also some talk of it taking place in Park # 4 in order to make it into a bonfire party. It was the only park inside the woods that had a "fire pit" to control these sorts of celebrations. Everyone seemed pretty happy with the idea of burning old school supplies on the night of their graduation day.
So far it had been decided amongst most of the glee club that they would all be going. It was one of the good, happy things of their week. Most of the week was spent coasting through their finals, and then they would head to the choir room or auditorium. (Some finals like Brittany's and Puck's were not coasted through as they did need to pass a couple of them to pass certain classes.) Much like their earlier Disney Week in the year, it was mandatory that everyone had to sing at least once whether it be a solo or a duet or within a small group. And on Friday, they would all be singing in whatever group number they finally settled on.
Despite the underlying death of glee, the week was designed more like a party than anything. Snacks were brought in as were instruments, and for some numbers, costumes. Rachel made it a priority to sing a duet with everyone she had yet to accomplish this task with. Santana even agreed rather easily, but that was only because she unsurprisingly was more of an emotional mess than the rest of them. The guys put together their small band as they sometimes did and put on a few numbers. Jesse had a fun time embarrassing Quinn by dedicating "Black Dog" to her. He mainly had been looking for an excuse to sing the song in front of an audience as the desire to perform it came to him weeks ago. Handing Quinn some discomfort was merely a bonus.
By Friday, everyone had met their requirements and had performed at least one number. Most had gone over. In some cases, way over. (Rachel had sung with everyone in some capacity.) Sam, Puck, and Finn were the ones who finally pitched a group number that everyone agreed on. They had reorganized the choir room and all (including their humblest leader who found it beyond cheesy) traded leads in "You Get What You Give." And then it was all over with. Just like that. They finished taping up the boxes of sheet music and left, making plans for the upcoming weeks. It was that simple. Rachel thought the whole ordeal had been incredibly anticlimactic. Much like the whole week had been, really.
Rachel pulled another old spiral notebook out of her locker, shoving it into her shoulder bag. She pulled the last book out before peeling off the remaining decorations on her door. And then it wasn't hers anymore. It was just an empty locker for an upcoming freshman. Perhaps she should leave them a message.
She decided otherwise and instead just shut the door. A welcomed Quinn was standing in its wake. "What are you still doing here?"
"Looking for you." She explained. "Well, sort of." Quinn had actually stayed to help Jesse organize the packed up boxes, but she wanted to talk to Rachel today anyway. This had just been good timing. "What's wrong?"
Rachel wondered if her disposition was really that obvious. "Nothing, really." She shrugged. "It's just shouldn't this be more significant? I've spent a large portion of the last four years of my life in this building, and this is the last time I'll probably ever be here aside from graduation. I should be feeling something. There should be some type of montage playing out accompanied by a sad theme. I mean, high school is supposed to be the place that shapes us. Or traumatizes us." She added on. "I guess I just expected more from this moment. Instead, it's just a hallway. There's nothing theatrical about it."
Quinn laughed softly at the other girl's dilemma. "Come on." She held out her hand.
Rachel tiredly picked up her bag of locker items and grabbed onto Quinn's hand. She didn't have a guess on where Quinn was taking her, but she was resigned enough just to be led. She couldn't stress how long this week has been. Unlike most of her friends, Rachel had taken her finals seriously. She had spent her afternoons studying. She wasn't sure if anyone checked up on these things, but somehow she didn't think NYU or those providing her with certain scholarships would appreciate her slacking off. Rachel didn't want any unnecessary setbacks if she could simply prevent them by filling in the correct bubbles on a sheet of paper. Along with her tests, she, of course, had to make preparations for glee. There were a countless amount of songs she had yet to sing, and she only had four days left for it all to take place. Quite the pressure cooker. Not to mention, Quinn had been avoiding her to some degree up until now which caused some stress of its own.
They hadn't had the talk they promised each other in New York since returning. They hadn't actually talked much at all. True, they had both been busy. (Quinn had also been one of the few to take her pointless set of finals seriously.) But Quinn supposedly had basically an entire week of prior engagements outside of school. Rachel wasn't angry about this. Truthfully, she had been expecting something along these lines. She was more concerned than anything. Quinn had been confident and at times carefree in New York. Rachel just feared that those traits didn't return home with them. It wouldn't be surprising. Quinn mentioned something about panicking, and as Rachel was continuing to learn, there was quite a lot Quinn was afraid of that she needed to work through. She was just happy the blonde wasn't entirely running from her fears. At least that's what Rachel was assuming after Quinn claimed to be looking for her.
Quinn's destination in mind turned out to be the auditorium. Rachel grinned at the point Quinn was trying to make. She thought it was fairly considerate of the girl as she led them both down one of the stairways and then up onto the stage.
"Feel anything significant?" Quinn joked, eyebrow trick on display. She watched as Rachel smiled and set down her bag on the stage.
She walked a few feet ahead of Quinn and pensively looked out over the seats of the audience. This certainly resonated much more greatly than the closing of her locker had.
She turned back around to the girl who brought her here. "You know, I spent the majority of freshman year trying to come up with ways to get Mr. Ryerson to quit glee club." She had a bulletin board dedicated to the task. Of course she eventually had to get the man fired, but that wasn't important. Technicalities. "I thought if I took over, then it would turn the club around, and I'd be successful. But four years later, and none of that happened."
"Because we didn't place first?" Quinn asked tentatively. She didn't like that Rachel was still upset over their second place finish. Even Santana had moved on from her anger by now.
Rachel shook her head because although she was still somewhat disappointed with where they finished, she would get over that in the next week. "When Mr. Schue came up with New Directions and I persuaded him to find a new male lead, I thought we could win and I would finally get some respect from the rest of the school." She sighed. "That's what was supposed to happen. We would win Nationals, and I wouldn't be considered a loser anymore. But now what's my legacy? Aren't we supposed to leave a mark on our school? I didn't even get a yearbook superlative. I'm clearly the most likely to succeed."
"The idiots of this school voted me the most likely to marry their high school sweetheart the one year I didn't even have a boyfriend. I don't think you should read too much into it."
"Yeah, but high school sweetheart doesn't necessarily translate into a boyfriend." Rachel teased shamelessly.
Quinn just laughed. "I'm pretty sure we filled those out way before Jesse played meddler."
Rachel let her own laughter die down and tried to continue to explain herself. She didn't want to worry Quinn with any of this. "I'm not…I don't want you to think that I'm exceptionally angry or anything because I'm not. I just…I find it terribly unfair that New Directions has basically been canceled before it achieved any of its ultimate goals."
"I don't know. I kind of like it better this way."
Rachel tilted her head quizzically. "How so?"
"New Directions started with us, and now it ends with us." She shrugged. "It makes it ours. And no one else can touch it. Those experiences selectively belong to us. Would you really want some other group of kids to win it all instead?"
Rachel thought about it, and no, she wasn't sure that was what she wanted. "This all coming from the member who wasn't even going to rejoin." She joked.
"Hey, it's not like I hate glee." Quinn defended lightheartedly. "Two-thirds of my time spent in it I enjoyed."
Rachel waited until Quinn finished with her playful defense before transitioning the conversation to, well not easier topics, but things she actually wanted to talk through. "In the hallway, you said you were looking for me. Does that mean you finally want to talk?"
Quinn sighed. "Not really, but I know that we have to."
"So then what are we?"
Quinn laughed at the never-missing candor. Rachel just continued right on.
"Are we dating? Is it exclusive? Can I refer to you as my girlfriend? And if we are dating, how open do you want us to be? Furthermore, how do we go about setting up dates with each other if that's what we want? Who asks who?"
"You've been thinking." She noted.
"You haven't?"
"No, I have. Probably too much." Quinn informed and waited a moment before continuing. "What do you want us to be?"
Rachel frowned. "That's not fair. I asked first."
"And how is that fair? Why does the ball need to be in my court?"
"Because it already is. I know what I want. You're the one who's undecided. Or at least now that we're back home you are."
Quinn paced a few steps away. Moving felt like a good thing to be doing. "It's not that I don't know." It was all the other uncertainties that concerned her.
Rachel crossed the stage to stop Quinn from moving any farther away. That would just continue to delay everything.
She clutched onto both of Quinn's hands, tugging her closer. Proximity in these situations was important; as were quiet vocals. "What do you want, Quinn?"
Quinn looked up from their joined hands and swallowed. "To be with you." Rachel stopped the smile she felt coming on. It was due solely to the fact that Quinn looked mightily conflicted about something as she focused on the nothing surrounding them on stage. "But it…"
Rachel moved and reached up to trace the contours of Quinn's face. She really needed Quinn's attention to be back on her. "It what?"
"Don't you ever worry about how complicated this is?"
"No. But then I don't see this as being complicated." She answered easily, dropping her hand to Quinn's waist before persisting in a gentle manner. "Why do you?"
"Because it shouldn't be like this." Quinn informed, frustrated. "A relationship should be easier. You see someone or meet someone and you figure out you like and then you either pine or flirt. You shouldn't have to figure out how long you liked them or think about how screwed up you've been in regard to them the last few years."
"Then stop thinking about it." Rachel advised. "We can work through that together. Right now we should just focus on," she chuckled lightly, "well, right now."
Quinn frowned in reply as her eyes got a familiar, far-off look in them. Rachel sighed. One day she would get Quinn to tell her exactly what she was thinking about when this shift happened. "What are you so scared of? You already told me you wanted to be with me. Isn't that normally the hard part?"
"I really like you, Rachel," was her explanation.
She didn't really have any other way to put it because as stupid as it probably sounded, that's what Quinn was still terrified of. This was different. She had actual feelings invested in Rachel. There were no forced emotions like her previous relationships had. This required trust she wasn't accustomed to giving.
"Hey." Rachel leaned in, pulling Quinn's line of sight back up to her instead of the floor. "Risk and reward." She smiled. "You're not the only one afraid of getting hurt here."
Quinn nodded. Selfishly, she felt better that she wasn't the only one with fears. "Okay."
"Quinn, you have to ask me properly."
She frowned. "Are you serious?"
"Of course." She would like at least one of her relationships in life to begin by actually being asked out. It wasn't necessary, but she was clearly in control of the situation at the moment so she might as well take advantage.
Quinn rolled her eyes but took a deep, calming breath anyway. "Rachel, would you like to be-"
"Yes!" She squealed, and Quinn found herself being pulled into a hug by arms tightly curling around her neck. Quinn shut her eyes briefly as she felt several points of tension leave her.
Rachel pulled back with a beam as she detached herself. "Come, girlfriend. Get my bag." She walked past Quinn, still grinning. Quinn pursed her lips for a moment because what? But she picked up the bag as was requested and followed the tiny brunette off of the stage. "I like that." Rachel called over her shoulder. "I think that's what I'm going to call you. From now on, you will only be addressed by me as girlfriend."
"Yeah, no." Quinn shook her head lightly and caught the smirk the other girl was wearing. "Rachel, no." She just continued on up the stairs like Quinn hadn't spoken. "Rachel!"
For McKinley High's senior class, late Sunday morning was spent getting dressed and ready for their big day. Girls would be wearing white robes over their clothes while boys would be wearing McKinley red. Once completed, parents were free to take photos and fawn over their children if they so pleased. Everyone involved knew ahead of time to try and dress comfortably. Graduation would take place at one o'clock in the school's gymnasium. It was June and bodies were going to be piled on top of each other. It had been common knowledge for families with older children that had already been through this that the gym could get a little heated. It was actually a stark contrast between the event and the location. For something that was supposedly monumental as everyone had been informed during practice yesterday, the gym where they had mandatory P.E. courses didn't exactly inspire. Some students with small statures, blinding ambition, and verbose speaking patterns didn't understand why the ceremony couldn't take place on a sunny day on the football field.
Sadly, those ideas were dismissed, and the gym still had to be decked out by some school committee or something. Congratulations Class of 2012 signs hung and a mock stage was set up in the front of all the folded out chairs and bleachers where the families sat. To the right of the mock stage, the orchestra was set up. (Actually, it was odd how similar it was to glee's assemblies over the years.) The orchestra was of course called in for "Pomp and Circumstance," but they also had some extra duties. Traditionally, the school's choir would sing during the graduation, but as McKinley lacked an arts program, all they had was glee club. Jesse had talked to them about the request, but none of them wanted to have to perform during their own graduation. Particularly for a school that never took their bullying seriously and basically ended the only program that provided protection. Mercedes volunteered to sing the National Anthem and their class's song, though. It was more for her family than anything.
"Pomp and Circumstance" opened, followed by Mercedes singing the National Anthem. Figgins then gave his Welcome and Introduction speech. The man was just lucky Mercedes's voice was framing him because it was pretty clear that he had lost several attention spans. Once High Inergy's "We Are the Future" was finished, Mercedes was given a rightfully earned round of applause as she was the only thing that kept it from being too sappy. She then retook her seat, and their class's keynote speaker took the podium. Most schools would probably have a local politician or some type of local hero give this speech. They, unsurprisingly, had one Sue Sylvester. Despite losing her congressional race and the fact that Sue's Corner did not make her a celebrity and that she certainly wasn't a hero even if she hails from famed Nazi hunters, she was still given the right to give this speech. And what a speech it was. The woman was somehow able to encourage their futures and deride their pasts all while speaking ill of the present. No one was really sure if it was meant to be taken as a compliment or an insult.
Thankfully, the speeches were halted momentarily as it was finally time for everyone to receive their diplomas. It was during this segment that it was made abundantly clear that graduation ceremonies exist mainly for the parents. After every name was announced, some type of cheer rang out from the families present for that student. This was best highlighted by the Hudson-Hummel gang seeing as their sons were right next to each other in line. Of course all the glee kids were given a "special" cheer. Brittany sat with Santana's family, and as she promised before the ceremony started, she would definitely make their cheers the loudest. And from Abrams through Zizes, she kept to her word. And now they just needed to keep to theirs and throw Brittany her own graduation during summer once she received her diploma as well. Perhaps more welcomed by some of their members, they were more grateful that there were no boos than for the extra cheers.
Finally, their class's valedictorian took the podium and gave the grand goodbye speech that welcomed the future. Then the orchestra played the "Coronation March" and hats were not thrown into the air. Apparently they were like considered weapons or something, and anyone who threw their hat would be removed from the premises. After sitting through the last two hours, Quinn kind of wanted to test that weapon theory. This was really something that could've been done within an hour. Instead, once everyone was free to leave their seats, Quinn just unzipped her robe because graduation robes were ridiculous, and the dress she was wearing was cute and newly purchased just for the day. Not everyone had been happy about the dress code. Girls had to either wear a dress or a pantsuit while all boys had to wear a shirt and a tie along with dress pants. And everyone had to be in dress shoes. If not, then they weren't allowed to graduate and would've been asked to leave. This was why Rachel and Artie had to talk Puck out of going completely nude underneath his robes, and why Mr. Hummel had to make sure Kurt didn't slice and dice and redesign his own.
"Happy graduation."
Quinn looked up from her outfit with one of those Quinn-smiles. Or at least that's how Rachel saw it. "Hey."
"I wanted to tell you earlier, but I was busy keeping my fathers' tears in check. You look very pretty today, Quinn." She complimented and got another one of those smiles. Quinn really did need to smile more. Like ninety-five times out of a hundred, the girl should be smiling. "So I was wondering if you maybe wanted to pick me up tonight." Rachel questioned. Sadly, for some reason, this caused Quinn to lose that smile.
"I would, but um…my mom and I are having this graduation dinner thing, and I'll probably actually be late to the party." Quinn explained. It wasn't exactly something she was looking forward to. She was there a few years ago when she and her parents went out to celebrate her sister graduating high school. Scheduled and celebratory Fabray dinners were never enjoyable, and this one would be no different.
"Oh. Well, that's fine." She reassured her. "I hope you have a nice dinner-"
"I can drive you home, though." Quinn said quickly, interrupting. "You know, if you want."
"I'd like that."
"Okay."
"You know the continued shy and Sapphic smiles are becoming quite nauseating for people who aren't you."
Quinn released an aggravated sigh before turning around. Jesse was invited to their graduation because he was still a member of the faculty until after this day. He, of course, declined and sat in the Fabray Section (as he referred to it) instead. It was a great morning getting ready in her house.
"Which could easily be solved if you would stop looking at us." Quinn told him as he completely made his way over to them.
"And what I am supposed to stare at in your place? Finn and Kurt posing awkwardly together?"
Rachel took in the slight annoyance on Quinn's face. She thought up the best way to avoid a spat between the two friends. It was graduation day. There shouldn't be any spats. "Will you be attending the senior party with us tonight, Jesse?" She changed the subject.
Jesse frowned. He thought the answer was obvious. "No."
This regained Quinn's attention. "What? Why?"
"Because I already celebrated this two years ago. It's your night. I certainly don't need to go through it again."
As Jesse went into a tale of his own (not at all boring) graduation parties, Puck and Mike thankfully interrupted as they approached with Brittany and Santana. The four already seemed to be in celebration mode.
"Hello, partying party people. Tonight we celebrate." Puck smirked and looked over the ladies of the group. "And I'm serious. Like if you guys wanted to rotate between partners or-"
Mike frowned. "Um…"
"Leave." Santana glared at both boys. Puck shrugged before he departed with Mike, going over to Mercedes and Sam with the same pitch for celebration coming out.
"Can I try on your hat?" Brittany asked Rachel. She really wanted to wear one of them, but she hadn't asked Santana because her girlfriend looked smart-hot, and she didn't want to ruin the look.
"Uh, sure, Brittany." She removed it from her head and handed it over somewhat hesitantly.
Brittany happily placed it on her own head and jerked to toss the tassel from side to side.
"It's a good look on you." Jesse told her dryly.
She grinned. "I know right."
Santana shook her head fondly but left them alone as she moved over to Quinn. Santana was in an exceptionally good mood today. "So what do you think they're talking about?" She swung an arm around her former (and unjust) captain. Her mother was currently talking to Quinn's ahead of them while her father stood around faking interest.
As they learned back during their first year as cheerios, their parents didn't exactly like each other. They never made it known as both families liked to practice the art of keeping up appearances (even if Santana liked to pretend otherwise and claim the Lopezes were from Lima Heights for her reputation). Both girls found it hilarious that their mothers still went through with the act even though they hadn't been cheerios for a year and a half which gave the older women no real reason to even bother socializing with each other.
"Probably how much they pretend to like each other's daughters." Quinn joked sarcastically because this, too, was true.
Santana snickered. "Oh but, Q, my mom loves that you got knocked up and stole my head cheerio spot."
"Yeah, and my mom has always loved that you're a bitch who gets in fights and is so not a bad influence."
"I'm sure they're all devastated that they'll no longer be in each other's lives." Santana dropped her arm and looked to her girlfriend. "B, give Frodo her hat back. We're taking advantage of the facilities one last time."
Brittany happily grabbed onto Santana's arm, and somehow the two were able to duck past Santana's family and their fellow (ex) classmates, out of the gym. Quinn just shook her head. This school's bathrooms really needed to be scoured.
"For what it's worth, as far as female-female relationships go, I like them better than you two." Jesse told Rachel and Quinn once they were alone again. The aloneness lasted about ten seconds before Kurt was bursting into their bubble.
Kurt focused solely on his friend in the group and looked to Rachel as he grabbed her arm. "Come. We're taking photos." He dragged her away. "This will need to be commemorated one day."
Jesse turned to face Quinn after Rachel and Kurt were safely taking pictures with Blaine a few feet away. "So I suppose some congratulations are in order."
"Finn graduated with no problems. I'm not sure graduating from high school is all that impressive."
"It's never impressive academically." He winked before walking over to a now unaccompanied Judy. The older Fabray was always more fun.
Quinn felt like laughing. Whether it was because she was actually happy or needed a way to keep herself from crying she wasn't sure. She'd like to think getting through the last four years was impressive. After all, it's not everyone that creates a new identity, gets kicked out of their home, has a baby, discovers they might possibly be gay and have feelings for a girl in which they've had a historically turbulent relationship with all in a four year span. But she certainly didn't feel all that accomplished. The majority of the last four years had consisted of her failures; only recently had that changed. None of the expectations she had for this day when entering high school had been met. Jesse St. James talking to her mother instead of her father was a testament to this. She honestly didn't know whether to be proud of herself or just relieved by the fact that it was finally over with.
One of these days, Quinn was going to have to close out a year and actually know how she feels about it.