DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

Chapter One: Hell-O

It was lunch time and Quinn was in the cafeteria, sitting with Mercedes, Kurt, Tina and Artie. Ever since word had gotten out that she was pregnant, Quinn was no longer eligible to sit at the "cool kids" table. Rarely did Quinn have the appetite to eat in front of a whole crowd of kids staring at her, but when she did, she was thankful she could sit with her friends from Glee. A loser was less of a loser when she had other loser friends.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Finn storm into the cafeteria, scanning the room until his eyes landed on their table. For a few moments, Quinn wondered and hoped he was coming for her. Maybe he had dumped Santana and Brittany the way he had dumped Rachel, realizing that he and Quinn were truly meant to be, despite her carrying Puck's bastard child.

His eyes locked with hers and Quinn noticed that Finn slowed down considerably. His eyes were full of an emotion that Quinn couldn't quite identify. Was it longing? Perhaps loathing? Quinn watched Finn until he broke eye contact with her the moment he reached their table.

Finn turned to Mercedes. "We have a problem. Rachel is dating Jesse St. James."

"How is that my problem? You're the one who dumped her for a chance with two Cheerios."

Finn glowered. "Jesse St. James is the lead singer of Vocal Adrenalin."

At this, Mercedes, Kurt, Tina and Artie gasped. They all stood up from their seats at the table, except for Artie because he couldn't. Tina had placed her two hands down on the table in exclamation, while Kurt was waving his arms around in the air. Quinn might have watched them and have found it mildly amusing had she been looking at them. However, her eyes were still trained on her ex who was looking so painfully tragic. Maybe he had been taking up drama lessons from Kurt.

"But Vocal Adrenalin is the team to beat at Regionals!"

"What's Rachel doing fraternizing with the enemy?"

"I bet he's a spy trying to sabotage us!"

"What if she leaves us for them?"

While the rest of her teammates were panicking, Quinn remained silent. None of them noticed. She wasn't sure if they were just used to her being so quiet all of the time ever since her life had changed for the worst, or if they were just so self absorbed in their current issue.

Jesse St. James. Why was that name so familiar? It couldn't possibly be because he was the lead singer of Vocal Adrenalin. Prior to joining New Directions, Quinn hadn't been interested at all in the music scene, let alone be a fan enough to know the top talent. He obviously didn't go to this school, and even if he did, Quinn didn't usually bother knowing people's names unless they were someone worthy of knowing. The question nagged at Quinn and she knew she wasn't going to be able to concentrate on anything until she figured out the answer.

"I told you we have a problem. You need to talk to her. She won't listen to me!"

"I propose we confront her in the choir room before practice," Kurt suggested.

"If all of us were there, Rachel would have no choice but to listen to us," Artie reasoned.

"Count me out," Finn said, "She'll only think I'm biased. I'll leave this to you guys."

"I'm out too," Quinn finally spoke. "Rachel might think I'm only doing this for revenge." Upon hearing her voice, Finn's eyes finally returned to meet Quinn's. The eyeball exchange between the two of them was intense, and the conversation around them slowly started to die out. Or maybe Quinn had just tuned them out as she focused on Finn, she wasn't sure.

"Uhh, so it's agreed? Kurt, Tina, Artie and I will meet Rachel at the choir room immediately after last period. We'll talk to her before practice starts," Mercedes said, looking around the table.

The others murmured their agreement, but Quinn kept her eyes locked onto Finn's.

Suddenly, Finn looked uncomfortable and mumbled his thanks before backing out of the cafeteria. Quinn felt someone - maybe Tina or Mercedes, despite all of his products, Kurt's hand wouldn't felt this feminine - place a hand over hers in consolation.

"I- I need to go," Quinn said abruptly, quickly fleeing the group. Dealing with being a loser and sitting at the loser table was one thing, but Quinn couldn't handle their pity.

Before any tears could fall, Quinn rushed to a rarely used comfort room on the third floor. She had become a frequent visitor to this room - not wanting anyone to see her during her weakest moments. This was the room where Quinn experienced her morning sickness pains, where she cried when the emotion was too much for her to bear. No one had the chance to see the fallen queen bee when she was most vulnerable when she was within the safety of these walls.

Quinn hated feeling weak. She hated how she could no longer control her feelings. She missed having the ability to manipulate the feelings of others as opposed to just her own. She could no longer make Finn happy with a single smile, or make random people feel blessed to have passed her in the hallway, she could no longer have her parents proud of having such a morally upright daughter. In the same manner, she could no longer crush Rachel's hopes about being with Finn, no longer terrify the losers with a coverless slushy cup and a determined look on her face, no longer able to silence the Cheerios with a single look.

Looking into the mirror, Quinn dried her eyes and splashed some water on her face. She reapplied her make-up carefully before checking the time. Ten more minutes before the second bell rang signaling the end of lunch period. Quinn needed to get to her next class on time, she really didn't want her classmates to poke fun that she needed extra time just to get around.

What a miserable existence her life had come to.

Author's Note: I'm back and this time with a multi-chapter fic! I've pretty much written the whole story (total of six chapters) because I have a problem with not finishing things I started, so I wanted to post the first chapter only after I had finished everything. I'm still rereading everything and working out some kinks, so I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the story as we go along.

Speaking of feedback, I would just like to say that this website - www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/tv/Glee/10/0/0/1/0/42435/23374/0/0/1/ is my current drug. I believe I check this at least twice a day for any updates. I'm so happy to see that there are already 22 St. Fabray stories posted! I am a firm believer that the number of Comments don't determine how good the story is, but I do recommend you to go out and read all 22 stories and comment on all the stories! More comments inspire writers to write, and more inspired writers mean more St. Fabray fics!