Quinn was standing in front of her mirror with her newly acquired Cheerios uniform when Santana and Brittany walked in.
"Geez, Quinn. We are going to have to wear those uniforms everyday at school. Why are you jumping the gun?" Santana sneered, folding her arms. Quinn rolled her eyes and walked to her closet to get her PJs.
"San, be nice. I think Quinn looks pretty in her uniform," Brittany said, smiling. Brittany saying the word pretty flooded Quinn's mind with images of Santana and Brittany from the last day of camp. Was Brittany teasing her or was she just paranoid? She hadn't really talked to either of them, except to plan for this sleepover. Quinn almost convinced herself she was hallucinating, but she couldn't have; Brittany looked straight at her.
"Whatever," Santana dismissed, walking around the bedroom. Avoiding Brittany's eye contact, Quinn took her clothes and retreated to her bathroom to change. When she reappeared, Brittany was staring at her very large portrait of Jesus that her father had hung up for her to remind her that He is always there for her. Quinn always thought it was just his way of saying that He is always watching her.
"No matter where I stand I still feel his eyes on me," Brittany noted, stepping from side to side. Yup, her dad achieved his true goal of using Jesus as a scare tactic. Santana yawned and took out her nail file.
"I'm bored and I am not spending tonight praying. I will leave right now if that's the plan," Santana declared, eyeing Quinn. Being friends had proven to be difficult, but not matter how much they pushed each other's buttons, they needed each other to climb the social ladder and both of them knew that.
"I thought we were going to watch a movie and stay up, talking about boys," Brittany replied, looking concerned at the possibly of not going through with the original plan. They were still interested in boys? Quinn shook the thought and decided to focus on the fact that they wanted to talk about boys.
"We are," Quinn stated, giving Brittany a sweet smile. The taller blonde squealed as she grabbed three DVDs from her bag.
"Yay! I brought three movies: Peter Pan, the Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast," Brittany listed, giving the DVDs to Quinn. She couldn't tell if this girl was serious or not. Sure, she was childish, but Disney movies? Santana seemed to read Quinn's facial expression and spoke up.
"I like the Little Mermaid,"
"You do?" Quinn asked, bewildered. This was not what she thought she would be watching at her first high school sleepover. She assumed a chick flick like the Notebook or Titanic.
"I like the Little Mermaid because it has a really violent villain death," Santana shrugged. Brittany beamed at Santana and then looked at Quinn pleadingly.
"Okay, fine," Quinn sighed, giving into Brittany. Before she knew it, Brittany grabbed her and hugged her.
/
Once the girls watched the movie, talked about their plans for the upcoming school year, and binged on ice cream (it would be their last chance before Cheerios really started), they went back up to Quinn's bedroom to go to bed.
"Are we all going to fit?" Santana asked, slightly annoyed and slightly curious. Quinn was thinking the same thing, eyeing her Queen sized bed.
"Of course, we will," Brittany exclaimed, jumping onto the bed. "We can all cuddle." Quinn looked at Santana, who narrowed her eyes at the other.
"Britt's in the middle," Santana stated, getting into the bed. Realizing she couldn't refuse without having to explain her opposition, Quinn got in the bed on the other side of Brittany and turned off the light. Brittany, completely oblivious to the awkwardness the other two cheerleaders felt, turned towards Santana and snuggled into her.
Quinn couldn't sleep that night. Her mind was racing. In two days, high school started and she still felt a little weird about Brittany and Santana. She shouldn't be judging them because God loved everyone, right? Quinn was more curious, but then her mind wandered to her father. Throughout childhood, he sternly taught her and her sister that girls married boys. He flipped when he found out a same-sex couple lived on their new street. He had never met them, but was still hysterical. Apparently, the family had a daughter around Quinn's age, but she had never seen her and doubted she would ever be allowed to.
"Santana, are you awake?" Brittany whispered, after what seemed like hours. If Quinn was asleep, it wouldn't have woken her, but she wasn't.
"What," Santana groaned, obviously only half awake. Quinn closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. There was some shuffling and before she could decide to open her eyes she heard Brittany kiss Santana. "Brittany, no. St. Virgin is right there." Quinn would've smacked Santana for the poorly given nickname if she wasn't paralyzed by the notion of being caught. She was no perv, but this was the second time she was present for the girls' intimate moment.
"But-,"
"No," Santana urged. There was some more shuffling and a long pause before she spoke again. "It's not like that. You know I like… that. I just don't want to get caught." Brittany sighed and snuggled into Quinn. Santana quietly groaned and scooted into Brittany so she was spooning her. Brittany snuggled into Quinn's shoulder more and Quinn couldn't help but feel small droplets of water fall onto her exposed skin. She didn't know why, but she snuggled back into Brittany and finally began to fall asleep.
/
The first day of high school was such a rush for Quinn. Brittany and Santana seemed to have made up with each other as they strutted down the hallway with Quinn in their Cheerios uniforms. Just by how they carried themselves, people seemed to part for them. Unaffected by the morning practice, Quinn held her head high. Her fresh start was finally here and she was already excelling. Upperclassmen boys were smirking in their direction and girls seemed to be taking notes on how to be like them. Life was good.
"What's up, ladies," a boy with a Mohawk said, smirking. Quinn could tell his intentions a mile away and she wasn't interested.
"Noah Puckerman," Santana replied, flirtatiously.
"It's Puck now," he announced, now checking Quinn out. Unamused at the lack of attention, Santana's mood turned sour.
"Well, what do you want, Puck?" Santana growled, folding her arms. Unfazed by the Latina's mood, Puck just smiled.
"I'm on the football team now and since you all seem to have become Cheerios, it's only fair that I invite you to the first party of the year this Friday. An upperclassman is hosting," Puck said, obviously proud of his new social stature. Before Santana could replied, Brittany jumped in.
"I'll go,"
"Great, now what about you two," he proposed, raising an eyebrow.
"If Britt's going, then I'm in," Santana declared, quickly glancing over to the tall blonde.
"Cute," Puck stated, teasingly. Puck and Santana had to of known each other from middle school or in someway from the past. Puck looked back at Quinn. "What do you say…?"
"Quinn, and I don't know," Quinn looked towards the other two Cheerios and saw their confusion. A Cheerios almost never said no to these types of parties. "Fine, I'll come."
"Sweet. I let you pretty ladies know more later," Puck said, before walking off towards an extremely tall boy. Quinn noted to sweet talk her parents into letting her stay at Santana's house on Friday.
"Oh my god, look at that… hobbit," Santana said, pointing towards a short brunette. In Quinn's opinion, the girl wasn't bad looking. The girl's style seemed to replicate a school girl uniform with her high white socks, pleated skirt, and argyle sweater vest that covered a white short-sleeve shirt. She also seemed to hold the same amount of confidence as Quinn did, despite lacking a Cheerios uniform. The girl held her head tall and instead of a cold glare like Quinn, she wore a big smile. She was at the club sign up board and looked to be signing up for every club available. Who was this girl?
"She looks challenged," Brittany agreed, tilting her head. Did Brittany just insult her? What happened to the overly loving blonde? Before Quinn could say anything, the warning bell rang.
"Off to English," Quinn announced, turning her attention away from the brunette.
"Where's room G, Y, M?" Brittany asked, looking at her schedule.
"Gym, Brittany… I'll walk you there," Santana answered, pulling the blonde along. Quinn walked off towards English, assuming she would find the girls later.
/
By the time lunch came around, Quinn had a good sense of the school and the various social elites. Football and Cheerios ruled, followed by the rest of the varsity jocks, then came the Skanks and potheads (not favored, but no one really bothered with them). After that, there was a drop. There was a cluster of kids that didn't really fit into any social group and sometimes fell victim to bullying, but the true victims were those kids who were labeled "geeks". Quinn was still gathering a list of these "geeks", but noticed most were either targeted via slushy or got thrown in the dumpster.
Lunch was boring. Sue had them on a new, very strict, diet. Most girls had already eaten their calories of the day and would rather skip lunch instead of drink the protein shake they were given. While Brittany and Santana eagerly listened to an older Cheerio talk about who she hooked up with over the summer, Quinn excused herself to the bathroom. Upon entering, she came face to face with the brunette from earlier, only this time she was covered in a slushy. Her smile was gone as she was frantically trying to get the slime out of her hair.
"Here, let me help," Quinn said, not realizing until after that it was probably a bad idea. The brunette noticed her discomfort at her words and waved her off.
"I am perfectly fine. I would rather not get you in trouble or gain false hope in a friend," She replied, trying her best to appear fine. The blonde could see through her and could care less about the "rules" at the moment. Quinn walked to the door, locked it and turned around.
"We're safe from the hierarchy," Quinn smiled, walking back over to the brunette. She guided her head back under the faucet and silently grazed her fingers through the other girl's hair. Soon enough, the purple slushy drained out and the brunette now only had to worry about the stains on her clothes.
"I'm Rachel Berry," she said, smiling a bit. She still seemed defeated by the slushy attack. Quinn smiled and handed her some paper towels.
"Quinn Fabray,"
"It's quite aggravating; the fact that we can't be friends. You, being a Cheerio, and me, now being labeled as a loser. I do wish the social status at this school didn't matter so much to our peers, but alas it does. I thank you for your generosity and hope to see you in the future, without such social constraints. Perhaps you would like to stop by the auditorium after school," Rachel spoke fast and nervously, constantly looking down at her feet. Quinn could barely keep up. She kept her eyes trained on her lips, almost hypnotized. Thankfully, she caught onto the end of the monologue.
"I have Cheerios practice," She said, turning around and walking out of the bathroom. She couldn't help, but think of Rachel the rest of the day. The short girl was amusing and sweet. She caught the girl looking at her across the room in math class, but quickly looked away when their eyes met.
"Looks like somebody's got a crush," Santana whispered, smirking at Quinn. Quinn had to remind herself that the Latina was referring to Rachel and not her.