Lima, Ohio
Present Day
The sun shone over William McKinley High School as it began to set. The students were all but gone for the day. The only noise coming from the hall was from the janitor cleaning up a slushy thrown by some of the more 'popular' students.
One young English teacher was hard at work grading her classes first papers of the year. She was slightly disappointed by the quality of the papers, especially since they had two weeks to complete the assignment. This wasn't exactly how she wanted her first year of teaching to go. As she was approaching the final couple papers in the stack, her phone rang. It was a call from Mercedes. She decided to answer the phone, " Hey Mercedes, what's up?" "Quinn, you're finally answering your phone?! Do you know how many times I have tried to call you? Are you still at work?" Quinn didn't even realize what time it was, but she noticed it was getting late, "Yeah, I think I just lost track of time." "Oh, hell to the no. You need to get out of that school, it cant be healthy to spend that much time there." Quinn laughed a little, amused that she didn't like the idea of spending time in their old high school. "Anyways Q, Im back in town for a few days to visit my parents and catch up with the Lima gossip, you want to grab something to eat?" Quinn didn't really want to leave these papers, but she figured that it was Friday, so she might as well enjoy her weekend. She answered "Sure, just let me know when and where." "How about 7 pm at Breadstix?" "Sounds perfect, see you then." This at least gave her a little time to finish reading this paper before she had to go out.
One paper later, Quinn was on her way to dinner. She had time to spare, so she decided to drop by her house before dinner. As she entered her house she turned on her foyer light and walked to her living room. She dropped her keys on the coffee table and walked into her office/photography studio to drop off her work on the desk. A picture sitting on the desk caught her eye, it was one of her and Santana on graduation day.
Graduation Day
"Can you believe we did it?" Quinn asked Santana as she finished helping her zip up her dress. " Can you believe I did it without killing Berry?" Santana countered. Quinn looked at her scoldingly and responded, "You know, Rachel isnt that bad, she is actually pretty nice once you get to know her. Shes a good friend." Santana laughed, amused that Quinn even talked to her during high school, given their previous history together, " I cant believe you would even say that, she is irritating. If you like her so much, why don't you date her? It would be an improvement from that Jolly Green Giant she cant keep her man hands off of." Quinn wasn't amused, " Ew Santana, I cant even imagine. Either way, she isnt who I want. You know that." Santana became slightly flustered by Quinn's admission. Just as she was going to respond, Mrs. Lopez burst in the room. "Girls, we have to take pictures before we leave! Get in a pose so I can take a photo." Quinn and Santana obeyed and Quinn grabbed Santana in a tight hug, both girls smiling for the picture.
Quinn looked up at the clock at read 6:55, she had been standing there with the picture in her hand for nearly 15 minutes. She quickly grabbed her wallet and made her way to her dinner date.
Quinn arrived at 7:07. She knew Mercedes wouldn't be happy that she was late, so she made her way through the restaurant to where she knew Mercedes would be waiting. As she approached Mercedes in the booth that the Glee kids used to sit in, Mercedes stood up and pulled Quinn in for a hug. "You're late." Chastised Mercedes, " Its good to see you, its been what, like 2 years?" Quinn had to admit, she didn't keep in touch with friends like she should have after graduation, "Yeah, that's my fault, but its great to see you. How is big city life?" " Its been good, New York is one of my favorite places to live, for sure. Now that I have my own apartment and my record deal is finally rolling I can do what I love." Quinn continued, " I love New York. I would consider moving there someday. For right now, Lima is good for me. You finally got your own apartment though, huh? Living with Kurt and Rachel got to you, didn't it?" Mercedes cracked a smile at her last comment, "Yeah, I drew the line when they wanted to sing every time they were home, like, hell to the no. You should consider a move up to New York, there are plenty of schools to teach at and the art scene is amazing."
The two girls ordered their food and continued chatting through dinner. As they finished up they both exited the restaurant and walked out the parking lot. When they reach Quinn's car, Mercedes asked, "So have you heard anything from Santana? I know she up and dissapeared pretty quickly after graduation but I figured youd be the one person she kept in contact with." Quinn was taken by surprise, she didn't expect to be asked a question so long after she left. "No, I havent heard from her, and I probably wont. All I know is that she left me to go god knows where." Mercedes felt sympathetic towards the girl, "So she left you without an explanation too? After all you have been through together?" Quinn felt that familiar twinge of sadness that the memory of Santana brought. Quinn wondered if it would every go away. "Yeah, Im getting over it now. My life is good, im happy. Listen, I gotta run, those English papers wont grade themselves." Quinn smiled at Mercedes and gave her a hug. "Alright girl, just don't work yourself to death, and don't be a stranger. You can totally come visit me any time in New York." And with that, Quinn got in her car and drove off. She had the one person on her mind that she had tried so hard to forget.