Chapter 4: Changes and replacements
Chapter song: "Just you, just me" – Nat King Cole
Time: August

"Oh, hi honey. How was your first day?" Judy chirped as Quinn entered the house. She was sitting on the couch in the living room with a glass of wine on the table and a magazine in her lap. Judy didn't have to go to work until the following week.

"Fine," Quinn sighed with a small smile as she threw her keys at the kitchen counter. She poured herself a glass of water and went into the living room, where her mother was eyeballing her.

"Well, was it nice to see your friends?"

"Yeah, sure."

"And did they have a nice summer break?"

"Guess so."

"All right Quinn, so far you've said fine, yeah, sure, guess and so. Not very impressive for a girl with your vocabulary. Would you like to elaborate, or should I just keep on fishing?"

Quinn rolled her eyes slightly. "Sorry mom. But nothing excited happened. Really. I saw Rachel, Santana, Finn and Brittany. That was kind of it, those were the only ones I had classes with today."

"And you didn't bother to say hello to your other friends?"

"It doesn't work like that mom, you know that. The breaks aren't long enough for tracking down all your friends."

"Lunch break is."

"Well yeah, but…" In Paris Quinn had gotten used to eating four times a day excluding the occasional pastry that followed with the coffee, which resulted in her returning to Lima with a healthy appetite. Therefore she had been starving when their lunch break began that day. But as soon as she entered McKinley High canteen, she saw Sam and Mercedes sitting with the Changs. Sam was feeding Mercedes a spoonful of jelly. Needless to say that Quinn suddenly had suffered a complete loss of appetite. She turned around on her heel and hurried to the girl's bathroom. She had locked herself in a stall and had cried her heart out while telling herself (out loud? I don't even remember, she thought) that she was not going to let their relationship ruin her senior year. "…something came up" Quinn finished and looked down at her hands resting in her lap.

Judy frowned and asked "What came up?"

Quinn looked up and her mother saw her tear filled eyes.

"Oh. I'm sorry dear." She thought for a moment. "Does that mean you didn't get anything to eat today?"

"I suppose so." Quinn hadn't really thought about it, but now her stomach was actually aching from not eating in so many hours. She made a subtle grimace at the pain, but instantly turned it into a smile when she noticed her mother's worried look. "It's okay mom, I'll survive."

"Do you want me to make you something?"

"It's no problem, I can make it myself-"

"No no, sweetie," Judy interrupted. "You go to your room and relax. I remember how exhausting first days can be. I'll bring your food up in a moment."

"Okay, thanks mom," Quinn answered and went to her room.

Less than ten minutes later Judy knocked on the door to her daughter's room and tugged at the doorknob with her free hand. She entered gracefully, careful not to tip the tray her left hand was holding on to.

Quinn was lying flat on her stomach on her bed playing with something shiny. Judy quickly recognized it as the golden necklace Quinn had bought in the Latin Quarter near the Sorbonne University. The
appendage was a tiny golden silhouette of the Eiffel Tower.

"This way I'll always carry a piece of Paris with me," she had stated grinningly while handing the hawker a couple of euros. Judy smiled strained as she didn't really feel comfortable being around the hawker, who at that point was staring hungrily at Quinn.

"Honey, I'm afraid that man is just as French as I'm African," Judy had said nervously.

"Maybe," Quinn had murmured. "But this is the epitome of Paris-" She had held up the little golden tower, making it glisten in the sunlight. "It's beauty in it's purest shape."

Though still feeling very uncomfortable, Judy couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes her daughter was just the whimsiest person she had ever met in her entire life.

"I'd completely forgotten about this," Quinn said without looking up. "You know, I put it in my suitcase when we got home the day I bought it so it wouldn't get lost. I didn't find until just now."

"It's beautiful, honey. Do you think you'll wear it?"

"Uhm, I'd like to. But then I have to replace it with my cross." She looked a little torn. "Would that be inappropriate?"

"Quinnie, your father is the strict Christian, not me. You have been going to church every Sunday for your entire life. I think God will forgive you for not wearing that torture instrument, upon which his son died, around your neck for just a little while."

Quinn giggled at her mother's indifference and figured that she probably had had a little more than that one glass of wine located on the sofa table. She shook her head and turned it to look at her mother and it wasn't until then she noticed the tray Judy was holding.

"Oh, sorry mom." Quinn quickly grabbed the tray from her mother and put it on her bedside table. "You know, you can't keep spoiling me like this. I'm 18 now and not a little girl anymore."

"You may not be a little girl anymore, but you're still my little girl." Judy said with an affectionate tone. "I think you have changed over the summer." She turned around and headed towards the door.

Just as she entered the hall, she heard Quinn murmur "Thanks mom. I love you."

Judy smiled and closed the door behind her.

Thank you for reading!
Oh, this is terribly short and I'm aware that it's been a while since I last updated. I sincerely apologize, school has just been hell. Although, we ARE moving forward; as I wrote in the previous chapter, this is the last chapter of Quinn's first day. In the next chapter the story will really take off. I'm actually almost done with the fifth chapter and - hopefully - I'll finish it on Monday or Tuesday. To all of you kind souls who write reviews: Thank you so very much, you really make my day! You really do! So please don't give up on this story, even though I'm a lazy turtle. I swear this story will go somewhere very soon :-)