AN: Thank you everyone that has taken the time to review. And thanks to those adding me, and the fic to their favourites/subscription list. It should be known that the prologue will be very lengthy, so she won't be going to LA any time soon. But it will be worth it. What's better than backstory, deleted scenes and character development? Also, this part is rated T. It's nothing much, but it isn't pleasant.
She had known that she couldn't go home yet, that as soon as she entered the silent house her mind would be bombarded with the imagery of Rachel, in a ridiculously short skirt practically procreating with her boyfriend for all to see. The assembly wasn't due to let out for another ten minutes, so Quinn had taken a seat on the curb in front of the parking lot. Her breaths were coming in ragged pants, her nostrils flaring as her chest rose and fell heavily. She let her head fall forward to rest on her knees and tried gravely to deflate the anger continuing to swell beneath her ribs, stiffening when she felt a hand tighten around her shoulder.
She turned her face with every intention of projecting the growing animosity at whoever had dared to approach her, though she immediately relaxed when she found Puck standing above her, his palms held out in surrender and a smirk playing on his lips. He said nothing but offered her his hand, which she took and he had lead her to his truck. As they drove he stayed silent, Quinn encouraged him to remain so by continuously changing the radio station.
When they pulled up to his house, Puck broke the silence only to mumble that his mom and little sister were out of town visiting his grandparents. He took her hand once again and they walked up the stairs to his bedroom where he ushered her to sit on his bed before pulling out a wine cooler from his stash. She wordlessly snatched the bottle from him, uncapping and emptying its contents in one fluid motion. Puck's smile widened and he quickly handed her another drink, sipping a beer of his own. Quinn was unsure of when she had gone from being perched on the end of his bed, to reclining comfortably with her back against the headboard. She safely assumed that it was at some point during her second and sixth wine cooler. Puck had laid down beside her, his arm bent and supporting the weight of his head as he alternated between nodding in agreement to something she said, and eagerly handing her another drink from the box he had pulled up to their side, seconds after she finished the last.
With every grateful swallow of alcohol, her muscles released the angry tension and the connection from her brain to her mouth loosened. She felt vulnerable for the first time since the summer before freshman year, asking Puck over and over if he thought she was ugly. If he thought that Rachel was prettier than her, if her body was fat in the places that Rachel's lack of clothing had earlier displayed she was toned. Puck had scoffed, telling her adamantly that she was beautiful, that Rachel Berry was no comparison to her.
She didn't trust his words though and before she could compose herself, the tears had begun to fall. Puck took the wine cooler from her fingers, placing it on the nightstand along with his solitary beer bottle. She didn't push him away when he kissed her, desperate to know that someone still found her attractive. Finn's mouth had always felt too wet, too graceless whereas Puck was kissing her with purpose. He'd obviously had a lot of practice, but his mouth was still too dry, his tongue too hasty when he forced it past her teeth.
Quinn half-heartedly tried to remember how many wine coolers she had accepted from the football player who was not her boyfriend, but her brain had apparently already succumbed to drowning in the toxic haze. When he grasped her by the waist and roughly pulled her down until her head was resting against the pillows, kissing along her throat, she knew that she should stop him. But he was mumbling into her skin that she was perfect, and she needed to keep hearing it.
When Puck began removing her clothes, she trained her eyes on a specific crack in the ceiling, only paying attention to the words slipping from his lips every few minutes. His touches weren't gentle, betraying the sentiments that he cared about making her feel good.
It was over quickly and Puck suddenly rolled his body off of hers, zipping up the jeans he hadn't bothered to remove. Quinn watched as he walked over to turn on his Xbox, not sparing her a single glance. She sobered immediately, gathering the comforter up and around her shoulders in order to protect her naked form from the suddenly chilly air. When it became clear that Puck was no longer interested in her company, she'd stood and dressed with all the dignity she could muster. She didn't speak a word to the boy who was now sat shirtless in front of his TV on a beanbag, muttering profanities whilst virtually tossing hand grenades. She ignored the dull ache between her legs as she slipped from the room, down the stairs and out the front door. Only when starting the long walk back to her own home did Quinn allow her tears to fall freely.
Quinn hadn't slept much that night, though she had showered vigorously three times before kneeling to say her prayers, she could still smell Puck's odour lingering on her skin. She could feel the heavy phantom weight of his body pressing down on her as she lay in her own bed, and hear the sounds of his catching breath loudly in her ears.
When her alarm sounded at 5:00am, Quinn had long been awake. She started to neatly remake her bed, but as she folded down the top of the comforter, the strong scent of Axe deodorant overpowered her senses. Grimacing for a moment, she did not hesitate in tearing the linen from her bed and dumping it into a garbage bag.
When Quinn walked through the school's main doors with Santana by her side, she faltered as she noticed Puck advancing on them. He greeted his girlfriend with a wide smile, pulling her in for a deep kiss whilst conspicuously watching Quinn. Bile rose in her throat as Santana bid her goodbye and pulled Puck away by the hand, the boy turning to wink at the blonde over his shoulder.
By the time third period let out, Quinn was exhausted. She'd been avoiding Finn all morning and her boyfriend hadn't seemed to notice. She would have been relieved if it hadn't been for the fact that every time her hazel eyes would scan the surroundings for possible escape routes, she would see him talking animatedly with Rachel. And when the hushed fury began to simmer in her stomach, bubbling out and dousing her organs, she could feel the eyes of everyone around her, waiting with bated breath in hopes of bearing witness to the imminent explosion.
But Quinn was far beyond petty tactics, she needed something bigger. Just like she had with Chrystal Sullivan, she needed to know the most intimate of secrets pertaining to her enemy in order to bring her down. Unfortunately, Quinn could only think of one environment that would allow her to openly study Rachel Berry with no defences. During their shared World Lit class, Quinn laid out her plan to Santana and Brittany. The Latina was rightfully mortified, but after Quinn presented her with the opportunity of destroying the club from within and harbouring a colossal amount of information to turn against the gleeks in the process, she conceded.
Brittany had joined the Cheerios as an extension of her love for dance, she had already enthusiastically agreed to support Quinn as soon as the blonde had mentioned joining the glee club, before Quinn had even gotten around to the fact that they were infiltrating with the intention to disband. They decided on spending the majority of their lunch period choosing and downloading a song and putting together some simple choreography, then they would audition for Mr Schuester in the practice room before fifth period.
Mr Schuester invited them into the room kindly, easily accepting Quinn's proclamation that she wanted to be a part of the glee club to lend support to Finn. Quinn was a decent singer, though she was no belter, her sister had once told her that her voice could bring people closer to God. They performed a shortened version of "I Say A Little Prayer" in order to solidify the wholesome nature that they could bring to glee that the club was direly lacking. Mr Schuester was beside himself with joy, immediately clapping each of them on the shoulder and handing them a laminated schedule of practice times.
Once they exited the band room, Santana had made a gagging sound in the back of her throat and headed in the direction of Coach Sylvester's office. She explained to her two friends that it would be better for them to inform the coach that they were enrolling in glee themselves, before she found out on her own and threw them off of the squad.
Quinn liked to think that she had come to understand Sue Sylvester marginally well, she had somewhat idolized the older woman when first beginning her rise to power. Sue was ruthless; she achieved everything she set her mind to with the ease and grace of an Amazonian warrior. Quinn decided to play it tactful, effortlessly portraying the role of an endearing teenage girl worried about losing her boyfriend. She knew Sue's thought process, and that it would be far less painful for all of them if the coach believed that she had concocted a greater, more devious plan all by herself.
Coach Sylvester may have been feared by the majority of both students and faculty members alike, known throughout Lima for her questionable teaching methods, but she was also predictable in her approach to abolition. Seek, stalk, and destroy. After setting her sights on her unsuspecting victims, she would spend time watching, sending in camouflaged minions to gather evidence. Then she would use said evidence to obliterate the opposition. This time was no different to any other. Quinn internalised the urge to smile victoriously as Sue's eyes brightened, she leant across the desk conspiringly and adopted the tone of a highly strung General.