"No, dad, don't worry, honestly– I' fine." Charlie pressed her back to the brick wall and soaked up the Lima sun, it was nothing compared to back home, but frankly it was the only piece of familiarity that she could still cling onto. She wished she could lie in the sun all day. Actually she wished she could just go home, where people knew her, where things felt safe. Where she knew herself. A place where she wasn't hated by on the only person that meant the world to her. Charlie's stomach churned nervously, the feeling was unbearable and incredibly unfamiliar, Charlie wasn't exactly one to get nervous, no, she was the opposite. Ever since she could remember Charlie hadn't cared what other people thought of her, she would always stand up for what she believed in and always did what she felt was right, no matter what the social complications were. But the problem with Quinn was that she didn't know what was right. She was over flown with guilt and it tore her apart from her very core. What did I do to make her hate me this much. A tear threatened to fall but she wouldn't let it, she would be strong, she would keep her head up and she wouldn't get in Quinn's way if that's what she wanted. She'd leave the girl alone, and she'd respect that. Hadn't she come with the same idea? Charlie thought back to when she first found out about her fathers plans. She thought she wouldn't want anything to do with Quinn. All of Quinn's characteristics trumped any desire to have a sister or pretend to be a happy family. But she looked past that, she didn't blame Quinn for her mistakes, and as soon as she saw her all she wanted to do was be there for her. But now she didn't have another choice.
She listened to her dad talk reassuringly how of course he knew she was fine, since she was his big girl and she was strong and all that, but Charlie just couldn't feel the sentiment. She felt stupid for not being able to even go into that damn high school. What had happened to her? She was confident, she was brave, fearless. She felt like everything she had ever been was left in a room in a city that she'd never see again. "Thanks dad" she mumbled weakly, wanting the conversation to end as her throat began to turn dry. "Everyone's really friendly here, moms great" she tried to sound more enthusiastic, it was almost believable, it had to be – no way was she getting him worried. That would mean he would visit and if Quinn already hated her then this would be the cherry on top. She wrapped an arm around her chest loosely and fiddled with a wild blade of grass that squeezed out the bottom of the brick wall. A pest, a nuisance, unwanted and destroying the perfect order of this little street. Charlie looked down at that stupid blade and had never felt more a like to something in her entire life. Great. Hi I'm Charlie, the weed. She finished the phone call and plunged her phone into her bag. No one else would call her for a while so she hardly needed her it in a pocket.
McKinley High School was about three streets down, it would only take Charlie a minute to dive into her new life. That minute felt like a lifetime, and those streets felt almost never ending. She wasn't scared, no, but she was something else. Nothing waited for her behind those walls, no bright future or good memories to be made. But if only Charlie knew how wrong she was. With a sigh she pulled her knees under her and scrambled out her camera from her bag. The automatic process of removing the lens cap and switching the setting was almost instantaneous for the wild flame and soon Charlie found herself in her world again. A world where she was safe. A world of her own.
Rachel patted on her heels back and forward a little, the rocking motion gave her something to do, perhaps something to focus on. Her hands grabbed onto each other tightly behind her back, they felt sweaty and uncomfortable but at least they were steady, just like her eyes that had been firmly planted on the floor and only gathering courage to flicker up into those hazel ones ever so often. The moment was short and soon she retracted back to the polished cream floor of Glee club. Why? Because Quinn Fabray, the same Quinn Fabray that had tormented her and made it so hard to be friends actually opened up to her. And everything that Rachel believed Quinn to be shattered with her seeing just one look in her eye, that look was like a crack into the light behind those glazed eyes. Sure it disappeared almost immediately, but it confirmed what Rachel had known all along. That there was more to Quinn Fabray that she knew.
When Rachel asked her what was the matter she didn't expect a reply. At the most she hoped and yearned for a simple turn down with the one liner. "I'm fine" would have been a dream answer. It was better than the possibility of trigging the lion within the blond that would open her deep red lips and viciously slaughter everything that Rachel managed to be that morning. It was stupid, the fact that she was getting nervous. And Rachel didn't like being stupid. I don't mind being stupid for you. She slapped the thought out of her head with such a speed that she almost lost track of what Quinn had just said, which was terrible since she wasn't a girl of many words.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat the last part?" she said nervously, it was like walking on egg shells. She wasn't sure if at any one moment Quinn would snap, this almost friendly talk turning out to be a trap. Rachel would end up only more mortified. Leaning against the piano she took a deep breath, the kind she took before belting out an alto. It helped, she seemed calm, almost okay. Her hands stopped shaking as they made their way down to each side of her skirt, and her eyes slowly but confidently found Quinn's with more reassurance than they have ever mastered. Impressed, Rachel was definitely impressed. If it wasn't for the situation she would definitely reveal the smile of success that threatened to creep onto her smooth lips.
"I said that I'm going to have to be civil since she's staying here for the whole year" Quinn repeated, a look of absence in her eyes. Rachel wondered what thoughts lingered behind them, but somehow they seemed just too far too reach. Too dangerous, too wild, too unimaginable. Of course Rachel found out last night about Quinn's twin, the revelation at dinner had definitely come as a shock, but even though she was aware she still acted a little surprise when Quinn revealed it to her. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a sense of duty to hear it from her first. The problem was that though Rachel sympathised with Quinn's change in her life, she was desperate to meet Charlie. Of course in a general perspective meeting a new person that looks exactly like someone you already know was definitely something Rachel wanted to experience, but subconsciously there was something about Charlie Fabray that she found...fascinating. Rachel didn't know just how fascinating she would find the other blonde when the time came.
"Is she really that bad? I mean it must be tough for her..." Rachel regretted the words as soon as they slipped out. She wanted to run across the room and grab them before Quinn had a chance to process them, but the expressions on the blondes face changed and Rachel held her breath as she tried to read it. No, she wasn't angry. But it would've been easier if she was. She looked almost defeated.
"No. She's not bad, Rachel. That's the worst part" Quinn looked away, but not with the anxiety that the gleaming brown eyes that Rachel had looked away with, but more to herself, as if she was looking at something Rachel just couldn't see. She wondered if she'd ever see what she saw. "I guess you'll just have to meet her yourself" Quinn said with a roll of her shoulders. Rachel offered a small nod, a gesture that wasn't just a confirmation but maybe a little more than that. Whatever it was, it got her to look at Rachel. And really look at her. Look at her in a way that she never had before, actually in a way that Rachel had generally never been looked at by anyone. It was like a crowd of a thousand gazing up at her, all those peoples locked into the two shining stars captured in Quinn's hazel stare. Rachel swallowed hard and averted her attention to the music books on the piano, breaking the gaze.
"I-I should get ready for glee club, of course if you want her to join that's more than okay since we could always use more people and if her voice is anything like yours then she'll be a great addition to our team – but if you don't want her to tha-that's fine." Rachel scanned the chords and notes mindlessly, her back faced to the blonde, attempting to sound as nonchalant as possible. The sound of her shoes tinkering on the cold firm floor coming closer to Rachel made her almost tense.
"Oh" Quinn breathed closer to Rachel than she'd ever been. She felt her heart drum through her ears rushing with blood, they felt hot and she felt as if her ribs would snap at any time. "She's nothing like me" Quinn added in that hoarse voice that slithered the silence like a knife. And like that she was gone from the room, leaving Rachel with only a piano and a feeling in her heart that she could no longer ignore.
She was hot for Fabray. Little did she know, it would soon be in the plural form.