Writer's Note- I've been to Glee Live a bunch this passed tour, and its' been one of the best damn things in my life ever. Thank you those of you who are reading, and thank you for the reviews, it means a lot to me. The feedback is freaking amazing, and I love you all. I even got a Tumblr shout out from somebody special :) Enjoy this chapter, and don't hesitate to review, it makes me smile :)
"Quinn...wake up", groaned Santana, still holding Quinn's phone in her hand. When she heard it go off, she assumed it was her phone. Tiredly, she had grabbed Quinn's phone, not really able to pay much attention. Half asleep, and drinking the night before never had mixed well for Santana.
'Mmmmm...noooo", whined Quinn.
"You needs to wake up Q, it's like two o'clock in the afternoon. Plus, you got a text from Jade that you might wanna' take a look at", said Santana. She tossed Quinn's phone at her, and climbed out of bed. Quinn shot up, and grabbed her phone.
"If only you knew the effect you have on her."
"Wow, what does that mean", wondered Quinn, out loud.
"Dunno' but we're for sure hitting that bar again tonight, so I guess you will be finding out", said Santana, as she walked into her bathroom, and sat down down on the toilet.
"Wow, didn't even think about shutting the door, did you", laughed Quinn.
"Bitch, you are in my bedroom, if you don't wanna' watch me pee, you can leave", laughed Santana, tiredly.
Quinn just shook her head, and rolled out of the bed.
Meanwhile, over at Smashed, Jade was cleaning behind the counter. She loved working, and managing the place, but her favorite was when the bar was closed. It was just her, a few random employees, and music playing over the speakers.
Bliss.
She was standing behind the counter, drying some of the glasses, when Puck came walking in.
"Dude, it smells like lemons in here, what the Hell", he asked loudly.
"It's because we scrubbed everything down, you D-bag...don't worry, it will go away by tonight", she laughed.
"Right, so what's Santana's number", he asked, taking a seat at the bar, in front of Jade.
"Please tell me you didn't leave work just to come here and ask me that."
"No, I got out early. Believe it or not, not that many women need Male Escorts during the day."
"I thought a few of your regulars were...daytime cougars...", said Jade, laughing a little.
"They are, but none are biting today. Guess my most recent visits with them made them tired", he said, raising his eyebrows.
"Okay, ew, stop talking. Damn it Puckerman, we've talked about this. I don't need the sick details about your career as a male whore. Ugh, fucking gross", she laughed.
"Oh stop it, I'm not a whore. My boss tells us we're not dude prostitutes, we're small favors for lonely people around the city."
"Yeah, I'm fairly certain that's because your boss doesn't wanna' get busted for being a pimp."
"Whatever, gimmie' San's number."
"I don't have it, I have Quinn's and that's it."
"You got Quinn's number but not Santana's...".
"Mhm."
"Oh my God. You're still scared of San", exclaimed Puck, laughing.
"Shut up, I am not."
"Oh you are. Jade, you're blushing right now, I can see it even through that cocoa colored skin of yours. That is fucking priceless!"
"Here", said Jade, handing her phone to him."Get Quinn's number, text her and get Santana's number. And shut up before I rip that mo-hawk from your skull", she laughed. Puck just shook his head as he continued to laugh, and took her phone.
Quinn was walking through Times Square, listening to music on her iPod. She had her camera wrapped around her neck, and a smile on her face. Despite the thousands of people buzzing, and rolling along around her, she felt so content. Like she had made the right choice to move there, like nothing and nobody could ruin anything for her. It was feeling she thought some people must be jealous of. She wondered what other people's "content" was. She turned a random corner, and stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes glued to a giant billboard being scrubbed off. It looked like somebody had put forth a very large amount of effort to vandalize it, but that didn't matter. The face that was on it was what Quinn's attention was on.
Jesse St. James.
"What the...", she mumbled to herself. From what she could tell, the former Carmel High student was playing a lead role in the show Jersey Boys.
"Disgusting, isn't it", she heard a familiar voice asked. She turned around to see Rachel."It's very unfortunate. Seeing his face all over the place, I mean. Luckily, somebody has been trashing all of them with black spray paint." Quinn didn't say a word, she just studied Rachel. She looked tired, once again, but beautiful. Her make up done to perfection, hair blowing a little in the wind, as she gazed up at the billboard. She had pain in her eyes, and Quinn didn't like it, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture the scene in front of her. She quickly grabbed her camera, and snapped a photo of Rachel.
"Did you really just take a picture of me", breathed Rachel.
"Sorry...you looked...I mean, I just. Sorry", said Quinn, looking away.
"Since when do you carry a camera around", asked Rachel.
"Um, it's why I'm here. Well, why I'm going to NYU. My major is Photography."
"I see", said Rachel plainly."Well, As much as I love Jersey Boys, and the August Wilson Theatre...I need to get back to my job."
"Where do you work?"
"I intern at the Gershwin Theatre."
"Oh, wow isn't that where Wicked plays?"
"It is, how did you know that", asked Rachel, in shock.
"I remember you and Kurt talking about it, after we got back home."
"Oh, right I guess you would know. Since you were planning on ratting us out to Mr. Shu about us sneaking away", laughed Rachel.
"I didn't though."
"Right, well the fact that you actually wanted to is a little disturbing to me. You know, why are you even standing here asking questions? Last I knew, you didn't give a fuck about me." Quinn felt a sharp pain in the pit of her stomach. God, the guilt was enough to make her vomit, right there on the side of the street.
"I don't get it. I don't understand why you pushed me so hard to get away from Lima if you were just going to follow me here."
"Rachel I didn't mean-".
"Are you supposed to be back home, with Finn? Having babies, and selling houses", snapped Rachel, cutting her off."I mean, I left like you wanted me to. One would think that was enough for you, but I guess that's too much for anyone to ask. Especially me."
"Can you please just-"
"You so would! You would be the person to move to where I was, just to punish me even more! I mean, Jesus, I'm still alive, isn't that punishment enough?"
"Rachel! I'm sorry!"
The shorter girl just stared at Quinn for a moment, and then turned away.
"I'm sorry for...everything. I really am", said the blond.
"Yeah? Well, too little, too fucking late, Quinn. Just stay the Hell away from me", said Rachel, before walking angrily down the street. She was walking so fast, Quinn couldn't have responded if she wanted to. Rachel's words hit hard, and they stung. Quinn just stood there, tears threatening to fall, a lump in her throat the size of a golf ball. She managed to keep herself from crying, but still felt so sick. She glanced at her camera screen, and sighed. She pushed a button, and watch as a warning screen appeared.
DELETE THIS PHOTO?
Back at Smashed, Santana had shown up, and was watching Puck and Jade mess around on the stage. Jade was trying to fix something on an electric keyboard, and Puck was strumming on his guitar.
"So, what do you guys just rock out here now?"
"Hell yes, this is the place to do something like that", said Puck.
"Jade, your parents owned the bar, Jolted back in Lima, right", asked Santana. Jade just nodded, without making any eye contact.
"I thought so. That place was awesome, I got to drink there", laughed Santana. Jade smiled, but still wouldn't look up. Puck's cellphone started to ring, and he grabbed it from his pocket.
"Jade, it's your brother, why is he calling me?"
"Gee, I dunno' Puckerman, but answering it might be a pretty efficient way of finding out...".
Puck just rolled his eyes, and hopped of the stage."Yeah, what's up man", he said, answering, and walking away.
"So, how have you been Emo Screamo", asked Santana.
"I dunno'...good I guess", said Jade, quietly.
"Why so shy", asked Santana, with a devious smile on her face. The darker girl just shrugged, and continued to mess with the keyboard.
"Did you move here right after you dropped out?"
"Yeah. That wasn't really the plan, but I didn't have much a choice at the time. I guess it's a good thing I like it here", answered Jade.
"Why didn't you have a choice?"
"Lots of reasons. One, living at my parents house sucked. It sucked bad, and my and Jonah just didn't need to be there at all. That, and Rachel needed me."
"Yeah, what's her deal, why is she so...normal all of the sudden?"
"It's a long story. But, try not to pick on her, okay? She's been through enough."
"It's funny, I don't really remember you hanging out with her much during school. Her, or Puck."
"I was kind of a ghost at school, not many people noticed me. But, I was okay with that, because I found that when I was noticed, it was only as a slushy target", laughed Jade.
"I would have noticed you", said Santana, smiling. Jade finally looked up at her.
"You did notice a few times. I believe your weapon of choice was always either Blue Raspberry, or Grape."
"Ouch, did I slushy you", asked Santana, in shock. Jade nodded.
"Well, that sucks. I'm sorry."
"It's alright", said Jade, sincerely.
"Are you...dating anyone", asked Santana. Jade looked at the Latina. She had a rather suggestive look on her face.
"Oh my God...why are you asking me that?" Santana just shrugged.
"Weird, I thought you were into the tall blondes...". Santana's pervy smile faded fast, and she had nothing to say. Jade felt bad for making the comment, so she changed the subject as quickly as she could."Where's Quinn?"
"At our apartment I guess, I dunno'...we still have so much shit to unpack and organize. She's probably doing that."
"Does that mean you won't have time to come in here later tonight and get wasted off a free bar tab", asked Jade, as she played a random melody on the keyboard.
"Ha! I will be making time for that, trust me", Santana said.
Before anything else was said, Quinn came storming in through the entrance. She looked around, found her two friends in the back, and rushed over.
"Hey Q...thought you weren't gonna' come down", said Santana.
"Jade", said Quinn, ignoring Santana's statement totally. "I need you to tell me what happened to Rachel, and I need you to tell me now."
"Whoa...wait, did I miss something", asked Puck, as he walked back over.
"Hi Puck...not that it's not great to see you, but I need answers", snapped Quinn.
"You need to chill out", said Santana, noticing how fired up Quinn was.
"No, screw calm! I need to know why Rachel is acting the way she is!"
"Quinn, you hate her, why do you need to know so bad", asked Puck.
"Don't worry about it! Just tell me!"
"It's none of your damn concern, so why don't you just drop it", yelled Puck.
"Because I...c-care about her", said Quinn, without even thinking. She couldn't believe the words had left her mouth. She knew she meant it, but to actually hear herself say it was so unreal.
"Bullshit", laughed Puck.
"I'm telling the truth! I'm not trying to get shit on her, I swear...I just, want to know what's going", said Quinn, almost crying.
"You did nothing but fuck with her all through school, so I know you're up to something. Why can't you just leave her alone", asked Puck. He was getting pissed off. He wasn't sure what Quinn's angle was, but he thought he knew for sure that there was indeed an angle.
"Oh, like you never fucked with her during school", asked Santana.
"Yeah, I did, I may have even thrown a slushy her way a bunch of times, but at least I never made a fucking voo-doo doll of her", snapped Puck. Santana just smiled, and shook her head."Oh you think that's funny", asked Puck.
"Okay, everybody just...stop. Please, just stop the yelling", begged Jade, as she stepped away from the keyboard, and jumped off the stage.
"Jade...please. Please, please tell me why she's so broken", asked Quinn, as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Q...it's okay, don't cry...", said Santana. She stood up and moved to her friend, embracing her in a hug.
"Have you talked to her since last night, Quinn", asked Jade.
"Yes, I just ran into her. She's so...so...".
"Lost", said Puck.
"Yeah...lost...I could see it in her eyes", cried Quinn.
"Listen I'm not about to lie to you, Quinn. Seeing you last night really messed with her head. I'm not trying to make it sound like you being here is this big, horrible thing. But...you have this effect on her that's really hard to decipher."
"I don't care about that, just tell me what happened to her", she cried.
"Jesse St. mother fucking James happened to her", said Puck, in an aggravated tone.
"Wait...no...how dose he fit into all this...", asked Santana.
"What did he do to her", asked Quinn, wiping some of the tears from her face.
"What didn't he do", mumbled Puck, thinking nobody heard him.
"Puckerman, stop talking", warned Jade.
"No no no, Jade...please", cried Quinn. She broke away from Santana, and walked right up to Jade. She placed her hands on Jade's shoulders, and looked her directly in the eyes.
"I'm not here to hurt her, I swear."
"I know", said Jade.
"Than please...just tell me."
Jade looked at Puck, and he just shook his head.
"I really think you need to hear this from her, Quinn."
"Jade, she fucking hates me. She isn't going to let me in, and I know you know that!" She was becoming hysterical, and gripping Jade's shoulders pretty hard. Jade could tell how desperate the girl was just by looking into her eyes.
"He scared her away from everything she's ever wanted, and she's done. I can't really be anymore specific than that, and I'm really sorry", said Jade, sadly.
"What did he do?"
"He destroyed her."