Return to Sender, Damaged in Transit
...
She's done with being hung up on Finn. Quinn knows he's not even close to being worth it anymore and they've barely said two words to each other since the whole kiss thing anyway. He'd made an attempt at an apology but she'd shot him down quickly and turned around and walked away. It'd be a lie. Clearly he's not really sorry because he's with Rachel. She's even done with amusing herself with interesting ways to kill the midget diva. (Mostly.) If the final glee club rehearsal of the year has told her anything, it's that every single aspect of her life now involves either Finn or Rachel and like godforsaken zombies, no matter how many times she shoots them in the face, they just keep coming back. Finn she can understand, his skull is so thick it's probably bulletproof, but she honestly doesn't know how Rachel manages it. Unless her nose somehow causes enough of a deflection. Either way, it has to end. Like right now.
Senior year is going to be about her, and not them.
But before that she has the entire summer to get though and she has no intention of seeing anyone from McKinley for most of it. Sure Mr. Schue mentioned that they could meet up over the summer 'for fun' but school's over and Quinn's not going back. This of course doesn't include the fact that she's signed up for a couple of summer AP courses, but it's not as though she'll run into anyone from glee club there anyway.
She hasn't really given her night with Jesse, or what she can remember of it, much thought. Yes she now has his phone number (she doesn't recall ever asking him for it) but she doesn't have a good enough reason to call him. Part of her thinks that's exactly what he wants anyway. There's the other nagging part of her that keeps thinking of him though. The part of her that scrolls past his name every now and again. She's doing her best to ignore it – she's good with repression – then again, look how that turned out. In fact there was that one time last weekend where she had meant to call Brittany and accidentally dialled his number instead.
She'd hung up before the call could even be connected.
It's annoying and not to mention, confusing for her to deal with. With summer classes, college applications and SAT tests coming up, he should be the last thing on her mind. Quinn figures she'll just wait it out until Jesse decides to leave Lima for good. From what he'd said to her during their night in New York, it can't be much longer.
It's just as Judy is saying grace during dinner that she hears her phone ring; she almost drops it when she sees Jesse's name on the screen. At first Quinn decides to just let it ring, except that Jesse continues to call several times after and her mom gives her a look that tells her to either answer or get back to praying. She excuses herself to her room and finally picks up.
"Yes?" she asks, sounding a lot more sure of herself than she actually is.
"Quinn, it's been too long."
"Why are you calling me?" she asks, shutting her bedroom door and laying on her bed. So she goes straight to the point and is probably a little bitchier than she intends to be but...old habits die hard. That and he just got her two psalms worth of reading out loud. It's a ridiculous routine that her father had started and if Judy knew better, she would stop it. Neither Quinn nor her mother really should be reading those verses anyway. But they don't talk about much else and at least it fills time before the usual conversation about school and work.
"Well two weeks have passed since our little night out and you haven't called me." His tone is casual and light, as always, but she swears she hears a hint of an accusation. She really doesn't know why she feels a little guilty – she shouldn't.
"I haven't had a reason," she shrugs, trying to keep her voice as indifferent as possible.
"And now you don't need one. How've you been?"
She swallows and comes out with a stiff "Alright I guess." They've never really had to make small talk before, Finn and Rachel have always been the catalysts for their conversations, and she isn't entirely sure where this is going.
"I take it you're done with school?"
They talk about McKinley a little, it leads to them both criticising the place, him for its subpar stage lights, her for well, everything else. For a while, everything is normal again. She's beginning to think that the only way they can talk is if they're commenting on the faults of others. What that says about the kind of people they are, she doesn't want to know. It's only when he asks her to have coffee with him that it stops being easy and Quinn kind of hates herself for putting on the brakes and telling him no. It's not as though coffee actually translates into anything but she'd still be out, with a boy, and boys are not supposed to be a part of her summer. She'd already let Jesse in too far that night and to continue now would just be setting herself up for failure.
"Look Jesse," she says, shifting so that she's sitting up again. "That night was fun. A lot of fun. But that was New York and this is Lima and..." Her voice trails off as she struggles to come up with a good enough reason not to see him again.
"I always thought you were clever Quinn. Are you taking AP Geography?" he asks and she can practically hear the smirk in his voice. His tone's different too; unlike anything she's heard when he's spoken to her...he sounds more like he does when he's speaking to Finn.
Quinn takes in a deep breath to keep from snapping at him (she knows he's fishing for a reaction from her) and calmly says "It's not as if we're friends." It comes out a little harsher than she intends but she's not just going to sit there and take his passive-aggressive crap. She's smarter than that.
"You're right, we're not friends." There's a slight pause before he continues. "But I don't like thinking of you upstairs in your room hating the world all the time." Quinn's a little taken aback by his words and she bets he's being abrasive on purpose. But how can he just expect her to have coffee with him? She hasn't been out for coffee with a boy in well, forever. They'd probably go to the Lima Bean where of course, they'd see either Kurt or Mercedes or Santana and then the rumours would fly. She doesn't need that. She doesn't need anyone talking about how she's gunning for Rachel's leftovers. Quinn feels bad for turning him down but at the same time he's being an ass and fuck, it's stupid how one phone call has her so wound up. "What are your plans for the rest of the summer anyway?" he asks, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She's not going to let him on to the fact that he's causing her so much internal conflict. The best defence? Offence. "I'm doing something worthwhile with my time like you know, getting a job. A real job."
And...Point to Miss Fabray.
She's pretty sure Jesse catches onto her not so subtle insinuation. He's hardly Finn. Nevertheless, he doesn't seem dissuaded in the slightest. "Good for you. And what is this job you speak of?"
"I'm going to work at the public library," she says, lifting her chin at the very mention of it. And yes, she is proud of it. It had taken a lot of convincing to get the head librarian to even consider hiring someone who had no experience, and while she isn't exactly going to be a proper librarian, it's better than nothing. More than that, it's a hell of a lot better than being a church camp counsellor. She'd done that last year, after getting rid of the baby fat, and while it reassured her of her faith, it also made her spend countless hours with children. Crying, homesick, tantrum throwing children. She'd had to focus really hard on the whole faith part to cancel out the irony of the situation and at least at the library, she'll be getting paid.
"Interesting. You chose this because it's unlikely that anyone from McKinley will come in for a bit of 'summer reading' right?"
Technically yes. But she isn't about to tell him that.
Neither of them says anything for a good minute and she hears him take in a deep breath. When did she get so awkward when talking to boys? It's her that has people speechless, not the other way around. And why on earth does she feel like she owes him something? "Jesse –" She's interrupted by her mother knocking on the door and telling her dinner's getting cold and that it's inappropriate to just leave and shut herself in her room. "How much of that did you hear?" she asks him softly, wincing a little.
"Enough."
Her mother knocks again and Quinn tells her she'll be down soon. "I have to go Jesse."
"Yeah okay." He hangs up before she can say goodbye and she surprised by her own disappointment. She's pretty sure she's never been hung up on before. But at the end of the day, like they both agreed, they're not really friends. They're not really enemies either. She's sure of that.
After dinner, she checks her phone, just in case.
No recent calls.
Quinn stares at the ceiling for a whole hour, telling herself that the only reason she keeps checking her phone is to see what time it is and how many more hours there are before she has to get up.
...
Author's Note: He has an ego and she denies everything. Dear me. This is where we start getting a little AU. I'm not going to include Skank!Quinn, only because I had planned this story out over the summer. Besides I've got another idea in my head for that ;) I hope you all enjoy reading this and take the time to leave a review :)