'Monday,' I realize as I shut my 4:30 alarm off and groan. 'God I hate Mondays. Who ever thought that starting a school year on a Monday was good for morale needs to fall in a hole and never come out.' I get out of my warm bed, put some sweats on over my shorts, and make my way next door to Brittany's room. I knock on her door and say loudly as I step in, "Come on B, time to get up. It's the start of the new school year and you know what that means? Exactly! Sylvester's mandatory 6:15 practice." I walk over to her bed to nudge her awake when I see black hair instead of blonde and pause. I hear the toilet flush from the en suite bathroom B and I share and figure she is in there already getting ready.
I smile mischievously as I tiptoe the rest of the way and pull back Brittany's duck blanket to find Santana snoring lightly. I bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud as I grab underneath the edges of the mattress and pick it up the right side easily, flipping a now very disgruntled Santana off of the bed.
"Fuck," S screams as she lands hard on the wood floor. "Damn it Q! Why can't you wake me up like a normal person," she asks exasperatedly as she wraps the blanket around her, making sure she's covered as she stands. Finally getting a grip on my amusement, I throw her cheer uniform at her, she catches it before it hits her scowling face.
"Because San, I've known you for sixteen years and the only way for someone, other than Britt, to get you out of bed is by force," I answer her. I look at the unmoving tan body and point towards the hallway. "Go get ready S," I yawn, "I'm not running suicides again thanks to you." She pouts as she starts her way out, as she's about to go through the doorway her foot gets caught in the blanket causing her to hit the floor again, face first. I join her on the floor soon after from laughing so hard that my stomach hurts.
"Goddamn it! This is fucking ridiculous," she grumbles as she tries to stand and slips again causing me to laugh harder, tears now running down my face.
"What are you trying to do San? Go all Lima Heights on the floor," I gasp out.
"One of these days, Blondie, one of these days," she says as she throws a shoe at me. When it hits me, my eyes slide over to her, an impish smile appearing on my face, she scrambles to stand and make a run for it. She almost reaches the bathroom before I tackle her to the ground and she struggles to throw me off until we hear Brittany's voice, stilling us.
"Do you two have to do this every year," she asks her voice full of humor, already in her uniform.
"Of course B," I answer with a shit eating grin as I get off San and help her up, "its tradition."
"I thinks Q just needs to gets herself another girl so she'll have no need to tackle this sexy piece of ass to the ground," she jokes before she shuts the bathroom door with a smirk. Once we hear the sink turn on indicating San was actually doing something to get ready instead of falling asleep in the tub…again, B turns to me.
"Why aren't you dressed yet," she asks curiously.
"I was too busy waking S up," I answer. Britt nods her head thoughtfully before pushing me towards my room, smacking my backside to make me go faster. "Go on now Q, hurry up. Mom's making pancakes and bacon," she says making my eyes shine. "Plus if we're late again Coach will kill us then bring us back to compete, and the Unholy Trinity can't be zombies no matter how hot we'd be," she states causing me to chuckle.
Once I make it to my room I remember that Rachel texted me last night and I decide to text her back. 'Good morning Rachel. I'm sorry I'm just now answering you, but I didn't read your text until late last night, and I figured you had already fallen asleep. I hope we share a class as well. :)-Q"
I smile as I sit my phone down and go into the en suite bathroom, making sure to lock both doors so San can't decide to retaliate for this morning. In less than twenty five minutes I finish my shower, make up, hair, and teeth. I unlock the doors and move to get dressed in my room, I see my phone on the night stand is flashing, alerting me to a new message.
'Good morning to you, Quinn. It's okay, I did indeed fall asleep early last night, tired from moving and my time spent at the lake with you. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if we share any, won't we? ;)-*
'I guess we will. ;)-Q' I answer back as I grab my Cheerio's uniform.
As I finish zipping up the skirt, Rachel texts back, 'See you soon Quinn.-*' Smiling, I tie up my white Nike's, throw my phone into my Cheerio's duffel bag, and head to the kitchen, Luna following close behind. The smell of fresh brewed coffee, maple syrup, and hot bacon making my stomach growl and my smile to grow.
I walk in the room to find both of the Lopezs there as well as B's parents and my mom. "Good morning Quinn," they all greet as they nurse their coffee.
"Good morning," I answer back as I begin feeding Luna her puppy brand of Blue Buffalo, sounding unnaturally chipper for the morning, making the adults raise their eyebrows at me in surprise.
"Who are you and what have you done with that Monday morning hating daughter of mine," Mom jokes as she sets a short stack of maple syrup soaked pancakes and half a dozen pieces of bacon in front of me with a travel mug full of coffee.
"I'm just having a good morning is all," I tell her, smiling sweetly.
"Why is that?"
"Q has a new girlfriend," B answers as her and San walk in together, holding hands, S avoiding the Lopez's glare. Everyone turns expectantly towards me, about to fire off a few hundred questions each.
"I do not have a new girlfriend," I mumble. "Rachel is just the new girl and I have her a ride home last night, that's it." I could tell my mom didn't believe that there wasn't more to it than that, so she looks at Brittany.
"Why do you think this Rachel is Quinnie's new girlfriend," she asks as she fixes the other girls' plates and coffees, putting extra syrup on B's, as she sets it in front of her.
B smiles gratefully up at her before elaborating, "Cause Quinn totally likes her. She almost killed Finn last night each time he would even get a few feet near Rachel. They'd make a cute couple wouldn't they Sanny?" The question switches the attention to S, causing her to be caught red handed trying to steal the bacon off my plate.
"Damn you S," I growl as I stab her hand softly with my fork, making the bacon fall back on my plate, "leave my bacon alone!"
"Next time you'll think about making me up politely, won't you?"
"Well," I hear Mr. Lopez start resulting in a tense Santana, "if you didn't sneak out in the middle of night and come here, Quinn wouldn't have been the one to wake you up."
"Like Q here says, it's tradition," S lamely tries to play off as she weakly smiles and flings an arm around my shoulders, immediately I shove it off.
"Santana Diabla Lopez," Maribel warns before I realize what time it is. I set my hand on San's knee, concentrating on trying to enter mind, achieving the goal surprisingly easy.
"Look at the time S," I tell her, "lets make a run for it."
San barely nods her head agreeing with me, saying, "Well would you look at that. I hate to cut this lecture short, but we gotta go before Sylvester slaughters us." She grabs B's hand, double checking to see if they both have their coffee, and makes a mad dash to my truck since she left her car at her house.
"Bye everyone," I say as I grab one more slice of bacon and my coffee, and kiss Luna on her head before ruffling her ears.
"Your first lesson is today after Glee," Mom calls after me as I make my out the front door.
"Okay," I yell back, jogging to my truck.
"That was close," San sighs as I start down the road, her head falling back against the head rest.
After a brutal Cheerio practice with a never satisfied Sue Sylvester, who wouldn't quit yelling in that God forsaken mega phone of her's how each of us we're all sloppy babies, I realize I have less than 2 minutes to make it to first period. I sprint to my locker real quick, throwing my duffel bag inside, before dashing off to AP Chemistry. I walk in just as the tardy bell rings, forcing me to sigh in relief. I look around the classroom as the teacher tells me to find a seat, and to my pleasant surprise the only table with an empty seat is next to one brilliantly smiling Rachel Berry. I almost start to skip over to her until I realize where I am and that I'm in public. I instead walk as calmly as I can over to her and greet her with only a smile when I sit since the teachers begins to speak.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Mr. Stark," he informs us as he writes it on the board. "This is as you all hopefully know is AP Chemistry. I plan that as the year progresses," he starts before I space out for the first day of school speech that I'll hear for the next 3 periods. I feel a tap on my elbow and when I look down I find a small slip of notebook paper.
Hi Quinn. Is all it says.
Hi Rachel. I write back, pushing it quickly to her as Mr. Stark comes near us with a stack papers.
"Take a packet and pass it to the next person," he instructs us. When we all have one he directs, "Now tear off the back page and fill it out with the person at your lab table who just happens to be your new lab partner." The information causing both Rachel and I to grin so big I swear it'd split our faces if possible.
Rachel turns to me and gets right down to business, "Question one. If you could have the starring role in one film already made, what movie would you pick?"
"You cannot laugh," I warn, knowing I couldn't lie to this girl. When she promises that she won't, I look around, sighing, before whispering, "I always wanted to be Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films."
True to her word, Rachel in a normal tone asks, "Why?"
"Because she's a great female role model. She doesn't let her blood and differences hold her back, but instead uses them to empower herself and keep her loved ones as safe as possible."
"I completely agree. She is one of my favorite fictional characters, but for this question I'd have to go with Fanny Brice from Funny Girl."
I smile as I start question two, "Alright Rachel, what was your favorite childhood toy?"
She looks to the floor and blushes, making my heart catch at the sight. "I use to have this Barbie portable karaoke player, I covered their faces with gold stars by the way, but I would take it with me wherever I went and I would demand for people to let me perform for them," she answers softly.
"That's really cute," I tell her unconsciously, causing her blush to deepen as she looks at me. "My favorite toy was Brittany and Santana," I joke causing her to laugh, the sound making me smile as I write her answer.
"Question three," she begins. "What is your biggest pet peeve?"
"My biggest pet peeve is when someone starts to tell a story or say something but stops and they never finish what they were planning on saying," I inform her.
"My pet peeve is," Rachel starts but trails off with a teasing smile on her face, making me look up from my paper and playfully smile back at her.
"Oh you're a very funny one aren't you?"
She nods her head, laughing, as she answers the original question, "My pet peeve is people who are cruel to animals."
"Good one. Question four, what is your favorite animal and give three reasons why." She takes her time thinking of her answer so I start reading through the class syllabus.
"My favorite animal is a wolf," she says making my head snap in her direction so fast my neck cracks.
"Why," I stammer out as I fumble to write her answer while rubbing my neck.
"Because they are such beautiful, misunderstood creatures. They are so majestic and proud when the move. They're also incredibly organized for animals as well, which is always an admirable trait," she finishes with a smile. "Your's?"
"Same," I barely get out as the bell rings, breaking me out of my stupor. As she gets up to leave, I grab her hand and feel the rush of tingles again. "Can I see your schedule? I just want to see if we share any other periods together." She hands it to me and I look down at the paper. "The beauty of a small town high school is if you're in one AP class with people you like, and you're taking more than just that one, you'll share all your classes with those same people," I explain to her with a crooked smile, handing her schedule back.
"So is that a yes," she asks as we make our way into the hallway and to AP Government.
"Every single period, well except your lunch is during my free period and my lunch is during your free period." She grins showing almost all of her perfectly white teeth.
The next three periods continues just as the the first; teachers introduce themselves, pass out that class syllabus and icebreakers, go over their class rules, and set us off to fill out the questionnaires Rachel and I sit next to each other and partner up each period, asking questions from "What's your favorite season?" to "How ofter do you clean between your toes?"
When the bell rings, ending fourth period, Rachel asks, "I was wondering that since its your free period this hour if you would please accompany me to the auditorium and help me with my Glee audition. You don't have to if you already have plans with your friends or if you don't want to of course. I mean why would you? It'd be a waste of your time. Just forget I mentioned it," she rambles off before I can answer her.
When she starts to walk away, I grab her hand again, the rush stronger than before. She turns to look at me as I ask, "Did you even breathe during that?" She shakes her head in the negative with a small smile as her big brown eyes lock onto mine hopefully. "Rachel, I would love to waste my free period with you," I tell her.
"Okay," she squeals happily as she wraps me in her arms, "let me grab my sheet music and I'll meet you there."
"Okay," I answer her when she lets go, leaving me stunned, as we part for the first time today. I head to my locker to drop off my new AP Trig book when I see Puck waiting for me next to it.
"Hey Q," he greets with his trademark mixture of a leer and smirk.
"Hey Puck," I say back as I open my locker.
"How's your morning with the new girl going," he asks knowingly.
"Puck, whatever B has told you it isn't true," I say, avoiding his gaze.
His smirk deepens, "Oh so you don't have a crush on her?" When I don't answer, he shakes his head, sighing. "Well if you did like her I would be obligated as your best bro to tell you that Finn is planning on asking her out, oh, right about," he trails off, making a big show of looking as an invisible watch, "now." I slam my locker shut and take off like a bat out of hell for the auditorium.
I bust through the double doors a minute later, finding Rachel and Finn together up on the stage. Finn nervously scoffs the stage with the toe of his shoes as Rachel sits, patiently waiting, at the piano. When I sit in the back row, Finn opens his mouth and stutters out, "So R-Ra-Rachel I was wondering if you would, you know, uhm like to go out with me Friday night?" My wolf and I growl so loudly at the question that I only catch the end of Rachel's answer.
"I can't." I never thought I would feel so happy to hear two words in my life.
"Okay," is all he says before he stomps petulantly off the stage through the back exit.
I sit there for another minute as I watch Rachel practice her scales and I feel as if I'm transported back into last night's dream. The sound of a thump brings me back to Earth, and I find Rachel's head resting against the piano.
"Hey," I say grabbing her attention causing her head to lift off the instrument, the acoustics in the room making my voice reach her easily.
"Hey Quinn," she answers as I make my up on to the stage with her and sit on a stool I find up there. She smiles brightly as she organizes her music before turning to me. "Tell me if you can find anything that I need to fix, promise?"
"I promise," I answer as she begins to play the opening notes. She opens her mouth to sing and I feel as if I've been taking to my dream again and I can't help but feel as if there's something I'm not getting. Rachel's voice cracks on the last note of It Ends Tonight as tears fall down her cheek. "Are you okay," I ask as I move next to her on the piano bench. She turns away from me, in a futile attempt to hide her tears, until I gently turn her head by her chin with my index finger and softly wipe her tears away with my thumb, causing a small smile to appear on her face.
"I'm fine Quinn," she answers while grabbing ahold of my hand from her face and placing our hands in her lap, intertwining our fingers. "it's just my ex and I broke up a week before I moved here."
"Oh," I say quietly.
"Yeah," she sighs, "I found out he had been cheating on me and so I ended it."
"What a fucking prick," I seethe and I watch my eyes flash gold in hers. I quickly close them, but not before I see curiosity peek through her's. I breathe deeply and once I believe its safe enough, I open my eyes and calmly apologize.
"It's okay, he is," she reassures me, peering deep into my eyes, trying to find something.
"I'm still sorry Rachel. You didn't deserve that, you don't deserve anything less than the best."
"I know," she says softly. She start to lean forward, but before her lips touch mine the bell rings.
'Saved by the bell,' I think as we jump apart and struggle to gather all of our stuff. 'Our first kiss needs to be more special then happening after talking about her prick of an ex.' My wolf growling in her agreement.
"Ready for our last class," I ask, holding out my arm for her to take.
"Yeah," she sheepishly answers as she loops our arms together. "So how did I sound?"
"Perfect."
We walk into AP English as the bell rings, taking the only two desks next to each other in the front row. A tall, brunette woman introduces herself as Miss Angelo before going into the mundane routine of the first day.
"Yay," I say sarcastically as the teacher hands us another questionnaire, "another ice breaker."
"Oh admit it, you love learning about me," Rachel teases.
I shrug, playing along, "I guess."
"Question one, what is your favorite color and why?"
"Brown," I answer automatically without thinking, catching her by surprise with my answer. "Because its deep, warm, and inviting." I finish, while moving a piece of her hair hair from her eyes and placing it behind her ear. "Your's?"
"Gold," she answers equivocally.
I gulp before asking, "Two, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?" I realize too late what the question is. "Wait, can you eat ice cream," I inquire.
She laughs as she sets a hand reassuringly on my knee, causing my heart to almost leap from chest, as she answers. "Yes I do. They make this awesome vegan strawberry ice cream and its my favorite. What's your's?"
"I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you because the best ice cream out there is cookies and cream," I answer, smiling down at the hand still on my knee.
"Number three, you discover that the person you have an incomparable crush on loves a good homemade and handmade desserts. What will you make for them when this person comes over," she asks.
"Vegan strawberry ice cream," I tell her confidently. Rachel's eyes lock onto mine again, studying me harder than she did in the auditorium, a demure smile appearing on her face.
AN: Thank you once again. I wish I could give you more than just those two words to show you how much appreciate y'alls response and reviews that are always appreciated.
The song Rachel sings in this chapter is It Ends Tonight by The All American Rejects. She will be using it for her audition still as well.