Title:Lazareth – Part 4
Author: Stargirl888
Word Count:About 1300
Spoilers:None
Pairing:Undecided
Rating:T for now
WARNINGS:Nothing in this chapter
Disclaimer: Any Glee Characters are not mine, never has been and unfortunately never will be :(
A/N:So I'm trying to get back into writing and things and figured I should update. I'm technically still on Hiatus because I don't know if I'm going to be able to get back into regularly updating (well what was regular for me anyway ;) but we'll see. Hope some of you are still following this fic. Enjoy :)
Quinn awoke the next morning to the sound of running and chatter in the kitchen. She had been so exhausted the night before she had fallen asleep without even bothering to change out of her uniform...not that she had anything to change into, but her restrictive top combined with a less than comfortable couch meant she had one very sore neck.
She was nowhere near completely refreshed but the few hours of sleep meant she was awake enough to fully comprehend what had happened the previous night, and how she was now in the house of some stranger with no means to support herself and no idea where to even start, she didn't even have her cell phone which may have been a trivial worry right then but was still disconcerting. Though she really wanted nothing more than to just take the day to process what had happened to her life she knew she had to focus on what she was going to do now.
She supposed her first consideration would be finding a job. Sure it was generous of Santana to offer her a place to stay for the night, but generosity for a stranger could only go so far, and chances were that she'd be pointed in the direction of the nearest homeless shelter before the day was out. Not to mention that she was technically a minor; and the last thing she wanted was social worker attention.
Quinns thoughts were interrupted when the latina in question poked her head into the room. "Oh good, you're up." She said as she tossed a pile of clothes to Quinn. "Those should fit you relatively well. The bathrooms the last door on the left, you can shower and make use of any products you find in there. You have about thirty minutes until we need to leave, when you're ready there's cereal and coffee in the kitchen."
Quinn nodded mutely as Santana left the room, and Quinn could hear her shouting something in Spanish down the hallway to a currently unknown person, before the sound of her bedroom door closing echoed through the apartment.
Sighing, Quinn headed through to the bathroom and began to get ready, cursing when the hot water only lasted out about a minute before turning ice cold. The clothes Santana had leant her were a simple black T-shirt and jeans combo, the fabric obviously well worn and just on the verge of wearing through, but they fitted and Quinn was grateful she wouldn't have to go job hunting in her cheerleading outfit.
Exiting the bathroom she walked through to the kitchen to find a young boy of around ten sitting at the counter eating cereal, while Santana perched on the opposite counter, eating out of the box. Their behaviour was so completely different to what Quinn was used to where every morning she would sit down at the breakfast bar to be served a bowl of cereal and half a plate of fruit.
"Cereal?" Santana offered and Quinn hesitated before reluctantly agreeing, reminding herself she didn't know where her next meal would come from and she should eat while the food was available. Santana turned to retrieve a bowl, her black tank top rising up as she did so allowing Quinn to catch a glimpse of a tattoo on her right hip. It was a small curled up lizard.
Noticing where what Quinn was looking at Santana quickly tugged her shirt back into place and handed Quinn the bowl, putting the box on the counter between them.
"San, who's this?" Quinn's thoughts were interrupted by the young boys question.
"That's Quinn. Quinn, my brother Miguel." Quinn gave him a tentative smile, trying to reconcile everything she had ever thought about girls like Santana with the person in front of her and failing miserably as she watched Santana talk to her younger brother about a school project. All Quinn could see was a teenaged girl sitting in her kitchen eating cereal, about to head off to school.
The was the sound of a car hooting outside.
"Ready?" Santana asked.
"I told you yesterday – I'm not going to go back to school." Quinn finally admitted.
"But everyone has to go to school." Miguel piped in "It's like a rule or something."
"I need to find a job, and a place to stay and I can't do that if I'm in class all day."
"There are not many people who will employ a high school drop out, especially in Lima; and those who do won't pay well. Plus you don't want people poking around to find out why you randomly dropped out. You'll do better off staying in school and getting a well paid part time job in the afternoons...besides, it's like a rule or something." Santana mimicked her brothers earlier statement, reluctantly drawing a small smile from Quinn. There was another impatient honk from outside.
"Look, not to sound like every bad politician but education is important – and if I recall you got the Holly Holiday scholarship so your school year is paid for anyway, but you have to have like perfect attendance to keep it don't you?" Quinn nodded, surprised Santana knew that "So it'd be stupid to risk losing that."
They were interrupted by an irritated knocking on the door.
"Santana Lopez, you know how important punctuality is to me and I have an appointment this morning!" Rachels voice echoed from the hallway as Santana went to unlock the door "Miguel, tell your sister to hurry up and..." Rachel cut herself off mid shout as the door opened.
"Alright, hold your horses. And why do you always assume it's me that's running late?" Santana asked irritably.
"Because it always is you." Rachel replied easily. "Good morning Miguel, Quinn."
Quinn murmured a soft reply.
"I' glad to see you're both ready. So what's the hold up; it's a fantastic day, there's lots to do and we need to get going."
Santana ducked into the other room to pick up her backpack, "Rach, even leaving now we're still going to be like half an hour early."
"I know but I have an appointment so I'm going to have to drop you off early. I sent you a text." Rachel explained, while ushering them all out into the corridor where the group paused to wait for Santana to lock the door behind them. Quinn assumed her grandfather was still asleep since she hadn't seen him this morning
Quinn tried to say something but the petite girl was talking a million miles an hour about some television programme Quinn had never watched and interrupting her was about as easy as trying to stop a tsunami. Outside they found Mike sitting in a rather beaten up vintage car which Quinn, not being a car person, couldn't identify. He grinned and greeted them cheerfully as Rachel slid into the front passengers seat leaving Quinn, Santana and Miguel to climb in the back.
They pulled up alongside Lima Middle School a few minutes later, dropping Miguel off before proceeding along to the high school.
As the car stopped Quinn hesitated to get out, not quite sure what the protocol was in this situation. She didn't even know if she would ever see Rachel again, and despite it all she didn't want the school thinking she associated with the likes of Santana; she just couldn't deal with becoming a school outcast on top of everything else. She also didn't know if she would be welcomed back to Santana's flat for a second night nor if she really wanted to...the last thing she wanted was to become involved with these sorts of people, but it was better than the alternative of everyone else finding out she had been kicked out of her home.
"Quinn, I'll pick you up here after school." Rachel said as Quinn opened the door, solving the dilemma. "Then you and I can talk properly."
Quinn just nodded and climbed out, feeling naked without her backpack and books which were still at her parents house. Thankfully she had spare stationary in her locker.
"Rach, pick me up during third period?" Santana requested. Quinn could see Rachel frown for a second before agreeing. After an awkward moment, the car pulled away from the curb.
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