Chapter 2
"So, how was school?" Shelby asked as she turned down the aisle of the grocery store.
"Dumb," Santana scoffed. "I ran into your bosom friend."
Shelby grabbed the milk from Rachel and placed it in the cart. "Thanks, bug," she said. She turned back to her sullen teenage daughter next to her. "My what?"
"Will Schuster," Santana said rolling her eyes.
"Santana Corcoran, I hope you show that man a little more respect than that," she scolded. She turned to Puck. "Can you go to the deli and get these things? Don't dawdle and don't eat anything until we've paid." She handed her son part of the list. She turned back to her girls Rachel looked up at her and Shelby gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head.
"He was singing with me," she said quietly.
Shelby looked at Rachel in surprise and then glanced at her older daughter who had her arms folded and was scowling.
"He was?" Shelby asked grabbing an assortment of cereals off of the shelf.
"Yeah, he was," Santana scowled.
Shelby studied her daughters face and then turned to her youngest. "Rach, why don't you go help Noah and make sure he doesn't eat anything from the deli."
Rachel gave a sigh and looked at her sister and then back at her mother. "You can just say, 'Rachel, we want to talk about things we don't want you to be apart of.' You can say that."
"Thanks, Bug," Shelby said kissing her again. "Why don't you go vent your frustration of this unjust world to your brother?"
Rachel trudged away with a pout. Once she was around the corner, Shelby looked at Santana.
"What is going on?" she asked.
Santana was still leaning slightly so that she could see that Rachel made it to Noah's side at the deli counter. Shelby followed her gaze.
"She's fine, San," she told her daughter. "Your sister can walk to the deli counter by herself."
"Mom," Santana grumbled grabbing Cinnamon Toast Crunch off of the shelf and throwing it in the cart. She didn't want to get into it here. And no, Rachel shouldn't walk anywhere by herself.
"What happened at school?" Shelby tried again.
"I'm just fucking pissed because –'' she began.
"Language," Shelby warned. "Why are you pissed?"
"That stupid Quinn Fabray came back with a fire under her ass—''
"Santana," Shelby reminded again as they entered the produce section.
"She is so self-righteous. I have been on Cheerios with her for almost two years and she's such a – '' Santana shook her head. "I don't know. She comes back after a week and she's just gah! I don't know! I just can't stand her."
"What makes you think she is angry with you?" Shelby began.
"Of course, it isn't about me," Santana said. "But I still feel her wrath." She looked over her shoulder again to make sure that Rachel was at the deli with Noah. She had wandered away slightly and was poking at the cheeses as if they were foreign. "And you know what? Your friend is a creepier and I don't want him hanging out with Rachel."
"Who now? Will?" Shelby said as she bagged half dozen apples. "Grab a bunch of bananas please."
Santana grabbed them and threw them in the cart. Shelby glared at her. "Sorry," she mumbled. She looked over her shoulder again and Rachel was now looking at the selection of refrigerated pastas and pizzas and idly kneading the prepared dough. She saw an older man come up next to Rachel and reach over her short frame and grab a package of raviolis. She felt her body tighten. He was talking to her casually and she couldn't hear what he was saying. Enough, she thought and she started toward the youngest Corcoran.
She barely was able to take a step before she felt a hand on her arm.
"She's fine, Santana. He's just talking to her," Shelby said watching her youngest talk to the man with a smile.
"You have no idea what he's saying!" Santana said with annoyance.
"She's not a baby, Santana. You need to let her have some freedom. The trick here is that she thinks that she's wandered away from Noah and that she's not with us, but we're watching her. If you don't give her that freedom and you smother her instead, her outbursts and her search to do more adventurous things will be drastically worse that touching everything she doesn't like in the deli area." Santana glared at her mother, but softened her gaze when she let her words soak in.
"I still don't like it," Santana said.
She watched as Noah approached them with an arm full of deli meats and cheeses. He called to Rachel and the tiny brunette smiled at the man and followed Noah to the cart.
Rachel looked at disgust at all of the meats and cheeses. "Do you think the new boy moving in will be a vegan? Perhaps I can inspire him."
Santana's eyes grew wide and she gave a scoffed smile. "You're joking right? And remember it might be a girl. Right mom?"
Shelby nodded quietly and Santana knew that she knew who it was.
"Bug, no one wants to be vegan. People are made to eat meat. If people weren't supposed to eat meat, they wouldn't have made animals out of meat."
"Noah, if there were dinosaurs roaming the earth still, WE would be considered meat," Rachel argued back as she stood on the end of the cart.
"Rach, Noah, please go grab some oatmeal and Rachel's milk," Shelby instructed.
"Why do we always have to go off and get things?" Noah whined.
"Because you have the attention span of horse fly," Rachel said grabbing her brother's hand. "Let's go. I'll tell you all about the joys of soymilk."
The older boy groaned but let himself be dragged away.
"Santana, I get that you're mad at Quinn. However, you need to really think about what she might be mad at. And as for Will and Rachel. I will talk to him about him spending time with her. Perhaps he can come over to the house and spend time there with her where you can hear them from the other room, okay? He's an old friend," she sighed and looked at her daughter. "If you continue to hold onto this anger all the time, you'll get premature wrinkles." Shelby cupped her daughter's cheek and kissed her on the forehead.
Santana sighed and followed her mother.
"So the person moving in with us is a girl," Santana said trying to break the mood.
Shelby began unloading the cart. "Yes," she said quietly.
"Is she younger than Rach?" she asked as she put the items from the cart on to the check out.
"No," Shelby replied. She paused as she unloaded the cart. "Let's talk about this at home okay?"
"Okay…." Santana said darting her eyes uncomfortably.
"I promise that I'll give you more information at home. It's just in this aisle really isn't an appropriate place," Shelby said gently. She began unloading the cart. "Can you please go find your brother and sister and make sure that they haven't strayed from the list?"
Santana nodded and went to look for her siblings. A feeling in her stomach about this person moving in with them reawakened old feelings, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
…..
When they arrived at home, Puck was more than grateful. His sisters were both moaning about something and his mother was attempting to rein them in. He took one bag of groceries in one arm and then he grabbed Rachel around the waist and put her on his shoulder with his other arm.
"No more bickering," Puck muttered as walked into the house.
"Put me down, Noah!" she hollered. "I am not a child! Mom!"
"Noah, she asked to be put down," Shelby said with a smile as she came into the kitchen.
Noah sighed and sat Rachel on the counter top.
"While I recognize that you're threatened by the large degree of estrogen in the house, Noah, does not mean that you can interrupt a discussion by just removing me from the conversation," Rachel ranted as she smoothed out her skirt and swung her feet over the edge of the counter. "We are getting a new member of the family tomorrow. She will be great and I expect you –''
"It's a girl?" he paused in surprised.
Shelby nodded and finished putting a bags' content of groceries away. "Alright, this girl goes to school with you and San," she began.
Puck felt a lump in his throat what if he had made out with this new girl? His mind began to sift through all of the possibilities.
"What do you mean their school?" Rachel looked at her mother. Shelby looked at her youngest. She watched at the girl deflated. "I thought she was younger than me." Rachel's voice became quieter. "I wanted to be a big sister not GET another big sister."
Shelby straightened and stroked Rachel's hair. "We don't get to choose. This girl is a little sister, Rach. You'll have something in common."
"I already have a big sister," Rachel said looking over at Santana. Shelby followed her gaze. Santana leaned against the opposite counter with her arms folded.
"Well no one is replacing San," Shelby assured. She searched her eldest daughter's face. "What's the matter?"
Santana stared at the floor as if it were going to decipher her thoughts. "It's just… It's just." She shook her head. She caught her mother's eye and continued. "I thought it was going to be someone from Carmel…. Or hicktown, USA…. Not McKinley…" She trailed off.
"But aren't you guys the most popular kids in school?" Rachel asked honestly looking between Puck and Santana.
"That's the problem," Santana whispered. She saw Rachel's questioning look. "I'm different at school than I am at home, bug," she said honestly.
"Why? Why would you be different?" she asked as her legs continued to kick innocently from the top of the counter.
"I just am," Santana said avoiding her mother's eyes.
"Speaking of, Santana," Shelby said seriously. "Principal Figgins called to inform me that you punched David Karofsky a few days ago."
Santana straightened and waved her hands. "He thought my ass was his to touch!" she screamed.
"Santana, language," Shelby scolded.
"No, my ass is my ass, mom! So I put him in his place," Santana said.
Shelby took a deep breath. "Why on earth would you think that hitting another person would solve your problem?" she asked finally.
She watched as her daughter physically deflated.
"I was mad, Mom," Santana said as if it was most reasonable explanation.
"Well, the way you dealt with your anger has landed you detention. However, you're not serving it until the day after tomorrow. You and Puck aren't going to practice tomorrow," Shelby said.
"What? Why?" Santana asked.
Shelby looked at her son who seemed to be counting something in his head.
"Noah, are you paying attention?" he heard is mother ask through his haze of memories.
"Sure," he said nodding.
"As I was saying. This girl is moving in tomorrow and I want everyone here. She's been through a great deal. And when she's ready she'll open up to you, but do not push her. She's been in a group home for the last week. She's already tried running. This has been really difficult for her. I don't expect you to like her, but I expect you respect her," Shelby said. She folded her eyes and looked at her children.
Santana was seething slightly and Shelby was sure it wasn't just about missing practice. Puck was frowning as if he was trying to answer a math question. Shelby smiled when her eyes fell on Rachel. She was thinking deeply too. However, her face was still so young she looked the same as she did when she was a baby.
"Did her parents hurt her?" Rachel asked quietly.
Puck stared at her. She was still sitting on the counter. He bit the inside of his lip as he watched the young girl wait eagerly for an answer. He turned to his mother when the answer did not arrive right away.
"Yes," she finally said.
"Who? Her dad?" Santana asked with her arms folded tightly across her chest.
Puck watch as his other sister embraced her own personal anger through the question.
Shelby nodded. "Yes, and her mother emotionally."
Puck watched as his mother licked her lips. "This girl is apart of our family beginning tomorrow. I want you guys home as soon as school gets out," she said.
"But Mom—''
"Santana," Shelby said in a fiercely low voice. "Do you remember when you in this situation? And how scared you were?"
This remark caught Santana off guard and Puck saw that. They all remembered what happened.
"Of course, I do," Santana whispered glaring at the ground.
"So find it in you, please figure out how to get over missing practice," she said carefully and she started toward the stairs. She turned around for a quick moment. "I love you, guys, and we need to be honest with each other every step of the way on this okay?"
"Yeah," they all replied quietly.
"It might be really hard, but she is a part of the family."
It wasn't until moments after his mother left that Noah realized that he still didn't know who the girl was.
...
Santana sat around the island slowly eating her dinner. Puck was talking about something and Shelby was talking about something else. Rachel was kicking her periodically next to her from her own stool to ask her if she was listening. She goes to McKinley? she asked herself. Fuck, she groaned. What if it was some Lima Loser who wanted nothing more to tag than to around and be her popular-wannabe. She gave a sigh. She knew in the back of her head that she was being ridiculous. And she knew most importantly that having a groupie wasn't her biggest issue. She had done so well up to this point to keep this secret safe. When they had discussed this as a family a long time ago, she and Puck were one hundred percent on board. It had been a few years after their own experiences with the foster care system. And Santana remembered exactly how strongly she felt about supporting other people in the system. However, now that it loomed over her head as a reality. It wasn't necessarily a top priority anymore.
She felt a finger poke her arm. She looked over at saw Rachel staring. "Are you done with your plate?"
Santana nodded.
"I'm gonna... go and uh… do my homework," Santana said heading up the stairs.
"Nope, sorry," Shelby called after her before she was able to reach the kitchen. "You need to come down here and do your homework with Puck."
"Why I am in trouble?" she asked indignantly.
"Did you forget that you punched another human being in the face?" Shelby asked with her hands on her hips. "You know that doing your homework in your room is a privilege. It requires trust. You don't have that privilege at least until the weekend."
"Mom, this forced study hall rule in our house is kinda ridiculous," Santana said with a sigh.
"Would you like to extend it into next week too?" Shelby asked.
The older girl gave a huff and sat down at the counter with her bag moments later. This rule had been instated ever since they went back to living with Shelby. Normal parents grounded their teenager. Shelby Corcoran did her own way of grounding. They had to be in her sight at all times. Even when they went to the restroom, they had to give her a heads up. Although, Santana and Puck griped about it ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, there was a small comfort of knowing that their mother was around and she wasn't going away.
Rachel of course was never in trouble and left the room to head upstairs.
Puck sat in silence looking at his papers and then over his shoulder at his mother who was reviewing something on her computer. Without even looking up, she would say something like "Noah, focus on your work and not the wall." Or "I suggest you put more energy into your work."
His mother had asked if they remembered when they were in that situation. How could they forget? How could they forget any of it? He ripped a piece of paper from his notebook and wrote on it. "We should talk tonight." Santana looked up from her homework and read the note. She scowled at her brother. "Thanks but no thanks, Oprah," she wrote back. "I'm serious, lard butt," Puck wrote back. Santana shook her head but nodded.
"Fine."
A couple hours later, Shelby went upstairs to tell Rachel to go to bed. Santana saw her mother walk out and turned to her brother.
"What?" she asked.
"Who do you think it is?" he asked.
"How am I supposed to know?" Santana grumbled turning to her work.
"Come on. I 'm trying to talk to you here," Puck said frustrated.
"I don't know okay" she said with frustration but more softly. "Either way, I plan on making it clear from the start that who were are at home is not the same as who we are at school."
"I don't think they'll need to be told," Puck said with a scoff. He shook his head. He looked over his shoulder to make sure that his mother wasn't coming and then leaned closer to his sister. "I know that you're scared and I know that you're going to be too chicken shit to admit it."
"Admit what?" Santana sneered.
"You and I both remember when were separated," Puck said. Santana lowered her head. "Well, think about it this way. We had each other to miss and want to be with even though we felt alone, but this girl whoever she is, has no one."
Santana was silent for a few moments. She finished a problem on her paper and slammed her book shut. "We're done talking about this," she remarked and left the room.
Puck shook his head and watched his sister leave. He understood. After years of family therapy sessions and countless hours of Shelby talking to them gently in the middle of the night after a nightmare, they were both still angry. It was simply that they had learn to hide their anger more. However, with this knew girl coming into their lives, Puck knew that the anger was beginning to resurface. Or, he thought quietly it never went away.
Nine year old Puck sat quietly on the police station bench. He was hugging his elbow to his side as he tried to tame the bleeding on his forearm.
"How's the arm, son?" a police officer asked.
"I'm not your son," he barked quietly. He scanned the room. "Have you called my mom? Did you get her?"
The officer took a deep breath. "We did, but—''
"I want to go home with her, I want to get my sisters and go home," Puck said quickly. He slid off of the bench and started toward the door.
"Whoa there," the police officer said kneeling down to Puck's height. "Even though we found your mom, she's not here. She's on a plane back from the city."
Puck's heart began to beat faster and faster in his chest. "Hasn't she been looking for us? Why isn't she here?"
The police officer looked at the young boy. "She has been looking for you, but you and your sisters have been hard to find."
Puck shook his head. He wasn't going to cry. "Well, what am I going to do? What are we going to do? Where are my sisters and I going to go until she gets here?"
The police officer looked like Puck was asking him the hardest questions in the world. These weren't hard questions, he thought. This was like daycare right? Puck could just hang out here until… his mind trailed off. He looked around him.
"Where are my sisters? Did you get there in time?" he asked with a hitch in his breath. "I ran here as fast as I could."
He stared at the police officer in shock. His eyes were getting watery. He almost looked like he was going to cry. Men don't cry, Puck thought to himself. A woman came rushing in where jeans and a t-shirt. Puck looked up at her hopefully. He deflated. It wasn't his mother.
"Where are they?" Puck asked again more forcefully.
"Noah," the woman whispered as she knelt down in front of him.
"I don't know you. So unless you are going to take me to my mom, get the HELL out of my face!" Puck screamed. He turned breathlessly back to the police officer not noticing the other officers that had come closer to him to watch the exchange.
Why wasn't anyone telling him anything?
"Where are my sisters? I want my mom!" he screamed grabbing the first lamp he could find and slamming it against the floor.
The woman reached out and picked the child up. He struggled in her arms. "Let me go, you bitch!"
"Noah," she said in a calm voice. "Breathe. Your sisters were taken to the hospital, okay?" Puck stopped struggling and sat quietly on her lap, but wouldn't look at the woman. "Your mother is on her way. However, until she gets here you need to go and stay somewhere safe. You'll get some good meals and a good night's rest."
"I don't want that! I want to go to the hospital! I need to see if they're okay! San, hates hospitals. Our dad died at the hospital." He looked at the woman desperately. "I need to see her. I need to see them both."
"Your sister will probably join you at the place you're going in the next couple days," the woman said.
"What about Rach?" he asked.
He saw a flicker of something in the woman's eyes. Her breath became hitched for a moment before she answered. "Rachel, needs to stay there for a little while and then we'll probably put her in a special place where someone can take care of her."
"I can take care of her!" Puck said. "It's only for a few days, right? Until my mom gets here? And then we're going to go back to house in the city. Right?"
The woman looked at him sadly. Puck knew at that moment that it was not that simple. "Puck, we need to make sure that your Mom is ready to take you kids back. What your father's partner-"
"My stepdad," Puck corrected with a sneer.
"What he did was wrong, very wrong, but we need to make sure that your house is the safest it can be with your mom. Okay? And that might take a little while."
Puck felt his heart drop. "The safest place is with my mom." He frowned as he heard her words again in his head. "What do you mean a little while?"
"I mean a little while," she said. "Let's take you to where you're staying okay?"
"Who are you? Why should I go with you?" Puck said defensively pulling away. "I want to go see my sisters."
The woman knelt down. "Natalie and I work for Child Protective Services. We try our best to protect kids."
Puck scowled at her. "You're too late."
….
"Noah?"
He was brought back from the memory. He looked up at his mother. "Yeah?"
"It's almost eleven," Shelby said. "Head up to bed okay?"
"Fine," he muttered as he headed toward the door.
"I love you, sweetheart," she called after him.
"I love you too, mom."
…
Santana looked up at the ceiling in the dark. She didn't want to think about this anymore. She turned to try to find a comfortable position.
"San?" she heard a small voice in the darkness.
She propped herself on her elbows and looked toward the now open door. The night light from the hallway silhouetted Rachel's tiny frame. Damn, she's tiny for twelve, Santana thought to herself.
"Come on. Come here," Santana said quietly.
Rachel's feet patted along the floor and she hopped into Santana's large bed. Santana pulled the blankets over her and turned on her side to face her. "What's up?"
"I got scared," Rachel admitted into the darkness.
Santana gave a sigh. "Well, I'm right here."
"Who's going to protect her?" Rachel asked moments later.
Santana didn't want to think about this new girl and what she had been through. She didn't.
"We will, okay, bug? Go to sleep."
Santana wrapped her arm around her sister and pulled her close to her body. She allowed sleep to take over. She was almost far away in dreamland when something interrupted her.
"San?"
"What, Rach?"
"Never mind," she whispered.
Santana closed her eyes and instead of drifting into a dream, she shifted into a memory.
Natalie had picked her up from the hospital and drove her to the home. She called it a group home. The woman tired to explain it to her as they drove over there. From what eight year old Santana could understand was that this place was a home for children. It wasn't necessarily an orphanage. It was a big home were lots of kids hung out until their parents were ready to take them home.
"You ready?" Natalie asked as she opened Santana's door.
"Where's my brother?" Santana asked for almost the millionth time in the last fifteen minutes.
"He's probably inside waiting for you," Natalie assured.
Santana pulled the woman along with her. She needed to see her brother. They rang the doorbell and went through two gates that required them to be buzzed in. "Where's my brother?" Santana asked again.
They entered the building. It had bright colors everywhere and high ceilings. There was an indoor playground and work spaces that she could see. Another person came up to her and was talking about her room, or her pod, and wanted her to meet her roommate. Santana shook her head. "Where's my brother?"
The grown ups talked for a few minutes, but Santana didn't hear them. She wanted to find her brother. She finally spotted him waiting outside a room which oddly had her name on the door.
"PUCK!" she screamed and tackled him from across the room. She didn't care that there was a cast on her wrist. She actually forgot. She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back.
"I'm so sorry that I wasn't fast enough," he whispered.
Santana hugged him tighter.
"Is Rachel okay?" he asked.
Santana felt her breath stop and all she could do was nod as the memories came flooding back to her.
"We're going to be okay," he whispered. "I promise."
Santana didn't answer right away. She wanted to argue with her brother. They were at a children's zoo, she thought. They were far from okay.
"Santana?" Puck asked still hugging her. "Santana?"
…..
"Santana time to wake up," Rachel said quietly.
She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She realized in that moment that she wasn't afraid of knowing this new girl. She was afraid that this new girl would find her out.
…..
"What do you mean you aren't going to practice?" Brittany asked at the end of the school day.
Santana watched a group of girls go by. She had been looking for her new live-in sister all day.
"I have this family thing," Santana said with a heavy sigh.
"Is Rachel okay?" Brittany asked immediately.
She smiled warmly at the question. Her best friend may not know all that had happened. However, she had an instinct to protect her too, and Santana was grateful.
"She's fine," she said. "It's something else." She gave a sigh when she looked at her watch. "I gotta go. Puck's going to have a cow if I'm late. Make sure Q doesn't run the practice."
"I don't think that," Brittany began but was cut off.
"Corcoran, aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" Sue asked coming from out of no where.
"Yes, coach," Santana apologized. "Bye."
Santana ran out to her brother's car. He was beeping his horn like crazy. She noticed a taxi waiting on the other side of the parking lot and scowled. She shook her head. Only Quinn Fabray would have her own personal taxi because of the touch of the bird flu.
"What a spoiled bitch," Santana mumbled as she got into the driver's seat.
"What?" Puck asked as he put the car in gear.
"Nothing," she whispered back.
….
When they arrived at home, their mother didn't strategically place them around the front living room and the foyer. They all seemed to gather there. They were all eager to see who it was. They were eager to meet her.
"Again, I want to remind you guys not to bombard her with questions. I'll explain to her some things. You may stay in the room but try to be quiet and -''
Shelby was interrupted by the doorbell. She opened the front door and the three Corcoran siblings leaned closer to the door to take a look. A middle aged woman stood there.
"Hey, Jackie," she said. "These are my children, Noah, Santana and Rachel."
"Hey guys," she said casually.
"Where is she?"
Jackie took a deep breath and looked behind her. "Will you please come to the door?" she asked to the person out of eyesight to the rest.
There was some shuffling and finally the girl came to the door. The first thing Santana saw was the red and white uniform. And her heart stopped when she saw the girl as the front door closed behind them not allowed any of them to escape.
"Quinn?" Puck asked.
"You're fucking kidding me!" Quinn said dropping her bag.
"Oh hell no!" Santana said staring at her and then volleying her glare between her mother and this social worker.
Rachel looked up at her siblings. "What's wrong?"
"It's Quinn Fabray! That's what's wrong!" Santana said gawking at her mother's audacity. "Did you know it was her?"
"Santana Corcoran, room now," Shelby said in a fiercely, calm but chilling tone.
She shook her head angrily. "Gladly!" And she stomped up the front stairs to her room.
"Why don't we sit in the living room," Shelby guided them.
"I'd rather stand," Quinn said holding her duffle closer to her body.
"That's fine," Shelby said patiently. "As I said when we met before last week, my name is Shelby."
"You forgot to mention your last name," Quinn hissed. She turned to Jackie. "I never would have come here if I knew it was the Corcorans!"
"Yes, you would have," Jackie said sternly. "After the fiasco you caused at the group home, you needed a placement right away. One that could give you more attention."
"She has three children," Quinn snapped. "I'm not going to get more attention."
"There were more then twenty girls at your group home. The numbers were higher there don't you think?" Jackie challenged.
Quinn huffed. She noticed the small brunette leaning against the doorframe watching her.
"What are you looking at?" she asked.
"You," Rachel said without hesitation. "I'm Rachel." She extended her hand.
"I don't care," Quinn said.
"Quinn," Jackie began.
"Hey, don't talk to her like that," Puck said from behind her.
"Puck, shove it!" the blonde snapped. "Jackie, I would rather be at the group home." She started toward the door. "Let's go."
"Not an option, Quinn" Shelby said. "You're placed with me."
"Yeah, you're my therapeutic placement. What the hell does that mean? I'm not a nut case," she said quickly.
"You're right, you're not," Shelby said in an annoyingly calm voice. Quinn hoped to push her buttons and so far she wasn't budging.
"So what? Because you're therapeutic placement does that mean that you're my therapist."
"No," Shelby said. "It just means that I have some experience and qualifications for children more so that typical foster placements."
Quinn narrowed her eyes and looked up the stairs. "Like what? You specialize in angry teens? I mean you're the mom to Puck and Santana so I guess that makes sense."
"Sort of," Shelby said. "Do you want me to explain it more to you?"
The blond seethed and she didn't respond.
"Well, I'm going to leave you. Shelby, call me if you need anything," Jackie called as she opened the door.
"You can't leave me here!" Quinn said. "I don't want to be here."
"I'm sorry, Quinn, but this is where you're placed. If you stop for one second and stop being angry you might enjoy yourself."
"Doubtful," she grumbled as she glared at the Corcorans.
Jackie left the house and everyone seemed to just stare at each other in frustration. Well, perhaps it was just her and maybe Puck.
"Would you like to see the house?" Shelby asked.
"I want to see my room," she demanded. "Jackie told me I would have my own room."
Shelby nodded. "You do. Let's show you then."
Shelby led her up the stairs. Rachel and Puck stayed down in the foyer. Quinn could hear Rachel ask Puck, "Noah, do you know her?"
She shook her head. Know her?
"This is your room."
The room was nice. It was simple with a bed, dresser, nightstand, desk and vanity. "You can decorate it anyway you want just ask permission to paint anything or drill any holes in the walls," Shelby said casually.
"There's no lock on my door," Quinn said incredulously.
"There's only locks on the outside doors. There are also alarms on the windows."
"Why am I a flight risk?" she scoffed.
"Well, actually you are," Shelby said honestly. "And also, I had them installed a long time ago. Believe it or not, I have other children who used to enjoy opening and climbing out windows."
"You probably still do," she barked back.
"I will let you settle in," Shelby said. "Dinner is eaten as a family. I'll let you know when it's ready."
"I'm not hungry and I am NOT a part of your family!" she yelled. "Get out of my room!"
"Alright, I will allow you to skip dinner this evening, but starting tomorrow, we're going be enforcing all of our rules," Shelby said with her obnoxiously calm voice.
"Whatever," Quinn said. "Get out!"
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