Waking up early was not a normal routine for Quinn. Having a noisy roommate, such as Kurt, didn't help. Since she was already awake, Quinn decided to get started on her training. With the dorms' location being conveniently stationed right beside the fields, it would be a perfect start to her school year.
Quinn threw on her soccer gear; her bind covered with a light compression tank under a black tank tee and white gym shorts with a black border. She didn't care to style her hair—it was going to be messy in the end anyway—but Kurt wouldn't let her leave until it was done.
Within twenty minutes Quinn slipped her workout bag over her shoulder and bid the boy farewell until lunch.
The walk toward the field was interesting. For starters, Quinn didn't remember seeing so many guys roam about the hallways; doors left ajar revealing some playing video games, rowdy chatting or blasting music that mingled with other loud music.
The recreational area was exactly as the halls, if not rowdier. Quinn, in fact, had to be quick on her feet at dodging a football tossed through the air with no care. A faint apology was tossed her way. Boys are pretty rowdy here. I don't recall my brother ever being this energetic…
The moment the glass doors to the dorm building shut behind her, the peaceful sound of nature and wandering students felt like a warm embrace to Quinn. She smiled sweetly at the thought of the beautiful weather. Quinn took a few steps down the sidewalk before finally focusing on the field across.
Nice. I don't see anyone on the soccer field! Quinn hurried over to the field with a skip in her step, her smile tilting into an easygoing grin.
Quinn took place at the home bench section, dumping her bag and tying her cleats. She pulled her lucky ball from the bag and headed toward the net closest to her.
There, Quinn began her warm up.
The sun wasn't beating down on her nor was the sky cloudy. The weather was truly perfect for quick drills. In no time fun took over her time, dampening her skin with light sweat as she played and focused on the net in front of her, imaging players flanking her.
"Alright, Quinn," the blonde muttered to herself, focused, "You got two attackers coming. Your striker is to the right—what do you do?" Her body reacted with ease; faking left then right. She pictured coming—she passed the ball left then rushed after it. Quinn popped the ball into the air, setting it perfectly for a spin kick straight into the goal. A full blown grin blossomed on her face. "Yas! Goal!" she jumped in excitement.
Suddenly Quinn heard a single person clapping.
Her heart leapt before settling down when she turned to find the same brunette from the courtyard sitting a few benches from where Quinn left her bag. Her eyebrows knotted in curiosity.
"Hey?" Quinn decided to ignore her ball in the net and jogged over to the girl. "What brings you to the field?"
The girl smiled softly as she stood up like a lady that Quinn's mother always trained her to. "Well, I happened to walk by and saw someone getting their early exercise. Upon coming closer, I realized it was you." Her voice grew softer with each word and her cheeks flushed. "I…didn't get your name yesterday…" Delicately, the smaller girl brought her arms behind her, her hands locking with each other.
Unbeknownst to Quinn, her lips quirked into a smirk. "No, I don't believe I gave my name." She made a show of thought by tapping her chin, her eyes on the smaller girl. "Now that I think about it, I didn't get yours either." The girl's shocked expression made Quinn chuckle.
"Oh my, how rude of me. My name is Rachel, Rachel Berry." Rachel extended her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."
Quinn took Rachel's hand. Hers were smaller than Quinn's and much softer. They were obviously very cared for. Quinn's eyes smiled down at Rachel. "Rachel. It suits you. My name is Quinn Fabray," Quinn shook her hand, "Other than my morning practice, what else brings you out?"
Rachel let go first, resuming her crossed arms behind her. "Well, I was actually heading over to the cafeteria for lunch as it's…past twelve."
Quinn gave Rachel a blank stare before the gears in her head clicked. Her eyes widened in shock. "Shoot! It's already twelve? Wow… I've been out here for three hours already…" She ran a hand through her hair, remembering she no longer had long hair. "Time flies, doesn't it?"
Rachel nodded, tucking hair behind her ear. "Yes, quite so. I recently finished my own two hour practice before receiving a reminder from my roommate about lunch." She bit her bottom lip in embarrassment, catching Quinn's eye.
Woah. Eyes Quinn eyes. She snapped her eyes back to Rachel's, hoping the girl didn't notice. Quinn nodded. "Ah, well, I would say I'd love to join you but I think I need a shower."
"Makes perfect sense. You've said you've been practicing since morning—you honestly smell nice despite—" Rachel's eyes widened, "I mean, uhm, yes, that would be wise to do before you eat."
Quinn lifted a brow, letting a laugh slip past. "Well that's good to know I don't smell nasty like a boy." Her silly grin slipped when she realized her mistake from the confused look of Rachel. "I mean, I am a boy, of course I smell, heh." Quinn nervously ran a hand through her hair again. Shit, I can't believe I slipped like that. It's only my second day, God!
The confused expression on Rachel's face melted into a cute one as she giggled, but before Rachel could respond, Quinn's name was yelled from behind them.
"Quinn! Did you not say meet at the dorm at eleven so we can go eat lunch?!" Kurt shouted at the fence, the bleachers obscuring his view of Rachel; a hand cupping around his mouth.
Quinn turned to Kurt, shouting back. "Ah, sorry Kurt! Got caught up with training. Let me take a quick shower then we can go." Rachel gave Quinn a look but the blonde didn't notice.
"Ugh, fine! But hurry up! I'm actually really hungry after finishing our room." A hint of eagerness was in his tone at the end as he rounded the fence's gate and spotted the unexpected company Quinn didn't tell him about. "Rachel Berry in the flesh," Kurt's lips held a lithe to them, walking over to the two. "Hope your summer was pleasant."
"Oh, yes. It was most pleasant." Rachel gave a sweet smile that then fell a bit. "I am sorry, Kurt. I was not able to communicate with you due to the theater camp not allowing mobile devices." She gave him an apologetic look, gently patting his shoulder once he stood by her.
Quinn watched the interaction between the two, wondering why she never met Rachel before through Kurt. They seemed like pretty close friends based on how they greeted each other.
Ultimately Quinn pushed the thought back and decided to run and get her ball. She popped it up into her hands flawlessly and headed back to her bag where she sat and undid her cleats then packed her bag. Quinn rose, adjusting the bag on her shoulder as she walked up to Kurt and Rachel, gaining their attention. "Well, I'm going to shower because I think I stink, so, then, I'll see you around Rachel. Very nice talking with you." Quinn gave a shy smile toward the smaller girl, her grip on her bag unconsciously tightening.
Kurt's eyes honed in on the grip. He snapped his eyes to Rachel. Oh. Now… this is interesting.
"Of course." Rachel's smile was soft. "I enjoyed our chat as well. I hope we will run into each other again. I find your presence delightful and lovely." Rachel turned to Kurt. "Kurt, pleasure seeing you as well. We really do need to catch up, but I will see you on Glee Friday." She waved to both before turning and walking toward the gate and off the field.
Kurt watched Rachel mingle into the crowd of lunch goers before joining Quinn who was heading to the locker rooms. "Quinn, darling, I think I need to go over a few different "people" that are popular and unpopular at this school. To help with your, hmm, "fitting in" because honestly," Kurt sighed, "You have just grabbed the attention of the beautiful Rachel Berry wanted by all the boys—straight boys of this school."
Quinn snapped her head to Kurt. "What?!"
He laughed at her expression. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be okay. As long as the jocks don't take notice." Kurt patted her back lightly. "I'll wait out here to make sure no one goes in, so hurry."
Quinn nodded, walking into the locker room; still a bit baffled from the news. Though, it did seem to clear up a few things she was trying to figure out since meeting Rachel Berry. I admit she's beautiful, I'm not blind to that. But that popular? I have doubts. Quinn stuffed her shorts into her bag with a chortle. I mean at my old school I was the resident beauty with San and Brit.
The blonde showered and dressed, thoughts of Rachel still on her mind as her and Kurt walked to lunch.
"So… you said that Rachel is the beauty of the school. Does that mean she's a cheerleader?" Quinn asked after they got their food and found a table. They took a seat in sync. "I mean most of the time it's cheerleaders, or sometimes jocks, or extremely rich people." She took a bite of her BLT sandwich.
Kurt's eyebrows rose in question. "Oh, Quinn. You have this school all wrong, hon." He sipped his vitaminwater. "Rachel is a drama student. She's in GLEE, theater arts, and the student council. She used to be a part of more school clubs but since she broke up with her boyfriend this summer, she wanted more time to herself." He tilted his head toward the far corner of the cafeteria where Rachel chatted with a dark skinned girl.
"Next you have the most popular and wanted guy, Finn Hudson; captain of the soccer team and basketball team." Kurt spoke softly, nodding his head three tables down behind them.
Quinn looked from Rachel's table—noticing the distant look on her face—to the table with the three guys she met yesterday. She turned to Kurt. "Are you serious? That tall idiot in the middle is Finn? The popular, good looking guy?! He looks constipated!" She spat in disbelief. "You're saying as Captain, he's the one I have to work with? God, this really sucks…" Quinn heaved a sigh, placing the rest of her sandwich down.
Kurt looked at Quinn quizzically. "Did something happen that you didn't tell me?"
"Not really." Quinn waved dismissively, but still talked. "It's just when I went to sign up for tryouts I got this weird vibe from him and his buddies. Like they didn't like me or the way I looked. Plus, the big guy there completely roamed his eyes over me in disgust." Her eyes went wide. "You don't think they could tell I'm, you know?" She whispered to Kurt.
He shook his head and patted her hand that was on the table. "Quinn, hon, you're fine. Don't worry. The only way someone would know is if you stripped. The girls and I did a fabulous job. No one can tell. At all." Kurt gave her an assuring smile. "Plus, I've already noticed you're getting admirers and we haven't even started classes officially, girl." He chuckled, pulling his hand back.
"Whatever." Quinn scoffed, crossing her arms on the table. "I don't believe you."
"Honey, you really should." Kurt capped his bottle. "Anyways, as I was saying for his friends—on the left, the blond's name is Sam Evans; not the smartest of the bunch but he's the nicest, or should I say kinder, of the three. The one on the right, with the mohawk, is Noah 'Puck' Puckerman; he prefers to be called Puck. He's a total douche and sex shark. Never stops flirting with all the girls, which is so annoying." Kurt huffed.
Quinn nodded along, her nose scrunched up in clear disgust at what she was hearing. So the resident player I was right. No wonder he seemed like an ass. She took a sip of her water, mulling over her thoughts. "Kurt… what are you considered?"
Kurt's body tensed for a split second then relaxed into an awkward fidget. "Well, I can safely say I'm not a loser. But I'm not high up in the food chain here at McKinley either."
"So you're getting picked on?" Quinn scuffed. "That's definitely changing by my hands!" She seethed lowly. Quinn hated how others mistreated others based off such petty levels; such as race or sexuality just to list some. People were people. Let them be! I defended San and Brit. I will defend Kurt, too!
Kurt smiled sincerely at the seething Quinn. "It's not all that. I'm in GLEE with Rachel. She treats me well, I mean, we do have our little bouts, but we're friends." Kurt turned to the girl.
Quinn mirrored Kurt's action just as Rachel noticed them. She offered a shy wave with a smile. Her friends noticed the wave and turned over their shoulder to Kurt and Quinn. She seemed to smirk at the pair before turning back to Rachel who's face seem to combust into a blush.
Kurt chortled at the sight. "Now that there is Mercedes Jones; a very confident, fashion extraordinaire—like myself." He patted his chest with pride. "She's also on the student council and in GLEE and Theater Arts. She also treats me right and is such a riot, you'd love her, Quinn." Kurt smiled fondly, making Quinn soften at his displace.
That's good to hear it's not all bad. "Very glad you have people, Kurt."
"Don't forget you!" They shared a laugh.