Never again (Quinntana)

Chapter 9 - Quinn

As the bell rang, Quinn gathered her things from her locker, locked it and entered her classroom.

Contrary to what Santana might have thought, Quinn wasn't oblivious to the looks of envy that already followed her around. She just chose to ignore them.

Her eyes scanned the classroom, in hopes of finding someone who wasn't already lusting over her. 

It took her several seconds.

Finally, in the left corner, she spotted a pretty blonde in a cheerleader's outfit, who hadn't noticed her at all. She seemed lost in her thoughts.

Quinn walked towards her and introduced herself as she sat down next to the barbie doll. "Hi, I'm Quinn Fabray."

The blonde smiled. "I am Brittany."

She seemed nice, and genuine. Both were very rare for a cheerleader.

"You're new here, right?"

How does she even know? Am I always going to be the outsider?

"Everybody here knows everybody, it's a small town", explained Brittany with a smile on her lips.

"If you need anything, you can ask me.", she carried on.

"Thanks. Yes, actually, I was wondering... Do you know where I can tryout for the cheerleading team?"

"You like cheerleading? That's so cool! I am a cheerleader myself!" she said proudly, gesturing at her bright red cheerleading uniform.

"Right. I hadn't noticed."

Brittany didn't lose her composure, or her smile, for that matter. She giggled.

"The tryouts are held this afternoon in the school gym. I'm sure you'll get in!"

She stopped talking as the lecture began.

Quinn caught herself thinking that she could use a friend like Brittany. Of course, she didn't need a friend. More like a buddy. Someone to follow her around.

Friends were for the weak. The last friend she had...

Well, let's just say that she had left her behind. For good.

Sometimes she wondered what she had become. Who she was with. If she ever thought about her.

Probably not. You were just a dead weight for her. Always there whining, complaining about your bullies. Not even able to fight for yourself.

She had to protect you all the time.

She was too nice to tell you to leave her alone.

I am glad that I finally did, though. That I set her free. She never has to worry about me again.

Quinn didn't want a new relationship like that. She would never depend on anyone, ever again. 

The class ended, and she was surprised to hear Brittany ask her:

"Hey, would you like to have lunch with me?"

People were rarely bold enough to ask her that. Quinn appreciated it.

She nodded, and followed Brittany to the packed lunchroom.

Every group or club had its own table. The jocks were in the middle of the room, throwing sex jokes at each other and snorting with laughter. Next to them were the cheerleaders. Their plates were very lightly filled, and the girls didn't seem happy. Like her, they seemed to be pretending. But that didn't stop them from being as superficial as they could, gossiping about the last couple and making fun of the occasional loser that passed by.

On the very end of the table, alone, sat a black haired girl also wearing the cheerleaders' uniform. But she didn't seem to care about the other girls. She was seated as far away from them as humanly possible. Earphones prevented her from hearing their incessant blabber, and she was halfheartedly poking at the salad in her plate.

As soon as she saw her, Brittany ran towards her and hugged her from behind.

"Guess who it is!" she said excitedly.

The raven haired girl groaned as she removed her earphones.

"What, Brittany?" Her tone, though, was more amused than annoyed. Evidently, she had taken a liking to her blonde teammate.

"I missed you! Can I have lunch with you?"

"Well, I can't make you leave, can I?"

Brittany clapped her hands excitedly as if she had just received an open invitation.

"Thank you!"

She sat down next to her teammate and beckoned Quinn to sit in front of them. As she did, the raven-haired girl turned to put her phone back in her bag.

"I brought someone!" Brittany chirped. "Quinn, this is Santana! Santana, this is Quinn!"

Santana...

Santana wasn't a common name, and Quinn had only ever known one. Could it be... Could it be that Santana... That Santana was her Santana?

A shiver of anticipation ran down Quinn's spine.

She watched intently, as the girl in front of her finished rummaging through her bag. 

Santana had her back to the blonde, but Quinn could tell from her bare, tan arms that she was probably Latina. Her rich, thick black hair was tied up in a perfect ponytail. 

Quinn couldn't manage to see her face. But she could have sworn... 

She had to be the same girl. She had to. 

All Quinn needed for confirmation was to see her face. Her eyes stayed glued on the girl before her, her mind reeling. Her whole body was tense, every muscle contracted in anticipation. 

Quinn could hear her heart beating painfully fast in her chest. 

Blood rushed to her cheeks. 

Take a hold of yourself, Quinn!

The mere thought of seeing Santana again sent her body out of control. There was no helping it.

You've left her behind. She shouldn't even mean anything to you.

Santana was zipping her bag.

Quinn's heart almost jumped out of her chest. Her breathing became erratic.

In a desperate attempt to calm herself, she took a deep breath. 

At the exact same time, Santana finally turned, and slowly lifted her head.

Quinn's breath hitched in her throat.

Their eyes met. Warm brown got lost in deep green, and suddenly the world stopped spinning.