A/N: OH MY GOSH AN UPDATE, WHAT?! I'm really sorry I took so long with this one! I got stuck at some point and then school and other stuff got in the way, long story short this story along with my others suffered. I'm trying to get back on track though, so don't give up on me yet!

I hope you love this chapter, as you see, a certain favourite blonde features hugely in this...well two technically.

Quinn Fabray walked back into her home after her first day of high school, going straight to her room - her mother was at work and she would be home alone for a few hours - and flopping down on the bed, gently, because the last time she did that she broke the bed frame. She let out a breath, loosening her school tie and kicking off her shoes. It was a strange custom, this school uniform, but she did like the way everything matched. And it made her feel like a part of the school, something she otherwise didn't feel like she belonged in. Her mother said it would take her a while to get used to it, after a life time of being home schooled.

"I know you may be nervous." She had said as she helped her brush her hair. "But I promise you everything will come together soon enough, you'll make friends there and the nerves will give away to enjoying their company."

"I'm just worried, what if no one likes me? I'm not like normal girls." She had expressed her concern.

"Now now, sweetie, you'll adapt, just like you adapted to your powers when they came in remember?" Her mother reminded her.

"I had daddy to help me with that." Quinn said.

"I know, but after all isn't this what you wanted? To be like a regular teenager?" Judy asked.

"It is, I just didn't anticipate that I would be this nervous, it's a new feeling…is it human?" Quinn inquired.

"Very much so, one of the most human feelings there is." Her mother said, smiling at her through the mirror and kissing her temple.

"With all the many emotions humans experience, it's a wonder your species doesn't spontaneously combust." Quinn said. Her mother just chuckled and rubbed her shoulder.

"It does feel like that sometimes, but I promise you'll get used to them, I don't blame you for worrying after being stuck in this house all your life." She said.

"I don't fault you for keeping me here, as I matured, it was hard to keep my powers hidden, at least here I was safe." Quinn said, turning around and hugging her mother.

"But now it's time you adapt to the world around you." Her mother said as she hugged her back. When they pulled away from each other her mother smiled at her and put her hands on her shoulders. "Now, you remember what I told you?"

"Be nice to everyone, polite to the teachers and faculty, watch my strength." Quinn recited.

"That last one especially." Her mother reminded before pulling something out of her pocket. "Here."

"What's this?" Quinn said, taking the box shaped device her mother used often.

"A cell phone Quinnie, you can call me with it wherever you are." Her mother said.

"Right! I read about these." Quinn said, remembering the knowledge she had gained on cell phones.

"You know how to use it then?" her mother asked.

"I think I do." Quinn said, tentatively running her fingers along the touch screen to scroll through the menu. "What's my number?"

"It's written here." Her mother handed her a scrap of paper. "In case you forget."

"My mind can absorb any information and store it." Quinn reminded her mother as she studied the series of numbers on the paper.

"Right, I forgot you can do that." Her mother said with a smile. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

She wouldn't ever forget the moment her parents sat her down and explained everything, not that she didn't see it coming. She had overheard the conversation her parents had had in the kitchen, how her father wanted her to experience the real world and make friends. She didn't get to see him much, between maintaining his secret identity and trying to protect both her and her mother, as well as the rest of the universe, it was difficult to spend time with family. Still, she got to see him during the training sessions she had with him, and he called every day to check on her. He wasn't absent, just not constantly around.

Flashback

"We need to talk." Clark, as he called himself, said.

"Is something the matter dear?" Judy asked.

"It's about Quinn." He said, sitting down on a stool at the kitchen island.

"Is she alright?" Judy asked again in concern.

"She's fine, she's actually come into her powers a lot faster than I thought she would, she knows how to control them fully." Clark said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"That's a relief, she always was an early bloomer, must be the kryptonian in her." Judy said, shooting Clark a smirk.

"Maybe." He answered with a chuckle. "My point is, I think it's time she experienced the real world."

Judy's smile disappeared and she stopped what she was doing, putting the wooden spoon in her hand down and turning the stove off. She turned around and faced the man she'd been in love with all these years, despite who he was.

"Clark, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" she asked.

"It would be good for her," he said calmly. "She could make friends, learn about her human side a bit more."

"We had talked about this when she was born, it's too dangerous, for all of us but especially for her." Judy reminded him.

"That was when she was only a baby, we didn't know how fast her powers would start to show up." He pointed out. "It's different now, she's grown, she knows how to handle her powers fully."

"I still think it's a bad idea." Judy insisted.

"Why?" Clark asked.

"Because, there's still so much she doesn't know about the world, so much she hasn't experienced."

"Which is exactly why she should attend high school, what's more normal in life than that?" Clark argued. Judy sighed, staying silent for a moment before she spoke.

"I suppose you're right."

"I spoke to Bruce." Clark said. "He agreed to pay her tuition, she can enroll at Gotham Academy, best school in the city."

"It's certainly prestigious." Judy said. "Definitely better than a public school."

"Exactly, and she can study whatever she wants, she's a bright girl, I never see her without a book in her hand." Clark pointed out. "She'd love it."

"Okay, we'll try it, one semester. But if anything goes wrong-"

"She'll go back to being home schooled." Clark said with a nod, smiling at her. Judy rolled her eyes, stepping over to him.

"Why is it that you can always get me to agree with you?" she asked.

"It's part of my charm." He teased. She rolled her eyes again, kissing him on the cheek before going back to what she was doing.

The first day of school had been strange, first the uniform and getting used to her hair pulled up in what her mother called a pony tail, humans had strange names for hair styles, then her mother showing her the sub way, which had always piqued her curiosity. She had been a little excited for that part of the day, and riding the fast shuttle like vehicle was fun, even if it was a little crowded. Her mother had asked if she would be okay to get home on her own after school, so she memorized the route. She had grown nervous again though, when her mother had to leave her alone at the school. She said goodbye to her and entered the large building, already a little overwhelmed by the noises of so many young humans, talking among themselves, laughing. It felt exhilarating.

Her first encounter with another human besides her mother had been a tall blond girl by the name of Brittany. She had been at her locker, which was the name of a small steel compartment. At first Quinn wasn't sure what to do with it, or why they provided her with one, but Brittany had helped her when she saw her staring at it.

"Hi." The tall blond had said to gain Quinn's attention.

"Oh, hello." Quinn had responded.

"Are you new here?" Brittany asked, her mother had said people might, so Quinn just nodded, and Brittany smiled happily. "Are you my new locker neighbor?"

"Is…is that what these are?" Quinn said, pointing to the steel container. Brittany nodded. "Then I guess I am…though, I'm not sure what to do with it."

"The locker?" Brittany asked.

"Yes."

"You put your books in it." Brittany informed helpfully as she opened her own.

"Why?" Quinn asked.

"Well so you won't have to carry all those heavy books around all the time." Brittany said with a smile. "It's okay, I was confused about it my first day too."

Quinn was about to laugh at the absurdity of her books being called 'heavy' until she remembered that humans were not as strong as she was, and at this school, she had to be human. She opened the empty steel compartment and put her bag down, placing all of her books in it neatly.

"Oh, don't forget to take the books you need for your first class, I did that once and the teacher got mad at me." Brittany said.

"Oh right, of course." Quinn said, checking what her first lesson of the day was. She frowned, math was boring, and way too easy for her, she never could understand why humans had difficulty learning the simplest of equations.

"What class are you in first?" Brittany asked with a smile.

"Math." Quinn answered. "In room B14"

"Oh, that's the same class I'm in!" Brittany said happily. "I can show you where it is."

"Can you?" Quinn asked, smiling at the blond. "That would be very nice of you."

"Sure can, finish up with your locker and we can go." Brittany said. Quinn smiled at her before grabbing all of her books in one pile, lifting them up and into the locker. Brittany was shocked at first, but then smiled at her.

"Wow you're really strong." She complimented.

"Thank you." Quinn said.

"Come on, the class is this way." Brittany said, closing her locker and leading the way.

The classroom, although not entirely foreign thanks to television and books, was a strange concept to Quinn. She'd always been homeschooled by her own mother, and so always had one on one attention and the treatment a mother would give to a daughter. But she was fully prepared, and though the nerves were there, she knew she had nothing to fear.

As she walked into the room, her eyes were drawn to the left, to the very back of the classroom where a brunette girl sat, leaning back in her chair as she chatted with her friend. The girl intrigued her in a way no other human in this school did and it was a strange feeling, though it felt like what humans described as finding someone attractive, and she was, very attractive indeed.

Her attention however was demanded by Brittany, who tugged gently at her arm to pull her into the third row, two rows ahead of where the brunette sat.

"What are you looking at?" Brittany asked when she saw Quinn looking back at the brunette once she was sitting down.

"That girl." Quinn said, speaking quietly. "Do you know her?"

"No." Brittany said with a frown. "Though I know the boy she's talking to, his name is Kurt. I guess the girl is a new student, like you."

"I guess so." Quinn said before she turned to the front of the class where the teacher had just walked in and was about to start the class.

At the end of the class, her phone buzzed in her blazer pocket. Quinn raised her eyebrow and looked at it.

"Nice phone." Brittany said with a grin as they walked out of the classroom together.

"Thank you, my mother gave it to me." Quinn said. Speaking of her mother, she had just texted her. She slid her finger across the screen and read the message.

Mom: Hi Quinnie! How's your first day going?

Quinn: This device seems to know what I call you…

Mom: I programmed it to know.

Quinn: I see…School so far is good, my first class of the day was math, and I made a new friend.

Mom: Already? I'm proud of you! What's their name?

Quinn: Her name is Brittany, she assisted me with the metal compartment the school provided me with.

Mom: You mean your locker?

Quinn: Yes, that's what they call it. Apparently humans find their books too heavy to carry them all at once, so the school administration provides storage for them.

Mom: You remembered to lock it with a combination right?

Quinn: Yes, Brittany showed me how. My combination is the exact time of my birth.

Mom: Good choice, I'm glad you're doing well sweetie!

Quinn: I'm curious to sample what food they have here.

Mom: Stay away from anything called mystery meat.

Quinn: Why? And why is the meat mysterious?

Mom: The same reason you shouldn't eat it.

Quinn: As you wish mother.

Mom: Good girl, I'll see you at home, I love you.

Quinn: The sentiment is returned, my next class is English, but I don't understand why I need it, I already have a firm grasp on the language and speak it fluently.

Mom: Relax sweetie, you'll be doing literature there as well.

Quinn: That sounds enjoyable!

Mom: You'll love it, I have to go now, I'm going in for a meeting, see you at home!

Quinn: Goodbye mother.

Quinn put the phone back into her blazer pocket as Brittany stopped walking and turning to her.

"My next class is Spanish." She said.

"Oh…I don't have that. I already speak Spanish fluently." Quinn said, a little sad because this meant that she and her friend would have to part ways.

"Yeah, I'm not very good at it." Brittany said sadly. "Your class is down the hall, and around the corner, first class on the right, do you want me to draw you a map? I don't want you to get lost."

"Oh, no worries, now that you told me I've memorized the route." Quinn said with a smile.

"Really? Wow, you're smart." Brittany said. "I wish I was that smart."

"You are smart." Quinn said. "All humans have a certain level of intelligence, to lack it would be detrimental to your brain."

"I…don't know what that means, but thanks!" Brittany said with a bright smile. She pulled Quinn in for a hug and, caught off guard, the shorter blonde let herself fall into her friends arms. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"I would like that very much." Quinn said with a nod.

"Great! I'll meet you by our lockers and show you where the cafeteria is." Brittany said. Quinn nodded in agreement and, with one final hug, Brittany walked the other way down the hall. Quinn smiled, and then followed the directions Brittany had given her to her English class.

Lunch was more pleasant than Quinn thought it would be. Her mother's warning about mystery meat had frightened her a bit, thought she had ignored the feeling straight away, mostly because she was experiencing too many negative human emotions at once and she was sure that that comments he had made about spontaneously combusting would come true. Instead she focused on her classes. English had been delightful and she was excited to learn that they would be covering one of Shakespeare's plays during the year. She had done her research, and read some of his work, but the one that they would be covering was new to her and she grinned at the thought of being able to experience more literature through school.

However now she realized that her fears about lunch were better where they were placed, at the back of her mind where they would not bother her. Because, as she entered the large cafeteria with Brittany, everything about the place just seemed amazing. The cafeteria itself was beautifully decorated, with gorgeous portraits of important personalities from Gotham's history. The tables were not the metallic tables she expected from what she'd seen in movies about American high schools, but long wooden tables that with one glance at the wood work, she could easily tell were made of sturdy oak. They were complimented with long benches and took up the space of most of the large hall. On the far left of the room once they had walked in, she could see the long lunch line, that started with a stack of trays, and then went through a wide selection of food manned by the lunch staff until it reached the cash register.

"Come on! I'm starved, and they have my favourite on the menu today!" Brittany said excitedly, pulling Quinn gently by the hand and taking her to the stack of trays. She handed her one before taking one for herself.

"Thank you." Quinn said with a smile. She really liked Brittany, who seemed to be constantly happy and became excited about the simplest things. Quinn knew that that was not the behaviour of an average human, and she found that Brittany's moods were some what infectious. The taller girl lead her to the lunch line where they were handed plates of warm pasta with bolognese sauce. Quinn smiled when her senses where filled with the amazing scent of the obviously fresh beef mince in the sauce. They both thanked the lady who gave them the plates with a smile, which she returned, and moved to get desert and drinks. The selection was large, and with one look, Brittany knew that Quinn was having a hard time deciding.

"Can't pick?" she asked to the shorter girl. Quinn nodded with a shy smile. Brittany smiled at her warmly. "How about I pick for you? I'm pretty good at reading people…maybe I can pick something you might like."

"That sounds like a good idea." Quinn smiled happily and Brittany mirrored the grin before twisting her mouth a little in thought. Suddenly she beamed and reached over for a vanilla pudding and an apple flavored drink, placing them on Quinn's tray.

"Thank you!" Quinn said with a smile, which was responded by a quick hug from Brittany. They quickly paid for their lunch and found a table, sitting across from each other they began to eat their food. Quinn was pleasantly surprised at how good the pasta was.

"Oh wow." She said with a smile on her face and some spaghetti sauce on her lip. Brittany giggled a little and reached over with a napkin, wiping her lip for her.

"Good huh?" she said. Quinn nodded happily with a child-like grin on her face.

"Thank you." She said when Brittany retracted the napkin.

"No problem, my mom still does that with me sometimes." The taller girl said with a chuckle.

"So your mom is protective as well?" Quinn asked in curiosity. Brittany nodded with a smile.

"I think every mom is, if they're a good mom." Brittany enthused. "They want what's best for their kids, even if it's maybe not what the kid wants. And yeah, sometimes they can be wrong, but ultimately they just wants their kids to be happy, healthy, and safe."

Quinn was dumbfounded by Brittany's insight and reasoning. And suddenly it made sense to her why she was homeschooled all her life. Sure she always understood the bottom line, she didn't know how to control her powers so she couldn't go to regular school. But the "why?" always bothered her. Now she knew. Because her mother didn't want her to get hurt in any way.

"Quinn?" Brittany said, pulling her out of her inner monologue . "You okay?"

"Yeah." Quinn said. "Just...missing my mom, I guess."

"Well you'll see her when you get home, right?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, I will." Quinn said with a grin.

Quinn was running to her last class. She had got caught up in a conversation with Brittany and completely forgot that she was on a strict schedule now. She refused to be late for class, having been on time for all the others. She wanted a good reputation with the teachers here and was running maybe a bit faster than the average human could, but no one was around to see her anyway. That is, until she felt a blunt force hit her squarely in the chest. She stopped dead in her tracks as a blur of brunette hair flowed downwards to the ground from her peripheral vision. She looked down and her eyes met with pools of dark brown that she had only seen earlier in class

"Ow! Fuck." The brown eyed girl hissed under her breath.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Quinn said quickly, reaching out to help the girl up. "Are you alright?"

"I…I…" the other girl stammered before she shook her head. "Yeah. I'm fine."

She took the blonde's hand and Quinn lifted her up easily, still looking into her eyes, as if mesmerized. She handed her her bag, which had fallen on the ground along with her.

"What's your name?" she asked as the brunette took her bag back.

"I'm Rachel." She said. Quinn smiled at her brightly.

"I'm Quinn."

A/N: There we go! What did you think? Please leave reviews and let me know! Thank you for reading!