Author's Note: I am so so sorry, for this being as late as it is. I just started my IGCSEs on Monday, and they are going to finish on November 15th, but I do have some free days, so I'll try to keep this updated :) In other news, there will be a second set of notes in the bottom of the chapter to clear things up a bit, yes? I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Warning for swearing?
"Holy shit"
The only thing that brought Rachel back to reality was the sound of Mercedes' voice ringing in her ears. She was well aware of her jaw hanging open and she wondered for a second just how completely dumb she must have looked before closing it sharply at the sound of Kurt's giggle.
"Where did you even hear that from?" Mercedes half whispered, her voice breaking and higher than usual. And, well, Rachel could hardly blame her. She could hardly trust herself to talk, leave alone sound even close to normal.
"That's irrelevant" Kurt said, his smile dropping somewhat steadily.
"Hummel, I swear to God, if you are joking about this, I will tell everyone about the one time you and Blaine got it on in Finn's bedroom" Rachel's voice, as she had predicted, came out way higher and faster than would be considered normal.
"Lauren stole her file" Kurt said, lowering his eyes and taking a sip from his apple juice. "She told Puck and Puck told Finn, and you know Finn can't keep his mouth shut to save his life, right?"
"Yeah"
"Well, he totally spilled it over dinner yesterday night. Carole made him swear he wouldn't tell anyone, but I knew you'd want to know" Kurt shrugged, his smirk plastering over his face again. Rachel knew he had wanted to help, but really, she kind of wanted to punch him.
"Thanks" she whispered, unconvincingly.
"So, what's the rest of the story?" Mercedes whispered, the interested gleam in her eyes betraying any thoughts Rachel would have ever had of her keeping this to herself.
"Right, well, apparently, she got pregnant on her sophomore year and her parents kicked her out! Like, actually kicked her out!" Kurt was outraged, a small flush appearing on his cheeks. Rachel could hardly think of why parents would ever want to kick out their children, the people they were supposed to take care of. "Anyway, her parents got a divorce, and her mother took her back in or something. She put the kid up for adoption and, yeah that's it. She started the whole punk act after the pregnancy thing, like PTSD or something, I guess. It works for her, though."
"It totally does" Rachel muttered, earning choked back laughters from her friends
"She's gotten in a lot of trouble, there was a close call to juvie, according to her resumé"
"And that's why she moved here?" Rachel's voice had gone back to normal, but her face still held a frown of worry.
"I'd suppose" Kurt answered dismissively, starting to eat the horrendous food the cafeteria had given them.
Rachel leaned back on her seat, biting her nails thoughtfully. It was a habit she had developed over the last few years of school, and although she wanted to give it up, nothing she did seemed to work.
"I... uh" Rachel found herself grabbing her bag and throwing it over her shoulder as she stood up. "I'm going to the library"
"You haven't eaten anything" Mercedes pointed out, gesturing to her tray, the salad and the apple untouched.
"I'll eat the apple on my way there" she said, grabbing the apple "Help yourselves with the salad"
She left the tray on the table and walked out of the cafeteria, taking a bite of the apple before dumping it in the nearest trash can. She wasn't all that hungry.
The hallways were mostly empty of students, most of them being in the cafeteria or yet in class, so the library would be nearly empty. Before opening the doors, however, she remembered that both Tina and Mike would be there. With a groan, she turned back on her heels and headed towards the girl's bathroom. She wasn't going to be able to stay there through the rest of lunch, but at least she would be alone for a little while.
She pushed the door and stood in front of the mirror, getting her eyeliner out of her bag and correcting what she had not had the time to do in the morning. Just when she was putting the eyeliner back in her bag, the door opened, and she looked at the mirror to see the reflection of a girl with pink hair. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly straightened herself before turning to face Quinn.
"Hey" she said quietly, hoping for her to both hear her and ignore her. Her heart was thumping unsteadily and she was actually worried she might have a stroke.
"Oh." Quinn's lips formed a small smile that had Rachel's mind spiraling and forced her to smile back, nervously at her. "Hey"
"I'm Rachel" Rachel's palms were sweaty and she could hear her own heartbeat, which was completely unhealthy, she was sure of it.
"Quinn" the girl smiled and reached towards her bag, grabbing a book and opening it in the last page. She teared a piece and wrote something on it before handing it to Rachel.
"Uh" Rachel held the note, not entirely sure if she was supposed to read it or not. Quinn just grinned further, her smile almost turning into a smirk as she rolled her eyes and headed to one of the stalls "See you around, Rachel" she said, before opening the door and disappearing inside.
Rachel bolted outside the bathroom before reading the paper. The handwriting was cursive and perfect. "Call me maybe?" it said, written above nine numbers and a small smiley face.
She was not entirely sure how she managed not to scream.
Author's Note: Well, first off, I thought I'd tell you again how much all your favourites and reviews and follows mean to me! Like, i feel my chest tightening and I'm not even joking right now, oh my god.
Now, onto the serious business: This is obviously an AU, but I just thought I'd clear up that Puck and Quinn never happened. Quinn, however, did get pregnant and led a life similar to the one she would have at McKinley. Rachel is a lot more quiet in this AU, mainly because she doesn't have the confidence she has in the show.
I guess that's it! I think I'll have an update ready for Thursday (25th)!