Fic: Identity (3/9) Part 1
“I warned you about hanging out with her,” Santana said in rapid-fire Spanish as they entered the school.
Quinn indicated the slushie in her hand. “If you throw that at either of us, I’ll drown you in it.”
“No worries, Q. This one’s for drinking. See you in Glee.” She smiled, saccharine-sweet, and walked away.
“Do I even want to know?” Rachel studied Quinn’s face.
“No,” Quinn replied shortly. “Let’s get to class.”
As much as Quinn enjoyed the time she spent with Rachel, the classes were dull, and she was grateful when lunchtime arrived. She followed her to the choir room, taking a seat toward the back. The cheerleader next to her leaned over and introduced herself. “Hi - I’m Brittany. You’re Quinn, right?”
“Sure am,” Quinn agreed. Brittany looked over at Santana, who made a ‘keep going’ motion, circling her index fingers around each other. Brittany tilted her head, confused, and then smiled to indicate she’d understood.
“Do you like trains?” The sound of Santana slapping her forehead was audible throughout the room.
“I,” Quinn stared at her, baffled. “I guess?”
“Cool,” Brittany smiled and sat back in her chair.
“Quinn!” Will greeted her as he walked in. “It’s good to see you - I didn’t know you’d be joining us again today.”
“I’m like a bad penny,” she smiled, “I keep turning up.”
“Well, I certainly don’t mind. Did we get proper introductions done yesterday? Everyone, this is Quinn. Quinn, you know Finn and Rachel. The rest of our little gang, if you’d like to introduce yourselves?” They went around the room, each of them in turn, and Quinn waved at each of them from her seat. “Now, who’s got a song for me?” Rachel’s hand shot up. “Anyone besides Rachel?”
Quinn bristled and opened her mouth to speak up, but Rachel squeezed her leg. “It’s okay,” she mouthed, and Quinn sat back with a frown. No one else volunteered.
“Okay,” Will sighed. “Rachel, come on up.” Rachel stood with a smile, taking Quinn’s hand and pulling her along. They repeated their performance from the night before, minus the smouldering kiss at the end, and re-took their seats while the club applauded.
“Next?” Will gestured.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Why does he do that?” Quinn asked after Will had dismissed the club. He’d grudgingly given Rachel Friday’s solo, but not without harsh criticism of the rest of the group and what he perceived as their lack of effort. “Why does he seem so bitter about having you there? You think he’d be happy to have someone who’s happy to be there, who does the assignments and enjoys them. Is he mad that you’re better than he is or something? Like, you’re going to be a star and he’ll always be a teacher?”
Rachel smiled at her, so flattered she was speechless - a condition that would have shocked anyone who knew her. “He’s not so bad,” she protested after a minute. “Considering the only alternative at this school was that pedophile Mister Ryerson, Mister Schue’s done a pretty good job. He’s just going through some personal problems, if the rumour mill is to be trusted.”
“A pedophile? Seriously? What the hell kind of school is this?” the question was answered as she took a slushie in the face for the second day in a row. “Hijo de puta,” she muttered this time rather than screaming, trying not to provoke another confrontation. “I just got this dress,” she complained. “Rachel,” she rubbed the sweet liquid from her eyes, “I hope you have another sweater I can borrow?”
“Absolutely,” Rachel put an arm around her. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
Brittany and Santana were in the bathroom when they entered, fixing their hair. Santana chuckled. “Told you.”
Quinn shook her head. “We’re not doing that anymore. If you’re going to talk to me in front of Rachel, you can speak English or you can not talk to me at all.”
“Fine,” she turned to Rachel. “Get out, RuPaul.”
“Stay right where you are,” Quinn told her before returning her attention to Santana. “Just what the hell is your problem?”
“I’m just watching out for you.”
“I didn’t ask you to watch out for me,” Quinn stepped closer. “I don’t care where I rank on your list of popular people. Rachel’s my friend. And you’re not. So this is what we’re going to do. If you insult her to my face - or at all, for that matter - I’m going to hit you. Are we clear?”
Santana took a step closer, but Brittany put a hand on her arm and pulled her back. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Coach Sylvester wouldn’t like it.”
“Fine,” Santana shook out of her grip. “You better hope,” she said to Quinn, “that when you figure out who you are, you end up going to school a long way from here. Because if you come to this school, I’m going to bury you.”
Even with the cold slushie soaking into her skin, Quinn laughed. “Do you think you scare me? With everything I’m going through, do you think some bitchy cheerleader even remotely matters? Walk away.”
Santana did, staring daggers at Quinn. The bathroom door shut behind her, and Rachel exhaled loudly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I’m sorry,” Sue berated Santana, “was there some part of my instructions that wasn’t clear to you? I told you to befriend this girl, and now you’re almost fighting her in the bathroom? This is you, following directions?”
“It’s not my fault,” Santana protested. “I didn’t realise how close she was getting to Rachel. Plus, something about her just bugs me.”
“You screwed up,” Sue growled. “I don’t want to hear excuses. If you can’t follow directions, I’m going to have to find a new head Cheerio.” Santana’s jaw dropped. “You have two very simple jobs. Report to me on what’s going on at Schuester’s Glee Club, and make friends with this girl. Do them. Now get out of my office.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If Quinn Fabray is on campus, could she please report to the Guidance Counsellor’s office?” the announcement interrupted biology, something for which Quinn was profoundly grateful.
“Do you want me to come?” Rachel asked. Quinn shook her head.
“I’m sure it’s nothing - they mean Miss Pillsbury’s office, right?”
“Yep - do you remember how to get to her office?” Quinn looked indignant for a moment before she realised Rachel was teasing.
“You’re going to pay for that, Berry,” she whispered with a grin, quickly leaving the classroom. The halls were nearly empty, and she made her way to Emma’s office, unsurprised to see Sergeant Daniels through the window. Knocking gently on the door, she opened it and let herself in.
“Hello, Quinn,” Emma smiled. “You can get back to class in just a moment, okay?”
“No rush - we’re dissecting frogs. It’s seriously gross.”
“This will just take a moment,” Daniels insisted. “After you left the bank yesterday, we found something else in your safety deposit box. It was tucked into the corner and snagged on a sharp edge, so we missed it. It’s been dusted for prints, so I wanted to bring it back to you.”
“What is it?” Quinn asked cautiously. He held out a hand - dangling from his finger, on a fine gold chain, was a small gold cross.
She would wonder later how she managed to find a chair before she fell over, and decide the credit likely went to Miss Pillsbury. She took the cross from his hand, fighting to control the images flashing through her head and slow them to a manageable pace. It was happening so fast that it produced physical pain, but she was grateful for that - it kept her aware. If it weren’t for the pain, she may have passed out.
“I take it this is familiar?”
“It,” Quinn cleared her throat, choking back tears, “it’s my mother’s. Her name is,” she struggled, “her name is Judy! It’s so weird, though.”
“What’s weird?” Daniels crouched down next to her chair. “Quinn, what’s weird?”
“I can see her wearing it - but it’s like,” she trailed off.
“Like?” he prompted.
“Like it’s only pictures of her - like I don’t remember seeing her in person. Does that make any sense?” she frowned. Daniels scribbled in a notebook he took from his back pocket. “Her name is Judy,” Quinn repeated in dazed wonderment. “My mom’s name is Judy.”
Daniels stood up, his knees popping. “I was kind of afraid you’d say that eventually.”
“Afraid?” Emma asked from behind Quinn’s chair. “Why?”
“That was her mother’s name, wasn’t it?” Quinn stared at the cross. “The baby - the one you told me about yesterday that was stillborn.”
“Yes - that’s why I didn’t give you the Fabrays’ first names. I wanted to see if you came up with them on your own,” he shook his head, confused. “We’re still trying to locate them, but so far we’re not having much luck. Quinn, if I told you that your father’s name was Russell, would that mean anything to you?”
It wasn’t as strong, but the pain in her head ramped up again. “I think so,” she rubbed her temples. “I don’t - I know his name, but I can’t picture him in my head. I’m sorry,” she looked at him, downcast. “I know that doesn’t help, I’m trying my best.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “We have a place to start now, and that’s what’s important.”
“What about the social that was in my file at the bank?”
“It’s a fake,” Daniels frowned. “Apparently the bank wasn’t all that vigilant with their record-keeping. This is good, though. Thank you, Quinn.”
“Thank you,” she answered, staring at the gold cross. “This is the first - this makes me feel like I really exist.”
“Stay strong, okay?” he squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll be in touch. And if you remember anything else at all, call me.”
Quinn released the clasp on the chain and hung the cross around her neck - Emma did it up for her. “Are you okay, Quinn?”
“Yeah,” she smiled, tears in her eyes. “I’m great.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rather than interrupt the biology class she’d left, she waited outside for Rachel to leave and caught up with her.
“Quinn! I was very concerned when you didn’t return - is everything okay?”
“Better than okay,” Quinn smiled. “My mother’s name is Judy.”
“What?” Rachel exclaimed loudly, stopping in the middle of the hall. She took Quinn’s hands excitedly. “You remembered?”
“This,” Quinn nodded downward toward her necklace, “was hers. The police found it at the bottom of my safe deposit box. As soon as I saw it, I knew!” Rachel embraced her, and they jumped up and down together a few times in excitement.
“This is just the beginning, I’m absolutely certain!” Rachel assured her. “Soon, you’ll remember everything!”
“For now, I’m happy to remember anything,” Quinn grinned. “I’m going to be staring at this necklace all day - this is amazing. It’s really mine, you know?”
“I’m so happy for you,” Rachel hugged her tightly. “We should get to class, but then I’m calling my dads. We’re taking you out for dinner tonight, to celebrate.”
“No - we don’t have to-“
“I won’t tolerate any arguing,” Rachel insisted. “Now, let’s get to class.”
“Please tell me there’s no more dissecting things. I have a hard enough time not getting nauseous right now.”
“No dissections, I assure you - it’s just math.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Why didn’t anyone tell me we had a new hottie at this school?” Quinn heard the voice behind her, but deliberately didn’t turn around. Instead she looked at Rachel. “Who’s that?”
“Noah Puckerman, Puck for short - our newest Glee member, he joined after yesterday’s football game. He wasn’t there for rehearsal today though, obviously. I generally try and avoid him, as he’s quite unpleasant.”
“Got it,” Quinn nodded. And then, mohawk and all, he appeared in front of them. “Check it out,” he grinned, “beauty and the beast.”
“Do you want to move, please?” Quinn glared.
“What’s your name, baby?”
“I’m not your baby. Look, will you get out of my way?” somewhere around them, there was an audible chuckle.
“Who was that? Who laughed?” Puck shouted, pushing his way through the crowd. “Someone’s going in the dumpster!” Quinn took advantage of the opportunity, taking Rachel’s hand and leading her to the door. They emerged into the afternoon sun, blinking.
“Is he always like that?”
“A sizable proportion of the time, yes. As a fellow Jew, I’ve tried to establish a kinship with him, but he’s made it perfectly clear that he’s not interested.”
“His loss.”