Some of the Glee kids were going to the Lima Bean, and after hours of begging, Quinn finally gave in and let Adalynn go too. It had been a couple months, so she figured one mocha wouldn't be harmful.
"I don't need a chaperone," Adalynn harshly whispered as Quinn waited in the line with her.
"Someone has to keep you from ordering the settanta," the older girl said.
"What in heterosexual hell is a settanta?" the brunette asked, furrowing her brows.
"70 ounces of espresso."
Adalynn gasped, her eyes widening.
"No," Quinn sternly said as the younger girl pouted. "Adalynn, that much caffeine isn't good for your heart."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Adalynn sighed as they stepped up to order. She opened her mouth to say what she wanted, but Quinn was one step ahead of her.
"One grande mocha with two pumps of vanilla, a grande almond milk latte, and one coffee cake, please," Quinn ordered.
"I'm not splitting my coffee cake with you, caffeine banner," Adalynn grumbled.
"Make that two coffee cakes."
Once collecting their orders, the couple sat down with the rest of their friends, who were discussing Michael Jackson.
"Okay, favorite Michael Jackson memory," said Blaine. "Go."
"When I was one, my mom showed me the VHS tape of his Motown special," Artie began. "And when he did the moonwalk across the stage for the first time in history, I uttered my first words. 'Hot damn.'"
"I owe the king of pop a deep debt of gratitude," said Kurt. "He's the first one to pull off the sequined military jacket, long before one Kurt Hummel made it iconic."
"What about you, Adalynn?" Blaine asked.
"I don't like Michael," the brunette mumbled around the rim of her coffee cup.
"We are no longer on speaking terms," said Artie.
"I'm just saying, Taylor Swift and Adele are better," Adalynn shrugged. "I heard a rumor that he molested little boys, and I can't support someone who has accusations like that against them. Plus he's creepy looking. He would be my sleep paralysis demon if I had it."
"I'd throw this mocha in your face, but it isn't nearly scalding enough," Santana said, glaring at Adalynn.
"How come you guys are attacking me for my opinion? Rachel does the same thing, and no one threatens to throw mocha's at her!"
"We should totally do Michael for regionals just to make Adalynn mad," said Artie.
"That might not be the best idea," Sebastian Smythe said as he approached the group of McKinley kids. "Hey, Blaine. Hi, girl who threatened to cut me. Hello, everyone else."
"Does he live here or something?" Kurt scoffed. "Seriously, you are always here."
"Why don't you think that's a good idea?" Artie asked.
"Because MJ sucks," Adalynn said as she took a bite of her coffee cake.
"Because we're doing MJ for regionals," said Sebastian. "You see, Warblers drew first position, so as soon as I heard what your plan was, I changed our set list accordingly."
"How did you know?" Quinn asked, furrowing her brows as she looked up at the Warbler.
"Blaine told me this morning. I just called for a tip on how to get red wine out of my blazer piping, and he would not stop going on about it."
"I may have mentioned it," Blaine mumbled.
"Please attack him for this like you did me," Adalynn said as she took a sip of her mocha, sighing as the bitter chocolatey vanilla flavor hit her taste buds. "Oh, how I've missed you," she sighed as she took another sip.
"How often do you talk?" Kurt asked.
"Oh my god, hey, Kurt," Sebastian chuckled. "I didn't recognize you. You are wearing boy clothes for once."
"How dare you!" Adalynn yelled as she sat her mocha down on the table and got up to charge at the taller boy, only for Quinn to grab her arm and pull her back. "Don't talk to my brother like that!"
"Addie, let it go," Quinn said as she held her back. "People are staring."
"Alright, twink, I think it's time that I show you a little Lima Heights hospitality," Santana said as she got up.
"I'm not scared of either of you," Sebastian smirked. "And unless J-Lo over here want to join her relatives in prison, that's probably not the best idea."
"That's so racist, you cu–"
Quinn placed a hand over her girlfriend's mouth, ignoring the shorter girl's whine of protest.
"You see, my dad is sort of what you'd call a state's attorney," the Warbler continued. "But if you had a piñata you wanted delivered, I bet he could make sure that got to them. Alright, so here's what you guys should know. I am captain of the Warblers now, and I'm tired of playing nice."
Sebastian gave them a smug smile before walking away. Adalynn poked her tongue out to lick Quinn's hand, which was enough for the blonde to take it off of her mouth and shoot her a look as she wiped it off on a napkin. The younger girl gave her an innocent smile before sitting back down to continue drinking her coffee.
****
Pulling her black hood up over her head, Bailey followed Brittany and the rest of the New Directions to the level of the parking garage where they would be meeting the Warblers for a Michael Jackson sing off.
Adalynn slowly shuffled her feet as she buried her hands deep into the pockets of the black hoodie she stole from Quinn for this mission. If she was gonna be forced to sing a song by an artist she hated, she might as well have the comfort of the brown sugar smell of her girlfriend's clothes to bring her some type of peace.
"Come on, you poky little puppy," Quinn said as she put an arm around the younger girl's shoulders and led them to where the rest of the group was waiting for Santana's signal.
"I don't wanna do this," Adalynn pouted, leaning into the older girl.
"I'll take you to get ice cream after," the blonde offered. "Just... hang in there. It'll be over soon, and all you have to do is stay in the back and look cute while we take care of it. Just do it for the dancing."
"I hate Michael," the brunette pouted.
"I know."
Santana snapped her fingers, signaling for the rest of the New Directions to join her and Blaine. The Warblers began vocalizing the harmony for Bad, and the two show choirs started singing. Adalynn caught the eye of the round faced Warbler – Trent – and he sent her a sympathetic smile. She smiled back before moving to be closer to her girlfriend.
The song ended, and Quinn spotted Sebastian pulling a slushie out of a 7-11 paper sack. She pulled Adalynn out of the way as he tossed it, the red slush hitting Blaine as he jumped in front of the brunette.
He cried out in pain, holding his hands to his burning eyes as he collapsed on the cold concrete.
****
"How is he?" Rachel asked as Kurt walked into the choir room. "Is he okay?"
"Uh, it's his right eye," said Kurt. "The doctor says that his cornea is deeply scratched, and he has to have surgery."
"Poor Blaine," Bailey mumbled.
"Abane," Maya pouted, hiding her face in Artie's chest.
"He'll be okay, Maya," Artie said, rubbing the older twin's back.
"Ah, ah," Ava babbled, tapping Adalynn's hand and motioning to her mouth, signaling for her to feed her another puff. "Aba!"
"Here, cutie," Adalynn cooed, placing the puff in the younger twin's open mouth.
"In all my years as a teacher and a student, I have never known a slushie to do that kind of damage," said Mr. Schue.
"That's cause it wasn't a normal slushie, Mr. Schue," said Finn. "There was stuff in it. Rocks or something. He wanted to do that damage."
"Well, unless you have proof that he tampered with the slushie, the police aren't interested in getting involved."
"Sebastian is evil," said Kurt. "He was aiming for Adalynn, and Blaine jumped in front to take the bullet for her and got hurt. He needs to be expelled."
"He was aiming for me?" Adalynn asked as she fed Ava another puff.
"That's why I pulled you out of the way," said Quinn.
"Look, Figgins and I spoke with Dalton's headmaster," said Mr. Schue. "They're opening up an investigation. So, guys, I'm telling you, please let the system handle this one."
"No," Artie spoke up. "Dalton's old school, Mr. Schue. They're not gonna turn their backs on one of their own. We need payback."
"An eye for an eye," Mike agreed.
"No," said Mr. Schue. "I have a zero tolerance policy for violence of any kind. That's not how we do things"
"Is that why you let Rachel verbally abuse us with her self-centeredness?" Adalynn sarcastically asked as Ava babbled in agreement.
"We sing, and that's all we ever do," Artie said, passing Maya off to Mercedes as his rage grew.
"Do you wanna get disqualified from regionals?" Mr. Schue asked.
"I don't give a damn about regionals!" Artie snapped. "What do you expect from us? We're people. I know the rest of the world may not see us like that, but when they tease us and throw stuff at us and toss us in dumpsters and tell us that we're nothing but losers with stupid dreams, it freakin' hurts, and we're supposed to turn the other cheek and be the bigger man by telling ourselves that those dreams and how hard we work makes us better than them? But it gets pretty damn hard to feel that way when they always get to win."
"Preach, Artie," Adalynn said, snapping her fingers.
"I get how upsetting this is for you–"
"No you don't!" Artie yelled, wheeling up to Mr. Schue. "And don't give me any of that 'it gets better' crap, because I'm not interested in it getting any better. I want it to be better, like right now. I wanna hurt them the way they hurt us. No, worse. I want them to feel my pain, because, frankly, that's all I have left to give."
Bailey pursed her lips, eyes wide as she exchanged a look with Tina.
"Artie, take a break," said Mr. Schue. "We'll be here when you get back."
The boy stared blankly at the teacher. Maya looked up at Mercedes with curious blue eyes and cocked her head to the side as she looked back to Artie. Adalynn fed Ava another puff, the baby babbling happily as she ate it.
"Artie, are you okay?" Bailey asked, pulling him out of his daze.
"I think I better roll away," Artie said as he wheeled out of the choir room.
****
"Hey," Quinn said as she came up to Adalynn at her locker. "I have something to tell you, but you have to promise not to freak out."
"You're not pregnant, are you?" Adalynn joked as she put her textbooks away before closing her locker and turning to face the blonde. "What's up?"
Quinn handed her an envelope, and the brunette looked over it with curious eyes. She gasped as she read the Yale acceptance letter.
"Oh my god!" Adalynn exclaimed, throwing her arms around Quinn's shoulders. "Quinnie, I'm so proud of you!"
"I wanted you to be the first person I told," Quinn said as she held the younger girl close. "You know, besides my mom, who cried."
"I'm gonna cry," Adalynn said as she pulled out of the hug and looked into Quinn's hazel orbs. "You worked hard for this, and you deserve it."
"I love you," Quinn said, connecting their lips and pulling the younger girl as close as possible.
"I love you, too," Adalynn mumbled between kisses.
"Quit sticking your tongue down my sister's throat," Kurt said as he passed them, sending his little sister a teasing smile when she turned in his direction.
Kurt continued down the hall, and Quinn used her thumb to wipe away the smudged red lipstick she got on Adalynn's lips.
"Hey," Rachel said as she approached the couple. "I'm sorry to interrupt your moment, but Quinn, I need your advice. About an... adult problem."
"Holy crap, are you pregnant?" Quinn asked, eyes wide.
"No," the diva said. "Look, I'm coming to you as a friend, and, oddly, because I also think that you're the only person that'll give me just a straightforward and thoughtful answer about this."
"You're right," the blonde nodded. "I'm sorry. Yes, I can keep a secret."
"So can I," said Adalynn.
"Well, um... Finn asked me to marry him," said Rachel.
"Oh my god," Adalynn gasped, a smile forming on her lips. "Rachel, that's amazing! I've always wanted a big sister."
"You can't stand me."
"Yeah, because you're like a big sister and I'm not supposed to like my big sister."
"Brittany's like a big sister to you, and you worship her."
"That's because I love and respect her."
"What did you say?" Quinn asked, still shocked about the diva's news.
"I said I needed to think about it," said Rachel.
"Well, you can't."
"Why?" Rachel asked. "I mean, plenty of people get married at our age. I know that he and I haven't lived together or anything, but, you know, I love him and he's the one. I know it."
Quinn sighed and handed Rachel her Yale acceptance letter.
"What's this?" Rachel asked.
"My ticket out of here," said Quinn. "I got into Yale, early admissions. It turns out my essay about overcoming adversity while maintaining a straight-A average during a teen pregnancy really turned on the admissions board."
"Quinn, that's amazing," Rachel said as she hugged the taller girl. "That's so great."
"I'm sure you'll get your NYADA one soon," the blonde said as they pulled out of the hug.
"Oh, yeah, I mean, New York mail is notoriously slow, so..."
"My point being is that... I've dated Finn, Puck, Sam. Even thought I loved some of them. But by the time the snow falls in New Haven next winter, I won't know why."
"Especially since you have the girl you've ever really felt true love for," Adalynn pointed out as Quinn smiled at her.
"So, are you saying that Finn and I should break up?" Rachel asked.
"I'm all for making the most of the next few months, but I hate the idea of dragging an anchor from my past into the bright lights of my future. Rachel, you have an amazing life ahead of you. As hard as it may be, if you want everything you've ever dreamed of, you're gonna have to break up with him."
She's gonna leave you when she goes to college...
Adalynn, you don't know that.
She basically just said it.
"That's an awful thing to say," said Rachel.
"Look, you wanted straight and thoughtful," said Quinn. "At one point it made sense to love somebody for your whole life, but it doesn't anymore. Women are finding themselves in their 30s now. Every magazine says it. We hardly know what we're gonna want in 15 years."
She's gonna abandon you for an ivy league girl.
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
You know it's true.
Shut up!
"Finn and I... we can grow old together–"
"Look, Rachel... you and Finn are a lovely couple. But if you really wanna be happy, you're gonna have to say goodbye."
****
The whole Glee Club watched with smiles on their faces as Quinn performed Never Can Say Goodbye. For the first time in three years, she looked truly happy singing in front of the club.
The song ended, and everyone clapped.
"Lulu!" Maya babbled, clapping her tiny hands as Ava did the same.
"Quinn, that was incredible," said Finn.
"Even more incredible is her big news," Adalynn smiled.
"What is it?" Bailey asked.
"I got into Yale," Quinn smiled as everyone cheered.
"It's amazing," Mr. Schue smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "After everything you've been through, you really deserve this, Quinn."
"Don't touch her, pedo," Adalynn said, glaring at Mr. Schue until he took his hand off of her.
"We are so proud of you, Quinn," said Mercedes.
"I wanted to thank you guys, especially Adalynn," Quinn said, sending her girlfriend a smile. "Without you, this never would have happened. You supported me and loved me through all the drama, and that's why I'm standing here. I wasted so much time hating myself for the stupid mistakes that I made. But the truth is, without all of those mistakes, I never would have dreamed this to be my future. I was the only one standing in the way of myself. You can't change your past, but you can let go and start your future."
"Yale, yeah," Artie said as everyone clapped and got up to congratulate their friend, except for Rachel and Adalynn, who both remained in their seats, both their minds swirling with overwhelming thoughts.
****
After going out for celebratory ice cream to congratulate Quinn on her Yale acceptance and Kurt being NYADA finalist, Adalynn went up to her room to write all her thoughts down in her notebook.
She can't forget anything that Quinn had said to Rachel, and she was so scared that it was some sort of sign that she was giving herself away to the blonde just for her to break her heart when she leaves to go to college.
She knows it's all in her head. Quinn was just giving Rachel advice on her relationship with Finn, right? So why did it feel like an omen for how they would end up?
You're spiraling again.
Deep breaths.
You're not enough for her.
You can't compete with those ivy league girls.
You're not enough.
"Shut up!" Adalynn yelled, throwing her pencil down and hugging her knees to her chest as her eyes filled with tears. She tried taking deep breaths, rocking herself back and forth to try and calm down, but it was all too much. "Shut up, shut up. Please, just shut up, please."
Adalynn sniffled as she looked at the box poking out from under her bed. She rolled off, and pulled it out. She double checked that she had everything that she needed in there before heading to her en suite bathroom, locking the door and proceeding to cope the only way she knew how.
You're never gonna be enough.