Catalyst

Chapter 2

Sometimes, Quinn felt like she lived in TV Land, how her mother wore an apron and her father came in from work at exactly five thirty, no matter the day. Other times, like when Brittany and Santana were cozied up in a booth across from her, she felt like something trashy on The CW. Today, it was Showtime, even though she had never watched that network. Her parents believed firmly that anything worth watching must come on basic cable. Except, you know, UFC. And boxing. And John Haggerty.

It was Showtime, though, because there was nudity. At least, she thought that they showed nudity. They showed Dexter, which was about a serial killer, so genitalia showed up at some point, didn't it? Whatever.

Quinn sulked on the couch, drinking her third cup of beer in an hour. Brittany only filled them up a quarter of the way for her and diluted that with water and juice, which made it really gross, but the blonde asked about it each time she came back from dancing, so she sipped. Besides, Santana told her Puck got the cheapest thing he could find because it was only a Wednesday night party, and he was saving for the Saturday night "Back To School Bitches" extravaganza, so it was possibly an improvement. It was themed for Catholic school girls and strippers.

She'd only gone to the party because Finn was being an idiot and started asking to do more, which she wasn't going to. Then he'd called her fat and she'd called him a lot of names that she shouldn't have. His mother was a nicer woman than that. So, he'd claimed to be going to Puck's party, so she had to go so no one noticed that they were fighting. Unfortunately, he'd texted an apology and said he was going out of town with his mother ten minutes after she'd gotten there and now she was stuck with Brittany and Santana. They were feuding because Santana wanted to get high and not dance, which would only last until the end of the night, really, when they would curl up like sickening puppies in Puck's room.

She wobbled into the kitchen, where Santana, Tracy, two football players, three no-ones and that Asian chick were giggling hysterically. The football players were naked. The blonde stepped over outstretched legs to a rack of unopened wine coolers. She held them up to the light to make sure there was nothing floating in there or murky colored or any holes anywhere. She grabbed one of the cases and carried her bounty to the couch.

The teenager had only drunk one before Puck tried to flirt. Quinn ignored him. She glanced around, thinking that it was boring, until she saw three girls, mostly naked, dancing on a table. Her mouth got dry, so she kept drinking until it was empty. Her mouth didn't feel any wetter though. Puck turned in the direction she was looking, obviously confused as to why she wasn't unzipping his pants, and flopped into the seat next to her once he saw, holding a hand out for a wine cooler. Between the two of them, they'd finished the case off before the girls even started to glisten in the light.

Puck staggered into the kitchen and emerged triumphant with Tracy on his shoulder. She scowled, drunk. That bastard was supposed to be bringing more drinks, not that slutbucket. It was possible to fit her in a straw, but Quinn wasn't going to drink that. When she tried to stand and couldn't, she laid fully on the couch to take a break. After the room stopped spinning, Quinn got up and danced with Brittney and a slender boy with a lot of piercings, and then a lot more people that just blurred together because she'd had more drinks.

She was dancing with Brittany again, when she felt slender hands on her hips. It wasn't very obtrusive, so she let him. They moved well, whoever it was, and wasn't nearly as clumsy as Finn or as crude as, well, all the other boys at school. Then she wobbled, laughing, and whoever it was caught her. She couldn't hear much but she let whoever lead her upstairs and into a room. If this was a guy, she would be really embarrassed, so she hoped it was a girl. It probably wasn't, though, as they finally just picked her up with a grunt. It made her feel fat, fatter than Finn's comment because he would at least have picked her up without making any sounds.