The first time they locked eyes in the halls of McKinley High School, she was laughing after witnessing members of the glee club get showered in grape flavoured slushy. It was their sophomore year and already Quinn had donned the flashy title of Head Cheerleader, with her Quarterback arm-candy she was practically unstoppable.

Right after she slammed her locker to head off to fourth period, she saw those losers in the glee club be soaked by two of Finn's neanderthal teammates. The laughter that bubbled up inside her just managed to overwhelm the pang of empathy she felt towards them. She was on top now, and she would never go back to being down where they were; she had to keep face.

Still covering her mouth with her perfectly manicured hand, her eyes locked on to those of a short brunette on the edge of the crowd. The face was like a spectre from the past, sending all feelings of mirth right out of her body. But before she could do anything, call out, make any sound at all, those familiar brown eyes had disappeared.

The second time was at Sectionals later in the year. Finn had joined glee club and Sue had her Unholy Trinity on spy duty. Quinn had reluctantly joined her oaf of a boyfriend and his loser friends to sing showtunes and dance, but after a while, she realised that the club was the only place she could really feel at home, not under a microscope, like at home or in the halls.

She always had to be the perfect girl with the perfect grades and perfect hair and perfect figure, and then the baby debacle came and the glee kids were the only ones who stood by her.

Ringing with the angry and hurt words Finn had said in the choir room, she got on stage and did the only thing she knew to do, put on her stage face. The club wasn't particularly good, lacking an enthusiastic and driven leader, but they scraped by with just enough members and a strong solo from Mercedes.

Just as she was belting out the last note, their eyes met again. This time the face looked different, older, more… masculine. The eyes roamed the whole group eagerly, almost wistfully, as if they wanted nothing more than to join them on stage. Lips silently moving along to the songs and head swaying slightly to the beat, the focus Quinn was getting fuelled her to give it her all.

When they won, she searched the crowd but the face was nowhere to be seen.

Glee club's devastating loss at Regionals reduced their popularity even more, and, desperate for new members after Matt's transfer, they decided to perform during lunch. Though they were good, the crowd milled about them like they weren't even there. While Finn caught the new guy tapping his foot to the beat, Quinn was once again distracted by the presence of the not-as-short-as-usual brunette, now with broad shoulders and a square jaw, sitting alone staring enraptured at the performers.

This time, she wasn't going to let him get away. She had to know if this was just some weird hallucination brought on by her troubled past, or if it really was just some huge coincidence.

As soon as they had changed out of their costumes, she went on the prowl. The feeling of seeing the crowds part as she passed through, fear of the red and white uniform and what it meant making her powerful again, was amazing. Finally feeling some semblance of power after months of having it stripped from her felt like a lifeline.

She searched the school in vain for the person who may or may not just help pull her up.