A/N: This is, once again, inspired by a random burst of inspiration that won't really leave. It's basically a story about Quinn (or well, Lucy, as she's called in this story) and Blaine in eighth grade - at the same school (in her POV, and Blaine shows up only in the next chapter - just a warning :) ). We know Quinn moved before her freshman year, and Blaine (most likely) wasn't always a private school boy. So this is what I made from it. Also, note that this is in no way a Quinn/Blaine romance story. A tentative friendship is the furthest they'll get.
I tried to look up the schools Lauren is talking about in BTW, but couldn't find those or the town mentioned. So I just picked a random town in Ohio. I don't think it matters much, but... just so you know. The chapters will be short-ish (probably between 1,000 and 2,000 words); maybe I'll be able to update somewhat frequently then (as that's quite a problem if you've seen my other stories :\).

And since I'm not American, I've got a couple of questions about (middle) school in the US. It would be awesome if someone would be able to answer them :) I know that in high schools, you have different classes with different people. Is the same thing the case in middle school, or does it vary, or...? As for the schedule - is it the same every day (like I think is the case in high school... right?)? And would teachers call students by their first or last name, or does that vary?
Thanks in advance to whoever answers these :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee :(

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review! :)

"Lucy, honey!" Judy Fabray called up the stairs. "It's almost time for school!"

"Coming, mother," Lucy replied from her room, still staring in her mirror in disgust. Finally, she turned away, not wanting to look at her reflection for a moment longer. She grabbed her bag from her desk and trudged downstairs.

See, Lucy Fabray did not want to go to school that day. Or any day, really. Today, however, was the first day of eighth grade – the start of another awful year at her middle school. After that, though, came something Lucy dreaded even more – high school. Lucy didn't remember a time when she hadn't been bullied, and at high school, she knew that it would only get worse.

She sometimes wished she could be more like her mother and sister, who were pretty, skinny and blond. Lucy didn't think she was pretty at all – she wasn't skinny or blond at all. And more than that: she also wore glasses and braces, she had acne, and her nose wasn't all that great to look at either. All in all, she felt downright ugly.

And her classmates at school didn't hesitate to let her know that they felt exactly the same way.

None of them seemed to like her and as a result, Lucy had no friends at all at her school. It probably didn't help much either that her parents had practically forced her to join the celibacy club and wear glasses and clothes that might've been acceptable during her sister's school days. That was simply not done, apparently.

Not that she would ever tell her parents about her troubles in school. They already preferred sweet, perfect, engaged-to-a-lovely-Christian-man Frannie over her (she knew it was true, even if her parents tried not to show it), and this would only make it worse.

She quickly shovelled some breakfast into her mouth, grabbed the lunch money her mother had placed on the sink for her, and was out of the door. She would have to hurry if she wanted to catch the school bus.

When she arrived at the bus stop, the school bus was just about to leave – so when she entered the bus, completely out of breath, everyone turned towards her, sneering. And not just the kids whom she actually knew – everyone. Even the bus driver didn't approve of her (almost) tardiness, but then again, that man was never in a good mood.

Lucy looked around, desperate to find a place to sit. Before she had found a seat, however, the bus driver started driving again. Almost instantly, the bus turned around a corner, and Lucy lost her balance. The students she fell virtually on top of pushed her off angrily, while one of them muttered something (probably nothing flattering) under her breath.

Taking a few steady breaths, Lucy got up from the floor. She would not let these people bring her down. She wouldn't take it anymore. When she did find a seat in the end, she sat down, trying her best to hold back tears. There was no way she could make that happen – she simply wasn't strong enough to ignore these people and their hatred.

She didn't even like herself, so who was she to tell all the others off when they made fun of her? They were right, after all, when they said she was ugly and a geek and all those other things.

They were right.

They were absolutely right.

It didn't surprise Lucy that nobody else sat next to her during the remainder of the drive to school. She swore that a couple of girls in her grade were sitting on a bench that was far too small for all of them, just to not have to sit with her.

She was the last to exit the bus, and the driver glared at her. She hadn't even taken that long – she got off the bus two seconds after the last other student.

Often when in church or in bed at night, Lucy would pray to God, asking why he was doing this to her. Why her? Whenever she would ask her parents about this, her father would either get a little angry, or just ignore her. Her mother would whisper that God must have a special plan for her, and that one day, it would all get better.

That was a belief Lucy clung to desperately.

On her way to homeroom, she passed Andrew Thornton and Jessica Blake, who were chatting animatedly. Lucy quickly looked away – Andrew and Jessica were two of the only people in her grade – heck, in this entire school – who didn't immediately scowl or make fun of her whenever she was in sight. Still, they seemed to have such a close-knit group of friends that Lucy knew that she would never fit in with them. Thus, she never even tried to talk to them.

If she did, that would mean them getting hell from the rest from the school as well, which would result in her getting rejected again. No matter how much she hated herself sometimes, Lucy would rather live with the idea that not everyone disliked her, even though they weren't friends, than befriending them now and being all alone again a week from now. If they even stuck around for that long.

Normally, Lucy paid attention during all her classes – seeing as nobody talked or sat with her anyway – but today, she immediately drifted off during homeroom, barely hearing what their teacher had to say. She blinked awake when everyone started packing up. She, too, carefully put her books back into her bag and got up, bumping into someone who was walking past.

The student just scoffed and stormed out, which was a better reaction than Lucy was used to getting. As she herself shuffled out, however, she got a last glimpse of her desk and her blood ran cold. Someone had stuck a sign on it, warning everyone else against sitting there – Lucy Caboosey had already claimed it as her seat.

Trying her hardest to fight back the tears – she couldn't cry in school, damn it! – she moved through the school, frantically trying to ignore everyone's whispers around her.

This was, without a doubt, going to be the worst year yet.

A/N: So... what do you think? I hope you liked it :) Let me know if you have any questions/comments/answers to the questions I asked at the start - please review! :D