ROSE COLOURED LENSES , quinn fabray

Sanique's little brother Semaj surely was childish, bratty and a bit of a smartass, but she would never take him for a thief.

Her week had already been a rollercoaster— Mr. Schue's former classmate and member of the school board, Bryan Ryan, threatened to cut the arts program at McKinley. Mr. Schue ended up saving the day by giving him the lead part in a county production of Les Mis, but it was stressful nonetheless. To make things worse, she'd been fired from the Lima Bean and Lima Munch House because she had skipped work to attend Cheerios practice, and for what? She wasn't even on the team anymore. After all that, the only thing she wanted to do on a Friday was lay down and chill. And then go job searching.

But when she checks her wallet to see that her money has mysteriously disappeared for the umpteenth time, she has to face it. Someone has been stealing from her, and Semaj is totally acting weird. She knew something was up when she saw a brand new pair of dress shoes on the entry mat.

So, Sanique takes a page out of Santana's book and ransacks his room. She scours through his drawers, under his bed, and even his shoeboxes of unused things. The floor gradually becomes completely covered in clothes and toys until she finally gives up, laying on his mattress that's been completely stripped of its sheets. His closet-turned-room looks like a bad Hoarders episode by the time she's done.

Despite being hellbent on finding her lost money, or any evidence that he'd taken it, she knows she's in for trouble from her mom for destroying his room. Instead of running off to the neighbour, she lays on her back until she hears Semaj's footsteps approaching. He enters his room, and she lifts her head up to make eye contact. He looks horrified.

"Mama!"

***

There's a tension-filled silence in the dining room, Sanique sitting opposite her mother as Quinn and Semaj sit opposite each other. Gabrielle's tongue pokes the inside of her cheek, before clasping her hands and leaning forward.

"Sanique," her mother begins. "Do you wanna tell us why you trashed your brother's room?"

"Yeah, tell us." Semaj chimes in annoyingly.

Sanique clicks her tongue at his unnecessary add on, but lowers her head after receiving a look from both Quinn and her mom.

"I'm not even gonna tell you 'cause you won't believe me, so," Sanique murmurs with crossed arms.

"Don't be childish." Her mother says sternly.

Sanique accidentally makes eye contact with her mom, and knows there's no way out of this. She sighs.

"Maj stole all my money to buy church shoes. And probably that dumbass hat, too."

All heads turn to the boy and his hat, which still has the shiny sticker on its visor.

"I didn't steal anything!" He whines, eyes wide and arms flailing. "Mama, she's lying."

"Mom, I work two jobs and I can't even afford lunch. Every time I come home cash has been taken out of my wallet," Sanique states. "That's money I could've used on Quinn's baby, you know."

The brunette feels Quinn's eyes on the side of her head, but she's insistent on holding eye contact with her mother. After a small staring contest, Gabrielle relents, rubbing her temples in exhaustion.

"I can't do this right now," she grumbles. "Sanique, fix your brother's room. We'll talk tomorrow."

Sanique rolls her eyes, but obliges anyway, reluctantly walking to Semaj's room to tidy up. A few seconds into her cleaning, Quinn steps over the piles of clothing and slides Semaj's wonky door closed behind her.