Chapter Title: It Is Impossible To Have A 100% Good Day
Pairing: Santana/Brittany
Rating: T
Length: ~2000
Summary: Santana Walked Into Glee Thinking That Things Were On The Up, And Walked Out In A Worst Situation Than Before.
A/N: For Some Reason This Chapter Just Didn't Want To Come Together, So I Hope It Reads Ok.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All belongs to Fox, Ryan Murphy & Co.
By second period Santana had had enough. People were still staring and that pathetic blogger freak had actually tried to talk to her when she'd passed him in the hallway after Spanish. She knew that she had to do something drastic in order to get the social hierarchy at McKinley High back up the right way again. She'd heard enough grumblings during before school Cheerios practice to know that she wasn't the only one suffering from a lack of respect due to their new coach's stupid rule. Lucky for her, the inspiration as to how to restore order came while she was waiting for Brittany, in the form of the hockey guys terrorising some freshman kid with slushies.
Santana called an emergency Cheerios meeting at the start of lunch, and announced her plan to the rest of her team. Her suggestion for an all out slushie attack was greeted with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The eyes of the more callous girls lit up at the thought of humiliating more than just the usual targets (believe it or not there were rules in regards to slushies) but Santana could make out a few frowns among the group as well. Brittany in particular did not look happy. Despite their obvious objections however, no one questioned Santana's suggestion for a quick fix and by the end of lunch, the fear was back in the eye's of McKinley High's student population and Santana and her Cheerios owned the halls once more; uniforms of no.
There had been a slight hiccup on Santana's part though. During the targeting process, she had locked eyes with Rachel Berry, and despite the fact that the girl had clamped her eyes shut and tensed her body in preparation; Santana had bypassed her in favour of a random kid two lockers down. Let's get something clear though; it is not as if she was starting to have warm fuzzies for Berry or anything. It's just, as much as Manhands irked her; Santana was not going to slushie on someone from her own team. That just wasn't right.
Besides, Brittany would kill her.
Most of the club were already present when the two Cheerios walked into Glee that afternoon. Still high off the success of Mission: Slushie, Santana was feeling none of her previous apprehension. Even the fact that everyone fell quiet the instant her and Brittany walked in did little to shake her confidence. Smirking at the strained, timid smiles she received from the gleeks huddled around the piano, Santana made her way over to Quinn and the boys, wordlessly claiming the empty seat by Matt. Despite her re-established self assurance, Santana was still grateful when Brittany passed on the chair Quinn offered her and remained standing behind her, playing with Santana's hair and occasionally caressing her shoulders. Catching Puck staring at them from his spot next to Quinn, Santana opened her mouth to tell him get the smirk off his face before she removed it for him. However, before she got the chance, Mr Schuester came bounding into the room, with Berry and the walking poster child for awkwardness that was Finn Hudson hot on his heels.
'All right guys, take a seat.' Santana felt the loss of Brittany behind her immediately and shifted in her seat slightly, waiting for the rest of the club to quieten down enough for Schuester to launch into one of his usual over enthusiastic speeches.
'Ok, so I just wanted to say that I am so proud of what you guys did at Sectionals. However, it was a rocky road to success, and if we want a decent shot at Regionals, we have some serious chances to make.'
And here we go, Santana thought to herself as she sat back into her chair and waited for Schuester to deliver his no doubt groundbreaking solution to all their problems. Casting a quick glance around the room, she saw a mixture of boredom, slight fear, and absolute concentration on the faces of the different club members.
'All was very nearly lost before sections due to issues amongst different member's of the group. This term you all need to work harder at getting along. Mingle outside your comfort zones. From now on, any social divisions that exist outside this room stay outside this room. You are a team guys, and you all have so much to offer.' Santana could feel his eyes on her, 'It would be a shame to not only lose nationals, but to also miss out on whatever special talents any of you could be holding back because of the issues you have with each other.' Rachel chose this moment to pipe up, and Santana couldn't decide if she was happy for the interruption, or whether, regardless of what Berry was about to say, her voice was more annoying than hearing the rest of the Schuester's speech.
'Mr Schuester, I couldn't agree more.' A quiet, unanimous groan could be heard from the rest of the club, and Santana was certain that she was not the only one to roll her eyes when the tiny brunette stood up to address her team mates. 'While we did indeed make a tremendous amount of improvement in an admittedly short amount of time, the drama, rivalries and divisions are currently preventing us from working to our full potential. Now, I admit that I myself have been a prime example of each and every one of those afore mentioned points, however I am willing to put in the effort to change things for the better.' Rachel was looking around the room with a grin so large that it made Santana cringe.
'Sure thing, whatever, we get it. Can we get to the point already?' Santana looked over at Puck, who was looking at Mr Schuester expectantly. He sounded as enthused by the idea of 'team building' as she was.
'Yes, of course Puck,' Mr Schuester reclaimed the floor from Rachel, and looked around. 'So, I'm going to pair you all up...yes Brittany?' Santana glanced over at the blonde, and by the look of pure excitement on her face, Santana knew exactly what the blonde was about to say.
'Will there be ducks again?' Brittany was practically bouncing up and down in her seat in anticipation, and the look of dismay on her face when their teacher shook his head and replied that no, there would be no ducks prompted Santana to make a mental note to take Brittany to the park again. After the whole Ballard fiasco the blonde had been convinced that Mr Schue was keeping ducks hostage, and the only thing that had been able to assure her otherwise had been a trip to the park. Santana had to smile at the memory of how her best friend's face had lit up when she'd seen the ducks safe and sound in the pond. It had pretty much been the most adorable thing ever.
'Anyway, these pairings won't be at random. I don't care if you aren't happy, i expect you all to put in the effort and make this work. So without further ado...' With that, Mr Schuester began to list off the pairings: Brittany and Kurt (Brittany must be ecstatic, she finds Kurt fascinating) Mercedes and Quinn (hmm, seeing what they came up with would certainly be interesting) Tina and Puck (let's hope Wheels doesn't get jealous) Finn and Mike (Santana had to hold back a snort at this one. Finn's lack of coordination would drive Mike insane) and Matt and Artie. Now that just left...
Santana's head shot up and she stared at Mr Schue in horror.
'Santana, you're with Rachel.' The tension in the choir room the instant Mr Schue uttered Rachel's name was thick enough to cut with a knife. Until both girls erupted simultaneously.
'You've got to be having a fucking laugh, there's no...'
'Mr Schuester, I really don't think this is a good...'
'Girls! This pairing is final. You two will be working together for the next week, so get used to it. You never know, you may actually learn something. Also, Santana? Watch your language.' Santana fell back in her chair unable to comprehend her fate. That's it, its official. The universe hates me. Throwing a discreet look over at Rachel, she was at least slightly pacified by the fact that Manhands looked as unhappy about this turn of events as she was.
Mr Schuester went on to explain that the aim of the assignment was to find out something about your partner that you didn't know, and choose a song that you felt showed them in a different light. Santana was only half listening to him though; she was too caught up in trying to work out how she was going to survive a week paired with Rachel Berry of all people. The last time the two of them had been paired together had been 7th grade, and it had resulted in Rachel winding Santana up so much that she had threatened to beat the girl up and lock her up somewhere where no one could ever find her. Santana had been forced to apologise to Rachel in front of their entire class. Safe to say that they'd failed that assignment.
Next thing Santana knew, the people around her were getting up and leaving. Mr Schue had apparently dismissed them all during Santana's trip down memory lane. Sighing heavily, the Latina bent down to pick up her bag. When she stood up, she found her exit blocked by a short brunette.
'Look Santana, I know we don't have the greatest relationship,' Santana raised her eyebrow at Rachel, 'and while I must admit that working with you really doesn't equate to a lot of fun in my book, maybe Mr Schuester is right. So I suggest we attempt to put previous issues behind us, at least temporarily, and try to complete this assignment to the best of our ability. I noticed that you decided against hitting me with a slushie during you attack in the hallway this afternoon - thank you for that by the way, so I feel that all may not be lost. Also, I suggest we start rehearsals as soon as possible, as I have just realised that I know absolutely nothing about you, and vice versa, so we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to be successful.' Santana stared at Rachel for a few seconds, trying to digest everything the other girl had just said. 'Did you hear what I just said Santana?'
'Huh? Oh yeah. Sure, fine, whatever. Just don't ever say that much to me in one go again Manhands, you've given me a headache. Here's my number,' Rachel looked mildly horrified when Santana grabbed her arm and proceeded to write her cell phone number on it. 'Text me when/where and all that. Also, any rehearsals will have to be here or at yours, my house is out of the question.' Before Rachel had a chance to ask Santana why exactly they couldn't practice at her house, the Cheerio was out of the door, followed closely by Brittany, who shouted goodbye to Rachel over her shoulder.
TBC
a/n - if anyone is wondering, there won't be any pezberry romance, but i think the characters spark, so a friendship may be in the works.