Chapter 1
Slightly stumbling along the dimly lit pathway back to her dorm room at Mount Royal Academy, Santana Lopez rummaged through her purse to find the small silver flask she kept in the inside pocket and gingerly brought it up to her lips in an attempt to become even more inebriated than she already was. Already jaded and sullen at sixteen years old, this routine of partying until dawn and somehow making it back to her dorm room was no strange occurrence for Santana.
It usually started with Puck calling her up, giving her the lowdown of what was sure to be the 'sickest party ever', and the reality being a bunch of idiot losers Santana had absolutely no desire to form close bonds with, spilling beer all over themselves and the occasional slobbering idiot attempting to worm his hands under her skirt and into her panties before the clock even struck twelve. But the booze was free and all Santana really cared about was getting liquored up enough to not give a shit. If some guy wanted to get hands-y and test out the goods, then so be it. She was hot, appreciated the attention and the hookups were at least mildly satisfying.
The fact was, Santana hated this place. From the hallways filled with arrogant and entitled teenagers bragging about how much better their lives were compared to everyone else's, to the teachers who viewed her as if she was nothing more than an inconvenience being placed in their classes, or the headmaster that clearly had it out for her. If this place had ever hosted a "Most Dangerous Game" competition, Santana was fairly certain it would be her head stuffed and mounted on the wall above her headmasters desk.
Her father, Victor Lopez, had shipped her off to Mount Royal just before Santana was about to start her freshman year. An excessively wealthy business magnate of one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, Victor Lopez was by no means a nice man. Ruthlessly cold and distant, the Latina's father seemed to have only one thing in the world he actually expressed interest and some sort of emotion in, and it certainly wasn't his daughter. The only type of attention Santana received from her father was usually a phone call from his secretary sending her his regards along with a stern warning to "stay in line". Which in all honesty was fine by her, the less she had to see of that prick, the better.
Squinting to make sure she had read the numbers correctly, Santana walked up to her dorm building and held herself upright against the wall next to the security pin pad that would grant her access inside. Clumsily bashing her fingers on the buttons, the brunette attempted to enter her password, throwing her hands up in frustration at the fifth failed attempt.
"Fuck!" Santana swore softly, slowly coming to the realization that she was way too drunk to remember the pass code to her dorm. Digging into her jean pocket, she pulled out her cellphone to call her best friend and lifeline, Quinn. Praying that Quinn would answer the phone after the third ring had passed Santana was finally graced with the sound of her friends voice.
"Santana, what the fuck! It's 2:30 in the morning!" Quinn groggily hissed into the phone clearly not pleased that Santana had woken her up in the middle of the night again.
"Quiiiiiiiinnnnnn!" Santana whined, "I'm locked outside and I can't remember my stupid fucking password, buzz me in!" Looking around she hoped to god the security guard normally patrolling the grounds at this hour was too preoccupied watching porn on his Iphone to catch her standing outside her dorm, drunk off her ass.
"Seriously S? It's like 5 numbers. How can you remember the entire decimal length of pi, but can't remember the same 5 numbers you use every single day?"
"I'm numer-icalllllly selec-tiveee." Santana slurred into the phone.
Quinn shook her head not attempting to understand how Santana's mind worked at times."Whatever, I'll be right down. Try not to draw too much attention to yourself."
"Well when your as hot as I am that's-" Santana was cut off as the blonde hung up in annoyance.
Throwing the covers off her and rolling out of bed, the Quinn winced as the cold chill of her room made contact with her scantily clad form. Rummaging around her room for a hoodie and a pair of sweats to throw on, she hastily got dressed and slipped on her sneakers. Making sure that no one was lingering around in the corridor, she quietly exited her dorm to head downstairs and let her friend in.
As she reached the front entrance, Quinn was greeted with the sight of Santana's face smushed against the glass window beside the door; phone cradled to her ear, eyes bleary and half lidded. Quinn smirked.
"Lookin' good S"
"Stop fucking around Q, let me in alreadyyy!"
"Oh, I don't know Santana..." Quinn stared at her and tilted her head. "What's the password, bitch?"
Santana gave her an incredulous glare. "Seriously Q, come on!"
"Say it, fucker."
Dropping her shoulders she relented. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice." Santana shouted, lifting up her hand to give Quinn the finger for good measure.
Quinn chuckled. "Access granted." She walked over to the door and twisted the handle, watching as the Latina fell through the portal and landed in a heap at the blonde's feet.
"Woah there tiny dancer, try not to wow the crowd with too much grace and elegance." The blonde quipped. A muffled groan was heard in response as Santana slowly pushed herself up off the floor and righted herself.
"Fuck off."
"Oooo someone's a little testy this evening. Party not so hot tonight?" Quinn asked. Full well knowing that mostly every party Santana ever went to garnered the same response time and time again from the Latina.
"Meh."
Quinn just shook her head and linked her arms through Santana's, slowly leading her upstairs so she could put her friend to bed. Santana on the other hand was lightly swaying as they were walking and rattling off Flight of the Concords lyrics in Quinn's ear. Finally making it to their destination Quinn threw her friends door open and led the brunette inside.
"They call me the hiphopopotamus, my lyrics are bottomless.." The Latina rapped allowing Quinn to drag her into her room and deposit her on the bed. Laying back and throwing a hand over her eyes, the Latina continued to mumble out lyrics, "Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis?"
Quinn just rolled her eyes. "Alright Brett and Germaine, time for you to get some sleep. Some of us have actual class we're planning on attending tomorrow." Reaching down she quickly disposed of the brunettes boots and stood up to grab the covers to toss over her friend. Sitting down on the bed Quinn reached over to gently brush the hair out of the Latina's face. "Are you sure you don't want me to help you into pajamas or something?"
She was rewarded with a grunt in response as Santana quickly rolled over to bury her head into her pillow. Quinn wondered how many more times she would be in this same position, silently wishing that her friend could find other ways to deal with her inner turmoil than drinking to excess nearly every other night. Sighing to herself, she stood up to leave.
"Goodnight S." Quinn spoke softly, turning to make her way out of the room. Her hand stilled on the doorknob upon hearing Santana's voice.
"Q?"
"Yeah?"
'Thanks."
"Always, Santana." The blonde replied as she clicked the door shut behind her.
Santana had missed all of her morning classes, to Quinn's complete lack of surprise. However being the amazing best friend that she was, Quinn had taken notes as well as gotten extra copies of the assignments due so she could continue her battle with trying to get the Latina to take a more proactive approach to school.
It wasn't that Santana wasn't smart, far from it in fact. Santana practically had a genius level IQ, and when she wasn't spending her nights getting blitzed at parties, her head was usually in a book of some sort devouring page after page. Not that she'd admit that to anyone, of course. Santana preferred blowing off her classes and schoolwork for things she deemed much more worthy of her time, especially if she got the added bonus of pissing her father off, much to Quinn's dismay.
They had met during an incident freshman year when the two had nearly clawed each others eyes out brawling over the last breakfast burrito in the cafeteria. It seemed as though the two were destined to be arch enemies, however ,after relinquishing her death grip on said burrito Santana couldn't have helped being both amused and extremely impressed at the blonde's ferocity for food, and Quinn well...she was too busy scarfing the breakfast burrito down her throat to care. Instant animosity morphed into and offhand invitation to join Quinn for lunch, and much to each others surprise, they got along ridiculously well. Somehow, they had formed an instant bond.
Over the years they had both come to two very important realizations. One: There was literally nothing in the power of the universe that could ever get between Quinn Fabray and food, especially when breakfast was concerned. Two: There was nothing in the world that Santana wouldn't do for Quinn and vice-versa. Through time and endless amounts of patience on Quinn's part, the blonde had somehow managed to break through Santana's walls, and for that she was forever grateful. In getting to know the real Santana, who hid behind all the snark and anger she showed the rest of the world on a daily basis, Quinn had met the greatest and most loyal friend she has ever known.
The fourth period bell had just rung, and people were scattered throughout the hallways, tossing their books into their lockers before making their way into the cafeteria for lunch. Quinn would have normally been there five minutes before the bell actually rung, to make sure she was first in line for the food, but today she managed to curb her overzealousness in favor of waiting to see if Santana would show and meet her by their lockers.
The crowded hallways were slowly starting to thin out and Quinn had still not seen a trace of the Latina. Closing her locker with a small sigh, the blonde decided to make her way to the cafeteria, knowing that she wouldn't be able to last much longer without food in her stomach. Santana was most likely still passed out, or nursing a monster hangover so odds were she'd show up sometime during sixth or seventh period. Grabbing her bag off the ground, Quinn did a 180 and ran right into the hard muscled chest of her boyfriend Gabriel.
"Well, hey there gorgeous." Gabe purred, throwing the blonde a dazzling smile and leaning down to give her a soft peck on the lips.
"Gabe!" Quinn sighed happily, welcoming her boyfriends embrace. "I didn't see you there!"
"Probably because you were too busy thinking about what you were going to eat for lunch." Gabe smirked throwing his arm around the blonde's shoulder, as she cuddled into his side.
Quinn looked up at him adoringly, "You know me too well." Unlatching his arm from around her shoulder, she interlocked their fingers and started dragging the boy down the hallway. "Now lets hurry before all these bitches eat whats rightfully mine!"
Gabriel could only laugh as he let his girlfriend pull him at an alarmingly fast pace in the direction of the cafeteria.
Quinn was currently drizzling maple syrup all over her heaping plate of bacon when she caught her boyfriend staring at her. "What?" she questioned, shoving a piece of bacon in her mouth and licking the sticky syrup from her thumb and forefinger.
"I don't think I'll ever understand how you can eat so much, and stay so skinny. It's like a secret of the universe of something." Gabe pondered, watching his girlfriend practically inhale her lunch. Today Quinn had opted for a turkey club sandwich, a side of bacon, a platter of cheese, and to top everything off, a small sliver of cheesecake for desert. Gazing at the blonde with an adoring smile, he couldn't help but be amused at her never ending love for food.
"Luckily for me, kicking a ball around a soccer field every day seems to do the trick," Quinn winked at him. Momentarily taking a break from her mouth-watering lunch, Quinn reached into her messenger bag to grab her phone. She sighed as there was no new texts from Santana. She quickly tapped out a message to her friend threatening her with the punishment of setting fire to her 'Buffy' boxset the blonde knew she hid underneath her bed, if she wasn't up and sober for English two periods from now. Not bothering to look up from her phone, Quinn felt the presence of an intruder hand threatening to steal some of her precious food.
Gabe was sneaking his hand over to Quinn's lunch tray to try and grab a piece of cheese the blonde had piled off to the side, only to have his hand quickly slapped away. "Ow!" he recoiled, trying to shake off the stinging sensation. Quinn's sixth sense about her food was downright freaky.
Quinn just scowled at him.
"That's what you get for trying to freeload off my plate!"
"Freeload! Quinn, you have like an entire block of cheese loaded on there. You could have spared one piece."
"Not likely," the blonde retorted, shoving of a piece of said cheese in her mouth and gracing her boyfriend with a saccharine smile. Gabriel huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and made his lips form a mock pout. Quinn tried her hardest not to spare him a glance, really she did, but one look at Gabe's pouty face had her resolve slipping withing seconds. The sight was so adorable that Quinn couldn't help but relent. "Oh fine! Here you big baby, you can have some cheese!" She pushed the plate closer to him and was rewarded with a soft peck on her cheek.
"Thanks baby." Gabriel replied, quickly diving into the mountain of cheese with gusto. Quinn swooned a little, always finding herself a bit enamored with Gabe when he shared her enthusiasm for food.
Blessed with a model pretty face, gorgeous blue eyes, and a killer body, Gabriel Foster was the hottest guy at Mount Royal. Quinn had no idea how she had managed to find such an amazingly perfect boyfriend that practically worshiped the ground she walked on, but she was in no way shape or form complaining. They both just had this indescribable way of understanding one another and Quinn felt so lucky and blessed to have found such a perfect match in Gabe.
She had met Gabriel during her freshman year.
During one very aggressive soccer practice, Quinn had almost been driven to her breaking point. She had run up and down the field so many times her legs were on the verge of collapse. Her side was down by one goal, and Quinn was determined to be the one to kick the ball right past Josephine Miller's skanky face, and show the goal tender who was the real HBIC on the field. Her plan didn't really work out so well, as a scuffle for the ball and one ill-timed kick sent the ball careening off to the sidelines where it managed to hit one very tall and very handsome boy square in the face.
Quinn had been absolutely mortified, as the boy's friends nearly pissed themselves laughing at the blood that had spurted out of his nose. She had immediately run over to apologize profusely but found herself at a loss for words the second their eyes made initial contact. At that moment, even with blood running down the lower half of his face, he was still the most gorgeous guy Quinn had ever laid eyes on. Little did she know he was having the exact same thought process. He complemented her on her on her brutal instep kick, and gave her a smirk that the blonde though should have been illegal. She couldn't help the flush that came over her as he held his hand out and introduced himself, sexy smirk still in tact. Quinn softly introduced herself and apologized for the bloody Rorschach test she caused on his face. Gabe doubled over in laughter at the blonde's candor and promptly asked her out on a date.
Almost two years later, and they were more in love than ever.
"So where's your nefarious sidekick?" Gabe asked the blonde. "I haven't seen her around all day."
Which if you asked him, was rare. Quinn and Santana were a packaged deal. There just was no one without the other, and seeing Quinn without her evil half usually meant that something was amiss.
"Hungover." Quinn sighed. Wishing for the umpteenth time that Santana would wake the hell up and text her. Who else was she going to talk to about the mystical properties of Mrs. Howser's size-fluctuating facial mole, or create random Lindsay Lohan fanfiction snippets with?
"Again?" Gabe asked, "Thats like the third time this week babe."
"I know...I know," she replied softly, "I can't control what she does, but I worry about her."
Gabe reached over to take the blonde's hand in his, "I know you do, and Santana is lucky to have such a wonderful best friend looking out for her."
Quinn gave him a soft smile, "We're lucky to have each other." Not really wanting to get into it any further, the blonde let out a soft sigh and trained her gaze elsewhere.
Knowing not to push his thoughts any further, Gabe grabbed a fork off the blonde's lunch tray and scooped up a piece of cheesecake. Holding the fork up to his girlfriends face, he threw her a wink and prompted her to open up. "I know just the thing to sweeten you up!"
Playfully rolling her eyes at him, the blonde leaned forward to take a bite of the cheesecake. Her eyes closing in ecstasy as she savored the chocolate-y goodness currently melting in her mouth. Swallowing, Quinn leaned forward and pressed her lips softly against Gabriel's. She pulled back and winked saucily at him, "I'm already sweet, gorgeous."
Licking off the lingering taste of chocolate the blonde's kiss had left on his lips, Gabe could only breathe out, "Don't I know it."
Hearing the ridiculously obnoxious noises coming from the mid-day alarms Quinn had absolutely insisted on setting on her cell phone, Santana let out a groan and grabbed the extra pillow beside her to toss over her head, slightly drowning out the sound of what the brunette was certain were bio-hazard sirens. She snaked her right arm from beneath the covers to reach over to her bedside table and quickly silenced the bullshit Area-51 torture method that was making her migraine swell to epic proportions.
Glancing at her phone for the time, Santana rolled her eyes noticing that is was barely 11:30 and Quinn had already sent her 20 texts, demanding her to be a responsible student or some shit like that. Brushing it off as Quinn freaking out from lack of food and her blood sugar being too low, the brunette laughed as she read of Quinn's threats to her precious DVD set as well as the two page long text about how perfect and crisp the bacon came out today.
Deciding now was as good a time as any to get up for the day and get her learning on, Santana threw the covers off of her and swung her legs off the side of the bed, sitting herself up right. She was greeting with the sight of a water bottle and two aspirin on her bedside table that Quinn must have left the night before. Silently thanking whoever was up there listening for bringing Quinn Fabray into her life, Santana twisted off the cap and gulped the water down greedily, pausing to pop the two aspirin before draining the rest of the bottle.
Finally getting out of bed, the brunette looked down at herself with a grimace noticing she was still in the same clothes as last night. Deciding that a shower was most definitely in order, Santana grabbed a towel and her toiletry bag and made her way out of her room and to the dorm bathroom.
Forty-Five minutes later she was ready for the day and looking considerably less hungover than she actually felt. She shot Quinn a quick text letting her know that she would meet her in English, and applied one last coat of gloss to her lips before she was ready to go. Quickly grabbing her messenger bag and Ipod off her desk, Santana left making her way to her first period of the day.
Santana walked through campus, passing Edwards Hall and the gorgeous fountain located in the Quad, making her way to Mrs. Adams English class to meet Quinn. Sunglasses perched on her face, ear buds in place, and her thumb scrolling on her Ipod to select the playlist she made yesterday, she failed to notice the flurry of blonde heading straight for her.
"Oof!"
Santana stumbled and was completely knocked on her ass. Whipping her up around in shocked outrage at being practically steamrolled, she spotted the culprit on the ground in front of her, surrounded my random papers and what appeared to be schedules. The blonde in question was currently groaning, attempting to pick herself up and gather her scattered belongings off of the ground.
"What the actual fuck!" Santana shrieked, ready to murder this bitch who had the audacity to body check her like some rag doll in a roller derby match.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention and I -" Blue eyes looked up and locked with brown. The blonde was a bit taken aback by the deadly look the other girl was currently giving her.
"Clearly!" The brunette hissed, shooting the blonde a murderous glare. "Do you not have fucking eyes!"
"Look I'm really sorry," The blonde began, trying to pacify her, "It's just that I'm new here and-"
"Ugh! What the fuck ever! I don't need your life story, save that shit for someone who actually gives a fuck!" Santana quickly got up and brushed herself off. She walked over to where her Ipod had landed in the collision and picked it up before turning back to the blonde that had throughly soured her mood.
"Do yourself a favor and get yourself a seeing eye dog, so next time you feel the need to barrel into someone, you can use it to stay the hell out of my way!"
Santana quickly turned and strode in the other direction towards her class, mumbling Spanish obscenities under her breath.
The blonde was left kneeling in the middle of the pathway, her gaze focused on the retreating form of the Latina, not even really sure what had just happened before. Sighing softly to herself, the blonde murmured sarcastically to herself. "Guess I'm really going to love it here..."