Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard her alarm go off. She groggily opened her eyes and surveyed her mess of a room. Her homework lay scattered across the floor after a late night cramming session, things had been less than perfect lately and her grades were starting to reflect it.
She sighed as the stress washed back over her and she flopped back onto the bed. She turned over to her nightstand and her gaze landed on a picture of her and a certain blond.
It was last summer, just before junior year. They were standing by Brittany's pool, drenched and lips stained purple from popsicles, grinning like morons. She let out a heavy sigh. 'When did things become so complicated?' She wondered.
Summer. It already felt like a lifetime away, she missed Brittany in the worst kind of way, they hadn't really talked much since she hooked up with Wheels. She slammed her head into her pillow and groaned. It was her own fault they were together in the first place.
'Brittany doesn't deserve someone like me' she thought bitterly, 'At least he can be with her in public.' she scowled and shook her head to clear her thoughts of the girl. 'Enough with the pity party Lopez,' she mentally scolded herself. She got up from her bed and pulled open her curtains to reveal a dark mass of clouds rolling threateningly across the sky. 'Really?' she thought sourly.
She sighed and walked to her closet and pulled out her pressed Cheerios uniform. Putting it on didn't give her the same satisfaction or feel of power it used to, now it just reminded her of what an idiot she was. It's not like she got satisfaction from hiding from everyone, it was just necessary, and the thought of having nothing to hide behind scared her. Not that she'd ever admit it. Santana Lopez is scared of nothing.
She picked up her notes from the floor, grabbed her bag and hopped down the stairs. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar in case she had cheerios practice this morning, not likely with the way the sky looks, but Sue is crazy, and raced to her car. Half way to her car the rain started. Granted it was light so she didn't end up completely soaked.
She started her car and backed out of her driveway. She got to the stop sign and stopped abruptly, her stomach lurched and twisted in a way that didn't so much as hurt but was extremely uncomfortable.
She looked to her right, and immediately regretted doing so. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped in front of the Pierce home, recently she took habit to skipping this stop sign all together because in all honesty, she would rather have a traffic ticket than even think about the disaster that was their relationship.
But no such luck today, Brittany stood by her door as beautiful as ever and stared curiously at the black Lexus stopped in front of her house. She recognized it immediately and smiled as she walked up to the passengers side window and tapped lightly to avoid scaring the Latina.
Santana sighed and rolled down the window, her head pressed firmly against the steering wheel trying to ease her stomach.
"Hey," Brittany said softly. She sounded so sad and Santana squirmed uncomfortably.
"Hi," she grumbled back irritably. Why does this have to happen now?
"Look, I know things haven't exactly been normal lately, and I know that's partly my fault, but I can't take this anymore," Brittany mumbled sadly. "You're my best friend."
"Britt," she said uneasily, her throat closing ever so slightly, but she refused to cry, she's done enough of that for a lifetime.
"Please!" Brittany interrupted desperately. "Please just give it a chance," she said sadly, "I miss you," she flashed one of her famous Brittany pouts.
Santana glanced up at her for what in reality was a few seconds but it felt like forever. She's never been able to resist the pout. She let out an exasperated huff, "Get in the car, you don't want to catch a cold."
The blond grinned and climbed in. Santana sighed and sat back up, she immediately regretted doing so when her stomach lurched so hard she groaned.
'That's odd,' she thought, 'That didn't sound anything like me.' She glanced over to see Brittany mid buckle, face scrunched up and an arm wrapped around her abdomen. She raised a questioning eyebrow towards the girl.
"My tummy feels funny," she said in a small voice. "Like it's tight and tingly." The knots grew in the Latinas stomach twisting almost painfully.
"I feel it too," the Latina forced through now gritted teeth, "Maybe something's going around." Before Brittany had a chance to respond Santana turned up the music and sped off.
The rest of the ride was spent in awkward silence. Brittany kept opening her mouth like she wanted to say something, but the words never came.
When they reached the school, both girls took off not wanting to get too wet. Brittany looked wistfully at the retreating form of her friend. She sighed, 'She just needs time' she told herself. It even sounded unconvincing in her own head.
She stalked off to first period with an uncharacteristic scowl plastered on her face. And on top of everything else, her stomach was still in knots.
She sat down in her seat near the back next to Quinn. When she sat down Quinn did a double take. She was wet, and very unhappy looking.
"Britt, honey, are you okay?" Quinn asked disbelievingly, the tall girl was almost never upset, and she looked on the verge of tears.
"Fine," she mumbled incoherently. Quinn raised an eyebrow but didn't question her. She laid her head sullenly on her desk, 'this is going to be a long day' she thought grimly.
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On the opposite side of the school Santana trudged into anatomy feeling eerily similar.
"Ooh someone's all wet," snarked Puck from the desk beside her, she could not handle this right now.
"Piss off Fuckerman afores I ends you!" she hissed back viciously. Puck had the decency to look slightly startled before regaining composure.
"Chill your tits Lopez," He huffed, "Who pissed in your Cheerios?!" she stared forward defiantly and refused to answer, "Women," he muttered under his breath and turned back to face the front.
Correction, she thought morosely, just one woman actually. The one woman who is simultaneously her reason for living and her reason to wish for an early death. She wanted to talk to Brittany so bad, but as usual her pride won out and the silence continued. Santana Lopez was second best to no one, especially not a cripple.
Just thinking about that day by her locker caused her chest to ache, the feeling only grew when stubbles himself rolled in and parked himself next to Puck.
As Mr. Reddings walked in and started lecturing, Santana rested her head on her desk to help alleviate her growing headache. This day couldn't be over soon enough.