Meet

Brittany was making her way through the crowded mall, eager to reach the frozen yogurt store before it closed. Frozen yogurt was part of her daily schedule, but she was running late and she was afraid that the lack of the creamy dessert would throw off the rest of her day.

The mall was always a crazy place. Children ran, babies cried, women chatted, men bellowed, teens gossiped, couples kissed, enemies argued. Brittany... well, she avoided. There were few people who actually did that. She'd had too many experiences getting run into, walking in between too fighting people, behind shoved into kissing couples. It wasn't fun. So she dodged the crazy activity to get to her destination as fast as possible.

Today wasn't an exception. However, as she neared the frozen yogurt store, she heard a loud, solid noise. Naturally, she turned her head. Her gaze caught on a man laying sprawled on the ground. Above him, Brittany saw a Latina standing with her fist clenched. Many people were gathering around them, and Brittany soon became one of them.

Brittany was always against violence, so she pushed her way to where the Latina was. As Brittany neared her, she got a better look at the Latina. Her hair was long, black and curled at the ends. She was wearing skinny jeans and a blouse, and she was very, very pretty.

"Did you hit him?" Brittany asked, looking at the groaning man on the floor. The girl looked at Brittany.

"No," the girl stretched out her word sarcastically, and Brittany felt proud that she recognized it. "He punched himself."

"No joking," Brittany snapped. "Why'd you hit him?"

"What's your problem? You his girlfriend?" the girl demanded.

Brittany huffed. "I just don't see why you need to hit people in the middle of a public area." There was a murmur of agreement in the people around them.

"He brought it on himself!" the girl demanded.

"What'd he do?" Brittany asked. The man on the floor groaned and rolled over, looking up at the arguing girls.

"All I did was try to kiss her," he grumbled. Brittany looked at the girl in confusion. "We're on a date!"

"We're not! You asked if I wanted to get coffee with you," the Latina snapped, startling Brittany, the man and the people around them.

"That's what a date is!" the man grumbled.

"Next time, Trouty Mouth, maybe say, 'Do you want to go on a date with me?', like any other normal human being!" the girl exclaimed. Trouty Mouth, Brittany asked herself. She looked down at the guy again. He had very oversized lips, blond hair, and blue eyes. In a way, he looked like an oversized ten-year-old.

"You would've said no!" Trouty Mouth hollered at her.

"Then there wasn't a point in asking, Sam!" the Latina exclaimed, exasperated. The group of people had already cleared out, seeing as this wasn't just a random punch in the face. Sam. Sam is Trouty Mouth, Brittany told herself. Her eyes drifted to the girl. Who's she?

"Uh," Brittany muttered. The Latina's eyes drifted over to Brittany.

"Sorry." Sam gave the Latina a confused look at the apology. "I'm Santana."

"Brittany," Brittany answered. She didn't know why the two were so friendly with each other all of the sudden. Brittany had just been yelling at Santana for punching this guy. "So... you guys are...?"

"Acquaintances," Santana said immediately. "He's been wanting to date me since high school. Sam."

"Are you already dating someone?" Brittany blurted. She wasn't sure why she asked this. Santana blinked.

"No," Santana admitted. She looked at Sam. "But Trouty Mouth knows exactly why I won't date him."

"I still think you're lying about—" Sam started.

"Sam!" Santana exclaimed. Sam closed his big mouth. But Brittany had heard enough to figure it out. She wasn't grossed out by this, nor was she against it. She gave Santana a sympathetic smile.

"Guys will never understand," she said simply. Santana blinked, giving her a surprised look.

"Are you... are you um...?" Santana didn't look like she could manage to get the word "gay" out of her mouth.

"I don't need labels," Brittany answered with a shrug. "I love. That's it."

"Oh," Santana mumbled. Sam was still on the floor, watching the two of them. Brittany was under the impression that Santana was at a loss for things to say. Brittany asked the one thing she'd wanted to ask since she saw the girl.

"Can I have your number?" Brittany asked. Sam's jaw dropped and Santana looked up and met Brittany's eyes. Brittany smiled slightly. Santana, not averting her gaze, reached into her pocket to retrieve her phone. Brittany did the same. They traded phones and broke their eye contact to briefly put their numbers and names into one another's phones.

One they handed phones back, Sam broke the silence. "Wow. That never would've happened to me."

Santana looked down at Sam, who was finally getting bored on the floor. The Latina rolled her eyes, and Brittany smirked before telling Santana, "I have to get to my class. I'll... call you?"

"Yeah, sure," Santana agreed, nodding. Brittany smiled and turned, clutching her phone, as she headed out of the mall.

First Date

After a week had gone by, filled with college, work, frozen yogurts and a few phone calls with Santana, Brittany finally worked up some nerve to do what she'd been wanting to do since she'd gotten the Latina's number. She picked up her cell and used speed dial to reach Santana's contact for the fourth time that week.

"Hey, Britt," Santana greeted. Santana had created the nickname during their first phone call, and Brittany had to say that she liked it.

"Hey," Brittany returned. "What are you doing?"

"Um... avoiding Quinn's phone calls," Santana answered. Brittany had heard much of this "Quinn", who was apparently Santana's best friend.

"Why, I thought you guys were like best friends?" Brittany asked.

"We are, but I'm talking to you. That's better than talking to her," Santana admitted. Brittany felt her stomach do some sort of flip that she'd never felt before. "Why were you calling, again?"

"Not 'again'," Brittany corrected firstly. "I wanted to know if you wanted to go out with me tomorrow night."

There was silence on the line for a few seconds. "Out? Like... on a date?"

"Yeah," Brittany answered nonchalantly, even though she was freaking out inside.

Silence, again.

"S-sure," she finally heard. "Where?"

"The Lima Bean?" Brittany asked.

"That sounds fine," Santana agreed. "I'll... see you there at... seven?"

"Seven works," Brittany said, nodding to herself as she grinned. The two girls said their goodbyes before hanging up. Brittany jumped onto her small bed in her dorm room, beaming. She was really excited for this date.

Brittany slipped on her jean shorts, finishing off her outfit. She had decided not to dress too fancy for a first date. She was wearing her shorts and a blue pink tank-top. Her hair was straight like always, and she was wearing the same makeup as always.

Leaving her house at precisely six-fifty, she knew that she would arrive at just the right time. As she pulled up to The Lima Bean, her gaze caught on Santana standing awkwardly in front of the building, looking for Brittany. Brittany quickly left her car and hurried up to the front where Santana was waiting.

"Hey," she greeted. Santana smiled.

"Hey." The two girls silently entered The Lima Bean and made their way to the line. Santana turned to Brittany. "You ever done this before?"

"Done what?" Brittany asked, confused. Santana's mouth twitched into a smile, but it was quickly gone as she remembered her question.

"G-gone out with a girl?" Santana asked. Brittany smiled at the Latina sympathetically.

"Yeah," Brittany answered. "A couple times, but not as much as guys."

"Oh."

"What about you?" Brittany wondered allowed. Santana pursed her lips and shook her head.

"I... well I mean... I don't know so many..." Santana was clearly having a hard time talking about this. Brittany gave the girl another sympathetic smile.

"Girls who like girls," Brittany finished for her, not using any labels. Santana smiled gratefully at the taller girl, and nodded.

"Yeah. So... I've never... gone out with another girl," the Latina muttered. Brittany's smile widened.

"First for everything, right?' she asked. Santana met Brittany's eyes and nodded. Realizing that they needed to move forward in the line, Brittany broke the eye contact to step forward. Both girls smiled at the ground, embarrassed. For what reason, neither knew.

When they got to order, Brittany let Santana go first. "Uh, I'll have a Grande Soy Macchiato, and a blueberry muffin."

"And you ma'am?" the man behind the counter asked Brittany. Brittany suddenly noticed that the man was checking her out. She huffed slightly.

"I'll just have some hot chocolate and a brownie," Brittany ordered. The man nodded, looked between the two girls, and then pressed a button on the computer in front of him.

"Your drinks will be brought to you," he informed them. Brittany nodded, sliding the money across the counter. Then, she and Santana stepped out of the line and sat at a two person table in the back of the shop.

The girls exchanged some small talk while they waited for their drinks and food. Soon, a different man brought them their orders. After thanking him, the man bustled off and Santana and Brittany continued on with their date.

It wasn't some insanely romantic first date like you see in movies sometimes, but it was a good first date. Brittany and Santana found out a lot more about each other, which was definitely a good thing, as they nibbled their snacks and sipped their drinks.

When they were done, the man who'd taken their order came up to the table to take their trash. He turned to Brittany, holding a piece of paper. "Here's a coupon for your next visit! Have a nice day!"

Brittany took the coupon and looked at it as the man walked away. Stapled to the coupon was a piece of paper that said "Jacob- 617-320-9124". Brittany huffed again, tore off the paper, and tossed it in a nearby garbage can from her seat.

"What was that?" Santana asked.

"That guy's phone number," Brittany answered, rolling her eyes.

"What a loser," Santana grumbled, looking over her shoulder at the guy. "Who gives out their number to people on dates?"

"He might not have put two and two together," Brittany answered with a shrug. "But I wouldn't want his number either." Santana glanced back at Brittany before narrowing her eyes.

When Brittany had to go, she and Santana exchanged a quick hug. "Thanks," Santana thanked her. "I had fun."

"Me too," Brittany said with a smile. "We should do it again sometime?"

"I'd like that," Santana agreed. The two smiled at one another before saying goodbyes and leaving. As Brittany climbed into her car and started to drive off, she smiled to herself. She'd just finished a date with a very beautiful girl... and she was probably going to go on another one with the same girl. How had she gotten so lucky?