AN: Hi guys! This project was mostly just to get writing again because I've had horrible writer block. This can either be a one shot or, if you guys want more, review it and I might make it a multichapter fic. For those of you reading Us Against the World, I'm so sorry it's taking so long to update...I have almost no inspiration for the episode I'm working on writing. But I'm working on it, I promise. So, I've never written Brittany before...but here's another person trying to explain one Brittany S. Pierce seeing as the writers haven't. Okay, AN done. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the characters therein.
Brittany had always been the dumb one. The blonde. The daffy but loveable sidekick.
And she hated it.
At the age of 6, her teacher finally convinced her mom (that's Professor Pierce to you) that Brittany was, in fact, developmentally not on par with her classmates. She had no filter. What she thought, she said- even if it was in the middle of a lesson. When she read- well, that was assuming she could read. The teacher had tried and tried (or so she explained) to teach Brittany, but to no avail. The other kids in her class noticed that while they wrote sentences she drew unicorns, and they teased her endlessly.
When they got home after school that day (the dark day, as Brittany remembered it), after her mom had picked up her sister from day care, she sat Brittany down and tried to teach her how to read. She was Professor Pierce and her daughter would be able to read, damn it. And Brittany tried. She really really tried. But the letters swam in her head and she couldn't seem to make them into words. Her mom got mad at her then, telling her she wasn't trying hard enough and that she was disappointed. She was sent to her room with an empty stomach and tears threatening to fall.
It took two years, two years of Brittany not learning, two years of frustration and tears at home, before Ms. Pierce finally followed the school's advice and took her daughter to the doctor. Brittany came away from the doctor with a lollypop and two shiny new diagnosis'- A.D.H.D. and dyslexia. A bad combination, the doctor said- bad, but not impossible. For a scholar such as Susan Pierce though, the confirmation that her daughter would probably never be a genius (because, even if she was that intelligent, she'd never sit still long enough to show anyone... not to mention that she was practically a functional illiterate) was unacceptable. Education was the key to success, in her not so humble opinion. So Brittany got tutors, her mom would give her that much, but no way would her daughter need the "special resources" that the school tried to offer.
With the help of her tutors, Brittany made some progress at school. However, every day of school was a day of torture. It required her to sit still and try to pay attention; Brittany tried her best, she really did, but she just couldn't be a "good girl" like her mommy and her teacher and her daddy (her mom had made sure to call him once she got diagnosed. Words like "no good" "your fault" and "have fun with your new family while I deal with your mess ups asshole" were said over the phone) wanted. It frustrated her to no end. She just...couldn't do it. No matter how many times her tutor forced her to try and read books by some doctor named Seuss.
The teasing at school only got worse as she got older. The kids got meaner and their comments got wittier. Brittany had always been a pleasant child, smiling and loud (much to her mother's chagrin). She was entirely unprepared for how to deal with the name calling and indian burns that happened on the playground. Things only got worse when the yard duty, seeing a crying Brittany, asked her what happened and, having been told to always tell the truth, Brittany told her. "Tattle tale" was added that day to the taunts that forced Brittany off of the monkey bars and to hiding behind the backstop. That day was the day that Brittany decided that maybe she shouldn't talk as much. Her smiles didn't show up as much either.
To be honest, Brittany doesn't remember much of elementary school. What she does remember can be summed up as such: it sucked. What Brittany remembered from elementary school, she didn't want to remember because when she did remember it made her want to cry.
The summer before sixth grade, Ms. Pierce decided she wanted to focus more on her research. Therefore, she quit her job at Ohio State and instead became a part time Professor at Lima Community College. Brittany, although glad that she was escaping their old routine, felt incredibly invisible in the van ride when they moved while her mom ranted and her now five year old sister talked nonstop. By now, Brittany had learned that sometimes it was best just to pretend she was like all the other kids. It was hard though; it was like her mind was made of filing cabinets and when she was asked a question, she went to the right cabinet but she grabbed the wrong file. She had three ways of "fitting in"- she would not talk, she would not answer questions, and she would keep her face blank.
If she didn't say anything, then they couldn't make fun of her.
With her plan in hand, Brittany began middle school at the only one in all of Lima. Brittany's life changed forever that first week of school, although she didn't know it at the time. That's the week a small Latina named Santana Lopez wormed her way into her life. Contrary to popular belief, Brittany and Santana were not instantly friends. Brittany learned a long time ago that no one wanted to be her friend and so, even at her new school, she kept to herself. This system worked perfectly well until she was paired up with a boy named Noah in English class and he told everyone about how she misspelled almost everything she wrote on the page. Within a week, the students at her new school picked up where the students at her old school left off and Brittany spent her lunches in the bathroom.
One day while Brittany sat in the corner of the bathroom thinking about whether or not she'd have to walk home (it depended on what her mom's schedule was) the door burst open and a small girl dashed into the bathroom.
"Estupido, estupido, estupido. What do they know? Me llamo Santana Lopez. Those people don't know nada." (Stupid, stupid, stupid. What do they know? My name is Santana Lopez. Those people don't know anything.) Brittany froze and tried to remain still as the strange girl took a deep shuttering breath that seemed to be one stop short of crying. "They'll see. No one makes a joke out of me. They-" It was the girl's turn to freeze and Brittany couldn't help but try to shrink back in her corner. The brunette whipped around and with a growl demanded, "Who are you?"
Brittany blinked in response and remained silent. "Well?" The smaller girl reiterated, frowning.
"B-B-Brittany." Brittany managed to stutter out.
"Well, B-B-Brittany, you didn't see anything okay? So you better not tell anyone." With that, the girl turned around and stormed out of the bathroom.
Over the next few weeks, Brittany learned through observation that the strange-bathroom girl was called Santana and that she was new too. Unlike Brittany though, she quickly made friends with people like Noah Puckerman and Matt Rutherford. Every once in a while, Brittany would catch Santana looking at her critically, as though afraid that the blonde would tell someone about what happened in the bathroom.
For months, Brittany struggled through school by herself. Her grades were abysmal and her teachers tried to convince her mom to put her in special ed., or at least hold her back a grade, but her mom refused. At home, her mom always looked at her with disappointed eyes that often turned to frustration at her daughter's antics. Luckily for her mom though, her little sister Katie was showing early signs of being a genius.
So it was just Brittany that was a screw up.
Noah Puckerman, who by their third month of school wanted to be called "Puck", decided to trip Brittany one day when she was about to walk home. Brittany fell hard, her knee scraping against the concrete and tears springing to her eyes. She was about to pick herself up and get the heck out of there when suddenly Puck yelped in pain. Santana looked pretty smug when she said, "Picking on a girl Puck? Wow, your reputation will slip so fast..."
Puck scowled and walked away rubbing his head while Santana, still smirking, turned back towards Brittany. Brittany found a hand extended toward her and hesitantly looked up at her savior. Not accepting the help, she stood up and tried not to wince when she put weight on her cut up leg. Santana dropped her hand, looked around, and then muttered, "Puck sucks sometimes." before walking away.
Brittany stared after her for a minute before forcing herself to shake it off. After all, the look in Santana's eyes clearly said, "Now we're even." So, Brittany didn't expect anything else from her. As the months went by though, a tentative friendship formed between Brittany and Santana. It started with an occasional "Hey." or with pairing up in class when Santana didn't have a better option. Eventually though, Brittany found herself about to walk home on the last day of sixth grade when Santana stopped her.
"We'll see each other this summer, right?"
Brittany nodded and allowed herself to give a small smile.
Santana frowned, not entirely convinced. "Pinky promise?"
Brittany clasped her pinky finger around Santana's immediately. "Pinky promise."
"Cool," Santana breathed with a smile. "See you around Britt-Britt."
As Brittany turned the corner on her walk, she saw out of the corner of her eye Santana getting into her mom's car saying what sounded like, "...that's my best friend Ma."
That day, Brittany walked home smiling.
Over the summer, Ms. Pierce decided Brittany needed to join a physical activity to get her excess energy out. Brittany didn't really know what that meant except that she got to join a dance class. Brittany loved to dance. To Brittany's instructor it was quickly evident that she was a natural and suddenly her once a week dance class turned into a three times a week advanced dance class. Brittany liked the fact that when she danced, she didn't have to think about anything except how to move her body. Another development over the summer was that Brittany's friendship with Santana grew even stronger than before. They hung out at the park or at Santana's house and Santana quickly became Brittany's favorite person, even if Brittany was hesitant to trust her completely.
Brittany also noticed that whenever Santana got close to her, like on the couch or on the swings, her stomach went all flip floppy and her heart sped up. But she pretended not to notice that.
With Santana's friendship and protection, Brittany's return to school was her least horrible yet. The student body quickly stopped making fun of Brittany with one glare from her shorter counterpart and for once, Brittany actually enjoyed lunch time. It didn't hurt though that the combination of intense dancing and puberty turned Brittany, seemingly overnight, from a lanky awkward girl to a tall woman with legs for days and a couple of curves. Even Puck now looked at Brittany with a smile (albeit a slimy one). Aside from the social aspect of school, Brittany still struggled daily to learn what everyone else seemed to absorb easily. Not wanting to seem stupid to Santana, Brittany often put of doing homework when she was over and then later had to stay up very late just to complete it.
As Brittany got older, boys became a factor that needed to be addressed. So, she allowed herself to gossip with the girls about them and helped make a ranking of the guys at school. However, she was entirely unprepared for the fact that as much as she was noticing the boys she was also noticing the girls. For every guy she admired for their rugged goods looks, there was a girl she admired for her supple curves. Highest on her own (very private) list in her head was Santana. Brittany knew her mother's opinion on matters such as girls liking her girls though and so she kept her confusion and feelings to herself.
In fact, Brittany kept her confusion and feelings about everything to herself usually.
When a fellow dancer called her fat, she felt so upset about it she didn't eat for three days.
When her dad didn't even send her a birthday card, she spent the day in a tree.
When her mom missed her dance recital (her very first with a solo) to take her sister to a little genius' seminar, she took a shower so hot that her skin turned red.
When a guy crept into her tent at cheer camp to make out, and then took it a step farther, she ran 5 miles.
When Santana kissed her the summer before Freshman year and then pretended like it meant nothing, she didn't smile or speak for a week.
Her mask that she used was good though. With the smile painted on her face, who would think she was high? With the exuberant attitude she carried herself with, who would notice the cuts lining her skin?
And if anyone asked her about the cuts? She was scratched by her cat because she tried to make him stop smoking. And everyone would believe her because she's Brittany- the dumb one, the blond, the daffy but loveable sidekick.
Not that anyone would ask, anyway.