Miss. Harrison is Brittany's favorite teacher. She doesn't have much to compare with, saying she's only a kindergartener, but she knows already that Miss. Harrison is going to be her all time favorite. She lets them have class outside when it's sunny, which means Brittany can play with the daisies and make chains with them to share with Quinn and Tina. One of Brittany's favorite things to do is to make things - whether it's daisy chains on the grass, a card for her mom's birthday or a rocket out of a cardboard box, Brittany loves making things.
That's why, when Miss. Harrison tells the class that today they're making a time capsule for the millenium, Brittany almost explodes with excitement.
"In a few weeks time, we're going to go from 1999, to the year 2000!" Miss. Harrison tells them excitedly. "Things are going to change, and it's very important that we show all the children in the future what our lives are like today."
Brittany just looks up at her with wide eyes and listens attentively. "Each of us is going to put one item in the capsule that represents what you like or who you are." The class erupts with everyone shouting suggestions of what they're going to put in.
"I'm going to put in a Power Ranger!" Artie tells everyone.
"Yeah? Well I'm putting in Pikachu!" Finn argues.
"Do you really think Pikachu or a Power Ranger is what kids in the future want?" Rachel huffs.
"Well what will you put in then if you're so smart?" Noah challenges.
"I'm not telling you," Rachel says proudly. "That's for the kids in the future to find out."
"Okay class! Everyone will get a chance to decide what item to put in, but today we're going to write a letter to ourselves," Miss. Harrison tells them. "But you have to write to yourself in the future."
"But how will we know who we're writing to?" Brittany asks, confused.
"You're writing to yourself, Brittany."
"But I don't know me yet, and my mom told me not to talk to strangers," she says, concerned.
"No-one's asking you to talk to strangers, Brittany," Miss. Harrison reassures her. "Just write a letter about your life now - who you like to play with, what school you go to, what your favorite lesson is at school. And then imagine what your life might be in ten or fifteen years time."
Brittany thinks about the idea for a second and then nods contentedly. "Okay!" she shouts, jumping up from the floor where they're all sitting.
Miss. Harrison is used to Brittany's slightly erratic behavior by now, so she just directs the rest of the class to go back to their desks and take out a blank page and think about what they want to write about.
This is Brittany's favorite assignment yet, because she gets to create a whole future for herself. The parts where she has to write about school and who she plays with now is easy, she can do that later. But it's the future that's really exciting.
She starts doodling on the page in front of her in crayon. First she draws a huge house, making sure that it has a long path up to the front door and a fence around the outside. She makes sure there's a tree in the garden too for a treehouse, because what house is complete without a treehouse?
When she's done that Brittany doesn't really know what to do next. She hasn't ever really thought about who she wants to live with in that really huge house. She doesn't want to live with a boy because ew, boys, but her mom keeps telling her that she's going to meet her Prince Charming some day. That's how all the fairytales that she hears before she goes to sleep at night end, and sometimes Brittany believes in them a little, thinks that she might want to find a Prince Charming too. But most of the time she'd much rather just live with Quinn or Tina or some other girl, because girls are much prettier and they don't smell so bad and they never punch or kick each other. So Brittany thinks that living with a girl would be much better.
She draws herself first, standing just beside the tree. She can't really draw anything better than stick people, but Brittany puts as much detail into her drawing as possible so people know that it's her. She uses the pink crayon for her face and body, a red crayon for her t-shirt, the blue crayon for her jean shorts and the yellow crayon for her hair. Miss. Harrison once told Brittany that her hair was bright like the sun. Miss. Harrison really is her favorite.
For the girl beside her, she wants something different. They've been learning about opposites recently, like how the opposite of happy is sad and how the opposite of fast is slow. They also learned that the opposite of bright is dark, so Brittany picks up the black crayon because that's as opposite as you can get from yellow. She can't start with the hair though, that's always last. So she picks up the brown crayon and draws a body. Miss. Harrison tells them all the time that friends come in all shapes and sizes and we're all different but we're also all the same. So Brittany likes to reflect that when she's drawing. Sometimes people are blue, sometimes they're green, sometimes they're even orange or purple. Brittany likes variety.
After she's drawn the body, she gives the girl a green dress and then picks up the black crayon to draw her hair. When she's done, Brittany looks at her drawing proudly. She starts to daydream, wondering who this person could be or if they even exist. She thinks it maybe looks a little like Tina, but Brittany doesn't know if she wants to live with Tina for, like, ever. Maybe a little while, but not forever like Brittany's mom and dad are. No way.
Miss Harrison comes over to check her drawing, and to help her write her letter to put in the capsule. She looks at the house and the two girls and looks back at Brittany. "What a lovely house, Brittany!" she exclaims. "And who's this?" she asks, pointing that the girl with black hair.
"That's my... friend... my..." Brittany struggles, because 'friend' isn't the right word. Her mom and dad don't say that they live with a friend. It's husband and wife. So Brittany corrects herself. "That's my wife," she says, proudly.
"Britt! Hey, Britt!" Santana shouts from the bedroom. "I found another box!"
A few seconds later Brittany appears at the door and makes her way over to sit on the bed where Santana is. "I thought you'd checked all these ones?" Brittany says playfully, taking the box off Santana.
"Yeah, me too, but one must have got past my x-ray vision," Santana jokes. "What's in it?" Santana looks at the box and studies it. She hasn't seen it before, and she's seen most things in Brittany's room. They've been together for the best part of fifteen years, either as best friends or girlfriends, so they know each other inside out.
"It's my kindergarten stuff," Brittany says, opening it. "Just like the ones we packed away for first grade and second? Mom was obsessed with keeping everything I used to draw and write."
"Well let me see what five year old Brittany Pierce was drawing, then," Santana prompts, nudging Brittany in the ribs. "I bet you were the cutest five year old. I know I've seen the pictures, and the video tapes, but I wish I'd known you then," Santana tells her.
"Yeah, me too," Brittany agrees. She starts taking stuff out of the box one by one. A drawing of a car. A cat. A mountain. And then. "Oh my god," Brittany whispers in disbelief.
"What?"
"Look at this!" she says, handing the drawing over to Santana. Santana takes it and when she realises what it is, she gasps. "You drew this when you were five?" Brittany nods. "Britt, this is.."
"...exactly like the house we just bought."
"And that looks a hell of a lot like..."
"You," Brittany finishes. "I know."
Santana traces her finger over the crayon outline, slighly faded from being in the box for years. "We were always meant to be, weren't we?" Santana says, taking Brittany's hand in her own. She plays with the ring on Brittany's finger, the one that she put there a few weeks ago in front of all their family and friends, on the happiest day of her life.
"Since forever," Brittany states. She smiles and looks back at the picture, pointing at the crayon drawing of the girl she now knows as Santana. Her best friend, her soulmate, her everything.
"That's my wife," she says, proudly.