"Mercedes, do I really have to do this?" Santana asked for about the twentieth time since she arrived at the café where Mercedes worked.
Mercedes rolled her eyes at her friend. "Stop complaining, S. You sound like I'm forcing you to come clean to your parents about the time you ordered pay per view porn and blamed it on your uncle who had visited the day before."
It was Santana's turn to roll her eyes. "Quit holding that over my head, that was nearly a decade ago. And Uncle Vic is a perv, they totally believed that he did it. But that's not what we're talking about," Santana snapped. "Are you seriously gonna make me participate in this? You know, when you asked me to come here I thought it was an emergency, not some blind date hoo-ha."
"It's not a hoo-ha," Mercedes chastised, "it's a nice little event where you can meet new people and I thought it'd be good for you."
"How is being forced to sit and talk with total strangers that I'm probably never gonna care about another day in my life good for me?"
"Because," Mercedes stressed, "I'm tired of your mopey, lonely ass. You need some action."
Santana's jaw dropped. "I am not mopey. Okay, I... I am the exact opposite of mopey."
Mercedes scoffed. "Girl, please, you've been desperate to get into someone's pants for so long, your horniness is practically oozing out of you and it's embarrassing."
Santana's mouth opened and closed as she tried to come up with a response. "That's... that is..."
"True?" Mercedes supplied with a pointed look. "Honestly, you know you want someone, you haven't been single for this long since... well, ever."
Santana huffed and sat back in her seat. That was true. She wasn't really a relationship person. Mainly she just hung out with whatever hot girl she found and fooled around with her for maybe a day or two and then moved on to the next. But lately, she's been going through a dry spell and it was beginning to take a toll on her.
Noticing her quietness, Mercedes said, "See? You know I'm right, I'm always right. And I know you're not into stuff like this, but who knows, maybe you can actually meet someone cool."
"Doubt it," Santana mumbled. "Only weirdos willingly show up to these blind date things."
"C'mon, I doubt anyone freaky will bug you," Mercedes said.
"We live in LA, 'Cedes," Santana pointed out, "every other person we meet is freaky."
"Okay, true, but most of the people that come here are regular customers who I've come to realize are pretty chill, so don't worry and relax," Mercedes said in an assuring tone.
Santana was quiet for a second and then let out a sigh. "Alright, fine," she groaned. "I'll play along with this blind date weirdness. Promise me you'll stay near and steer off any possible creeps?"
"Sorry," Mercedes shook her head, "but my shift ends in five minutes and I promised my parents I'd have dinner with them."
Santana's eyes widened. "What? You can't leave me here by myself with a bunch of strangers! What if I end up in the back of some dude's van who wants to sell my organs on the black market?"
"Jesus, you could win a gold medal in being overdramatic," Mercedes said under her breath, "Calm down, okay? You'll be fine."
"But– "
"Hush," Mercedes silenced Santana. "No more of your insane what-if scenarios. Just calm your ass down. You. Will. Be. Fine. Got it?"
"I– ugh... okay, fine," Santana crossed her arms over her chest.
"Good girl. Now, I'm gonna go get my stuff so I can head out. You have fun." Mercedes stood up from the chair she had been sitting in across from Santana.
"Yeah, bye," Santana said.
Mercedes pushed in her chair and had only walked a few yards away when she stopped and turned back around.
"Wait, I forgot," she said, heading back to Santana. "This is for you."
She held out a sleeping mask in her hand and Santana raised her eyebrow at it.
"What is this for?" Santana questioned.
"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Mercedes suddenly looked very amused. "It's a literal blind date."
Santana's face dropped. "I'm sorry– what?"
Mercedes cackled and dropped the mask on the small table in front of Santana. "See ya," was all she said before she jogged off, leaving Santana completely dumbfounded.
The evening air fluttered around Brittany as she headed down the sidewalk of an unknown neighborhood she had discovered while driving around. She figured she could use some fresh air, so she had parked her car near a children's park and got out to wander the streets. Not to mention, walking always calmed Brittany down and she definitely needed that to ease the aching in her head.
In short, Brittany's day had been hectic.
Long meetings, snooty people who were positive they knew everything, and as always, dozens of different people telling her what to do. It was the same story nearly every day. Now, Brittany was a patient person, but her job was starting to get the best of her. And speaking of her job...
Brittany felt a vibration in her pocket and sighed, knowing exactly who was calling her.
She pulled her phone out and held it up to her ear. "Yes, Sugar?"
"Where are you?"
Brittany winced at the nasally, demanding tone.
"Nowhere," she answered, "just getting some fresh air."
"Brittany, we were in the middle of a meeting, you can't just leave like that!"
Brittany rolled her eyes. "Come on, Sugar, you and I both know no one ever cares about what I have to say during meetings. My presence is pretty much unneeded, I don't know why you always force me to go to those things."
"That's not true, we always listen to what you have to say."
"Didn't your parents ever tell you lying is wrong? You know it's true," Brittany said.
"Look, whether it's true or not, you cannot just leave! Not only is it unprofessional, but it makes me look bad. And I am way too cute to look bad."
Brittany stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry I made you look bad. Can I go now?"
There was a pause and then Sugar said, "What is with you, lately? You've had this attitude and I'm sorry, but attitude isn't really cute on you. Me, sure, but you, not really."
"Look, was there a point to this phone call other than for you to complain about me?" Brittany snapped.
"Yes!" Sugar replied, sharply. "There's another meeting tomorrow morning, we haven't decided on a time yet, but I'll let you know when we do. And you need to be there, Brittany. No more ditching, got it?"
Brittany took a deep breath at Sugar's order. "Fine," she sighed into the phone, exasperated. Without waiting for Sugar to respond, she ended the call and stuffed her phone in her pocket, knowing she'd be getting a mouthful for it tomorrow.
It wasn't that Brittany hated her job, but between all the people she had to deal with... yeah, she kinda hated it. But her job provided her with a lot, and she didn't want to sound ungrateful by complaining.
Brittany tried to push the thoughts of her job out of her head. She was trying to de-stress herself, so she needed something more peaceful to think about. She crossed her arms over her chest, gripping her jacket with her fingers and continued down the sidewalk, staring down at her feet.
Brittany had been walking for maybe ten minutes when she turned on a street that was more crowded than the previous ones and she realized that instead of houses, there were various different shops where small crowds of people headed in and out of. She walked down the street, making sure to keep her distance from everyone else and looked around. She passed by a little thrift shop, a bookstore, and a salon.
It wasn't until the smell of hair care products seeping through the door of the salon left her, that Brittany noticed that she was coming up to what looked like a coffee shop.
She looked up and saw that the sign on top of it read Café Berry. She didn't think much of it until, all of a sudden, she felt her stomach growl. Realizing that she hadn't eaten in hours, she figured that maybe she could get a snack that could hold her until she got home and heated up her leftover Chinese food for dinner. Brittany reached into her back pocket to make sure she didn't leave her wallet in her car and was relieved to feel that it was there. She took her sunglasses that had been dangling on her shirt collar and slipped them on. She knew it wasn't sunny and she didn't want to be one of those people, but she had her reasons.
With that, Brittany made her way towards the café. When she reached it, she opened the door, which jingled as she did, and took a step inside. The smell of coffee and baked pastries hit her instantly and she could feel her stomach growl twice as hard. But before she could even take another step, a shrill voice stopped her.
"Hello, do you by any chance happen to be here for our Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer?"
Brittany had to stop herself from jumping and turned to where the voice came from. She was met with a woman that looked to be about her age, sitting behind a small plastic table beside the door, staring up at her with a smile so wide, it almost creeped Brittany out. Well, that and the fact that she was wearing a bright red headband and a matching sweater with big white polka dots, that made her look reminiscent of a clown. And Brittany always hated clowns.
"Sorry, what?" Brittany asked.
"I said, do you happen to be here for our Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer?" Clown girl repeated without missing a beat.
"Uh... no. I just wanted to grab a snack," Brittany said.
"Well then, would you be interested in joining our Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer?" Peppy McGee said, batting her eyelashes.
"Okay, you gotta stop saying that," Brittany couldn't help the words leaving her mouth. "And sorry I don't wanna join your blind date... whatever, I just want a snack."
The girl looked at her blankly for a split second before launching into an obviously rehearsed speech at top speed. "Listen, Miss, I realize you may be busy but if you have a minute to spare, I must ask that you take part in our Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer. Tickets are only four dollars, and for that small price you may very well meet your soulmate through our fun and creative dating game. If you purchase a ticket, you won't only be possibly finding the love of your life, you'd also be helping a middle-class family with their income. We don't normally get many customers in our small, family-run café, but we have managed to make quite a good profit from selling these tickets for our Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer so far and if you contributed, we would be ever so grateful– "
"Oh my god, if I buy a ticket, will you quit talking?" Brittany interrupted. Jesus, and she thought Sugar had a big mouth.
Not being phased by Brittany's snappiness, Little Miss Sunshine smiled an even wider smile. "Oh, that would be outstanding!"
Brittany heaved a sigh. She couldn't believe she had been talked into that. She pulled out her wallet, opened it, and fished out a five dollar bill. She handed it to Motormouth, and mumbled, "Keep the change."
The girl gleefully took it from her and stuffed it in a box beside her. "Now, would you like a red, green, or blue ticket?"
Brittany furrowed her brow. "What's the difference?"
The girl pointed to a small sign at the edge of the table that Brittany hadn't noticed. On the sign were the three colors and beside them were the meanings for them.
"Red: opposite sex, green: girls looking for girls, blue: boys looking for boys... " Brittany read and then raised an eyebrow.
"We like to be inclusive," Polka Dot informed her. "You see, I have two gay dads, who were the ones who put together this little soirée and also happen to be the owners of this fine establishment, hence the name Café Berry – our last names are Berry – and we all know that everyone has different sexual preferences, so we figured this would be appropriate."
"Right," Brittany slowly nodded. That was actually pretty clever.
"So, I doubt you're a boy looking for a boy," Headband chuckled, "So, what'll it be? Red or green?"
"Um... " Brittany bit her lip. She liked both boys and girls, she was bi after all. Although, her last few relationships (though she could hardly call them that) had been with men. However, that wasn't really her doing as much as it was Sugar trying to play matchmaker. She kinda missed being with women. She doubted she'd get any action from this rinky-dink café, but what the hell, she needed something to take her mind off her stressful as hell job and what was the worst that could happen?
"Green," Brittany said firmly. "Give me green."
"Alright," Fuzzy Sweater said, and picked out a green ticket to hand to Brittany. She looked down at a piece of paper in front of her and said, "Ooh! There's an open spot at table seven. There was an odd number of ladies who showed up, so unfortunately, one of them had to sit on her own but now that you're here, she can have someone to chat with, how exciting!"
"Yeah, sure," Brittany said dryly. "So, table seven?"
"Right," the other girl beamed and pointed in the direction of it. "Past the counter, in the corner."
"Well, okay then," Brittany said, wasting no time in heading that way and getting away from Talks-a-Lot.
The other girl watched as Brittany walked away and then jolted as she realized she forgot something. "Wait, you need your blindfold... " she trailed off, knowing Brittany hadn't heard her, seeing as she was already gone. With a sigh, she said, "Oh well."
Santana was annoyed. Not only had she been dragged along to participate in this blind date foolery (Mercedes, conveniently leaving out that this was a blind date, in every aspect of the word) but she had been sitting there on her ass for nearly five minutes, all alone.
When Mercedes had left her, she had flagged down one of the Mr. Berries and demanded an explanation for the need of a mask. He had told her that he and his husband thought it was a clever way to get to know someone without the factor of how they look coming into play.
"People can be very picky and shallow," he had said. "So, we thought it'd be fun to blindfold people. You know, you check in with Rachel at the front, she gives you your ticket and mask and you put it on, then my husband and I lead you to your seat. Although, you're already seated since you were early. I do ask that you put your blindfold on now before anyone else shows up. Can't have you breaking any rules, can we?"
So, Santana begrudgingly put the damn mask on and sat back in her chair, waiting for whoever to show up and hopefully spike some sort of interest in her.
However, when the Berries had announced that the Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer had begun, (honestly, what kind of name was that?) one of the men went up to her and had apologized, saying that she'd have to wait a bit because there wasn't an even number of females with a green ticket and she was the odd one out.
"What, how am I the one that's left out, I was like the first one here," she exclaimed. Not that she was really upset with not participating, though.
"Well, you are sitting in the very back and we started seating people in the front so they wouldn't have to walk far while blindfolded," whichever Mr. Berry she was talking to pointed out. "But, don't worry, I'm sure another lovely lady will turn up soon who can be paired with you."
Santana rolled her eyes behind her mask. "Yeah, okay, whatever. Well, since I'm not talking to anyone, can I take this thing off," she asked, reaching up to her mask.
"No, no, it's best if you leave it on," Mr. Berry assured her. Santana sighed and dropped her hand. "We're positive someone will show up for you, now in the meantime, just sit tight," the man said, and by the sound of footsteps scurrying off, Santana knew he had left.
So now, as the minutes passed, Santana was still alone while everyone else chatted around her, she was still blindfolded, and she was still annoyed.
Santana had just finished coming up with what had to be her fourth revenge plan on Mercedes for getting her into this mess, when something – or rather someone – interrupted her thoughts.
Off to the side, she heard a voice blurt out, "Um, what the hell?"
That was followed by slow footsteps that got louder as whoever it was made their way towards Santana's direction. Finally after a moment, the footsteps stopped.
"Uh... this is table seven, right?" A confused and uncertain female voice said.
Santana sat up in her seat. So, someone had finally come along for her, huh? "Yep, table seven," she confirmed with a head bob.
"Okay... " the woman said, still sounding confused. "Follow up question, why is everyone wearing blindfolds?"
Santana crinkled her brow beneath her mask. "What, you mean you're not wearing one? That's so not fair, the Berries told me I had to keep mine on."
It was quiet for a moment before the girl spoke again. "Hold on... is this supposed to be like an actual blind date? Wow... this just got real creepy, real fast."
"At least you have your vision still," Santana scoffed. "How'd you even get past the Berries without a blindfold. They're like... dead serious about always making people follow their rules."
"No one gave me a blindfold," the girl said. Santana heard the sound of the chair across from her being pulled back against the tile floor and she figured the girl took a seat. "Maybe they just forgot or something."
"Lucky you," Santana mumbled. "I've had this mask on for so long, I've forgotten what light looks like."
There was the sound of a soft chuckle and Santana couldn't help but grin at the fact that she got a total stranger to laugh. And she hadn't even been trying to be funny then.
"So, you gonna tell me your name or what?" Santana asked.
"It's– uh... " the girl trailed off and Santana furrowed her brow.
"What, forgot your name or something?"
"No, of course not," the girl quickly replied. "Um... you can call me B."
"B, huh? Alright, I can go with that," Santana shrugged her shoulders. Clearly this chick was being secretive, but she was a total stranger, who was Santana to pry? "So, B, seeing as you're not wearing a blindfold, I don't see why I have to."
Santana lifted a hand up to the mask and had barely even laid a finger on it when B stopped her.
"Wait," she said, suddenly. "Maybe, uh... maybe you should leave it on."
"What, why?" Santana questioned.
"Um... I dunno," B said, and Santana could tell there was a hint of nervousness in her voice. Something was up with this girl. "It could be interesting, you know? Get to know me without seeing what I look like. That's the whole point of this, right?"
"Yeah, but you are seeing what I look like," Santana stated. "How come I'm the only one that has to play by the rules?"
"Well, I'm not really seeing what all of you looks like," B pointed out. "You have a mask on and I can't see your eyes."
"Okay, you have a point there," Santana gave her that, "but, they're just my eyes, they're no big deal."
"That's not true. Don't they say that a person's eyes are like the windows to their soul?" B asked. "I can't see your soul because I can't see your eyes. And I think me not seeing your soul is a fair counter to you not seeing what I look like."
Santana didn't know whether to laugh or give the girl points for cleverness. "I doubt you'd wanna see my soul, anyway," she mumbled, "but, you know what, fine. If it means so much to you, I'll keep the mask on. Just don't say the word 'soul' again."
"Fine," B said, and even though Santana couldn't see it, she was sure there was a smile on the girl's face. "So, moving on, are you gonna leave me wondering what your name is?"
"It's Santana. Not as majestic as B, but y'know," Santana cracked with a small smirk in place.
"Funny," she heard B say with a little giggle. "So, uh, I've never been to one of these things before. Do we just, like, ask each other questions?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Santana shrugged. "I've never been to one of these either, but my friend pretty much forced me to do this. What about you, how'd you end up here?"
She heard a loud groan come from B's direction. "Ugh, it was that creepy chick up front with the big mouth. I just came in for a snack and next thing I know, she's talking my ear off about how I should buy a ticket. Finally, I gave in to get her to shut up. I swear, if I have to hear the words Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer one more time... "
A laugh left Santana's mouth. "You must be talking about Rachel. You're right, she's got the biggest mouth I've ever seen."
"Tell me about it," B grumbled.
"Plus she dresses like a clown knocked up an old lady and she was their spawn," Santana added.
She heard B begin to laugh again, and it was weird, Santana actually felt sort of... accomplished of herself for making this girl laugh this many times in just a short period of time. Plus, she had to admit B had a pretty cute laugh.
"That's kinda mean," B said, through a few giggles, "but... you're not wrong."
Santana grinned. "Well, I doubt you dress as horrendously as Rachel does. Although, I wouldn't know since you insist I keep this mask on."
"Okay... tell you what, I'll just describe what I look like for you," B suggested.
"Hmm," Santana hummed. "Alright, go ahead."
There was a small pause, then she heard B begin to speak. "Well, um... I'm kinda tall. I have purple skin, a green stomach. And, oh yeah, I'm kind of a dinosaur."
Santana snorted and rolled her eyes under her mask. "Right, okay, Barney."
B giggled. "What? For all you know, I could be telling the truth."
"Well, in that case, I never expected to be on a date with Barney," Santana decided to play along, "I mean, I know I'm hot and I attract all kinds of people, but I never thought a kid-loving dinosaur would be one of 'em."
B let out a quiet laugh and then under her breath she said, "Yeah... you are kinda hot."
At her words, Santana bit the edge of her lip to stop herself from grinning. "Glad to hear you agree. You haven't been checking me out this whole time, have you?"
She had meant it as a joke, so she hadn't expected B to respond so straightforwardly with, "Oh, absolutely."
In that moment, Santana was grateful for the mask, otherwise B would've seen her eyes widen almost comically. Santana was used to girls tripping over their words and being sort of nervous when they first met her (maybe she was just that hot) so seeing – or rather, hearing because she couldn't see at all – a girl like B be so direct surprised her, yet it also... excited her.
"You know what," Santana said, straightening up in her seat, "I may have only met you not even three minutes ago, but I gotta admit... I kinda like you, B."
She hadn't expected to meet someone that would pique her interest enough so that she would actually want to keep talking to them, especially not this quickly. But needless to say, B definitely did.
"That's good to hear," B started, and Santana could hear the smile in her voice, "because I kinda like you, too."
Santana grinned in response and bowed her head. Maybe she wouldn't have to get revenge on Mercedes for making her do this, after all.
Brittany couldn't believe she was saying this, but she was kind of glad Loudmouth Rachel talked her into buying a ticket. Sure, she was still hungry because she never got the snack she had originally entered the café for, but as she talked to Santana, she found that the girl kept her engaged and took her attention away from her hunger.
She and Santana had only been talking for about fifteen minutes, but already Brittany was way more interested in her than any of the boys Sugar tried to set her up with. There was something about Santana that Brittany really liked. She was charismatic and captivating. From what Brittany could see of her face, she was pretty and as a bonus, Santana had quite the body. Okay, so maybe she leered a bit (or a lot).
Not to mention, Santana had the sexiest voice she had ever heard. It was raspy and laced with both confidence and sincerity every time she asked Brittany a question. With each word she said, Brittany hung onto every last syllable.
It didn't take long for Brittany to realize that Santana was a shameless flirt. Usually, she thought that people were pretty corny when they flirted, but with Santana, she just thought it was endearing and didn't hesitate in reciprocating.
The two of them figured they'd do the stereotypical question and answer thing people normally do on blind dates and whatnot, so they fired each other question after question. Brittany learned that she and Santana were both the same age, twenty-five. They had both lived in LA all their lives, Santana loved music and worked as an intern in a recording studio fifteen minutes away.
When Santana asked her questions, Brittany did her best to answer them while not revealing anything too personal. So yeah, she was kind of a stickler for privacy. She hadn't given Santana her full name, and had convinced her to keep her mask on when she wanted to take it off, because frankly, she didn't want Santana to see her face. It wasn't that she was insecure or anything – she thought she was pretty hot, if you had to ask her – but, yeah... she had her reasons.
When Santana had asked about her job, Brittany dodged the question by saying, "Um, it's nothing, just your average, boring job. I actually don't really wanna talk about it, I got really stressed out today and I just wanna take my mind off it."
"Oh," Santana nodded as if saying she respected that. Then she said, "You know, you're, like, pretty secretive."
"Uh, sorry," Brittany replied, sheepishly. "Is that weird?"
Santana bit her lip – something that made Brittany quite literally melt – and was quiet for a second before saying, "No. Actually, it just kinda makes me want to get to know you more."
Brittany felt herself relax and a smile played on her lips. "Well, that's good to know."
"Although, your secrecy does make me have to ask... " Brittany raised an eyebrow at Santana's words. "You're not some kind of government spy, are you?" She was smiling and Brittany let out a laugh at her question.
"Nope, not a government spy," Brittany assured her. "Though, that was a childhood dream of mine."
"I think that was almost everyone's childhood dream," Santana chuckled. "So, moving on... "
The topic of childhood stuck with them, so they began talking about their younger selves, namely when they were in high school. Santana told her about how she was a cheerleader for a while, Brittany talked about how she had been on the dance team.
"So, you're a dancer, huh?" Santana questioned when she heard that bit of information.
"I've been dancing since I could walk. Or, at least, that's what my mom tells me," Brittany said.
"Wow," Santana breathed. "You must have, like, a killer body then."
Brittany couldn't help the smirk that grew on her face. "I keep myself fit, yeah."
Santana seemed to fidget in her seat and said, "You know, is it really necessary that I keep this mask on?"
Brittany had the urge to laugh at Santana's eagerness to see what she looked like. "Come on, you can keep it on a little longer, can't you?"
Santana sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Secretive and also a tease... god, you're killing me, B."
"What can I say, it's fun," Brittany said with chuckle.
The two fell back into conversation, now just telling each other random anecdotes from their teenage years. Somewhere along the way, Brittany removed her leather jacket and hung it over the back of her chair. She couldn't tell if the temperature in the café was just too high, or if it was Santana making her feel all warm. She had a strong feeling it was the latter.
Now, Brittany was currently laughing at something she found hysterical that Santana had told her. "Oh my god, no way!" She gasped.
"Yep," Santana bobbed her head, a coy smile on her lips. "A guy once called me a 'gross dyke', so in return, I slept with his girlfriend. And then his sister. I'd say it was a sweet revenge."
Brittany clutched at her stomach as she laughed. "Wow," she said, short of breath. "You've got a lot of spunk, I'll give you that."
Santana lifted her shoulders in a shrug and asked, "So, what about you? You do anything crazy when you were a teen?"
"Well, uh, I skipped class a lot," Brittany said, "but, that wasn't because I wanted to be rebellious or anything. I just couldn't stand being around the people at school."
"Oh," Santana said, leaning forward a bit. "Can I ask why?"
"Um... " Brittany hesitated. High school had been a dark part of her life and she did her best to forget about it.
Noticing her quietness, Santana rushed in and said, "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want."
Brittany chewed on her lip. She normally wouldn't tell anyone – especially not a stranger – about the messed up moments in her past, but... there was just something about Santana, something about this girl that she had literally just met, that made her want to say something.
"No, it's fine," Brittany finally said, "I'll tell you."
Santana's shoulders seemed to relax and she stayed quiet as she waited for Brittany to go on.
"Well, uh, high school was pretty rough," Brittany started, "At the time, I had decided to come out to everyone because I realized I was bi and all, and I didn't wanna keep it a secret. I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal, because y'know, this is LA and people are pretty accepting. And yeah, there were people who were acceptive of me, like my family and close friends, but uh... school was a different story."
Brittany took a glance at Santana, who was patiently listening on, before she continued, "So, one day, I was just standing by my locker, telling a couple of my friends that I was bi and yeah, they were cool with it and didn't mind, but I hadn't realized that a few guys walking by had heard every word. Needless to say, those guys told their friends, then their friends told their friends and so on and so on. By lunch, the whole school knew I was bi. At first, I didn't think it was a big deal. But then I realized just how gross some people were. Boys kept coming up to me and asking if I'd ever be down for a threesome. Girls looked at me like I was some greedy homewrecker that would try to steal their boyfriends. It was like everyone's opinion of me had changed just because they now knew I was bi. I mean, I knew bi people often got a bad rep, but I didn't know just how bad until I dealt with it firsthand."
"Wow," Santana mumbled. Her lips had settled into a frown and she said, "That's ridiculous. So, that's why you skipped? Because people were assholes?"
"Yep," Brittany said with a pop of her lips. "I skipped so much that my grades started to suffer a lot. My counselor called me into her office one day and told me that if my grades got any lower, I wouldn't get enough credits to pass and I'd have to repeat the year. And, uh, it was kinda after that that I realized I needed to quit caring about what other people thought of me. You know, I didn't want to put my education or my future at risk because I let a bunch of assholes get to me. So, I stopped ditching class. I ignored what everyone was saying about me and put all my focus into my school work, because if anything, I was gonna graduate and get the hell away from all of them. So, that's what I did. And I actually graduated with a pretty good ranking and GPA for a chick who people thought was nothing more than a dumb slut, so." Brittany finished with a little shrug of her shoulders.
Across from her, Santana's face broke into a wide smile. "Now, that is what I'm talking 'bout," she cheered. "Showing people up and determined to prove them wrong, I am so here for that. I think you deserve a high-five."
Santana raised her hand up and Brittany had to laugh at the action.
"Sure, why not," she said and brought her hand up to high-five Santana.
Their hands smacked together and at the touch, Brittany felt like a small jolt of electricity ran through her. She glanced at Santana and knew that she felt it too since her hand lingered against hers for a split second before it dropped back down to rest on the small table. Brittany's hand did the same.
"So, anyway," Santana continued, "I gotta say, B, if I liked you before, I definitely do now. That's some pretty badass stuff, you know."
Brittany felt her cheeks warm up at Santana's appraisal. "It wasn't that big a deal," she said, almost sounding shy.
"I beg to differ," Santana said, "Like, come on, you had people treating you like crap for the stupidest reason and instead of letting it continue to bring you down, you said fuck them, and then did better than all of 'em. That's really impressive."
Brittany could feel a blush spreading across her face at Santana's words. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and the goofiest grin formed on her lips. She couldn't believe she was feeling this way right now, like a ten year old with a crush. She had never met anyone that made her feel this way, this quickly.
Brittany looked down at the table where their hands rested and saw that their fingers were just a matter of inches away from each other. She was hit with the sudden urge to feel Santana's skin against hers once more. If she had felt electricity when all they did was high-five, she wondered what would happen if they did something... more.
Brittany lifted her gaze up and her eyes flickered around them at the other tables. There were only a couple that were still occupied. She figured that everyone else hadn't been satisfied with their dates, so they decided to call it quits. But not her. She was very much satisfied with Santana.
Looking back in front of her, Brittany's eyes fell to Santana's lips. Truth be told, she had barely looked away from her lips since she sat down. They just looked so soft and full and every time they moved when Santana spoke, she just couldn't help but stare.
Brittany bit down on her lip. The table separating them was so small, it only put a couple of feet between them. She could easily lean forward and just–
"B?"
Brittany heard Santana's voice, but she wasn't listening.
"Hey, you still there– "
Santana couldn't finish her sentence, because she was cut off by Brittany's lips against hers. Brittany felt Santana squeak and startle a bit against her lips, but the girl didn't pull away. In fact, after a small moment, Brittany felt Santana begin to kiss her back.
And that was when her brain all but shut off.
Brittany pressed her lips even more firmly against Santana's and melted into the kiss. It was funny, Brittany was never one for PDA, yet here she was. Hopefully, no one was watching them. However, she pushed that thought, and all her other thoughts, out of her mind and only focused on Santana's lips. They were just as soft as she imagined they were and they felt so good pressed against hers. Brittany could feel warmth and electricity shooting through every vein in her body. She felt like there was a fire growing inside of her, begging to be let loose and burn free. It was unreal. Brittany had kissed plenty of people before, but this kiss... this made her feel alive.
She wondered if Santana felt the same way, and judging by the way Santana's lips eagerly moved against hers, with no hint of regret, she had to guess that maybe she did. Her assumption was confirmed when she heard a low groan come from Santana, who then proceeded to press her face more into Brittany's. Brittany knew Santana could feel her sunglasses digging into her skin, but the girl didn't seem to be bothered.
The longer the kiss lasted, the more Brittany could feel herself starting to let go. She was on the brink of losing control and she didn't know if she could stop herself.
However, it seems that all good things must come to an end.
Just when things had begun to get more heated, Brittany felt Santana's tongue brush across her bottom lip. Normally, that would've driven her to her breaking point, but this time, it only did the opposite. At the feeling of Santana's tongue, Brittany's eyes shot open. At first, it was only because she was surprised. But then... she became far too painfully aware of reality rearing its ugly head.
And then it hit her.
She couldn't do this. Brittany couldn't be doing this. Kissing Santana in the middle of a café like she was doing was not a good decision. She had forgotten where she was. She had forgotten who she was. As much as she didn't want to, she had to stop this. As much as it killed her, she had to leave.
So, with every ounce of self control she possessed, Brittany stilled her lips and pulled away from Santana.
"I– I'm sorry, that was– I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have done that," Brittany stammered, taking a large breath.
"What?" She heard Santana say. "Relax, B, it was fine, I was totally okay with it."
"No, no, you don't understand, I really, really shouldn't have done that," Brittany breathed in a frantic whisper.
"Huh? B, what's going on, it was just a kiss," Santana said, concerned and confused.
Brittany could feel her heart pounding in her chest and she hastily stood up. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but I have to go."
Santana's mouth dropped open and she said, "Wait, what? B, what are you– "
"I'm sorry. Thank you for tonight, but I just... I'm sorry," Brittany repeated, upset at herself for getting into this.
With that, she turned on her heel and dashed out of the café, not caring about the weird looks she got as she did. She didn't realize that behind her, Santana had pulled off her mask and was staring at the door Brittany had left out of, completely perplexed.
Brittany sprinted down the sidewalks, past groups of people, and around every turn. She didn't stop until she made it back to the park where she left her car and climbed back inside. She leaned back in her seat and took deep breaths, taking a moment to rest from her little jog. She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned.
She couldn't believe this had happened.
Brittany sat there for a few minutes in the quietness of her car before she felt her phone vibrate in her pants pocket. The buzz against her thigh made her jump a little before she reached into her pocket to pull out her phone.
It was a text from Sugar.
Meeting is 9 a.m sharp. BE THERE.
Brittany rolled her eyes at the text. She could hear Sugar's demanding tone saying those words as if she was actually in the car with her.
Brittany threw her phone in the passengers seat, not caring to reply to the text. She sat there for another minute before she finally put the key in the ignition and started the car up.
She drove away from the park and began the journey to her place, all the while hoping that what she had done tonight wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.
Back at the cafe, Santana was left stunned at what had just happened. One second, she and B were talking. The next, they were kissing (Santana still felt tingles in her lips). And then the next, B was bailing.
What the hell?
After B had said she was leaving, Santana finally decided to take her damn mask off – which she only kept on because B asked her to – however, it was too late. B was already gone, and Santana hadn't even gotten to see a glimpse of what she looked like.
This was ridiculous. Not only was Santana confused as all hell, but she was honestly a little hurt. She had liked B. She thought she was interesting, cool, and funny. Not to mention, one hell of a kisser. But now she was gone, and Santana was left wondering what went wrong.
Obviously, B had her secrets. She hadn't given Santana her full name and she had insisted that Santana keep her mask on, for whatever reason. Then there was the way she had suddenly freaked out and ran away after they had kissed. It was like B was scared. But, of what?
Santana sighed to herself and frowned. As much as she had liked B, she was right when she assumed she would be paired up with someone weird. Now she was alone and all she wanted to do at this point was go home and try not to think about the way B's lips felt as they moved against her own.
Santana was about to stand up from her seat when she noticed something. Across from her, where B had been sitting, there was a leather jacket hanging off the back of the chair. Santana didn't have to think hard to know it was B's. She must have left it in her haste to leave.
Santana got up out of her chair and picked the jacket up. She stared down at it as she held it in her hands. It was a really nice jacket, definitely not one she'd find in the small clothing stores she often went to. Either it had been a gift, or B just made enough from her job to be able to afford it. Although, Santana had no idea what B's job was since she had avoided the question when Santana had asked.
Santana furrowed her brow and her frown deepened. She folded B's jacket over her arm and stared off to the side in thought.
Just who the hell was that girl?