Pinkie and the Pain – Bonding

I do not own Glee or Barbie.

What people noticed most about Santana was her attitude. They would also notice that her clothes were hand me downs and that she didn't have any friends. What no one ever noticed was her intelligence. At ten years old she had decided she hated school. Every part of it was stupid, everyone in it was stupid. She also didn't like her teacher Mr Patterson. She didn't understand why her teacher hated her so much. On her first day, Mr Patterson was telling the class about rainbows. He showed them a prism and told them that a raindrop was like a prism and that's what makes a rainbow. Mr Patterson then gave the class a work sheet with a raindrop on it and asked them the drawn the colours of the rainbow on it. Santana knew that rainbows were caused by a lensing affect created by the density of water vapour in the upper atmosphere; so to make it more accurate Santana added a lot more raindrops to the sheet. Mr Patterson gave her an 'F' for defacing her worksheet and when she tried to explain, he sent her to the Principal's office for being a Smart Alec.

Every day the teacher would set the class work, Santana would find it frustratingly easy and she would be finished long before everyone else. She got bored and Mr Patterson would yell at her for disturbing the other children. Even if she worked really hard on an assignment she never got good marks.

She didn't get on with the other kids any better. When she tried to talk to the other girls they would be discussing the latest phones and Barbie doll and Santana would have to embarrassingly admit that she didn't own either. Most days Santana ended up in a fight or biting someone and then she was sent to the Principal's office. Eventually Santana was condemned to sit alone in front of the teacher's desk and the other children would avoid her and call her a freak behind her back. She felt like screaming with frustration most days and could only vent her fury by kicking in waste bins or flooding the girl's bathrooms. She could not understand why life was so unfair.

Mr Patterson was talking about the nine times table and Santana just wished he would set the damn math questions already. She had already written the times-table to nine times thirty down the right side of her desk in felt pen and had begun to lick her finger and rub the desk to try and wash the numbers away. The Principal chose that moment to enter the classroom, beside him was the freakiest girl Santana had ever seen. She had a bright pink crash helmet on and was leaning on crutches.

"Everyone," the Principle said, "I want you to welcome Brittany to your class. She's been in a very nasty accident but I am sure you will all be very kind to her and help her settle."

The girl rocked back slightly and with more effort than it should have taken, slurred a loud,

"Hello."

Two rows behind, Santana saw Shelley suppress a laugh and quickly whisper to her friend Quinn. The Principal had a brief, quiet, discussion with Mr Patterson and left. Santana felt herself burning with embarrassment when the teacher led the freaky girl to her table and helped her into a chair.

"I'll sit you here so I can keep an eye on you," he explained kindly to Brittany, then he turned to Santana, "And you madam will be on your very best behaviour!"

Santana tried not to openly stare at the freaky girl who smiled at her and spoke again with a lot of effort,

"I'm Brittany"

"Santana"

Santana tried not to laugh at the girl who opened and closed her mouth a few times but seemed resigned that Santana was simply too difficult a name for her to say.

The teacher set the maths assignments, page fourteen in the workbook. For Brittany however there was a worksheet from a separate folder that the Principal had brought in with him. Curious Santana peered over at the photocopied sheet; it was covered in groups of dots, the girl was doing counting! Turning to her own workbook Santana sighed, she'd finished page fourteen about a month ago, surreptitiously she turned to page forty and began to work through the multiplication there. After finishing the fifth question she turned to Brittany, expecting her to be done. The girls face was a mask of concentration, and Santana watched as with extreme care she wrote a large number five in the first box. The young Latino could not believe it could be so hard to simply write a number. She didn't have the heart to tell the girl the answer was actually six. As Brittany moved to the next question Santana leaned over and whispered,

"Eight."

The freaky girl looked at the second question for a full minute before nodding and writing a very careful eight in the box. She then turned to Santana with a crooked smile.

"Thanks." she slurred.

"Anytime." said Santana, not use to such gratitude and turned back to her workbook. Only Mr Patterson was there and snatched it from her desk.

"So Miss Lopez, too good to study with the rest of the class are we?" Moving the book also revealed the felt tip times-table across her desk. "And defacing school property! Principal's office now!"

Normally at this point Santana would throw her chair halfway across the classroom and storm off but Brittany's presence stilled her slightly so she walked calmly from the classroom but slammed the door as hard as she could behind her.

Santana had been given a bucket and cloth from the janitor's closet and was spending break-time washing down desks. Brittany was there too, sat at the teacher's desk with Miss Murray the special needs teacher, trying to read "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr Seuss. Miss Murray kept looking at the wall-clock. After another five minutes she got up from the chair.

"You two will be alright? I'll just go and see what's keeping Mr Patterson."

Santana grunted; she was resigned to take her punishment, it was so much better than suspension or her dad finding out. Brittany just nodded. As soon as Miss Murray had gone Santana dropped the cloth in the bucket and sat on Mr Patterson's desk in front of Brittany.

"So what's with the head gear?" Santana asked pointing to the girl's pink crash helmet.

Slowly and with many pauses Brittany told her story,

"I was in … a … coma … for two years. I fell out … of a window … onto my head." Santana winced at that. "I am learning … to do stuff … again. I am … getting better. But I ... have bad fits."

"Oh! I'm sorry."

"Santana Lopez you are not here to talk!" Mr Patterson had returned, "If you've finished the desks I'm sure I can find you something else to do."

Santana hurried back to her bucket, but after giving the desk a couple of wipes she looked up to give Brittany a sheepish grin. The girl wrinkled her nose in reply.

The next few months passed as a bit of a blur for Santana. Brittany was right though, she was gradually getting better. She was no longer using crutches to get around and her speech was getting clearer. She was still having trouble with her school work but Santana would whisper the answers to her when she got stuck. For her part Santana was making a concerted effort to stay in the classroom so she could look after Brittany. Mr Patterson was watching her like a hawk but she tried very hard to keep on his good side. Things were a little trickier outside the classroom. When she caught Tommy imitating Brittany's "Hello" from her first day in class she punched him in the nose, she also got in a fight with George when he called Brittany a retard, and she jumped on Quinn and Shelley's school bags when they wouldn't let Brittany tell them about her Malibu Barbie Beach House – all of which got her sent the Principal's Office.

But it was clear to everyone now. Not only did Santana have an attitude, she had also made a friend.