As the icy wind picked up its speed, slapping the streets of Lima with a relentless force, Brittany's senses began to alter. Her eyes went first, toning down the brighter colours of the world to ashy greys and blues. Then, her ears popped with the change of frequency but then honed in on the smallest crackling sounds that she hadn't noticed before. Her skin hardened but absorbed the brisk air, breathing it in through every pore to the point that there was no difference between the glacial elements and Brittany.
Brittany never understood why when she was engulfed in nothing but harsh winter weather she thrived but every other living thing around her withered. She never understood why the flowers that usually proudly adorned every garden on her street would rather wilt and die from the demanding gelid gusts of December than stand up and face them. Embrace them. Allow them to fill them and gift them with the power she felt coursing through her right now.
She wondered this as she slowly sauntered down her street on her way to school. Her father had repeatedly asked that she take his beat up 1982 Camaro that for some reason he was desperately trying to get her to fall as deeply in love with as he had but the only thing she felt that much irrational personified love for was Jack Frost. She loved being surrounded by him and she was going to have to be stuck in school for the next seven hours, cooped up in an artificially heated classroom with 30 other people complaining that it wasn't hot enough, so she was determined to bask in his gift whilst she could.
Distracted by the wonderland around her, Brittany hadn't realised she had reached her destination and was walking through the school grounds until she felt the warmth of arms being wrapped around her from behind and a voice yell "Oi!"
"What the-", Brittany gasped, more so from the unexpected loud noise piercing her ear rather than the force of the embrace.
She brought her free hand up to take hold of the attacker's wrist and with ease, broke their grasp and spun out of their hold. She turned to see her best friend smiling at her with mischief twinkling in her eyes but a contorted face of pain from having her wrists at the mercy of Brittany's strength.
"Ahh fucking hell, Brittany, let me go. You're hurting my tiny, delicate lady wrists!" Jett protested in her broad Scottish accent but with a playful smile creeping up on her face.
Brittany laughed and released her friend whom instantly retreated her arm back to her chest and began to rub the 'injured' area dramatically.
"Well, you should know better by now than to try and take me on", Brittany said with faux seriousness. "You just end up embarrassing yourself."
"Eh excuse you, Pierce but it's not my fault that you're freakishly strong." Jett retorted.
"And it's not my fault that you're freakishly weak." With that said, Brittany turned on her heels and flipped her hair with emphasis and began walking towards the schools entrance. She heard her friend pick up pace and join her at her side.
"Bitch..." Jett chuckled, "What the hell are you wearing anyway? How the fuck are you not freezing?"
Brittany stopped walking, bringing her friend to a halt and looked down at her attire. She was wearing a simple pair of denim shorts with black tights, a black and white ¾ sleeved baseball top, combat boots and a beanie.
"What?" She asked confused.
"What do you mean what?" Jett asked with amused disbelief and gestured to her friend's entire being, "First of all, you're wearing shorts and it's as cold as balls. Secondly, you have forgotten a quarter of your sleeves and it's still cold as balls. But most importantly and this I ask with the utmost respect and shameless curiosity... Why the fuck do you have leg warmers on your arms you big, big dancing freak?"
Brittany laughed at her friends jested questioning but resumed her genuine confused state when she realised her friend actually wanted an answer.
"Well, first of all, I don't know why you are so shocked with the shorts. I wear shorts like fifty percent of the time and in case you didn't notice, I have accompanied them with a pair of tights. Secondly, you know I love my baseball tops so shut your mouth and finally, I am wearing leg warmers on my arms because, as you so gracefully said, it is cold as balls."
Jett laughed at Brittany's reuse of her tasteful simile and just shook her head at her quirky friend. They resumed walking towards the schools entrance and swung open the heavy fire doors when they reached the threshold to what they both referred to as 'Hell'. A wall of heat hit them as they crossed over and they pushed on through the crowd of students that occupied the hall. The familiar sound of adolescent chatter broke their deliberate isolation.
"And besides," Brittany continued, "You know the cold doesn't bother me. I'm actually quite warm. Too warm now, in fact."
"Okay, well then use your heat discomfort as incentive to remove the leg warmers",
Brittany feigned a hurtful gasp and pouted. "Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?"
"Absolutely, I am." Jett dead panned.
The two friends continued their friendly banter until they reached their lockers. Both occupied themselves with emptying the contents of their bags, keeping only the materials they needed for their first period. Just as Brittany was closing her locker and zipping up her bag, her attuned ears picked up a familiar sound. She turned her attention to the soft noise of rubber echoing in the hallway and at the very end of the corridor, she spotted a boy in a wheelchair. He had short brown hair, cut in the most efficient style so that it required little to no attention and completed his nerdy aesthetic. He wore a short sleeved white shirt with a colourful Christmas themed sweater vest and beige suit trousers with suede dress shoes. His buggy but kind eyes hid behind a pair of rectangular glasses and his mouth was stretched into a huge cheesy grin.
Jett looked up from her locker at her friend and saw the sweet smile she was wearing. She followed her eye line and spotted Artie Abrams.
"Ugh." She groaned. "I really don't understand why you waste your time with him. I mean he's sweet and all but then again so is antifreeze."
"Don't start. Please?" Brittany urged. She gave a small wave to Artie to signal him over. "I know you don't particularly like him but he's fun and he's intelligent and likes me as much as I like him. Which is more than you can say about most of the boys at this school."
"That may be true, Britt but you also said those exact same things about my neighbours golden retriever."
Brittany gave her a warning widening of her eyes but couldn't help but smirk slightly at her observation. Just as she was about to verbalise her warning, Artie pulled up in front of the pair.
"Hey boo," he beamed at his girlfriend. He ran his eyes over her and admired just how beautiful she really was. Brittany stood twice the height of Artie. Even if he wasn't bound to his chair, she would still have the height on him. She had long blonde hair that framed her face perfectly and complimented her crystal clear blue eyes. She had silky pale skin with the only blemish being a faint array of freckles across her nose and cheeks and a smile that was as dazzling as her dancing. Every inch of her was toned and muscular. She was the epitome of his idea of beauty. "You look absolutely amazing and adorable today."
"Why thank you," Brittany smiled and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his lips. "And you look as handsome as ever."
Artie blushed at her affection however his bashful moment was interrupted with the sound of someone gagging. "…And hello to you too, Jett."
"Yeah, hey there Abrams." Jett replied with only a slight hint of disdain. "Look, Britt, I need to go empty my bladder before it freezes over. Get you in class?"
"Yeah, I'll save you seat."
With that, Jett took off down the direction Artie came from.
"So was it something I said or the way I wheeled?" Artie joked.
Brittany chuckled and walked behind him to take the handle of his chair. "She's just a bit grumpy in the colder months. I think without her daily dose of vitamin D she gets cranky." She began pushing his chair in the direction of their first class.
"Is that a euphemism or..?"
Brittany snorted, amused at his comment, "We both know fine well that Jett has no problem with that kind of D. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if she abandoned us for a scheduled hook up under the bleachers."
Artie emphasised a deep sigh. "That lucky, lucky man."
With that Brittany slightly smacked the back of Artie's head.
"Owwww!" He complained but couldn't help but laugh through it
"Hey! You keep your eyes to yourself." Brittany warned.
"You know that you're the hottest girl at this school and the only one for me. But I am only but a man. I can't help but notice that Jett is one fine looking lady."
"Mmmhmm." Brittany hummed. She knew exactly what Artie meant and that he had no sexual or romantic feelings towards Jett but she enjoyed messing with him. It was part of why being with him was so fun and easy. They could joke around with each other and play pranks and neither of them took any of it too seriously.
Brittany turned the corner that took them to their first class – Maths. She pushed Artie through the classroom doorway and parked him at a desk in the middle row, next to herself. She then placed her backpack in the chair on the opposite side of her to save it for Jett. She and Artie engaged in some meaningless conversation about movies that were out in the cinema and whether or not they should attend Brett Turner's party this Friday. As Brittany was laughing at Artie's impression of the star football player, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned round, assuming it was Jett and was about to invite her to watch Artie's uncanny impression when she was met with the deepest and most intense brown eyes she had ever seen.
"Hi, sorry but I was just wondering if this seat is taken?" The girl with the eyes pointed to the seat that was occupied by Brittany's bag.
Brittany tried to reply but all she could do was sit there, staring at this strange new student, mouth agape and mind a blank. Her eyes were hypnotising. They were so warm and telling but not in a necessarily inviting way. It was like they had a fire lit behind them. A blazing scourge. A melancholy. But it wasn't just her eyes. As soon as Brittany had turned her attention to this Latina girl, she had been struck with an uncomfortable intensity of what she could only describe as chemistry. A feeling of recognition but fear. A sense of respect with important differences. None of this was based on anything that could be seen by the naked eye or verbalised into any sense. It was nothing based on any feeling Brittany had ever had. It was unworldly.
"Eh sorry, but its actu-", Artie began but was interrupted by Brittany's sudden burst to life.
"No! No, not at all. Here, sorry, I'll ju-just move my bag."
Brittany reached over and cleared the seat as quickly as she could. As soon as she had heard Artie begin to reject the mysterious girl, she all of sudden didn't want her to leave. Or couldn't make her leave. She wasn't quite sure. As much as she was scared of the 'power' this girl exuded, she needed to know what it was. She needed more than a few seconds to sort through the experience of being captured in her eyes and search all of her being for some form of explanation.
"Thanks. Sorry, I'm new and would really rather not sit up front. Teachers, I feel, have a tendency to try and welcome new students with as much eye contact as they can spare and at least from this seat I can dodge some of it." the girl light heartedly explained. She sat in the now empty seat and started organising her materials for the upcoming lesson.
Now that Brittany had broken free of the girls grasp, she tried her best to not make eye contact with her again. She politely chuckled at the girls joke but kept her head down and eyes fixed on an engraving on her desk. Part of her did want to engage the girl in further conversation, see if she could try and suss some answers as to who the girl was and where she came from and if she happened to have fallen into radioactive waste and this feeling was actually her being slowly poisoned to death. Except unfortunately and not surprisingly, the cowardly half of her won over.
"So, you're new? When did you start at McKinley?" Brittany heard Artie ask the girl as he leant forward in an attempt to see past her.
"Today is my first day, actually" The girl replied politely.
"Well let me be one if not the first to welcome you!" Artie beamed. "Where was it you moved from?"
"Well-", the girl began but the slamming of the classroom door broke the conversation and their attention was diverted to the man that just entered the room.
"Good morning, class," Mr Kroll said. "Can I have everyone's attention up front and on me? And that does includes you Brittany."
With the sound of her name being called, Brittany snapped her head up and smiled an apology at her maths teacher.
"Thank you." He smiled back. "Now, before we begin today's lesson, I would like to take a moment and welcome a new stude-"
The swing of the classroom door stopped Mr Kroll and caused him to greet Jett with disapproving eyes but a smirk of knowingness.
"Ah, Ms. York, so kind of you to join us. Should I write you up for this one of do you have an amusing anecdote to rescue yourself with?"
Brittany chuckled. She couldn't help but be amused at Jett's relationship with most of the teachers at their school. She was one of the brightest students they had and maintained an impressive grade point average whilst being one of the tardiest and most inattentive. But it wasn't her grades or her intelligence that made them all like her; it was just that she was so damn charming that they really didn't have a choice.
It didn't help that she had annoyingly disarming grey eyes and a smile so wide that it was like a pearly white net that ensnared anyone within its reach. Her long wavy brunette hair was always a little dishevelled but it added just that little thing that everyone found difficult to describe to her punky attitude and demeanour. She was slim but not as toned as Brittany. She wore black skinny jeans tucked into a pair of brown combat boots and draped over her small frame was her favourite band t shirt and chequered open shirt.
"To be honest, it's not even slightly amusing, Mr Kroll." Began Jett with a face that said she was truly feeling and meaning every word she spoke. "I went to go and de-urinise myself but for some filthy reason, the girls at this school have trouble getting their pee in the actual bowl. I sat down all unknowingly only to be soaked in some dirty middens lukewarm piss and it was disgusting and I cried and I had to go shower in the gym so I could remove the shame and disgust from my soul."
The class laughed loudly at Jett's story, being amused further by her over the top gesturing. Mr Kroll simply smiled and laughed softly. "Well that does sound like quite an ordeal, Ms. York. I'll let you off this time to avoid any further trauma. Now, please go find your seat."
With her dismissal, Jett turned in Brittany's direction and looked to the seat next her only to find it occupied by someone she had never seen before. Jett caught Brittany's eyes and mouthed "Who the fuck is that?" to which Brittany just shrugged and silently apologised. Having already been through hell in 'Hell', Jett just accepted that she wouldn't be sitting with her friend this morning and opted for a seat at the front. She went to sit down but dramatically shot back up and comically checked the seat to see if it was dry. The class erupted with laughter again.
"Calm down, Ms. York. That seat is just fine, I can assure you." Mr Kroll chuckled. With Jett finally settled into her seat and relinquishing the attention of the class back to Mr Kroll, he continued with what he was previously announcing.
"Now, as I was saying, we have a new student that has joined us here today all the way from Arizona. Can we please give our best Ohio welcome to Ms Santana Lopez."
