Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 49th cycle. Now cycle 50!

CYCLE 50 SPECIAL FAVORITES CHART - So I've done 'favorites' cycles before, and this is another one, but since it's cycle 50, I wanted to do something special for it. So instead of the usual top 16 with a 6-chapter Boston Britt installment for Brittany (who has always been and remains number one ;)), this is how it will be: It's shift days through the cycle. Shift B will be a 21-chapter/day Boston Britt. In shift A, after the first day's 'extra' dedicated to New Directions, there will be four Top 5 lists, working their way down (all the number 5 spots, all the number 4 spots, number 3, 2, and finishing with all the number one spots)

The Top 5's are as follows (all are my 'top 5 favorite...'):
* Top 5 Series (my series)
* Top 5 Friendships
* Top 5 Characters
* Top 5 Relationships

TODAY: Top 5 Friendships: #4 - Santana & Rachel

This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: Those Are Wooden Wings, chapter 7.

"Anything You Can Do"
Santana & Rachel

The day Santana Lopez would show up in Glee Club, most people would assume – and to some degree, rightly so – that al she was there for was to spy on them and make trouble. And when they would be confronted with accusations from the club at Sectionals, they would dismiss her declaration, most of them. Only Rachel knew better. She'd known for years how much Santana loved music, and singing… maybe even longer than Santana herself did.

They must have been ten or eleven at the time, and they had music class after lunch. Rachel would usually be the first to finish and she had gotten into more than one argument as to why she couldn't just go right to the music room until the class, instead being made to wait to be led there with her class.

But finally it would be time, and they would go. Eventually she would surpass her impatience by telling herself that she should take this time to digest before the class, the better to be alert and on point.

When they'd sit in class, Rachel would be in the first row, by the graces of the alphabet, her future nemesis/sort of reluctant friend would sit in the second row, just over her left shoulder. She was not so much the girl she'd know in Glee Club just yet, but the attitude was good and forming. The difference was in this room it was put to another use as it would be in other places where their paths would cross. Here it was something Rachel Berry could appreciate: no one was going to mess up when she was around, or they'd hear about it.

But then as much as she understood, if ever that attitude should be turned on Rachel herself, it would be met with an instant and swift rebuttal. They weren't friends, or enemies even, just classmates, and they did not get along. So if it wasn't enough that they'd butt heads once a week in music class, their teacher had the task of putting her classes through preparations for the fall pageant. Everyone would have a part, but some parts were bigger than others, and one in particular for the girls would find two very motivated candidates. As soon as they realized they were up against one another, it was game on.

Exasperated, their teacher had put them in the room together, on their own, to let them decide for themselves. They would sit for a while in silence, ten chairs in between them to make it oh so clear to the other that they did not want to deal with them. Every once in a while, when not busy glaring into nothing, they would steal glances to one another.

Rachel had kind of wanted to be her friend at first, if she remembered. She'd seen how the girl obviously loved music, and she could use a friend who would understand her passion. But with time, as a rivalry started to brew, it got harder not to treat her as such. She was very talented, Rachel could see; she had an eye for that. Whether she could stand in Rachel's way was left to be seen until the pageant came along, and then… then she knew. The role was made for her, and she wasn't letting this other girl get it out from under her.

On the flipside, 'this other girl' had as much determination for the part. Maybe she hadn't taken as many lessons, as Rachel was always prompt to remind her and anyone else, but that didn't make her any less right for the part, and Santana wanted it bad. Everyone treated music class as a bumper between lunch and math, but not her. She had talent, and she could make something of herself. Rachel Berry was… annoying, and Santana couldn't stand her, especially as she stood in the way of her ever getting anywhere.

The inevitable conclusion, when two people would sneak looks would be that they'd look at the same time and catch the other looking. When this had happened, it became a game of who would say something first. The tension was growing with every passing second, until finally they had both spoken at once.

"I was here first!" Rachel burst.

"I did it better!" Santana had spoken at the same time, and both claims were promptly responded to. "It's not first come first served!"

"No you did not!" They huffed, pausing. "Fine, I know what we'll do, we'll audition," Rachel declared.

"Audition?" Santana asked.

"Yes, that's when we both sing and then they decide who should…"

"I know what an audition is, I'm not an idiot," Santana interrupted.

"No, you're not," Rachel agreed, which at least calmed things down some. "But…"

"Oh, here we go…"

"I think I would be much better suited for the part, and in the end isn't it all about giving the audience the best show possible?" Rachel asked.

"The 'audience' is our parents," Santana frowned. "You just always get your way, don't you?" she crossed her arms before herself. Rachel flinched, stepped forward.

"Not always… A lot, but not always."

"Well, so do I," Santana stood her ground. "I'm not giving it to you."

"I'm not giving it to you either." They remained silent. "So, audition?" Santana stared at her, waited, then…

"Fine, you got it. Audition." Rachel nodded and extended her hand. "What are you doing?"

"We have to shake on it," she stated. Santana sighed, moving forward and putting her hand in Rachel's as they shook. "May the best one win."

The pageant would never come to be. There had been some mention of budget cuts, not to mention a string of bedridden students and faculty members after the flu had hit the school. Some would say it was just as well, while for two girls it was unfinished business that would linger over the years to spread and expand.

Nowadays Rachel couldn't forget that girl. If you took away the clashes over who would get a role or anything of the sort, she remembered how much she loved being there. So when she said she wouldn't have sabotaged the best part of her day, Rachel believed her. Maybe Santana herself hadn't realized it right away, but she did belong there. Rachel would have some difficulty admitting it at times because, like when they were ten, they would lock horns over this thing or that, which was made even worse with how they came to stand in 'the social order.'

But no matter how bad it got, eventually she remembered the girl in music class, and she told herself they weren't all that different. Beyond that, the more time they got to spend together in Glee Club, the more time Santana spent there, Rachel could see the gap between them shrinking. Whether this would equal proper friendship was left to be seen, but Rachel was open to it if it should come, and she had a feeling that, deep down, whether she'd say it or not, Santana was open to it as well.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!