Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or Stupid Girl by Garbage.
Stupid Girl
'You pretend you're high, pretend you're bored, pretend you're anything, just to be adored'
Santana wasn't always tough. Or that bitchy. In fact she used to be a whole other person back when her wealthy stepfather wasn't in her life yet and she lived at the trailer park with her parents. They were both unemployed and her daddy drank too much.
She remembers spending most of her childhood in her broom cupboard sized bedroom, that actually doubled as a broom cupboard, dreaming of being anywhere but there. And finally she got her wish, after years of being taught at home she started school.
Even though recess were tough times when the other kids would tease her about her second hand clothes, her dark skin and sad lunches it was still time away from home. One day was particularly bad though and Santana opted to hide in the girls' bathroom until it was time for Math.
In there was the blonde girl who was sometimes in her classes and she always walked home alone after school. There was something mysterious about her, she usually sat at the back of the class and said nothing.
Santana tried to figure out if she was hiding out as well or if she should come up with some excuse for staying in the bathroom. She was thrown off when the other girl turned to her, her grey-blue eyes totally honest and open "Do you know where we are?"
"Umm," Santana dragged the sound out, wondering if the girl was making fun of her "in the bathroom?"
"Oh right," she looked around as if she didn't see the room until then "I always get lost." She lisped her s'es.
She wore the prettiest dress and her blonde hair was almost shiny put up in that bouncy ponytail, but Santana still felt they were on the same level; they needed each other. There's safety in numbers.
"If you want we can walk to classes together?"
"Cool!" She smiled brightly "Where's classes?"
Ignoring her mistake Santana held out her hand "I'm Santana." she giggled when they shook hands "Brittany."
0o0
It didn't take long for Santana to find out that the reason Brittany was never picked up from school was because her parents didn't have the time. They were hardly ever home and in the beginning Santana loved the time she got to spend at Brittany's.
Their house was huge, had a pool in the backyard and, Santana's favourite thing, the Pierces' always had candy. At her home that was a rare luxury, but at Brittany's they could eat as much as they wanted and her parents were rarely home early enough to make sure they brushed their teeth.
They also often forgot their homework because they were busy making up different dances to Brittany's Spice Girls albums.
But when Santana's teeth began aching from time to time and her teachers suddenly complained she was falling behind in class she got tough. She insisted on fruits and veggies as their snacks and did her best to help Brittany through her troubles with her homework.
She got some confidence from getting tough and she began getting back at some of the girls that had been bullying her back when she started school whenever they still teased Brittany about her lisping even though she was over it by now.
0o0
Many years later Santana's mama left her daddy and had social climbed enough to quickly remarry a wealthy lawyer who moved them into his large estate and let Santana have whatever she wanted. And she wanted all of it.
Her room had a canopy bed that the rest of the girls her age had outgrown ages ago, a flat screen plasma TV and her walk-in closet was filling up with designers clothes. It had all happened during the summer before she started high school and when she and Brittany showed up at William McKinley High School together on the first day it was clear to everyone they were something special.
Brittany was amazing at dancing because she had been in classes since she was little and had taught Santana so they could both try out for the cheerleading squad, figuring it was the quickest route to popularity. Both of them made the cut and even though their coach was terrifying Santana loved it. She quickly made friends with another pretty blonde, Quinn Fabray and got a boyfriend on the football team.
She pretended like it was nothing, but secretly she dreamed he would hold her hand more often and talk to her more before he began kissing and touching her. But because she had a reputation of making bitchy remarks at a moments notice and being a fighter he treated her like any other daft cheerleader bimbo.
It wasn't the she enjoyed the fights, in fact she had been terrified to death each time and silently prayed she would get out unscathed. But honestly the only things that got her through was her good physique and her motivation. She'd beat up three different girls for calling Brittany stupid.
No one called Brittany stupid and got away with it.
True Brittany wasn't clever and they called her weird or slutty as well, but that was just because they didn't know her like Santana did. Brittany only does what she's good at and that's why she's always dancing or making out with some guy.
… or girl.
Her parents divorce was harder on Santana than she had expected it to and the nights where comforting words weren't enough to stop her tears Brittany would stroke her hair and give her little kisses like it was nothing weird. And really it wasn't. It was just them, Santana and Brittany. She didn't tell anyone though, she wasn't sure anyone else would get it.
A lot of her new friends wondered why she didn't just leave Brittany behind now that her status at school was rising. And maybe she had started to, they hadn't hung out just the two of them in ages. This night was supposed to be that, they had put on Footloose and there was leftover pizza, a half emptied bag of M&M's and some Oreos lying on the table to complete the cliché.
Brittany loved the movie of course and when it ended she wanted to skip through it and practice the different dances and songs, but Santana was already at her desk, turning on her laptop so she and Quinn could chat on Facebook.
She pretended not to hear Brittany's disappointed sigh as she slumped back down on the bed and when she had been quiet for a while Santana figured she was reading a magazine or painting her nails or something.
Santana was clicking through photos of the football team to check out the quarterback that Quinn was getting a crush on and damn was he cute. Brittany moved around in the background and Santana thought she was getting ready for bed until she heard her say "I just want to eat them all." while looking at her palm.
"Go for it." She encouraged, typing to Quinn as fast as she could with her long, manicured nails, after all Brittany moved so much she could easily work off a handful of M&M's.
"Really? You think so?" that sweet voice was really Brittany's trademark if you asked Santana. She could listen to her say all of her silly things for ages. But at that moment she didn't have the patience for her "Of course, whatever."
Brittany sniffed and wiped her eyes "I thought maybe you would care." Santana ditched Quinn and her laptop as fast as possible and was by Brittany's side, prying her closed fist open so they could hold hands while the girl cried her heart out.
When Santana finally got her to let go of what she'd been clutching she discovered it wasn't M&M's. It was sleeping pills.
0o0
After the pill incident, Santana gave up all notions of having a loving relationship and palling around too much with Quinn. She hadn't paid enough attention to Brittany and she wasn't about to make that mistake again.
And for a long while it seemed like things were perfect. They had each other, they hung out with Quinn, she made out with Puck or maybe someone else, they were still popular and they even learned how to live with that Rachel Berry girl after joining Glee Club.
The best moment of Glee Club for Santana so far though was not Regionals or getting to mess with the nerds, but when Brittany sang Britney Spears and finally realized her potential and gained some confidence. She could let go of her iron control a little after that and they continued enjoying life.
But now! Now Brittany had thrown it all away.
"You're seriously dating the kid on wheels? Why?" Santana asked while applying lip-gloss, disgusted by Brittany's far-off, dreamy expression.
"He makes me happy," she gushed "like when I take too many of my painkillers, you know?"
Santana did know. It was how Brittany made her feel, but now she didn't need her anymore. She was coming into her own, she had an actual boyfriend who was good to her, in fact, she had what Santana wanted. And that made her feel like the little kid who first met Brittany and saw her big house and nice things.
She had guarded off her heart as a way of protection because no one protected her like she had Brittany. And now she was leaving her, throwing it back in her face!
"Do you think we would still be cheerleaders if Harry Potter was real?"
Drawing in breath and fighting back tears Santana spun around on her heel, her ponytail whipping through the air as she did. She didn't want to do what she was about to, but it was her only option to get Brittany to need her again "Brittany, you are so stupid!"
A/N: So my first Glee fic. I absolutely love Heather Morris and these two characters on Glee, so when I got this idea I had to go for it. Warning though, English isn't my first language and it's 3:30 am. I hope you still liked it and will leave me a review!
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