A/N: For samcedes week I wrote a prompt where Mercedes had just started university and met Sam Evans for the very first time in her class. People seemed to enjoy the concept so I've decided to turn it into a fic. Hope you like it!
Mercedes Tamara Jones dropped the last heavy brown box to the floor with a loud sigh before she reached up and stretched out her body. A firm hand squeezed her shoulder and she turned around to look into the face of her smiling father. He had driven her all five hours to her new university without a single complaint and she couldn't be more grateful to him. His six foot two height towered over her short frame before he made his way over to the couch that was planted in the middle of the room. People often joked around and teased her for being as short as she was with a father like hers and she always laughed it off with them with a shrug. Telling them at those kinds of moments that she was adopted would only make them uncomfortable, so she simply rolled her eyes and told them to shut it. When she was four years old, Mr. and Mrs. Jones adopted her and her older sister after they had been abandoned by their birth mother when Mercedes was only two. The Jones had been the best God send that she had ever had and every day she counted her blessings, even though her adopted mother had passed away a decade ago. Mercedes plopped down beside her dad and he wrapped a large arm around her shoulders.
"Alright, so you're all moved in. My backs acting up. And I need to hit the road before traffic becomes a devil with a toothache." He smiled and she leaned her head against his shoulder feeling saddened that he was about to leave so soon.
"Can't you stay for like...a week or something? Or at least leave me the car?" She joked and let out a small laugh. Her father laughed along with her and then shook his head.
"Nope, you're on your own now munchkin. You got this. And if push comes to shove...call your sister. I ain't driving this far again." He laughed. "I'm kidding, but I'll buy you a plane ticket home for Christmas." He gave her a firm side hug from their position on the couch and then stood up.
"Thanks dad." She said sarcastically with a grin before she stood up beside him in the small living room.
"Now you know the rules, no drinking, no suspicious drugs, just because it's green don't mean a thing, and no..." He looked around the empty apartment to make sure that her roommate wasn't hiding somewhere. "No sexual activity. I might be five hours away...but I know all that happens." He tapped the side of his nose and broke out into a wide smile. To some that might have sounded like an idle threat, but Mercedes knew that her father, who was a policeman, had connections everywhere. The amount of boyfriends who had suddenly realised that she was too good for them and ended up running for their lives during high school had placed a great strain on her relationship with her dad. But after half of them had ended up with two to three kids or in jail or both, she realised that her dad had helped her dodge many large bullets.
"Oh my god dad, you said you were leaving right? We can't have you stuck in traffic and all." She smiled back at him and he pat the top of her head. A gesture he had always done, but it had always annoyed her when he did it in front of her friends growing up.
"Uh huh, trying to kick your old man out so you can start the boozing eh?" He laughed and bent down to give her a hug before he moved towards the open door. "Be safe okay...and make use of that m-a-c-e in your purse." He pointed to the bag that was slumped against the side of the couch.
Mercedes grabbed her purse and looked inside of it with a shocked expression. "Dad! You're going to get me arrested!" She shook her head and gingerly pulled it out to hand to him. He took it from her and then chucked it back into her purse. "Dad I can't use this."
"Well don't use it like perfume Mercedes." He chuckled and stepped into the hallway. "Call me whenever for whatever and I'll be here as fast as I can alright?" Mercedes bit her bottom lip which was beginning to tremble before she gave him one last hug.
"Thanks dad." He squeezed her shoulder one last time before he headed out to go to his car. She slowly closed her door and leaned her head against it hoping that she would be okay away from her family. Mercedes took a deep breath, picked up the box that she had dropped on the ground, and walked into her bedroom. Her eyes roamed over to her bed and widened drastically. She slowly put the box down, walked over to her bed, and picked up the silver handcuffs with a note attached to the cuff.
"The hell?..." She narrowed her eyes as she read the note.
Hey roomie, welcome to the house of ladies in the streets, but freaks in the beds. -Santana L
Mercedes looked around her room in fear, terrified that this Santana character was about to pop out of her closet looking like Rihanna with whips and chains or something. After she checked her room, including underneath her bed and behind her desk, she locked her door and finally unpacked the box she had brought in.
The next day Mercedes jolted out of her sleep and saw that her alarm hadn't gone off. Cursing angrily under her breath, she ran to the bathroom and hopped into the shower to get herself freshened up before she would need to head out. She hadn't woken up that late, but it was late enough that she wouldn't be able to eat breakfast like she regularly did before school. As she rubbed soap into her washcloth, she paused as she heard the bathroom door creak open. Her eyes darted towards the duck curtain that shielded her nakedness and listened as the sink was turned on and someone began to brush their teeth. She peeked around the plastic material and watched a Spanish looking girl, with black hair piled high on top of her head in a messy bun, slowly brush her teeth. She cleared her throat and stared pointedly at the woman. "Um...I'm taking a shower."
The girl looked at her and then at the curtain before nodding. "Yea, don't worry, you're not bothering me." She turned her head again to look back at the mirror as if nothing had happened. Mercedes jaw dropped before she quickly disappeared behind the curtain in shock. She slowly rinsed off her body and waited for the door to close before she sprung out of the shower and locked it. Once she was dressed and had applied some lip gloss to her lips, she ran out of her apartment and caught the transit to school. Unfortunately she got lost on her way to class and ended up in the wrong building. Grumbling and running past people, she finally made it to the right auditorium that was filled with noise and people who were chatting away with one another. Her eyes scanned the room as she pushed her bangs out of her face and spotted a chair beside an attractive blonde man who was passing a note between himself and a guy with a Mohawk. She hopped up the steps just in time before their professor entered the room and asked the class to settle down.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" She asked the blonde man who was now staring ahead. He didn't even look her way as she spoke and she narrowed her eyes before sitting down beside him. "Or you could be rude and ignore me, that's cool too." She mumbled to herself as she pulled her notebook and pencil out of her bag. The teacher went on to introduce himself to the class and said that his name was Professor Bates, not Master Bates, but Professor Bates. The class erupted into laughter and the guy with the Mohawk slipped a piece of paper to the blonde guy who looked down at it and silently laughed. She decided to give him a second chance and whispered to him. "He seems like he's going to be a really funny professor." She smiled but the blonde man ignored her again and continued to look forward. She rolled her eyes and slumped back in her seat feeling rejected. After a few moments the professor told the class to turn to someone they didn't know and introduce themselves. "Damnnit..." She muttered as she looked to her left and only saw stairs, she was going to have to talk to the asshole beside her. Mercedes watched the guy with the Mohawk push the paper towards the blonde man again and he looked down to read it. She waved her hand in front of his face in annoyance that he had blatantly ignored her more than once. He looked at her in surprise, smiled widely, and waved back at her. "Hi, I'm Mercedes." He stared at her mouth and nodded before he began to sign to her with his hands. Her eyes widened and she wasn't sure what to say. He silently laughed as he noticed her confusion, took her pen, and wrote on a page in her notebook.
I'm Sam, nice to meet you Mercedes.
She looked up and smiled widely at him before blushing. "I'm sorry, I feel like an idiot... I thought you were ignoring me." He stared at her lips again and then wrote on the same page.
I could never ignore someone as beautiful as you, even if I wanted to. He looked at her with his green eyes and gave her a lopsided grin. She could feel her face growing ridiculously hot and hoped that he didn't notice.
"Is that guy with the Mohawk your friend?" Sam rolled his eyes and then nodded with a smile.
I've known him since high school, people call him Puck. He's taking notes for me...but as you can see...Sam pointed to his friend who Mercedes could tell was obviously hitting on the girl sitting beside him. He's not really good at the job he's been assigned. So if I flunk out of this class...you know why lolHe nudged his friend and signed quickly to him, Puck laughed and mouthed out the words sorry bro but she's really hot. Sam shook his head and looked back at Mercedes.
"I can write notes out for you if you want? They might not be the greatest, but they're better than nonexistent ones." She laughed. Sam smiled before putting his hand to his lips and then quickly moved his hand forward and a bit down. She could only assume that he meant thank you, "You're welcome." He smiled widely and wrote on the paper.
You learn quickly! You and I will be signing away like champs soon. No more killing trees for notebook paper. Mercedes laughed out loud and nodded eagerly. She would love for him to teach her how to sign. After a few moments the professor called the class' attention back to the front, but Sam and Mercedes continued their wordless conversation as she spoke to him by moving her lips to soundless words and he excitedly replied back to her by writing on her notebook paper. It was by far the most fun she had had in a very long time.