Part I
The campus kind of reminds you of Harry Potter. The building is fancy and old looking like the castle Anne Hathaway lives in in the Princess Diaries. It's big and you get kind of scared because you can totally see yourself getting lost in one of the four building that you're pulling up to. The grass is bright green and perfectly cut. There's a garden of roses and Daisy's around the edges of each of the buildings you can see. And the big sigh that reads "Dalton Academy for girls" confirms that this is definitely real and that this is definitely happening. The car comes to a screech and you look at it one more time before you get out the car to help dad with some of the bags.
Your mother must notice how sad you look because she's walking over to you with that puppy dog stare she always gives when you're upset. "Hey there," She says in a soft voice, "It won't be too bad, will it?" She's asking you as if she's going to living here for the next six months. You shrug your shoulders but you're still looking down at your feet. "Britt-Britt…" She takes your hands and you finally look up at her. "Dalton is the most prestigious school in the country. They make bosses and CEO's here and you're dad had to call in a lot of favors-"
"A lot!" Your dad calls from the trunk and your mother chuckles. You're not the best student…
"For you to be here and I need you to have a better look on this. We'll be back to visit and thanksgiving is right around the corner. We're lucky they even let you start late." You sigh loudly.
"I'm not smart enough for this school, mommy." You pout, "Everyone here has like a 70.0 GPA-" you're mother gives you a sweet smile,
"There's no such thing sweetie." Oh…
"Well you know what I mean!"
"Stop it, you'll do fine. I know you will." She kisses you on the cheek and now she's pulling you into the gates of your new home with dad close behind.
You're greeted by a perky red head once you reach the main office. "I'm Ms. Pillsbury. I'm the guidance counselor-" she starts to talk a lot about academics and classes and tutors but you're not into that stuff so you let mom and dad listen while your eyes wander off to the extravagant building. It's much bigger on the inside than it looks- and you already thought it was going to be big in the first place- but this is only one of the buildings. There's still four more! You sigh to yourself because your life just got far more complicated. Everything is made of rich looking; shiny dark wood and all the windows are cleaned to perfection. The floor has this expensive marble type of thing going on and you start to wonder how much your parents are paying for you to here…
After Ms. Pillsbury finishes talking she leads you up a flight of stairs. "This is where all of our rooms are, most of the girls have roommates or get one eventually." She's walking down a long hallway now, her heels clacking on the floor as she walks. "Each floor has four bathrooms in the hallways. They have showers and stalls, we keep them very clean. Don't worry about that, I hired the cleaning staff myself." She smiles and places her hand over her chest to let you know she's the one who did it. "You're room is right here…" she unlocks a door. Room 205 and you smile. It's a large room with two vanity mirrors and burgundy red carpet. Your bed is bare but the one a few feet away has pink sheets on it. "You're roommate; Quinn Fabray is currently in class. You'll meet her a little later I'm sure." You all walk further in as she continues to talk. "You have 10 uniforms in your closet-"she points to the one on your side of the room. "You must always wear them as they are. A few students try to hike their skirts up and all that but for the most part everyone obeys that rule." You nod your head because you've never been the defiant type. "Um, also in your closet is a Dalton sweatshirt, a pair of Dalton sweats and a Dalton tank top. You may only wear them out of class, when you're in class we like you to wear the uniform."
"Okay." You answer sweetly. That seems fair enough. She lets you say goodbye to your parents and soon their out the door.
"Let me show you the rest of the campus." You nod your head and let Ms. Pillsbury lead the way.
/
You met Quinn an hour later. It was kind of weird too. You were walking down the hall to go and get lunch when she saw you. "Are you Brittany?" She asked and you nodded your head. "Totally cool, I knew it was you because I've never seen you around here and I know everybody!" You smiled because she was smiling and you didn't know what else to do. "I'll catch you guys later; I have to talk to my roomie!" She said with excitement.
"Hi…" you say a little nervously.
"Hey!" Quinn's giving you this weird smile… "You're perfect! You're so pretty! If you stick with me you'll be popular in no time." You raise an eyebrow… that had never really been a goal to be popular. You take in her short blonde hair and green eyes; she makes the uniform look a bit more fashionable than other girls you had seen so far. "And the boys at Dalton will love you!" You hadn't even realized she was still talking.
/
Just your luck, not only is this your first day but it's also "Tea day". According to Quinn that's the day when all the big shots come to visit the school; the sponsors, CEO's and presidents, head of the school board and it's mandatory to go.
As in you have no choice.
Everyone, like Ms. Pillsbury already pointed out, must where they're uniform perfectly. It's held out in the courtyard garden, which is just a fancy word for a large garden like maze. There's benches and flowers everywhere with bushes and tree's as tall as the school.
You have to admit, you're happy that you don't have to go alone. Quinn has already acquainted you with her friends and even though they don't seem like you're type of friends ; you're happy to be with them. They giggle and gossip a lot, they make fun of some of the girls that walk by and they fill you in on everyone's not so secret secrets. All the adults are in suites and dresses, they all look fancy; no wonder they have a school like this. Everyone looks like they're worth a goof million at least. Quinn takes your hand and leads you to a table to get some tea; because what would the point of this day be if you didn't have tea and finger sandwiches after all. Then she leads you to a tall man in black by the door,
"Dean Roberts," She smiles brightly and he smiles back,
"Quinn Fabray, it's nice to see you again."
"Like wise." She motions for you to come closer, "This is Brittany Pierce. She's new."
"I trust you are showing her around and treating her well."
"Of course."
"Where are you from, Brittany?" He ask and you start to choke on your words. For some reason he's intimidating.
"Um…I'm from Lima. Like Lima Ohio."
"Small town," He points out.
"Yes sir, it is. Only a few hundred people or so-"The Dean interrupts you,
"I had a friend who was from Lima. He hated it there, do you like it there?"
"Well-"
"Of course not, Dean Roberts. It's a loser town." Quinn giggles and the Dean laughs too. You don't feel too welcomed now. You look for a way out but you don't know anyone and you don't really want to meet anyone either. So you say,
"May I be excused for a minute?" They don't even acknowledge that you said anything so you just walk back inside.
/
You find yourself walking through the common room. You don't really know why they call it a common room… but Ms. Sylvester said that it's where everyone hangs out and watches TV and what not. There's no one in there right now so you can breathe a little. It seems like everyone is trying to get you into their clique or just being a little too nice. No one's giving you time to talk or even think for that matter. You wonder around the large, pale blue room. The ceiling has some kind of beautiful, ancient painting on it and there is a big chandelier hanging low. There is also a big wooden fire place to the left, with pictures and awards hanging from above it. The couches are also blue, and go well with the dark wooden floors of the room. The TV is a flat screen but it's turned on the history channel. You hate history. And just as you're sitting down on the couch to maybe change to Disney or Nickelodeon something taps you on the shoulder. You scream for dear life and pull back immediately.
As you're trying to catch your breath you hear chuckling behind you. So you stand and turn just to lose your breath again from the sight before you. She's beautiful. Too beautiful. "You look like you just seen a ghost," She teases. She's giving you this smirk, a smirk that makes you shrink and want to run and hide.
"Y-you scared me." You manage to get out even though you're still breathing pretty hard. She looks you up and down and you feel yourself shrink even smaller.
"Why aren't you out having tea and crumpets?" She teases again.
"Um… I just… needed to like… think or something." She reaches into her shirt pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes.
"Wanna smoke?" She offers you the pack but you shake your head.
"I-I don't smoke." She lifts and eyebrow and her eyes look over your body one more time. "It's not good for your lungs." You add, feeling the need to say something. Anything to get her to stop smirking at you, but instead she keeps her eyes on you while she lights the cigarette and brings it to her perfectly plum, pink lips. She takes a long drag before she blows it in the opposite direction. God, her lips. And her eyes are chocolate brown, and she has an olive skin complexion that reminds you of the kind of coffee your dad drinks in the morning. "I don't think you're allowed to smoke in here… you could get caught if they smell it-"
"What's your name, Sunshine?" She asks you after a few more puffs.
"Brittany." You say.
"Brittany." She repeats. She's still giving you that smirk and she's still looking you up and down. "I haven't seen you around."
"This is my first day." The girl scuffs.
"School started two months ago." You nod your head.
"Yeah… my parents know some people so… they got me in late…" You look down at your shoes to avoid her gaze but now you're just looking at her legs and thinking about how her red plaid skirt is much higher than yours…
"Did they not want you or something?" You snap your head up.
"No, no… they met here and they want me to maybe meet someone… and this school gives a really good education-"Maybe you should have said that first.
"Oh, like Cinderella or some shit?" You scrunch your nose and laugh a bit.
"Cinderella didn't go to boarding school… and she and the Prince only got together because she lost her shoe… and I wouldn't just keep running down long concrete steps in just stockings… and I don't have any Mice, or glass slippers… I'm kind of scared of Mice anyway… " You look around the room and notice Santana's head is cocked to the side a bit like she's trying to process what you're saying. "And I haven't seen any pumpkins." You continue, not really knowing where to stop. "I saw roses though, they were pretty." You start to think some more. "And I don't have a step mom, or step sisters. I have a real sister though, her name's Kelly!" You finally stop talking and realize that's the first thing you've really gotten to say since you got here. Santana's nodding her head but she's not smirking anymore. It's like she's studying you. Her eyes are kind of burning into your eyes now.
"Well… I'm going to go smoke this. I'll see you around, Brittany." She finally says and turns to start out the door.
"Wait… I don't know you're name." She shrugs her shoulders.
"It's not important."
/
"You never came back to tea." Quinn comes into the room and closes the door quietly behind herself. "I wanted you to meet some of the other girls." You look up from your journal and give her a weak smile,
"I'm sure I'll meet them later. I needed to finish unpacking." Quinn sits on her bed and pulls her shoes and socks off.
"And you missed dinner."
"Wasn't hungry. I kind of miss my parents… I called but there was no answer." You look back over at your phone sitting on your night stand. "It's getting late."
"They're probably sleeping… or having dinner… or having really loud sex-"
"Quinn!" You stop her immediately. You don't want to picture that. She giggles and starts to unbutton her shirt and pin her hair up.
"Sorry. Don't worry; you'll see them next month for parents day." She says through her laughter, trying to comfort you. "We've got class tomorrow so rest up." She finishes getting undress and then turns her lamp off.
"Hey Quinn?" You ask as you put your journal down.
"Yeah?"
"I met someone today-"
"Like a boy!"
"No!" You practically shout back and you start to blush. "Like a girl… or a friend… she goes here."
"And she wasn't at the tea I'm guessing." You shake your head. Quinn rolls her eyes as she turns on her side to look at you.
"That was definitely Santana." Santana? That's…. sexy.
"Santana?" You ask her… you need to know more.
"Yeah." Quinn sits up at bit and rest her head in the palm of her hand. "She smokes… she drinks… she does everything she can to rebel against this school. Like wearing her skirt 10 inches too short." Quinn scuffs and shrugs. "She's trouble." Trouble? She didn't seem like much trouble.
"That's it?"
"What do you want to know?" Everything. You shrug your shoulders. "She skips class, we never see her family…She's kind of a slut too."
"A slut?"
"Totally. She slept with like… all of the boys academy down the street. I've heard she lets them fuck her in the woods, sometimes she brings them over and lets them stay the night. She slept most of the girls here." Wait.. what?
"She likes girls?"
"I don't think she likes them. I just think she has low self-esteem and feels the need to sleep around to get the affection she really wants."
"Oh." You're a bit disappointed… maybe she could have liked you. She was staring an awful lot.
"Just promise to stay away from her? If you stick with me you'll be at the top in no time." You give her a smile but inside you're frowning.
"Okay."
/
It was late the next Saturday and you're up much later than Quinn. You've come to realize that it's actually hard to sleep here at night. Everything makes a sound and you can hear the girls upstairs and down the hall. It's not that you're scared; it's just that you don't like to close your eyes here. The building is old so it creaks and you just don't like it here at night…
You take this as your opportunity to go and explore a bit. There are some woods out back that you've been wanting to go see before it gets too cold out. You get dressed in your Burgundy red Dalton sweatshirt and a pair of ripped skinny jeans. You put your hair up and start out the door.
The woods aren't as scary as you thought they would be, even if it is at night. It's kind of freeing out here. It's quieter than the house, and you should be scared but you're not. You smile when you see long black hair and a short plaid skirt. Her head is angled upwards, blowing a puff of smoke out and her legs are crossed over each other as she leans against a tree. You very slowly tip toe over and-
"Boo!" She practically jumps out of her skin; she moves back and puts her fist up as she turns around.
"Jesus… fuck, Blondie." She growls. She bends down to pick up her cigarette. "You scared the shit out of me."
"So we're even, Santana." You smirk and she frowns.
"How'd you know my name?"
"I have my ways." If she wants to be mysterious then so can you.
"Quinn?" she smirks. You blink.
"How'd you know that?"
"Things get around quick here; she's your roommate, right?" You nod you head and watch as she takes another drag of her cigarette. "I bet she told you all about me." You shake your head because she told you what she thought of Santana. You don't really know anything about her.
"No… just your name." Santana leans back against the tree trunk and watches you like she did the first day you met.
"Why'd she tell you my name?"
"I asked." She chuckles in a low voice.
"I told you it wasn't important." You shrug your shoulders.
"It was to me." You can't help but notice how short and bad ass she is. Like totally bad ass. If you would have even thought about being this bad ass you would have been so grounded. And you've never really been into rebels or anything like that but she makes it sexy. So sexy. You can tell by the way she stands, by the way she talks, and that she rebels against everything. Not to mention by the way she dresses. Her skirt is high on her thighs, sitting dangerously close to her… area and just long enough to cover her back side. And those knee high boots.
Sexy.
Her white button down blouse is open and she's wearing a black tank top to show off the top of her cleavage. You feel kind of plain compared to her, dressed in your sweatshirt and jeans. "We have English together… but you weren't there all last week."
"English… with Ms. Pillsbury?"
"Mhm." You nod your head. "She asked about you."
"I'm cool on Ms. Pillsbury. She always tries to get into my head and shit." Santana rolls her eyes and taps the cigarette knocking some ashes out. "I hate that."
"Why does she try to get into your head?" You ask.
"Because… I smoke. She thinks I need to talk shit out." You're not sure if you should keep talking or leave her alone. "Do you like it here, Blondie? How are the Dalton queen bee's treating you?"
"Good, I guess." You shrug your shoulders because Quinn and her friends aren't much fun, and they just talk about a lot of nothing. "They're nothing to brag about really." Santana chuckles,
"You don't like talking about the latest gossip?" She asked. You can tell she's teasing you but there's a bitter tone in her voice.
"I don't like to gossip…" You notice how Santana's listening to you, and taking in everything you're saying. "And I wouldn't go back and tell them stuff you say…" She doing it again; studying you.
"Really?" She asked quietly.
"Really."
"Shit, I don't care." She says nonchalantly and shrugs you off.
"You say… that word a lot." Santana smiles.
"What?" You look away and then back at her. "Shit?"
"Yeah…" She chuckles a bit.
"C'mon Blondie. Say it."
"I-I don't curse."
"Curse? You mean cuss?" You frown again.
"I say curse." She shrugs her shoulders but she's still smirking at you.
"Okay Blondie, whatever you say." You sit down on a cut off tree trunk and hold your knees tight together.
"Are they good?" She's finishing the last of her cigarette and throwing it to the ground to stomp on it. She pulls out another and lights that one.
"Cigarettes?" You nod your head and she smiles. "They're delicious."
"Well, why do you smoke out here?"
"Because we're not allowed to smoke on campus. Remember?" You giggled a bit, she remembers what you said,
"I didn't think you'd care about that?" Santana brings her cigarette to her mouth before she shrugs her shoulders.
"I don't but… I'm not trying to get expelled or anything."
"Then come to class." You shoot back with another giggle. Santana's kind of confusing. "and… aren't the woods still apart of campus?"
"They are." She answers shortly. "But no one ever comes out here. Unless they're trying to get fucked or something." You blink and your mouth drops.
"What?"
"Dalton for the boys is right over there. It's a short cut instead of walking the five miles there if you take the road. Sometimes the girls come out here at night and meet the guys and they have sex."
"Oh."
"Does that word make you uncomfortable too?" you feel like she's teasing you but you kind of don't mind. You like talking to her. So you shake your head and look at her.
"No… I just don't curse." She's looking at you sideways now.
"Are you a virgin?"
"What!? No." You answer quickly. She's laughing at you now and throwing her head back to let her wild hair fall lower on her back.
"I think you are."
"N-no I'm not. I had sex last year." For some reason you feel the need to defend yourself.
"Hey," She starts, "It's cool, I don't give a damn who you've fucked or sucked. Okay?" You nod your head. She's so blunt… you love it. "So, why are you out here this late?" Santana asks you.
"I couldn't sleep."
"So you came out here?" You just nod your head. "To the woods?"
"I thought it would be quiet here or something… like a good place to think."
"Mhm, well you shouldn't be walking out here at night." She says and you smile again.
"But you were."
"Yeah… but I'm different." She shrugs and you scrunch your nose up,
"How?"
"Just am." She throws the cigarette to the ground and stomps on it again.
"Why are you out here so late?" You ask.
"I needed to smoke…"
"But why weren't you sleep?"
"I needed to smoke." She says again like it's obvious.
"Why'd you need to smoke?"
"Because if I didn't I might have killed myself, alright. I needed a smoke." She says still leaning against the tree.
"Are you virgin?" You decide to ask and Santana chuckles once again.
"Nah." She says simply. She folds her arms and looks towards the sky.
/
It had been a week since the wood's encounter and it was starting to seem like you couldn't get away from Santana. You'd see each other in the hallway, or in the schools café. Sometimes she'd be in the common room blasting her music or drawing in her sketchbook that she would never let you see.
Anyway, she even came to class all week. You weren't sure if it was just English class she was showing up to or if she had started attending every one of her classes but you liked having her there. She was funny, one time she lined her cigarettes up and started flicking them at some girl named Tina. And she knew the answer to every question, like she had been there all along. That was much better than you, who was so lost in the class but you still tried your best to keep up.
And sometimes you would catch each other staring. So you would make it into a game that when one stared and the other looked over, you had to turn your head really fast and pretend you weren't staring.
But you totally were.
And a lot of times you'd wait out at night, watching by your window to see when she went out to the woods to smoke. Then you'd head out yourself and go and talk to her. That was of course breaking curfew.
Today was different though. You never see Santana in the cafeteria and you were starting to think that maybe she didn't eat. But then you did. She was sitting at a table in the back, away from everyone else eating her dinner. You bounced over to her and placed you plate down.
"The hell are you doing, Blondie?" she asked you in a hushed voice.
"I'm having dinner." You sit down. "What are you doing?"
"I don't think your friends would appreciate you sitting with me." She says looking around but you just wonder in confusion.
"Why would they care? I sit with them every day, I never have dinner with you." You look up to see Quinn giving you a questioning glare but you just smile and wave your hand, telling her you'll sit here today.
"You are something else-"
"Brittany." You say.
"Huh?"
"You always call me Blondie, but my name is Brittany…"Santana smiles and leans closer over the table,
"How about sunshine?"
"Or Brittany." You say back.
"Mhm, I like Sunshine better." You sigh and agree. You'll take what you can get for now. And that's when you see a tall black girl with a black ponytail approaching your table. You smile and wave but she doesn't look so friendly.
"Oh, it looks like you found someone else to sleep with." Santana raises an eyebrow. She's not smiling anymore as she turns around to face the girl. This is not going to be good…
"Bree," Santana says, "Are you still upset I didn't fuck you last semester?" That smirk is back. "If it's that big of a deal I'll fuck you right here on this table." The girl- who is apparently Bree- scuffs.
"Don't flatter yourself, Santana. I get dick, why would I need you? Besides, everyone know you're just sick perv who preys on every girl here. I can't wait for them to suspend you." Santana stands up and crosses her arms over her chest. Holy…. Fishsticks.
"I think you're flattering yourself by thinking I deleted those text messages… and twitter messages." Bree gets really quiet as Santana steps a bit closer. "You remember those messages, right? The ones about how you wanted me so bad… how you were upset that I slept with your friends but not you and you wanted to know what you were missing…" Santana's smirk deepens as Bree grows visibly nervous. "I even still have the sext you sent me." Santana looks Bree up and down and smiles at her cynically. "So unless you want your little gay secret to get out; I suggest you walk away from me."
"You don't have those messages!" Bree whispers loudly.
"Try me." Santana whispers back with a smile. Bree and Santana have a silent stare down before Bree turns on her heels and goes back to her group. Without a word, Santana picks up her plate and her book bag and leaves the cafeteria in a rush.
/
Since the cafeteria incident you hadn't seen Santana in a few days. And you're starting to kind of miss her. That is until she walks into class, her plaid skirt riding low on her hips with a white tank top riding high on her tummy and multiple black and silver bracelets on each arm. Her wavy hair is hanging to her shoulder blades and she looks just as hot as she always does. "Hey… I didn't see you on Monday…" You say because the cafeteria thing happened Sunday. "Or Yesterday…"
"Didn't feel like being seen."
"But I saw freshmen leaving your room last night when I was going up to mines." Santana smirks and says,
"I've gotta break in the new meat, sunshine." You frown because you're not sure how their parents would feel about Santana referring to their daughters as new meat… but you ignore it. "Besides, I totally finished that Macbeth paper. It was a breeze." You bow your head and start to play with your fingers. You hear Santana chuckle, "Don't tell me little miss Sunshine didn't do her homework?!" She teases. But you pout and look up at her.
"It's not funny!" You say, "I didn't understand the book…" You hate being dumb… "I asked Miss. Pillsbury for help and she explained it but I still didn't get it. I didn't want her to think I was stupid so I just… said okay." You can see Santana soften up from the corner of your eyes.
"The only stupid one in this situation is Miss. Pillsbury for giving the same damn assignment to every 11th grade class for the last three years. You should have asked me."
"I didn't want you to laugh…"
"I wouldn't have and I won't… ask her for more time and we'll do it tonight." You nod your head as the bell rings and class starts.