Santana and Brittany lay in their shorts and bikini tops on the grass outside of the gazebo, eyes closed, enjoying the warm breeze. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and the only downside to the day was that the summer break was coming to an end. Stars Hollow's town square was buzzing with tourists preparing for their long journey home.
Santana propped herself up and lazily looked over towards the high school. Santana was not looking forward to going back to school. She was going to be a senior this year, and she still had no plans for the future. She looked over towards Brittany, scanning her from top to bottom. Brittany had her eyes closed and was lying with one arm behind her head. Brittany's other arm was stretched out, almost touching Santana's leg. Santana looked at Brittany's hand longingly. She could easily reach out and touch her hand, but Santana, who normally oozed confidence, was too afraid to tell Brittany her true feelings.
Brittany opened her eyes and looked over at Santana. She smiled and propped herself up with her elbows. She gazed over at Luke's diner.
"Hey Santana, wanna get something to eat?"
Santana looked over at Luke's. It wasn't Breadsticks but she was hungry and Luke did make good burgers.
Santana smiled and nodded.
"Sure Britt. Let's head over there now. I'm starving".
Santana and Brittany gathered up their things and walked over towards Luke's. It was crowded with tourists, families and other students having their lunch.
"Hey Santana, look." Brittany nudged Santana's arm and signalled towards the table in the corner. Four girls from Rosewood High were sitting together, eating their burgers and fries. The blonde one, Hanna, looked around cautiously, then pulled a flask out from her purse and poured something into her coke.
Santana smirked. As much as there was a rivalry between Rosewood High and Stars Hollow High, the students were more alike than they knew. Hanna looked up and saw Santana staring at her. She quickly put the flask back away in her purse, picked up her drink and joined back into the conversation with her friends.
A table became free and Santana and Brittany sat down. Brittany gazed over Santana's shoulder and looked at the Rosewood table. Emily, normally the quiet one of their group, was laughing and running her hands through her long black hair. She was the Stars Hollows star athlete and held state records for several swimming styles. You could tell she was a swimmer, she had amazing arms. Brittany's focus was interrupted by Luke, who, in his normal gruffly voice asked what they wanted to eat.
Santana looked over the menu and then up at Luke.
"Hey Luke, do you have any breadsticks?"
Luke stared down at Santana. He adjusted his baseball cap, threw his notepad on the table and put his hands on the chair and leaned forward.
"Santana, for the last time, this is not Breadsticks! I do not have breadsticks, and I never will have breadsticks. So stop asking for breadsticks".
Santana stared back at Luke and raised an eyebrow. "Ok chill. Don't get your plaid knickers in a twist. I'll just have a burger".
Brittany giggled at Santana's quip. "I'll have the same thing Luke." She said.
Luke grumbled, picked up his notepad and walked to the kitchen.
Santana gazed at Brittany. She looked so innocent staring into space at the wall behind her. Santana wished she had the courage to tell Brittany how she truly felt. She had had a crush on Brittany since they were five. They had done everything together, from school, to joining the cheerleading squad, and now the new club they joined in their sophomore year, glee club. Santana tried to not get outwardly jealous every time Brittany hooked up with someone new, but it was getting harder and harder to hide. There were a few times last year Santana wanted to wheel Artie, Brittany's former boyfriend off the stage, but she refrained. Santana was a bitch, but she wasn't going to cripple a cripple even more.
The first day back at Stars Hollow high was like any other day. Students were rushing around, catching up with friends that they had just seen yesterday. Stars Hollow was a small town and Santana couldn't wait to leave. She walked around Stars Hollow high, in her cheerios uniform, like the Queen of snippy that she was, but she knew that after high school, that would end. Santana's parents loved her, but as they were both doctors, they were busy all the time. They didn't push her but they did expect her to do great things with her life.
Brittany sat in the choir room waiting for the rest of the glee club. She was early or late, she wasn't too sure. She looked at the piano and double checked the room for Brad. She walked around the piano and traced her finger along it. She sat down and opened the lid. It had been a long time since she had played the piano. Her parents had paid for her lessons when she was younger but she had stopped playing when the kids at school laughed at the songs she made up. She wasn't sure why the other kids didn't like her lyrics to "Lord Tubbington and the gummi bear babies".
She laid her hands on the keys, reminding herself of the feeling she got when she played. It felt like the keys radiated heat, begging for her to play. Brittany stared down at her fingers, not knowing what to play first. At that moment, someone walked into the choir room. Brittany quickly shut the piano lid and turned around. It was Lane, the glee clubs drummer and Brittany's fellow cheerios member.
"Hey Lane!" Brittany said in a chirpy voice.
Brittany liked Lane, but she didn't always quite understand her. She was usually talking about music and bands that Brittany had never heard of. It seemed easiest to just smile and nod whenever Lane started a rant about a band and their underappreciated musical ability.
"Hey Britt". Lane replied, in a gloomy way. This was normal for Lane. There must have been some sort of tragedy in the music world.
Other members of the glee club started walking in. Kurt walked in with Mercedes and Blaine, Sam, Puck and Mike walked in tossing a football to each other, closely followed by Artie, Tina, Sugar and the rest of the glee club's band. Following behind them were Quinn and Rachel, who seemed to be deep in conversation. Brittany thought that was a bit odd since they use to hate each other, but this summer they had become inseparable. Brittany decided to move from the piano and sit in her seat up the back of the room. At that moment, Santana walked in. Brittany looked up and smiled. There was something about Santana that made her feel happy. She couldn't really explain what it was, but there was always a warm feeling inside of her when Santana looked her way. Her cheerios skirt being super short also helped. It gave Brittany butterflies in her stomach.
Finn walked in wearing his varsity jacket and stood at the front of the glee club. He cleared his throat.
"Guys, I have an announcement to make." Finn looked unsure of how to deliver his news. He pointed his hands towards the door.
"We have a new member!"
The new member walked in, unsure of what to do. He stood next to Finn, which usually dwarfed anyone in comparison but this was the exception. He was the same height as Finn, and smiled a goofy grin as he ran his hands through his floopy hair.
"Guys," said Finn. "This is Dean. He moved here from Chicago not long ago and needed to join a club since I told him it was mandatory for all students to join at least one club. Lucky for us, nearly all the other clubs are full!"
Everybody looked confused. Brittany looked at Santana, who usually explained things to her, but she looked just as confused as everyone else. It seemed Finn's obsession with recruiting new members by deception was still a thing.
Mr Schue walked in and nodded to the class. He hadn't seemed to notice the two giants standing at the front of the class. Finn and Dean sat down as Mr Schue stood at the front to talk to everyone. Mr Schue looked concerned, holding a piece of paper in his hands.
"Guys, I've got some bad news. It seems that Figgins is going to cut the Glee club. The reasons are murky, I'm sure Sue has something to do with it".
Everybody gasped. It seemed like this was happening to them every week, but so far they had managed to overcome all the obstacles.
"However," Mr Schue continued. "There is one solution. The glee club at Rosewood High is short on members to compete at sectionals. If we join with them, we can compete together as a combined team. They have the funds, and we have the members. What do you guys think?"
Everybody was silent. Stars Hollow High and Rosewood high didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to working together. Even in friendly competition, things got kind of ugly.
"I'm not so sure about this Mr Schue," said Artie, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "The people at Rosewood High aren't very friendly."
Nearly everyone nodded in agreement. Rachel looked like she was about to go into one of her rants. Sure enough, Rachel stood up next to Mr Schue.
"Hold on everyone. We could do with some more female members. Their glee club is ninety percent female, and they would look great swaying in the background while I belt out a powerful number that will surely win us our sectionals competition". She gave a dazzling smile and waited for everyone to applaud. No one did.
Everyone in the room was silent. You could see everyone considering the possibility of joining the two clubs.
Tina suddenly spoke. "Mr Schue, who is in their club anyway?".
Mr Schue looked down towards his paper. He looked at the names for a minute and started to read them off.
"There's Emily Fields, Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Jenna Marshall, Toby Cavanaugh and Hanna Marin".
Santana laughed out loud at the list. She felt nervous about being in the same room as Hanna Marin. There was no denying that Santana had strong feelings for Brittany, but she still got a strange niggling sensation in her stomach every time she looked at Hanna. Hanna was beautiful. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and an innocent yet 'come hither' look about her.
Everyone turned to look at Santana. She was nervous now and had to think of something quippy to say to hide the awkwardness.
"So you're saying, to keep the Glee club going, we have to join forces with Miss Swim team superstar, Rachel 2.0, the hobbit of Rosewood, Cyborg, Boo Radley and uh…uh…Barbie?"
Brittany giggled next to her and snuck her pinky and linked it with Santana's. Santana felt her cheeks getting hot and her stomach doing backflips. She wished everyone would stop looking at her now.
Mr Schue, who was use to Santana's name calling, nodded.
"Yes, that's exactly right. We need to join our glee clubs. I don't know how they sound, but it's the only way our club is going to survive".
Puck threw the football in the air and caught it again.
"Gee" he said sarcastically. "This should be interesting".
The first meeting between the two glee clubs was about to begin. The rosewood students were standing in the choir room, awkwardly looking around at the Stars Hollow Glee club with the exception of Jenna, who was blind and was just staring into space. Mr Schue and Mr Fitz were standing in the hallway discussing how they would go about the first meeting. Mr Fitz was Rosewood High's glee club director. He wasn't particularly musical, but he enjoyed the extra pay, and the extra time he got to spend gazing at Aria.
"Listen Schue," Mr Fitz said. "I have no experience with Glee club's at all. This is just my first year, so I'm happy to let you take charge and I'll follow your lead. I think joining the two clubs is a great idea".
Mr Fitz put out his hand to shake Mr Schues. Mr Schue smiled and shook Mr Fitz's hand. They both walked into the room. Everyone was silent.
"Ok guys" Mr Schue said as he clapped his hands together. "We want to win sectionals, and now thanks to Rosewood High, we have a chance to go all the way. I know this might seem a bit weird, but I think if we all work together, we'll have a lot of fun!"
Rachel beamed and nodded along to everything Mr Schue was saying. Quinn was staring at the Rosewood girls up and down, slightly threatened by them. Finn was staring at Toby, wondering how tall he was and if he was taller than him. Kurt was also staring at Toby, wondering just how tall he really was, down there.
Brittany turned to Santana and whispered. "Santana, is that girl a Rock star?" Pointing to Jenna. "Is that why she's wearing sunglasses inside?"
Santana giggled and patted Brittany on the hand. Santana shook her head and Brittany smiled. Hanna looked up to see what Santana was laughing at. Hanna had always been curious of the cheerio. Santana had a perfect smile and incredibly flawless skin. She could be a spokesperson for Proactiv if she wanted to. Hanna had always dated guys but when she looked at Santana, she wondered if she would push her away if Santana tried to kiss her. Hanna was startled out of her thoughts when Emily nudged her in the ribs. Mr Schue had told everyone to take a seat and Hanna was the only Rosewood student who hadn't moved. The only seat remaining was one next to Santana. Hanna could feel her cheeks going red as the glee club giggled at her ditzyness.
The glee club meeting went as normal. Rachel talked most of the time, arguing with anyone who had different ideas. It was entertaining to see Rachel handle a new opponent in Spencer Hastings, who was very good at debating. Santana didn't seem to notice what was going on after a while. All she could think about was the close proximity that Hanna Marin was to her. Hanna smelt as good as she looked. Santana was anxious that she was making her crush obvious, so she started to try and think about something else besides trailing her finger slowly up Hanna thigh, and under her short dress.
"Santana, are you ok with that? Santana?" Mr Schue said, trying to get her attention.
"Huh? What?" Santana replied, dazed and confused. She hadn't been listening to anything that was going on for the past five minutes.
Rachel turned around to face Santana and started talking in her matter of fact tone.
"What Mr Schue said was that my idea was fantastic. The stronger singers and dancers, such as myself, should pair off with a Rosewood student, and teach them our setlist so they will be ready for sectionals."
Spencer rolled her eyes and contributed.
"I agreed with her. Actually, it's the only thing we have agreed on so far. Toby is with Kurt, Finn is teaching your new member, Dean. Jenna will be playing with the band, Emily is with Brittany, Aria is with Quinn, I'm with Rachel, and you are teaching Hanna. Is that cool?"
Santana was speechless. She looked at Hanna who looked flustered.
"Oh….okay, sure." Santana nodded.
She looked at Hanna, who smiled at her. Santana felt her stomach do several back flips. This was going to be harder than she thought. Santana had always been a physical person, and from what she had heard, so was Hanna. Santana was conflicted. She loved Brittany, but as much as she had flirted with Brittany, she never got the indication that Brittany loved her back. Maybe it was time to move on. It seemed like the Glee club meeting had finished. Everyone was talking amongst themselves. The Stars Hollow glee club members were talking to their Rosewood partners.
Santana turned to Hanna. She was instantly in awe of Hanna's beautiful eyes.
"Um…so um, Hi. I'm Santana". Santana extended out her hand to Hanna.
Hanna took Santana's hand and shook it. Santana's hand was super soft; she didn't really want to let it go.
"Hi, I'm Hanna, I think I've seen you around town". Hanna replied.
Santana nodded. She watched as people started leaving the choir room.
"So we should make some plans right?" Hanna said, while she looked at her nails.
"Right!" Santana said. "Yes, plans. Okay, how about you come by my place tonight, and we can start working on the songs and the dance moves.".
"Sure". Hanna nodded. "As long as your parents don't mind?"
"Don't worry" Santana smirked. "My parents are never home".