Senior year. She had finally done it. She had made it through three grueling and slushy filled years at Mckinley High and it was now finally her time to shine. Not only as a senior but as the hot new Cheerio that she was. Yes, that's right! Brittany S. Pierce had made it onto the Cheerios, Mckinley's very own cut throat cheerleading squad.
Snagging a spot on the team had been a dream she's had since she enrolled at Mckinley, but unfortunately could never audition for because of her mothers waitressing salary or lack there of. But all that's changed now thanks to Joe, her mothers new and well to do lawyer of a boyfriend. Good looking out Joe. He was nice enough, stayed out of the way most of the time, and didn't try to take on the role of her new daddy, thank god. He was just plain old regular Joe who made her mom happy so she was cool with the whole thing.
It was the first week of school and the first official Cheerios practice/introduction meeting of the year. She'd be lying if she didn't say she was just a bit nervous. Ok, she'd also be lying of she said she hadn't just bitten off half her fingernails while waiting for the top cheering bitch (otherwise known as Brittany's captain or head Cheerio or Quinn Fabray or Brittany's personal favorite, major bitch) to start the meeting.
The Cheerios all sat gathered together in the schools gym bright and early, neatly separated into the already forming clicks in the squad. Brittany, who was the only new Senior on the squad was sitting with two lost looking freshman while the veteran Cheerios sat in two other groups. One of which consisted of friendly looking girls, some Brittany had recognized from over the years, and another group which housed the major bitch herself and several other unpleasant looking followers.
Quinn finally stood.
"Alright Cheerios. Listen up. For those of you who aren't knew, welcome back, and to those of you who are new.." She looked at Brittany and the two freshman with a smirk. "..don't screw up."
Without another word she was off toward the changing room. Brittany's mouth was hanging wide open. Sure she hadn't expected Quinn to wrap her up in a big hug and tell her how much fun and amazing and wonderful being a Cheerio is going to be while handing out pixie sticks and unicorn stickers...But she sure as hell didn't expect that.
She looked around and saw that the two other newbies had on the same exact expression as hers and surprisingly the veteran Cheerios looked as though this less than fifteen second introduction was as normal as blinking.
Looking around she noticed the group of mean Cheerios whispering about something. God, she hates that about some girls... Why do they have to be so gossipy and leave other people out. She likes secrets too. She thinks she'll call them 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' from now on. Those girls had a super juicy secret.
Her head was starting to hurt now and her stomach was still queasy from the massive butterflies that had been fluttering around in there moments ago and she's sure the pound of fingernails in her belly wasn't helping either. Quinn hadn't even given her a uniform yet.
"What are you starring at Pierce?" One of the Girls from 'the sisterhood' asked. Brittany jumped. Had she been starring that whole time?
"Oh! Uh...Um...When do we get our uniforms?"
One of the girls snorted. Brittany frowned at that. That wasn't a stupid question, right? How else was she supposed to practice?
"You'll get them soon enough." Said the snorting girl with a wicked grin on her face. "But first the three of you need to go through a bit of an initiation." She added, nodding toward Brittany and the two others around her.
Brittany looked at her skeptically. "Initiation?" She asked with an extremely puzzled look on her face. "But wasn't the nine hour try out with Sue enough?" She asked with all seriousness. That day was crazy.
Every last member of 'the sisterhood of the traveling pants' broke out into fits of laughter, while the nice looking Cheerios, who have yet to be adorned with a group name, looked on sympathetically. As though what was happening to the three pieces of fresh meat was inevitable.
"Puulease! That was nothing! Wait until the real training starts." Another 'traveling pants girl' says after regaining her composure.
"And anyway..." She starts. "This has nothing to do with physical exercise...No, I would call it more of a bonding exercise." She said with an unsettling smile on her face. Brittany gulped. She definitely didn't like the sound of that. And by the looks of it, neither did the other two freshman.
It was nearly the end of last period and after having received a really rather specific yet cryptic text during lunch telling her to:
Be in the locker room. 3pm. Don't be late. Come alone. -Quinn.
She was really beginning to worry about her safety during this initiation thing or whatever it was. But... she really had no other plans today and Joe told her he'd feed lord tubbington, her cat, if she got home late. She's sure it'll be fine. They're just a bunch of harmless high school girls right?
She was all alone. It was 3pm on the dot and she was sitting in the humid locker room completely alone. Could this be the initiation? They all have a good laugh at me being stood up? Could there be hidden cameras around here, recording me right now while somewhere the stupid Cheerios are all laughing at me?
Looking around again she realized that her imagination had run a little too wild. Because at that very moment none other than Quinn Fabray came barging through the locker room doors followed by the entire squad minus two.
"Good job Pierce. I'm glad you're able to read, unlike the other two. Or maybe they just can't read a clock." She snickered.
"Um.." Brittany said, pointing behind the squad.
The two freshman had just barreled through the doors, out of breath and looking completely disheveled.
"Sit." Quinn demanded, after making eye contact with the late arrivals.
Scrambling, the two girls took a quick seat next to Brittany, each of the girls giving Brittany a fast half smile in greeting.
Quinn rolled her eyes and started her speech. "As you three, I'm sure, are well aware of the fact that the Cheerios are like a royal family. McKinley is our kingdom and the entire student body is under our rule. I am the Queen and you all.." She gestures to the entire squad. "..are the ladies in waiting."
Brittany blinked.
"...So to insure your allegiance to our royal group we all need to prove ourselves. We need permanent assurance that you won't stray from the group. A permanent reminder of where you belong and who you belong too. And that lady's..." She let the statement hang as all the Cheerios gathered closer to the three wide eyed newbies. "Is a tattoo." With that statement, all of the girls including Quinn pushed down their Cheerios skirts and flipped down their spanks to reveal just below their pelvic bone, a tattoo of the letters MKH in black, red and white identical to their uniform tops.
Brittany gasped before she could stop herself. This was a cult! This was the stepford wives! This was.. This was... Nuts!
Brittany hadn't even bothered venting about her new predicament with her mother, because even though she was pretty laid back about most things she sure as hell knew her mother would not approve of an MKH tattoo just above her pretty parts. No sir. So she settled for calling up her best friend Tina, giving her the run down on all things crazy in the locker room.
After the unsettling 'show and tell' the girls on her squad had given her, Quinn had passed out business cards to the three shocked girls telling them that she could care less where they got the tattoos, so long as they got them, but she recommends the place on the card.
Tina was stunned to say the least.
"Mckinley's royal family?! Allegiance to the group?! Who the hell does she think she is?!" Tina squawked over the phone, holding her belly from all the laughter.
"Duh Tina! She's your royal majesty Queen Fabray of Mckinley sluts." Brittany bellowed through a fit of laughter.
Tina laughed harder. "You just called yourself a slut!"
Brittany thought for a moment. "I'm new on the team. So I'm only a baby slut." She giggled. Glad she could find humor in the situation with her friend.
"So... For real though... Are you gonna get it?" Tina asked after her giggles subsided.
"I don't know. I mean, they would for sure kick me off the team if I don't get it and you know how baaaaadly I've wanted to be on the Cheerios. Maybe I'll just go by the tattoo parlor and check it out. It's not like the tattoo is going on my arm or my face or anything... And I don't have a boyfriend right now so no ones lookin' at the moment." Brittany said biting her lip, cringing at her own stupidness.
Tina sighed. "You know this is a bad idea right."
"Yea..I know." Brittany sighed too. No matter how obvious the right choice was, Brittany couldn't help but become swayed toward the bad choice. The one with cheer practice and football games and flips and twirls. The one with tattoos and royalty and Quinn Fabray.
Brittany grabbed the business card of the tattoo parlor off her nightstand and read:
Puckerman ink
Skin is in.
145 West Cambridge rd.
Brittany took a deep breath and willed herself to get at least some sleep tonight, because tomorrow morning she was going to Puckerman ink.
It was Saturday morning and Brittany stood, shifting her weight uncomfortably from side to side in front of Puckerman ink. She had managed to get absolutely zero sleep last night thanks to her brain weighing the many pros and one con to her little problem. Permanent.
She took a deep breath and opened the door. The shops waiting area was totally empty except for a tan looking boy with lots of tattoos. He was around her age and had a nasty looking Mohawk on his head and a goofy grin on his face.
"McKinley?" He asked with a slimy smile. His eyes roaming shamelessly up and down Brittany's body. She shivered uncomfortably.
Brittany cleared her throat. "Um...Yea... " She said, digging into her purse. "I need to get a tattoo of this." She held up a ripped out piece of and old Mckinley year book that had the MKH logo on it, just like Quinn wanted.
He narrowed his eyes to get a good look at the small image then smirked.
"So what's ole Quinnie up to these days?" His tone was dark but his smile, however, was still huge, it made Brittany a little uncomfortable.
"She's uh, Captain." Brittany said and he nodded, seemingly amused by this answer.
"How do you know her? I've never seen you at McKinley." She said.
"Quinn and I go way back." He winked.
Brittany blinked.
"I'm Puck by the way." He said, holding out his hand. She reached out a shook it.
"Puck? As in Puckerman?." She asked.
"Yea. It's my dads shop." He said.
"Oh! Cool...Um I'm Brittany S. Pierce." She said.
He smiled creepily again. "Ok, well, Brittany S. Pierce... Santana Lopez will be your artist today, she's in the back with a client but she should be finishing up soon. I'm gonna let her know you're here. You can take a seat." He said, leaving Brittany alone in the waiting area. She was kinda glad for it though. She didn't like the vibes Puck was shooting her way.
About ten minutes had passed when the back door swung open and three people emerged. First was Puck, in all his Mohawky glory, next came a small man who she assumed was the client the tattoo artist was working on, and then came a women. She seemed older than Brittany but it couldn't be by much, maybe early to mid twenties. She was hot.. extra hot, tan, and feisty looking with piercing brown eyes and extra full lips. She wore an expensive looking fitted white two finger tank top that showed off her bulging cleavage expertly. Her pants were tight, light wash and with a bunch of rips, but she made them look so feminine and pretty. Her hair was brown and wavy and fell just below her chest. She noticed the girl had no tattoos though. That's weird. Puck's full of them and so was the little man next to her. She's always assumed that a tattoo artist would be swimming in them. Maybe it's cause she's just way too pretty to mark. That's probably it.
"Brittany?" Santana said, looking directly at her. That voice. It melted in Brittany's ear. Creamy and smooth just like her skin looked.
Brittany cleared her throat and stood. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous, but the combination of a first tattoo and this pretty woman was making her stomach upset.
"Yup. That's me." She said a little too loudly. She mentally slapped herself cause duh! Of course that's her. No one else is here.
Santana just chuckled quietly and told her to follow. Once they were in what looked like Santana's office or tattoo doing room or whatever it was, Brittany took a moment to look around. She was sitting on what looked like a flat little tattooing bed in a room where the walls were almost completely covered in sketches and drawings. Brittany wanted to ask Santana a million questions about the pain and the after care and the needles and the ink.. But Santana got there first.
Sitting down on a chair in front of Brittany she began. "So I'm sure Puck didn't do his job so I'm gonna have to ask you some questions." She said, annoyance lacing every word. Brittany just nodded.
"How old are you? I mean not that it matters... I know you're under age. Puck told me you're getting the Cheerios tramp stamp and all those girls are under eighteen." She said, looking at Brittany with dark searching eyes. It wasn't the sort of look Puck was giving her... Although Brittany wished she would look at her the way Puck did. But this was more of a curious sort of gaze. It made her shiver none the less, but this time in a good way, a very good way.
"Se-Seventeen" she stuttered nervously. Santana smirks and shakes her head.
"Thought so. I only asked cause I've gotta tell you... I'm not into parents hunting me down and lawsuits and all that bull crap, so just do me a favor. If you get caught.. You didn't get the tattoo from me. Got it?" She said all this in a firm yet amused sort of way.
"Got it." Brittany nodded quickly.
"Alright then. Lets get started. Lie down, pull your pants down and lift your top." She said, as though it was the most common of requests. Brittany gasped. That assertive tone and nonchalance in Santana's voice was making her all kinds of turned on.
Why the hell was she getting turned on? It must just be the nerves.
She blushed and looked up at Santana who was now standing and preparing her gun. She wanted this tattoo. She did. Really badly, and she also wanted to pull her pants down for Santana. God, What? But she was starting to get that funny feeling in her belly that told her that getting a tattoo wasn't the smartest idea.
"Santana seemed to sense her trepidation and sat back down on her chair to face Brittany.
"Hey." She said, poking Brittany's knee with the back of her gun and clicking her fingers in front of the girls eyes in attempt to bring her back to this planet. "You know, you don't have to be like the rest of 'em." She said, smiling a secret smile. "You could always just tell Quinn Fabray to go fuck off, you know?"
That made Brittany shine a mega watt smile at Santana, only to have it fizzle out just as quickly as it came. She really wanted that spot on the team.
"I want to be a Cheerio." She told Santana pathetically. God she's so stupid.
Santana looked at her gun and back at Brittany with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"How about we play a little prank on the head Cheerio hoe, huh?" She said as she tossed her gun onto the metal table beside her.
Brittany frowned in confusion. The last thing she wanted to do was pull a prank on Quinn. She was not ready for that kind of drama in her life. Quinn could turn the whole school against her.
"I don't think-"
"Lie back Brittany." She said with a smirk. Her eyes were shinning. Santana had such pretty eyes.
"Brittany did a she was told with a stupidly innocent expression on her face. She watched as Santana extracted a few thin tipped permanent markers from her metal table and scooted closer to Brittany.
"Her Cheerio brain is sort of soggy." Santana said quietly as she undid the top button of Brittany's jeans. Brittany let out a shaky breath.
"She won't know the difference." She added, pulling down Brittany's zipper in a swift motion.
Oh god.