Santana has had exactly two experiences with lemons. The first she doesn't even remember, but her parents have joked about it around the dinner table with her relatives on more than one occasion. Each time she huffs and slumps in her chair. "Oh pobrecita" her father fawns dramatically, "all parents give their babies lemon at some point". She huffs again and slumps even lower. " I think some of that sourness rubbed off on her", her Tio Ricky jokes.
The second she's not really sure even counts because she never did taste the lemon. After a long day of playing in the sun last summer her stupid cousin Tony had tried to convince her that lemons were just like oranges, only yellow. He carefully and graciously peeled the lemon as she watched. She loved oranges, but her abuela's house didn't have an orange tree. Lemon, her cousin told her, was even better. She had raised the yellow fruit to her mouth, but right before it touched her lips Abuela shouted from the porch, "Santanita! What are you doing?". She froze, and looked up to meet Tony's eyes. He looked terrified, and she assumed she must be doing something wrong as well. "I.. I...Tony told me too!" She had tried to explain. "Madre de Dios" her grandmother had muttered to herself. She can't recall much of the discussion after that, but what she does remember was sitting on the porch swing eating a cherry popsicle while stupid cousin Tony had to clean up all the toys by himself.
Neither experience lead her to believe that lemons were something to be enjoyed. That's why she's more than a little surprised when she arrives at Brittany's sixth birthday party to be greeted at the door by the birthday girl herself, and a cup of with tiny lemons slices floating in a pale liquid is thrust into her hand. She holds up the clear plastic glass to get a better look, "what is it?" she asks quietly. Brittany stares at her for a minute, almost like she can't believe that's a real question. "It's lemonade Santana. It's the best drink ever!". Santana is not convinced, but she can't be rude to Brittany. Brittany who is her best friend at school, and who is nice to her all the time. Who Santana is never mean to, not ever. She's been waiting for this party all week, nearly breathless with anticipation at the thought of seeing Brittany on a non-school day.
She looks into the cup again, and then back up to Brittany's clear, honest eyes. "Are you sure it's good? Don't lemons taste gross?". She doesn't think Brittany would trick her with something like this. She hopes not. "Maybe by themselves", Brittany explains with a shrug, "but with the right amount of sugar they're magical!". Santana giggles a little, only Britt would think that a fruit could be magical. Brittany takes the twisty plastic straw out of her cup and puts it into Santana's. "Here, we'll both drink", she smiles as she covers one of Santana's hands with her own on the frosty side of the cup, "trust me". And Santana does.
As soon as the ice cold drink slips past her lips she tastes the lemon, but just as quickly she tastes the sweetness of the sugar. Magic, she thinks. The perfect mix of sour and sweet. She takes another sip, and another before pulling away and smiling. "Yum" Santana whispers and grins, "I know" Brittany whispers back. She flashes Santana a bright white sunshine smile, grabs her hand and starts to lead her to the princess bouncy castle set up in the back yard. Santana follows happily, lemonade in one hand and Brittany's hand firmly grasped in her other. The perfect mix of sour and sweet; suddenly it makes more sense than it did a couple of minutes ago. It's a perfect day with her best friend. And lemonade? Best. Drink. Ever.