Chapter update everyone! Thanks for coming back to read. I hope you stick with the story. I really want to update more often, but I just went on vacation so I got a little sidetracked! Anyways, as always, enjoy! Review if you'd like. As questions if you'd like. You know the drill. **Trigger Warnings** Contains severe bullying, physical and emotional abuse, and mature language. I do not own any rights to these characters.
Chapter 2
She's still lying on the floor where that beautiful girl left her. Right outside of room 203. She closes her eyes, remembering the sway of her hips and the rasp behind her velvety voice. Brittany doesn't even really care that the girl just stood there and insulted her. It doesn't matter now though; she'll never see her mystery girl again. She doesn't even know her name for crying out loud!
The shuffle of footsteps quickly snaps Brittany back to her woeful reality. Her eyes burst open, but all she sees is white. Oh right, I'm lying on the floor. She lets out a deep breath and jumps up from the ground, brushing herself off to ensure she doesn't make an even bigger fool out of herself. Here's hoping. Just as Brittany reaches to pick her bag up off of the floor and throw it across her shoulder, she hears her name being called.
"Britt!" she recognizes her sister's voice and smiles.
"Oh hey, funny seeing you here," Brittany returns with a wink. Her sister chuckles, glad to see that maybe the other girl isn't having too bad of a first day.
"So, I take it you're doing okay?" Quinn asks.
"Oh, uhm, sure," Brittany stumbles over her words ever so slightly, but enough for Quinn to notice.
"What do you mean?" Quinn gives her a pointed look.
"Nothing, it's fine Quinn," Brittany says.
"Britt-" Quinn starts, but is quickly interrupted.
"Save it, I should be used to this by now right?" Brittany says with a sad smile. Quinn reaches out and gives her sister's shoulder a tight squeeze. They exchange smiles.
"People are just jealous babe," Quinn tells her.
"Oh yeah, that's definitely it" Brittany states sarcastically. "You wanna trade places then?"
"Brittany, that's not what I meant," Quinn reassures. "You're a hot piece of ass if you ask me." Quinn throws Brittany a wink and gives her a little tap on the butt. Brittany can't help but burst into laughter.
"Get away from me!" Brittany responds in between laughs.
"I'm serious B," her sister tells her. "You're one of the prettiest girls I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because you're my sister."
"Prettier than you?" Brittany says wiggling her eyebrows at Quinn. The girls continue to giggle and shake their heads at the ridiculousness of their conversation.
"Cheer up hun, there's a lot of day left to make some good memories," Quinn tells her.
"Here's hoping," Brittany responds and the two sisters walk down the hall towards their lockers before next period begins.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Quinn and Brittany round the corner to their lockers, chatting and laughing at one another's inside jokes. It's so sudden that Brittany barely has time to react. Quinn surely didn't see it coming or maybe she would have pushed her sister out of the line of fire. In a millimeter of a second a flash of red flies through the air and smacks Brittany right in the face. She might as well have been bitch-slapped by an iceberg. Her mouth hangs open and she shakes her head to rid the excess slushy from her hair, and removes her glasses to wipe her eyes clean. She shivers a little as the remainder of the drink drips down her back. Quinn stands with a shocked expression on her face. Anger quickly consumes her and she seeks out the person who tossed the slushy. Quinn turns to find a short brunette girl, dressed in combat boots, ripped black skinny jeans and a beat up looking band t-shirt, smirking at the sight. Quinn sees the cup the girl is holding in her hand; the culprit of her sister's humiliation. The brunette gives her a wink and shakes her head as she walks away from the scene she caused.
"Britt!" Quinn turns to her sister who has now sunk to the floor of the school hallway. Students start to dissipate from the scene. Brittany keeps her head down as she continues to pull red chucks of ice out of her hair.
"Britt, are you okay?" Quinn asks kneeling down in front of her sister. Brittany doesn't answer.
"Britt-" before Quinn can continue she's interrupted by the sound of two voices coming from behind her. She slowly turns to find a boy and girl standing with their arms crossed, whispering to one another while chancing glances at Quinn and Brittany.
"Can I help you two?" Quinn states, becoming a little defensive of her sister. The boy and girl snap their heads up and stare at Quinn.
"Well?" Quinn's voice is laced with agitation. The two strangers walk up to Quinn and extend their hands. Quinn lifts an eyebrow at their gesture.
"Noah Puckerman Berry, but everyone calls me Puck," Quinn cautiously extends her hand to shake the boy's.
"Rachel Barbara Berry," the girl waits with her hand extended. Quinn reaches for hers after Puck lets go.
"Quinn Pierce," the blonde introduces herself to the brother and sister.
"We know who you are," the duo states simultaneously, smiling at one another.
"Oh?" Quinn's eyes go wide. Rachel speaks up.
"We're sort of McKinley's welcoming committee," Rachel begins. "We've been the president and vice president of student council since we were freshman here. It's sort of our job to know everyone in school." Quinn nods her head slowly, eyeing up the two in front of her.
"So I'm assuming you know I have a sister then," Quinn states.
"That's, uh, sort of why we approached you," Puck says, shoving his hands into his pockets. Very non-threatening, Quinn takes notice.
"Go on," Quinn says.
"We feel terrible about what happened to Brittany," Puck says. There's honestly in his eyes. Quinn's defensive manner slowly fades away as the three continue to talk.
"McKinley has a 'zero tolerance for bullying' policy, but it isn't always the easiest thing to enforce," Rachel says. Quinn stays quiet, letting the two talk.
"We have a pretty personal connection with the main culprit," Rachel continues.
"Yeah, we do," Puck adds. Quinn notices the hint of disappointment in his face.
"Let me guess, brunette girl, little taller that you?" Quinn asks, directing her gaze to Rachel. Both Puck and Rachel take a deep breath and sigh.
"Santana," the brother and sister say together. Quinn just nods in understanding.
"She's our cousin," they say together.
The three are so wrapped up in conversation that they don't notice when Brittany finally stands up and leaves behind her crime scene. I say crime scene because, let's be honest, it looks like Brittany was torn to shreds and the remains of the accident are scattered in red puddles on the hallway floor. And Brittany must admit, she feels like she was torn to shreds.
"Hey, where'd she go?" Puck asks as he looks behind Quinn to see that her sister has vanished.
"I-I, I have no idea," Quinn begins to panic. "What if she's hurt?"
"Okay just calm down, I'm sure she's okay," Rachel says.
"You don't understand!" Quinn yells, and the other two look a little stunned. "Sorry, but, she's just been through a lot already." Rachel and Puck cock their heads to the right in surprise.
"It's a long story," Quinn begins. "For another day." The other two just nod their heads and smile.
"Hey look!" Puck points to the floor. Rachel and Quinn follow the direction of his finger. Before them is a trail of what looks like red water.
"I know where she went," Rachel says and then takes off down the hall, Puck and Quinn following behind.
"The girls bathroom," Puck states as the pieces click together. The three newfound friends continue to follow the drops of red water, and wind up in front of the girls bathroom, right where they suspected. Just as Rachel is about to push open the door, Quinn stops her.
"Let me," the blonde sister says. Puck and Rachel nod.
"We'll be right out here if you two need anything," Puck says. Quinn smiles and pushes open the bathroom door. She looks at the ground to find the tiniest drops of red scattered across the white tiled floor.
"Brittany?" Quinn sweetly calls out to her younger sister. She walks further into the bathroom when there's no answer.
"Britt?" Quinn calls out to here again, a little worry behind her voice. That's when hears her.
"Oh god," Quinn runs to the very last stall. It's locked.
"Shit" Quinn mutters under her breath.
"Brittany, please open the door," Quinn pleads, but her sister just continues to sob on the bathroom floor. Quinn is desperately trying to jimmy the lock from the outside when she hears the door to the bathroom entrance open. She whips her head over to see Puck and Rachel standing with what appears to be a red McKinley gym t-shirt and two towels. They're both as white as the towels they're holding.
"I-is she—okay?" Rachel hesitates as she asks. Puck looks just as nervous.
"I need you two to go, please!" Quinn is becoming more and more frantic while Brittany continues to cry behind the locked stall.
"But we can help!" Puck exclaims.
"We want to help," Rachel finishes, calmly. She sets the towels aside and hands Quinn the shirt.
"She's going to need something clean and dry to change into," Rachel says.
"Thank you, really, but I have to get this door unlocked," Quinn says worriedly.
"I can kick it open if you want me to," Puck begins, flexing his muscles a little.
"Puck!" Rachel smacks him on the arms.
"Ouch!" he looks at his sister. "What the heck was that for?"
"Now is not the time," Rachel gives him a pointed look.
"I'm sorry, you're right," he says.
"It's fine, just open the door!" Quinn grabs his wrist and pulls him towards the stall.
Quinn steps back giving Puck some space and he forcefully kicks the door right at the lock. Nothing happens. He tries again and manages to dent the metal lock enough and jiggles the door open. He steps into the bathroom stall and stops, frozen at what he sees in front of him. Quinn is rushing in behind him when he turns to stop her.
"I think we should get the nurse," Puck says.
"It's fine, I can handle her," Quinn says, trying to push past him.
"Rachel, go get the nurse!" Puck tells his sister and she's gone in a flash.
"Quinn, I need you to just stay calm okay?" Puck grabs her shoulders, looking her in the eyes.
"I-I- Just let me see her," Quinn starts. "She needs me, I'm always the one who helps her." Quinn is getting desperately impatient, trying to push Puck out the bathroom stall doorway to get to her sister.
Brittany sits against the wall next to the toilet, sobbing. The red dye from the slushy is still present in her blonde hair, which now hangs in an even messier bun over her left shoulder. She feels pathetic, worthless even. And she's definitely sorry she ever ran into that beautiful girl.
Flashback: The Slushy Incident (35 minutes ago)
Brittany is laughing at something Quinn said as they round the corner. She almost can't believe it when something freezing slaps her in the face and drips down her white shirt. She stands humiliated as students gather around her and Quinn, laughing and pointing. Her sister stands to her side, completely untouched, as usual. It's always Brittany. She never understands why. What makes them so different that Quinn can is able to live her life happily and unafraid. Brittany is a nervous wreck half the time, unless she's at home or with Quinn. I guess Quinn can't even protect her now. She sinks to the floor and takes her glasses off, resting them on her leg. She puts her head in her hands and sighs.
"Britt!" she hears Quinn's voice snapping her back to reality. It doesn't matter though. Not even Quinn can help her now. She ignores the sound of her sister's voice as she pulls slushy from her hair and clothes, and uses the sleeve of her cardigan to wipe her glasses clean. Brittany thinks she hears Quinn's voice again, and she's right. She slowly turns her head up to her sister, who is now standing with two other students. A boy and a girl stand cross-armed. Nobody even bothered to ask Brittany if she's okay. She just sits on the floor, a tear sliding down her cheek. It's only her first day and things are already this bad. She knows that Quinn and her parents would never admit this to her, but Brittany knows they moved because of her. The bullying was so bad, and even though Brittany was a trooper about everything, her family knew a move was necessary. Brittany overheard her parents talking to Quinn one day in their Pittsburgh home, saying, "don't tell your sister," and "we're just worried about her." She didn't need to hear anything else. Brittany knew everything they did was for her. She shakes her head a little to snap out of the memory, but a sudden feeling of guilt washes over. She feels flushed and dizzy. She has to get out of here. She slowly stands and slinks down the hallway, looking back to see Quinn chatting with those two students.
End Flashback.
Rachel bursts through the girl's bathroom with the school nurse in tow. Quinn notices that she brought some ice packs and a bottle of peroxide with her. Puck places a hand on Quinn and shifts the both of them away from the stall that Brittany's in. The nurse rushes to the stall.
"Where's the girl?" the nurse asks, panic evident in her voice. Puck points her to the stall.
The nurse moves forward and Puck stops her, whispering something in her ear that Quinn doesn't quite catch. The nurse moves into the stall quickly. Puck has a hold on Quinn; he's preparing for what might happen once she sees her sister's condition.
Flashback: The Slushy Incident (20 minutes ago)
Brittany turns back around, away from where Quinn was standing. She just continues her walk down the lonely hallway. All the other students are in their next class at this point. The bell rang 10 minutes ago from what she can remember. Brittany watches the red dye drip from the ends of her blonde hair. Another tear slides down her cheek when she hears a voice snapping her attention forward.
"How did I know I'd find you here," it's the mysterious girl.
"Wh-wh-what, I-I I don't know," Brittany stammers, averting her gaze.
"Nice clothes," the girl smirks at Brittany's red-stained shirt. Brittany is quiet as the slushy incident replays in her head. It happened so fast she thought she missed who did it. But she remembers now.
"Y-y-you?" Brittany's bottom lip starts to tremble.
"Nice work detective obvious," the girl bites back. Brittany stands there with her head down.
"Jeez Karofsky was wrong," she begins. "You are stupid." The girl in front of Brittany just rolls her eyes and walks towards Brittany. When Brittany realizes that her tormentor is moving closer, she slowly takes a step back. But the girl just keeps coming closer and closer. Brittany startles when her back hits something. She glances behind her she sees Dave from her calculus class. He's standing tall with his arms folded across his chest.
"Wh-what a-a-are you guys do-do-doing…" Brittany finds her voice. Both Dave and the girl roll their eyes. Brittany is taken by surprise when Dave grabs her arms and forces her against the hallway wall. Brittany winces in pain. The girl approaches Brittany while she's being pinned to the wall by Dave.
"If you ever so much as look at me again, I will end you," the girl practically spits in her face. Brittany just closes her eyes, hoping this is a dream.
"But just to make sure you don't forget, my boy is going to give you a little reminder for the road," the brunette continues.
"B-Bu-but-" Brittany begins but is quickly interrupted when all of the wind is knocked out of her. Her wrists are released and she doubles over clutching her stomach and ribs. Then it happens. It feels like the weight of a bowling ball crashes against the side of her face. Brittany instantly drops to the ground in a heap, not able to catch herself before her teeth go through her bottom lip. It's completely split as she feels the blood start to trickle down her chin. Everything is black. She can't move or lift her head. It all feels so heavy. Maybe this is where she dies—right in the middle of the school hallway. Somehow she manages to blink her eyes enough to pull them back into focus. It's a little fuzzy still, but she can see Dave walking away from her. The mysterious girl is following behind. Brittany closes her eyes and opens them again only to see the girl glancing over her shoulder at Brittany. It almost looks like the girl frowns at Brittany. Like an apology maybe? It couldn't be. It has to be Brittany's imagination…or the blow she took to her head.
End Flashback.
The nurse quickly kneels down next to Brittany's slumped over body.
"Honey, can you look at me?" the nurse asks sweetly, reaching out to gently touch Brittany's arm.
The nurse didn't want to startle the already rattled girl. Brittany's crying has subsided slightly, but she's not in any kind of shape to answer the nurse. She's completely drained from the physical and emotional pain she's already had to endure on day one at her new school. The nurse tried to reach out and brush Brittany's hair away from the side of her face. Brittany immediately tensed.
"P-p-pl-please do-don't," Brittany whimpers.
"I'll be really gentle, I promise," the nurse reassures her. "I just need to get a look at you if you're hurt sweetie." Brittany didn't answer; instead she let out a long sigh, which causes her to wince. Tears start to fall down her face again.
"Shhh, it's okay," the nurse says. "You're going to be okay."
The nurse uses some toilet paper to wipe Brittany's tears and she carefully moves the blonde's hair away from her face. She immediately sees how swollen the left side of the girl's face is and tries to contain her shock. She doesn't want to scare Brittany any more than she already is. The poor girl's face is pretty mangled though. Her left cheekbone is twice the size of the right. It's already turned deep shades of blue and purple that seem to shimmer in the light. Aside from her cheekbone and black and blue eye, Brittany has a few gashes on the side of her face. Her bottom lip is the worst. The blood keeps flowing from the cut and is dripping onto Brittany's white shirt. Her other cut is just underneath the black and blue mark by her eye. The nurse shakes her head in disbelief.
"How does such a pretty girl get into such a mess," the nurse whispers, but Brittany hears everything she says. She slowly lifts her head and looks at the nurse with sad eyes. The nurse's heart almost breaks at the sight in front of her. The girl's bright blue eyes are red-rimmed and glossy from crying. The nurse cups Brittany's chin in her left hand.
"Hold still, this might sting a bit," the nurse says as she swabs the peroxide soaked cotton ball across Brittany's cuts.
"Mmmmm," Brittany painfully hums.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I have to clean these out," the nurse continues to fix up the blonde's face.
"S'okay," Brittany whispers, closing her eyes.
Flashback: The Girl's Bathroom (10 minutes ago)
Brittany manages to lift herself up off of the hallway floor, but something doesn't feel right. It's her ribs. She's having a hard time keeping her vision clear; she reaches her hand up to her face and feels the bump. She knows it isn't good; she just needs to find a place to sit down and breathe. The girl's bathroom is just at the end of the hall, and Brittany finds herself shuffling forward. Thank god it's empty when she walks in because she really isn't in the mood or condition to deal with anyone. She walks to the larger stall and goes in. She locks the stall and just as she turns to make her way to the wall to sit down, she slips on some water that has collected around the toilet. Brittany tries to catch herself, but it's too late. The girl falls hard to the white tile floor and let's out a shriek of pain. Her ribs. She doesn't attempt to move or stand. She just lies on the floor sobbing from the pain and humiliation. Maybe this is what she deserves. It sure seems like the universe is working in overdrive to make her life as miserable as possible. Brittany just doesn't seem the point in trying anymore. She's always kept a positive attitude, thanks to Quinn mostly. Quinn. Brittany wonders if Quinn will come looking for her if she's forgotten about her already, like the rest of the world. Brittany uses the toilet seat to pull herself into a sitting position against the wall. She looks around, and it's then that she realizes her bag isn't with her. And neither is her phone. She starts to cry harder, thinking it can't get any worse.
End Flashback.
The nurse manages to clean all of Brittany's cuts, but the one on her lip is so deep that she suggests Brittany get stitches at the hospital. Brittany nods in understanding.
"Here, hold this against your cheek for me," the nurse hands Brittany a soft icepack.
"Thank you," Brittany mumbles. She's pretty embarrassed. This nurse must think she's a total loser. That's what she thinks of herself anyways.
"Britt!" Quinn gasps standing in the doorway of the stall. "Oh my god, babe."
"I tried to hold her back," Puck states.
"Oh my god your beautiful face," Quinn crouches down and gently holds her sister's face in her hands. Brittany winces, making Quinn feel even worse than she already does.
"What-I-How did this happen!" Quinn begins. "Was this her?" she then turns the question to Puck and Rachel. Brittany's eyes spark at her sister's last question.
"Quinn, what-" Brittany begins before she is interrupted by two other people.
Puck and Rachel walk into the stall. The nurse excuses herself while the group talks.
"Oh my-Brittany," Rachel says in shock.
"H-how do you know my name?" Brittany asks. "Quinn, what's going on?" Brittany is really confused now.
"I'm Puck, and this is my sister Rachel," the boy begins. "We sort of saw the slushy incident." Brittany just stares at the three of them.
"Babe, who did this to your face?" Quinn asks Brittany with a worried expression. She's on the verge of tears herself at the sight of Brittany's face.
"Don't know," Brittany begins. "A girl and a boy. Dave?"
"Karofsky," Puck grits through his teeth. Anger quickly fills his body and travels straight to his head.
"Puck don't," Rachel reaches over and grabs her brother's arm calming him down.
"And the girl?" Quinn asks Brittany.
"She had black on," Brittany begins. "Kinda tan."
"Santana," Puck and Rachel say together, disappointment washing over the two siblings.
"Y-you know her?" Brittany asks.
"She's our cousin," Rachel answers sadly. Brittany looks at her sister and Quinn nods.
"I-I don't understand," Brittany says. "Why?" Nobody knows what to say. But Puck breaks the silence and decides to attempt an answer in one word.
"Fear," Puck's answer was simple.
"But-that doesn't-what?" Brittany is beyond confused. Her head is starting to pound and the sharp ache in her ribs is becoming ever more present.
"Let's get you to the hospital," Quinn says reaching out to wipe the blood from your chin that is dripping from your lip.
"I'm going to Princi-" Puck is cut off by Brittany.
"No!" she says. "Please, just, don't."
"You can't let them get away with this!" Rachel raises her voice in concern. Brittany just sighs.
"Look, she's your cousin and I don't want any trouble," Brittany begins. "I ran right into her this morning; guess I deserved it." Puck and Rachel don't even know how to respond to the blonde's statement.
"Britt-" Quinn starts.
"Quinn just stop, it's fine," Brittany says. "But could you help me up?" Brittany gives her sister a small smile. It's so small you almost can't see it, but it's there. Somehow.
"Sure babe, come on," Quinn stands and holds her hands out for Brittany to grab, but she never does.
"Come on Britt, grab my hands," Quinn smiles. Brittany frowns at her sister's action.
"I-I-my ribs…" Brittany says with disappointment. Quinn's smile fades quickly as she calls for Puck to help her. Puck crouches next to Brittany and tells her to put her arm over his shoulder. She does as he says and with ease he lifts the blonde off the floor to a standing position. The pain is written all over Brittany's face. She's trying to hide it, but Quinn knows her too well.
"Can you walk to the car?" Quinn asks Brittany. Puck releases his hold on Brittany and she takes a step. They can tell she's in a lot of pain, but they let her go.
"I'm good," Brittany responds. "Let's just go, please."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Puck and Rachel see Quinn and Brittany off, and then quickly make a beeline for the bleachers.
"Puck just slow down!" his sister calls from behind him.
"I'm going to kick both of their asses!" He yells, charging forward.
"Mom will kill you if you get suspended for fighting at school," Rachel tell him.
"Rach, I don't care!" he states. "They can't keep hurting people!" Pucks keeps his quick pace, reaching the bleachers in record time. Rachel is huffing and puffing behind him, but she's finally caught up.
"I wondered when I'd see you two," Santana says, sitting up from the couch that lies underneath the bleachers. She looks at the time on her cell phone. "Not bad, I expected you sooner though."
"What the fuck were you thinking!" Puck hisses at his cousin. Santana just laughs.
"Oh calm down Pucky," she answers. "It wasn't that bad." She sits back down on the couch.
"Santana," Rachel starts to talk. "You really hurt that girl." Santana just rolls her eyes.
"Oh please, blondie is fine," Santana says, waving them off. "I just threw the slushy, nothing more, nothing less."
"How the hell are you going to explain the black eye and stitches and most likely the broken ribs!" Puck yells at his cousin. Santana looks slightly taken aback by Puck's words. She lifts a challenging eyebrow at him.
"Like I said, I threw the slushy," she responds. "Blame the ogre for the other stuff." Puck and Rachel have seen Santana get into some trouble before, but they also remember the girl she was just a year ago before she transferred. The real Santana isn't capable of hurting a fly. So why would she do this Brittany? Why would she let someone hurt the poor girl?
"I really can't believe you," Puck huffs and walks away before he does something he might regret. Santana remains seated on the couch and watches her cousin walk away. Rachel looks at her and shakes her head with a frown.
"I honestly didn't think you had it in you, but I was wrong," Rachel says and turns to follow Puck out.
"What?" Santana asks, prompting Rachel to elaborate. She stops and spins to face her cousin.
"I just never thought you'd become the very thing that hurt you the most," and with that Rachel walks away. Santana watches her cousins disappear around the corner and re-enter the high school. She absorbs the shock of Rachel's words and sighs.
"Neither did I Rachel," Santana whispers into the afternoon air.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
-The Next Day at School-
Quinn drives herself and Brittany to school and pulls into an available parking spot. They spent the majority of yesterday and last night at the hospital getting Brittany checked out. Turns out that jerk did some serious damage to Brittany's ribs and face. The same ribs Brittany had injured before are once again cracked, she had to get four stitches in her bottom lip to hold it together, her cheekbone is bruised, and her eye is almost swollen shut from. Not to mention the pretty color that surrounds it. Quinn puts the car in park and turns to her sister, placing her hand on her knee.
"You don't have to do this Britt," Quinn says. She really wanted Brittany to stay home today, to avoid any trouble and possibly more humiliation from Santana.
"It's fine, I have to go back eventually anyways," Brittany responds. "Besides, if I stay home I'm letting them win."
"But by going you're also risking your safety…" Quinn begins to say, but Brittany stops her.
"I love that you're trying to protect me, but you can't do that forever," Brittany says. "I have to face this on my own," the younger blonde adds. Quinn just nods in understanding and the two of them exit Brittany's car.
The two sisters make their way to their lockers. Quinn walks extra close to Brittany, doing what she can for the girl while she's still in her presence. After the bell rings she doesn't know what the other students might do to Brittany. Brittany can really only see out of her right eye, which is fine with her because then she can only see half of the students who make fun of her as she walks down the hall with a bruised up face. Just breathe Brittany. When they reach the lockers Quinn helps Brittany open her locker. It's one of the top shelf lockers, and because Brittany's ribs are fractured it's extremely painful for her to move her upper body. Lifting her arms to reach for her books will be interesting when Quinn isn't around.
"Here let me help," Quinn scoots Brittany down and reaches into her sister's locker grabbing all of her things. She proceeds to bend down to her locker, the one right below Brittany's, and swap their books. Now all of Brittany's things are in Quinn's lower locker and vice versa.
"You didn't have to do that," Brittany smiles at her sister's generosity. It's moments like these that Brittany is so thankful Quinn is her sister.
"Don't mention it babe," Quinn wink at Brittany.
The girls carry on at their lockers, making small talk before the bell rings for first period. They're completely blind to the girl standing just a few lockers down the hall, watching the two sisters interact with one another. Santana can't believe the sight of the blonde girl. She's quickly pulled from her concentration when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She spins to see Dave standing behind her with a beastly smile on his face.
"Jesus Christ Dave!" she punches him in the shoulder.
"Ouch!" he flinches at her attack. "What the hell was that for Lopez?"
"I told you to scare her, just a one and done kind of thing, not fucking assault her!" the girl responds harshly. She keeps her voice down so that nobody else hears the conversation between the two. She might as well be whisper-yelling. That's what it sounds like anyways.
"Well she pissed me off okay!" Dave got in Santana's face, but she just rolled her eyes and walked away from the boy.
"You pull a stunt like that again and I'll make sure your face looks like that next," Santana says as she continues her walk down the hall. Dave gulps. Santana may be small, but she can really pack a punch when she means to.
Santana glides through the halls, students practically jumping out of her way. This is exactly what she wanted, for people to fear her so she didn't have to fear them. But if this is what she really wants, why does she feel so empty unhappy? Nonetheless, she holds her head high and continues to make her way through the halls and past the blonde girl, Brittany was her name? Santana chances a glance at the girl she planned an attack on yesterday. She can't quite see Brittany's face because the blonde's hair is down is loose waves today. Santana continues to scan the girl's body. Grey t-shirt with tight, destroyed skinny jeans, and white converse. Santana thought she wore glasses too. She remembered seeing them right before she tossed the slushy in her face. Maybe she was wrong.
Quinn said goodbye to Brittany and headed off to find Puck and Rachel to thank them for the help yesterday.
"Tell them I said thanks too," Brittany calls after her sister and Quinn flashes her a pearly white smile.
Brittany turns to her left and just barely catches the gaze of someone staring at her. She turns her head awat, not wanting to get into a staring contest with a stranger while looking like this. She closes her eyes and starts counting to ten. Hopefully by the time she reaches the number the person will be gone. When Brittany slowly turns around she sees the person standing closer to her and jumps in surprise.
"Jesus," Brittany breathes out.
"Sorry 'bout your face blondie," the voice sounds awfully familiar to Brittany. She turns around completely to fully see the girl, Santana, standing a couple feet away. Brittany doesn't know what to say, and she's honestly a little terrified so she just turns back around. Maybe she'll just leave if I stand here long enough.
"Look I'm trying to apologize, so can you not be a bitch right now?" Santana's voice is laced with annoyance. Brittany slowly turns, again, but this time to face her tormentor. Santana's even closer than she was just a second ago.
"Shit," Brittany jumps a little. Santana just rolls her eyes, but gets a good look at the blonde's face.
"Damn Karofsky sure did a number on you," Santana says.
"Uhhh-I-I- guess so," Brittany responds timidly.
"Blue's not such a bad color on you," Santana tells the blonde.
"I-I'm not wearing blue…" Brittany responds, a little confused.
Santana just shakes her head and walks away. Brittany, frozen in place, can't begin to fathom what has just happened. She's still staring at Santana when the brunette spins around to look at Brittany. She's now a lot further away, at least 15 feet down the hall near the front entrance of the school. Their eyes lock for a moment, even with the hallways swarming with students. Brittany can't deny how beautiful the brunette is, even with how awful she treated her yesterday. She shakes out of her daydream and finds Santana still staring at her. Did she get closer? Brittany ignores her internal question and fights the urge to break their locked gaze. That's when it happens. Before Brittany has time to flinch, another red slushy is tossed in her face. She steps backwards as a natural reaction, but doesn't see that Dave is standing behind her. He sticks his foot out and before Brittany can stop herself from falling, she hits the ground hard. A shriek of pain followed by the sounds of Brittany sobbing ring through the school hallways. Students stand around the girl laughing and pointing their cell phones at the sight.
Down the hall, Santana stands at the entrance of the school. Her eyes are locked on the circle of students that surround the blonde girl. She releases a long sigh and hangs her head. What did I do…
There's a bunch of thoughts swirling around Santana's head. She feels guilty, bad almost. She debates helping her, picking the girl up off the floor. Giving her a towel or a new t-shirt to wear. Rinsing the red dye out of her blonde hair. She's so close to breaking out of her new, hardened identity. But close only counts in horseshoes.
Santana pushes through the doors of the school entrance, looking back at Brittany lying on the ground once more. This time she notices that the blonde is alone, now sitting up against the lockers. Santana can tell that the girl is crying from the way the blonde wipes her cheek with the back of her hand. Brittany can feel someone's eyes on her. She lifts her head and turns to the left. She sees Santana in the doorway. And then she sees her leave.
