Author's Note: Hi guys! Thanks to everyone for reading! This chapter is a bit longer, but it's still kind of short. The chapters should/will be getting longer though! Anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know I'm actually on vacation right now, and I'd love to update one after another but it's kinda crazy. So sorry if I go a few days without an update. Don't be afraid to drop a review here or in my tumblr askbox!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Glee or any of it's characters. If I did it would be renamed the Naya Show. I'm simply borrowing the characters.
xo - M
"You know Santana, it's not good to stare." Maribel teased. She'd been watching her daughter look out the glass doors watching the neighbor's daughter surf for the past week.
Santana had developed a schedule, one based off of the blonde's – she'd wake up at 5:30, surf from 6 to 8, then be back in her room, sitting on the balcony to watch the blonde surf by 8:30. It was now Friday, and she had been doing this since Monday.
She couldn't deny that she felt a bit like a stalker, watching her everyday, but it's not like she knew right? She couldn't see her from her balcony, and Santana wasn't doing anything wrong- just some harmless leering, and admiration for the girl's craft. "Yeah, that's what it is. I just think she's a really good surfer," Santana excused.
"Huh? What Ma?" she finally replied, much later than she should have.
"You've been watching her for days. Just go out and surf with her, or say hi. She's probably nice"
Shit. Of course her mother had noticed. "Is nothing sacred in this house? She's just a good surfer, Mami. I'm trying to learn her tricks. Relax. I don't need a friend or anything."
"Too bad, Tana. You're going to have to talk to her. Did you know she's our neighbor? I met her mother today. They're supposed to come over for dinner tonight. I promised to make one of my special recipes."
"Whatever, Ma." She was relieved when her mother finally left her alone to go back to watching the mysterious blonde.
"Hey, Tana?"
"WHAT MA?"
"Her name is Brittany." Brittany. So that's her name. After her mom left the room, she found herself quietly whispering the name under her breath.
"Brittany, honey! It's time to come in. We're going to dinner tonight. You need to get ready." Anne Pierce called out to her daughter. She was always out in that damn ocean. Don't get her wrong, she loved watching her daughter surf; she's incredible at it. She just always wished she would be into something more feminine.
Brittany rode her last wave out, and then walked back to her house with her mom, making small talk as they went. She learned that tonight she'd finally be meeting the other surfer- the one who stole her beach. The same girl who'd she'd also noticed creepily watching her everyday.
A hot shower and an hour later, Brittany made her way to the downstairs living room to meet up with her mom, dad, and younger sister Hayley to begin heading next door for dinner. Apparently her mom was in some neighborhood club with the surfer girl's mom.
Despite all of her mother's attempts to get Brittany into a dress for the evening, the girl was still wearing tattered jean short, and a tank with her bikini top underneath. She argued that their daughter was a surfer too, she'd get it.
The Pierce family made their way up to the front door of the Lopez residence, and Mrs. Pierce rang the bell. Seconds later, a middle-aged Latina woman answered the door. Regardless her age the woman looked nearly perfect.
"Hi, Anne! So nice to see you again. Wow, what a beautiful family! You weren't kidding when you said your daughters were stunning," the woman greeted. Brittany and Hayley only smiled slightly at the woman's greeting. "I'm Maribel Lopez. Come in, come in."
Maribel led the blonde family into her house, where they could smell aromas coming from the kitchen. Brittany inhaled the scent in deeply, detecting that it was obviously something Mexican.
"Our daughter Santana just went out to surf, I told her to stay in but you know teenagers. I think she's your age Brittany."
"Did you hear that Britt? She surfs too! Maybe you two could surf together or something."
"I haven't seen her out surfing yet," she lied. Just like the Latina girl, Brittany had been watching her surf everyday. She was green with envy; Santana was good. She was doing tricks that Brittany had never even seen before.
"Hey mom, can I go back out to surf? I mean, if that's okay with you too, Mrs. Lopez. I'm practicing for this big competition, and the waves are really good right now."
"No, sweetie," her mom answered looking disapproved.
"Aw, come on Anne. It's fine, dinner won't be ready for a little while, and she could go meet Santana. I don't mind," Maribel countered. Anne agreed, and Brittany quickly skipped out of the Lopez' back door. She walked past their pool, and into the sand where she began the short walk to her house. The gap between the two houses wasn't very large. A small, sandy patch of grass about 4 yards wide was all that spaced the two houses. Brittany grabbed her yellow and blue board, and quietly whispered a hello to her little ducky sticker that she put underneath the board.
Ever since she was younger ducks were her lucky charm. She won her first competition at age 9 wearing a blue one-piece suit that had little ducks printed all over it, and since then she always kept something with a duck on it with her when surfing. She had acquired a collection of duck necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and clothes since her childhood; they were her soft spot. Call it childish, but she'd placed in every competition since, and was never seriously injured.
Brittany took off in a jog towards the water, only slowing once her feet hit the wetter sand close to the water. She relished in the moment loving the squishing sound her feet made against the sand, along with the soft wish-wash of the tide and the sun beating down onto her light skin.
With her board tucked under her arm she began to walk to the water. Once she was about waist deep in the water she climbed on the board and began paddling in. The other girl had yet to notice her, and she was hoping to keep it that way. She slowly creeped her way closer to the Latina who was lost in her own world.
Just then a good wave was coming their way, and Brittany wasn't letting Santana take it, she was making her presence known. Right as Santana began to stand her board Brittany cut her off, knocking the girl's balance off. Santana tumbled into the water as Brittany rose up on her board, effectively stealing the wave.
Santana came up from underneath the salt-water, her eyes burning and her lungs filled with water. She began desperately gasping for air, completely confused as to how she fell from her board. Then she saw the legs of another surfer on their board, and it became clear to her.
"What the fuck!" she coughed, her voice even raspier than it usually was. The blonde girl then sat on her own board with a leg on each side, a few feet away from Santana. The brunette's vision cleared, and chocolate eyes locked with ice blue ones.
It registered in Santana's mind this was her blonde. The one she had been watching everyday over the past week. She was finally seeing her up close. Santana's eyes did a quick sweep of her features – Damn, she's gorgeous. All was immediately forgiven when her eyes reached Brittany's eyes for the second time.
"I-I-I um…I'm Santana.." she tried again, this time sounding a little more smooth.
"I know," Brittany responded coldly.
"Why'd you, uh, why did you knock me over?"
"Because this is my surf spot. I've been here since I was 10, and you think you can just show up here, and take my time? No. Let's get one thing straight, Santana. This. Is. My. Place. You can find somewhere else. Also, keep your eyes to yourself. Don't pretend you haven't been watching me everyday. I see you. It's creepy. Stop."
Though Santana should be shaken at the girl's harshness towards her, all she could do was be giddy at the fact that she had said her name. The way her name rolled off of Brittany's tongue completely had her captured. Santana barely registered anything the girl had said.
"Hellooooo?"
Fuck, Santana. Get your shit together. What did she say? Santana thought for only a few seconds more before it clicked in her head. Brittany knew she had been watching her. She saw her. And more than that, she wanted Santana to go away.
"I-uh," she cleared her throat, " I'm sorry, it's just, you're a really good surfer. I-I don't mean to be weird, just your technique is different. It's cool. But why can't we share the beach? I mean, we surf at different times. I'll stay out of your way."
"Stop saying 'um' like you're some giddy schoolgirl. And, we can't share the beach because it's mine. I was here first."
That enraged Santana. She had kept her cool, and managed to not even be bothered by the offensiveness the girl was throwing her way, but now she was being just plain childish for no reason at all.
"Mmkay, listen here, Barbie. You're the one acting like a schoolgirl here; I mean how old are we 6? Shouldn't you have learned to share a bit earlier? The last time someone gave me a lame ass excuse like that, I was in middle school. Stop being so stupid, grow the fuck up. I didn't do anything for you to act like this to me."
Brittany hadn't expected the girl to rebel and actually act back on what she said. She thought she was just going to sit there like she had before. Tears began to well up into her eyes; Santana's words had hit a nerve in the girl.
Brittany was always sensitive to being called stupid, because she felt like that's all she was seen as by many of her peers and teachers. School was really hard for her, she thought and learned in ways different from other students. She was actually extremely smart, but no one ever really saw it, even her. To make matters worse, her younger sister Hayley was a straight 'A' student, and was in all honors classes.
It was always clear to Brittany that Hayley was the favorite, because of her smarts, and it was always reminded to Brittany just how stupid she was.
"Shut up," she began shakily, her voice was already cracking as a hot tear fell from her eye, "You know nothing about me!"
"Exactly! You know nothing about me. What the hell is wrong with you?"
A sob choked through Brittany's body. It was enough for her to constantly be cut down and belittled by people she knew, but now even strangers could see it.
Santana froze at the sight of Brittany crying. She didn't expect her to being crying over her comments; she dished it, so Santana assumed she'd be able to take it back. She easily guided herself closer to the blonde.
"Hey," she cooed while extending her hand out towards the blonde's hand. For some reason she felt a strong need to comfort the girl. Look at you Lopez, being all mushy and you barely even know the girl. But, before she could even finish the action Brittany pushed away. "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry."
"You know what? Fuck you," was Brittany's answer. Does she think I need her pity or something? I might be stupid but I don't need her bitchy ass to feel sorry for me. I can take care of myself. She began to paddle herself back towards the shore, leaving Santana behind. As soon as her feet hit the sand she ran towards her house, tears running down her face even faster than before.
Brittany threw the door to her house open, and ran straight up the stairs to her room. She was dripping wet but she didn't even care. After slamming the door shut, she turned her back to the door, and slid to the ground. Her legs were bent, with her elbows resting on her knees and her palms gorging into her eyes. She began to lightly bang her head against her hands.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered. Everything she did was just so stupid. Why was she like that to Santana? She was never mean and took pride in that fact. She loved being caring and open and honest with people, but she found herself different with the Latina. She was almost scared. She was just so confused; she'd never acted that way before.
Despite her random character change, Brittany still didn't feel bad for her crudeness towards Santana. After all, she had been twice as rude back.
No, Brittany. You aren't going to feel bad for what you said or did. She deserved it. Besides it wasn't even that bad. You're just being dumb.
Santana sat on her board, in the same position that the blonde had left her in minuets ago. She was numb, the words rang through her head – You know what Santana? Fuck you. She'd heard the words said plenty of times before, and said them more often than not. But hearing them from the girl she found herself adoring, before she'd even met her just stung.
Something about the way she had said them seemed wrong, like she wasn't used of saying it. Maybe that's why it actually made Santana think. Surely the blonde wasn't normally the way she just was, Santana thought. What had made her tick then? She didn't even think she said anything that bad.
Santana found herself knowing one thing for sure though. She was definitely attracted to Brittany. Never before had she 'wasted' so much time thinking about someone, or how her words affected him or her. Frankly, she never cared. But she felt herself crumbling over the fact that she had hurt Brittany.
Then she came to another revelation she had never had before, she needed to apologize. Santana Lopez was actually going to apologize.