Chapter 2

I wake up Tuesday morning feeling fresh and ready for another day. The second day of school. Hopefully, today goes better than yesterday. Not that yesterday was bad, but it had it's challenges. The school will still be new, the surroundings still unfamiliar. That's one of the biggest challenges. Being uncomfortable in an unknown environment is nerve-wracking at the very least. And that's only gonna get better a day at a time. Each passing day that I spend at McKinley High it will get a little easier, I know that. The more time spent in the school the easier it will be to focus and feel at ease.

The second day, I find, going better than the first day. Mostly because the blonde cheerleader that bothered me yesterday doesn't even approach me. She doesn't sit next to me in third period Chemistry. I'm relieved that message that I sent the blonde got across. I just want to be left alone, keep my head down, not get involved with anything or anyone, and just do what I need to.

I figure if I stick to myself, stay out of trouble, stay away from anything that might derail my plans, pay attention in class, study at home, and get good grades everything will work out the way that I want it to. I just want to make it through my senior year in peace.

The rest of the week goes much the same. No one bothers me for the most part. A few people smile in passing and some bash their shoulders into me as they pass by in the hallways but that's the extent of contact with most of the kids at this school. Of course, I have to reply to teachers when they want or ask something, but other than that I keep my mouth shut. No one makes an attempt to start up a conversation with me all week long. That's the most important thing. I don't want to get to know anyone at this school. And I certainly don't want anyone to know anything about me. I reveal all that I'm willing to with my appearance. And even that's not much. My clothes are plain. I wear little make-up and my hair is either up in a ponytail or it's laying air-dried over my shoulders. Other than that I don't want anyone knowing any personal details about me or my life.

It almost surprises me at the end of the week that the blonde cheerleader who wanted to know my name on Monday hasn't made any other attempts to engage me.

There's a faint knock on my bedroom door. I take my headphone off my and hear a second knock, this one more aggressive than the first. I've spent most of my Saturday reading through the first chapters of my textbooks. If I read ahead I feel like I have an advantage over the other students at school, and sometimes even the teachers. I like to be prepared.

"Come in." I shout towards the door.

It can only be one of two people that are knocking. Sitting up from the headboard I see the doorknob twist and the door cracks open, an inch at first, before pushing open completely in one fast swoop. The imagine of my father stands in the doorframe. His eyes dart around the room before landing on me. He steps one foot into my room and stops.

"We're going to the store." He grunts. "You're driving." His arm moves and keys are thrown at me. It's a good thing I have good reflexes or his set of keys would be smashing into my left eye.

I take in a deep breath and remove my World History textbook from my lap and set it on bed next to me.

"Hurry up." My dad mumbles and turns away from me. He starts down the short hallway. I sigh and push myself up from the bed to follow him.

The drive to the store is a rather short one. The whole trip can't take more than five minutes but it's a silent drive. My dad doesn't say anything and never do I. I pull into the parking lot and put the truck into park. My dad grunts as he pushes the passengers side door open and slides out of the truck.

I follow behind him into the grocery store. It's not too busy thankfully. I hate having to weave up and down the aisles trying to avoid carts and people. I get a shopping cart not knowing what we are getting but wanting to be prepared. My dad's about twenty feet in front of me as we enter the store. I hurry to catch up to him before I lose him and end up roaming each aisle to locate him.

It's a short trip through the store but I definitely needed the cart. A few people mill about the front of the store as I pull the cart up to the checkout behind my dad. I watch him shove his hands into his pockets as we wait for the customer in front of us to finish paying for their groceries. Looks like I'll be the one doing all the work here and unloading our shopping cart items onto the belt. I don't really know if our items count as groceries though.

I bend over the shopping cart to retrieve the first few items. When I straighten up something flashes across my eyes. Something blonde. I stop and scan the area. Sure enough the blonde cheerleader from my first day of school is standing about ten feet away from me with two checkouts separating us.

I can't believe this is happening right now. Not now. Not here. Not with my dad at the grocery store. Everything was going so well.

The blonde walks by the checkout. "Hey, Tony." She calls out. The cashier at our checkout turns from his work, says hey to the blonde, and nods at her.

I look from the cashier to Brittany. She comes around the end of the checkout aisle and she's only a few feet from me now. Her eyes glance from me to the shopping cart. I glance at the cart too and remember the items that are inside. Dread fills my body at the thought that Brittany can see the items too.

Two cases of beer and ten tv dinners. That's it. That's all that's in the shopping cart.

I brave a look in Brittany's direction. The blonde nods at me and then walks away in the opposite direction.

"Let's go, Santana." My dad snaps me out of my inner turmoil. I reach down and finish emptying the cart. I stand there numb as I try to push past the fact that I saw the cheerleader in the grocery store. That she saw me. That's grounds for enough ridicule right there but than add to it the items that my dad is purchasing. The whole school will probably here about this by Monday. How the new girl was spotted shopping with her daddy. And how the only two things they were buying were beer and cheap tv dinners.

Starting the school day on Monday I thought I would hear whispers of the new girl and that she was spotted shopping with her dad but I didn't hear a thing. Maybe everyone is just doing a good job of keeping the gossip away from me.

The day goes smoothly until Chemistry class. Which isn't very long cuz Chemistry is third period. The seat to my right sits vacant until a blonde cheerleader slides into it. Where she came from I'm not really sure. Behind me and to my left but I'm in the last row so mostly just from my left. One second the seat was empty the next the cheerleader was sitting in it.

I glance over at the girl fearing the questions that might come from her lips. About seeing me at the grocery store on Saturday. About the man I was with. About the items we were purchasing.

"Good morning. How was your weekend?" The blonde cheerleader asks instead.

Her words shocks me a little. It's not at all what I thought was gonna come from her mouth. I lean back in my chair and narrow my eyes at her. The blonde isn't looking at me though. It's almost as if she didn't even speak to me. She's, instead, taking her books out of her backpack.

"Fine." I answer her question quietly, skeptically.

She's still taking things from her backpack. A pen. An eraser. "Was that your dad?" Brittany fires back without looking in my direction.

What the hell? "Yeah." I tell her. I don't want to reveal too much. I'm sure she figured that the man I was with was my dad but maybe not. I don't want her to know anymore than that. I feel like it's already too much that she saw my dad and can now identify him.

The bell rings.

Saved by the bell. I don't have to discuss my father or the trip to the grocery store with Brittany anymore. Mr. Channing starts talking and I focus in on him.

The cheerleader leaves me alone during class. She doesn't try to pass me any notes. She doesn't try to talk to me. She doesn't do anything but sit there. She doesn't even take notes as Mr. Channing talks. I'm starting to wonder how this girl manages to pass her classes without doing any work. Is she super smart and remembers everything just by listening? Or could the blonde not have a care in the world and won't pass her classes? I suppose either is a possibility at this point. I don't really know her well enough and we aren't far enough into the school year to have any exams or papers were I could see what kind of grades she gets.

When the bell rings, signaling the end of class, I start packing up my things.

"See you in American Lit." Brittany says at my side. I look up to see her rising from her chair, her backpack already packed. She waves to someone at the front of the room and jogs over to them. One of Brittany's friends probably. They walk out of the room side by side. I return to my things and gather them up quickly before I'm late for my next class.

The blonde cheerleader shows up as promised in American Lit. Brittany takes the desk directly behind the one I'm sitting in. A nervousness, or maybe it's anxiety, rings through my body immediately. There's something about the blonde sitting directly behind me that is unsettling.

"You ever gonna tell me your name, New Girl?" The blonde whispers into my left ear just as the bell rings to start class.

I don't respond. I can't. Not that I want to anyway. Every muscle in my body is frozen. Brittany's words linger in my brain.

"Alright, class turn to page 34 of your books and we'll begin." Ms. Turner's voice rings throughout the room. She's a short woman, stout, but has the voice of a giant.

I shake my head to try and clear my thoughts. It's gonna be a long period with the blonde sitting right behind me. I know, without knowing Brittany all that well, that anything could happen.

The class goes on and Brittany doesn't once do something to make a scene or even get my attention. I'm uneasy at the thought because she could still have anything up her sleeve.

When class end I start packing up my books without a second thought. I'm just waiting for the blonde cheerleader to say or do something. Maybe she'll tell the students around us about the grocery store or maybe she'll knock something off my desk and laugh at me.

I'm zipping my backpack when I see her. Brittany comes from behind me and stands right next to my desk, blocking it so I can't get up. I wait for whatever is coming.

"I don't bite." The blonde pauses. "Well, unless you want me to. But, I'm not a vampire."

I finally look up. Blue eyes are looking down at me. What did she just say? "What?" I ask with a slight shake of the head.

"Listen, I understand. You're new. That's scary and you don't trust anyone here. I don't blame you." The blonde shrugs. "Heck, if it were me, I wouldn't trust anyone in this hell hole either."

I furrow my brow at her. "I'm not scared." For some reason I feel like I need to defend myself. I cross my arms over my chest and stare Brittany down.

She completely ignores what I say. "I just wanna know your name." Brittany says. There's something desperate about the way she says it. It almost sounds like a plea.

"Why?"

"Because I like you." She says looking down at her shoes suddenly.

"You don't even know me, you can't like me." I counter. Who is this girl? Seriously. "Now let me get up." I demand.

Brittany takes a step backwards, leaving enough room for me to stand up from my desk.

"Please?" The cheerleader asks as soon as I'm standing. Her hands fiddle with the flaps of her Cheerios skirt. We stand only inches apart. "Tell me your name." Brittany says looking straight into my eyes. Her voice is so small.

A scoff leaves my mouth and I roll my eyes. This is unbelievable. "Couldn't you find out yourself seeing as you know everyone at this damn school. Ask someone. Ask a teacher or something." I reach for my backpack. Once I have the strap in my hand I push passed Brittany. I really don't want to deal with her or her bullshit.

"I could but…" Brittany starts but stops as I start to walk away from her.

I get to the door with every intention of leaving the blonde in my dust. But I stop for reasons I can't figure out and turn to look over my shoulder. Brittany stands in the same spot that I left her, looking down at the floor. "But what?" I ask quietly.

Brittany slowly raises her head. She's biting her bottom lip between her teeth. Her eyes light up a little when she sees me still standing in the room. "But… I want you to tell me. I wanna hear it from you." Brittany admits.

The blonde looks super unsure of herself right now. And I'm super unsure of what's happen right now. With her, with me, with everything. I take a deep breath and just think for a little bit. I watch Brittany. There's just something about her that I can't put my finger on. There's something about her that I've never seen before in another human being but I can't figure out what exactly it is. Her body language screams at me. I don't know how to read the girl but I know that not telling her my name will be devastating for her.

"It's Santana. Santana Lopez."

The blonde stops chewing on her lip and smiles. It's not like any smile I've ever seen before. Brittany's smile is full on, bright, genuine, happy, pure. Her cheeks pull back, her teeth shimmer white, and her nose even wrinkles a little. It's probably the biggest smile I've ever seen.

"Okay." She speaks. I pull my eyes from her smile to her eyes. Even Brittany's eyes are smiling. It's like I've just giving her 10 million dollars. She seems so happy and simply because I told her my name.

"Have a good rest of your day, Santana." Brittany tells me. I can sense that she is excited to finally get to say my name. It's the dumbest thing but she's happy about it for reasons I'll probably never understand.

I nod and turn my back to her. I go to take a step to leave but something catches and I stumble forward. I reach with my right hand and brace myself against the door frame. When I catch my balance, I step away from the classroom trying my best not to look like I just tripped over my own feet.

I hurry to my locker and then out of the school.

Homework is suppose to be the first and most important thing on my mind at the moment but a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, cheerleader keeps creeping into my thoughts. Actually, my thoughts are probably more about the blonde than my homework. I'll have two or three thoughts about the blonde and one about my homework, and so on.

It's just that Brittany looked so sad that I was going to leave without telling her my name. Ultimately, I think that's why I turned around. That's why I stayed and told her my name. It's seems so insignificant to me. A name. But to Brittany it seemed like everything. So I had to. I just had to tell her my name.

I've thought about it but I can't figure out why Brittany wanted to know my name so bad. Or better yet why she wants anything to do with me. Brittany's a popular cheerleader with tons of friends. Even by the blonde's own words, she knows everyone in the school. What in the world could she want with me. As far as I know she didn't blab to anyone about our encounter at the grocery store on Saturday. If she doesn't want to bully or make fun of me, what in the world could she want and why is my name so important?

A crashing sound makes me jump. My whole body freezes as I listen for more sounds. The thoughts of Brittany are mostly forgotten now as I here muffed expletives coming from somewhere in the house. I sigh and get up from my bed. Walking down the hallway I can here my dad mumbling to himself. His in the kitchen, standing at the counter. There is a broken glass scattered all over the kitchen floor. I look around the room. The microwave is running. That's when I realize he is waiting for his food. Whether he is ignoring the glass on the floor or has forgotten about it is unknown.

"What happened?" I ask, curious.

My father glances over his shoulder to look at me. It takes a few second for his eyes to focus on me. He blinks a few times and points to the floor. Then he shrugs and turns back to check on his food in the microwave.

"Clean that up, Santana." He pushes the button to open the microwave door and takes his tv dinner out. "I'll be in the living room." He mumbles as he brushes passed me. He completely disregards the broken shards of glass as he walks across them.

I shake my head and sigh. Where else would he be other then in his recliner in the living room?

I tiptoe around the broken glass with my sock covered feet. Grabbing the broom and dust pan from the closet I get to work on the glass. It only takes a couple minutes to clean up the glass and I return the broom and dust pan to their home. I rinse my hands in the kitchen sink and then return to my bedroom.