Santana's first period class was boring and she hated her pre-calculus teacher for giving them this much work. Doesn't he know that the first day of school shouldn't include homework?
Finally, the bell rang and Santana headed to the study hall. She walked in and took a seat at the back of the empty classroom. Shortly before the bell rang, he rolled in. Artie was the other student in study hall. He situated himself at the front. Santana admired how effortlessly he made maneuvering the wheelchair look. As a dancer, she appreciated his fluid movement. He turned in his seat and waved to Santana before turning to his books.
"Ok…well this is a small class." Miss Pillsbury said as she walked in. She was their teacher for the class. "Santana, why don't you move forward?" The counselor suggested as she stood in front of the free desk next to Artie. Santana obliged.
"Miss P," Artie started. "I don't think you should waste your time watching over us when students might need your counseling. You know that we won't cause any trouble."
"I agree with you Artie, plus I know Mr. Schuester and Sue run a tight ship, so you two know better than to misbehave." Emma said as she fidgeted with her fingers obsessively. "You know where my office is if you need me." She added before leaving.
"Impressive." Santana said. "You got her to leave."
"Well, it's the truth." Artie said with a smile as he turned his attention to his book.
"Why are you here?" She asked while flipping through her textbook to get to the right page.
"Gym class." He said.
"I figured…" Santana said, instantly regretting how she said it. The truth is that she knew why he was in study hall but asked just to break the ice. The two of them never really talked, even in glee club they weren't that close.
"My physiotherapy counts as my gym credit." He explained.
"Oh ok. They already gave me my language credit for Spanish so they threw me into this." She added as she opened her math text book. She only had one class so far so she might as well start on the homework.
"Pre-cal with Johnson?" He asked and she nodded. "Good luck." He smiled.
"It's only the first class and I'm already lost." Santana sighed. She was unsure why she admitted that to Artie. She isn't one to easily admit defeat, but there was something disarming about Artie's smile that made her feel comfortable telling him the truth.
"I took it with him last year. Do you need help?" He added as he leaned over.
"Yeah, what the hell am I supposed to do with this?" She pointed to the question.
"You're supposed to find the limits of the curve." He said so casually as if it was something he mastered. Santana just looked at him with a blank expression.
"Limits? In elementary school they taught us that numbers don't have limits." Santana quipped dryly.
"That's kind of funny, in a philosophical sort of way." Artie replied with a little laugh as he adjusted his glasses. No one really called Santana 'funny' when 'bitchy' was always the adjective of choice among the student body. They spent the remainder of the time working through Santana's homework.
"And that's it!" Santana smiled as she closed her textbook.
"See, it wasn't so bad."
"Thanks, you were a great tutor." She smiled, making him slightly uncomfortable. Artie was a typical guy so he was fully aware of how hot Santana is. He blushed a little bit. "So why did you and Tina break up?" She asked bluntly.
Artie looked at her, not sure how to answer. He nervously played with the top button of his shirt. Santana didn't know why he always buttoned the shirt the whole way up. She became uncomfortable imagining how suffocating it must feel and found herself taking deeper breaths. The more she thought about it, the heavier her silver pendant felt. She instinctively started playing with her necklace to move it further away from her throat so she could breathe easier. She noticed how ridiculous it was after realizing that her delicate necklace had the weight of a feather.
"I'm sorry," Santana started after regaining her focus. "You don't have to answer."
"I figure you found out about Tina and Puck." He stated and she nodded. "I broke up with her before I went on vacation with my family. I think we kind of grew apart over the first few weeks of summer."
"And you're ok with her dating Puck?" She glanced over at him, expecting him to be mad she's dating someone else. He simply shrugged. "You're not pissed about it?"
"Not really. I mean it's still weird seeing her with someone else but it'll be weird regardless of its Puck or any other guy. Seeing your ex with anyone else is always weird- you would know." Artie explained and she hummed in agreement.
"I just assumed you and Tina were some sort of epic high school romance." Santana stated.
"Epic high school romance? Wow…" Artie chuckled. "That's a very dramatic way of putting it. You sound like Rachel."
Santana laughed and hit his arm playfully. "I was just surprised you two broke up and moved on."
"Well, Tina and Puck are still my friends. Puck talked to me about it before asking Tina out so if they're happy…"
"Wow, Artie." Santana smiled. "You're like the bigger man in all of this. That's kind of hot." She said casually causing Artie's whole head to turn red.
"Can I just say something?" Artie started as Santana turned to him to indicate she was listening. "I know you always hated when Puck moved on but don't take it out on Tina. She's one of my best friends and I don't want you to…"
Clearly annoyed, Santana cut him off. "I'm not going to pick a fight with her." She rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, I have more important things to worry about." Santana snapped back as the bell rang.
"Ok…" Artie let out softly, confused at how Santana went from being somewhat nice to snarky so quickly.
Santana had already packed her things and was halfway out of the room when she turned around.
"You're not the only one who can be the bigger person and have some sort of personal growth." She defended before walking out of the class.
Santana had to have the last word, even if it wasn't an honest one. She would be lying if she said she hadn't spent a better part of the first period planning ways of sabotaging the couple dubbed Pina? Tuck? Tuckzilla?
She considered what Artie had said and wondered if he was honest with her. Could he really be ok with Tina moving on with Puck? If he could be happy for Tina, then why can't she be happy for Puck? Santana was competitive about everything and if anyone is going to be the bigger person, then it would have to be her.
She was always open to trying a different approach. As much as she disliked the odd pairing, there was no need for her to get involved in Puck and Tina's relationship. She knew Puck and she knew she could just sit back and watch him screw up his own relationships (like he always does) and then come back to her (like he always does). Santana was content with her new plan of not actually having a plan.
AN: This was initially part of chapter 1, but I decided to break it up. R&R!
