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Sylvester's School For Girls

Chapter Three


Becky had learnt from a young age that she was different from everybody else. It took her a while to realize though, that being different was a good thing. Who wanted to be the same as everyone else? Just another sheep in the flock. She didn't.

She had adopted this new attitude when she started visiting a local community center that had a group that focused on people with Down Syndrome. It gave her a chance to meet people that were in the same situation as her, people that understood the things she was going through.

Becky met a lot of inspirational people that helped her accept that she was different and that being different was something to be proud of. It was at that community center where Becky met Sue Sylvester.

She had seen Sue around the center a few times and knew that she was there with her sister. It was hard not to notice a woman like Sue; she always has a presence around her that deemed the attention of everyone in the room.

One day when Becky was walking to the community center she was intercepted by a group of teenagers that went to her school. They called her some mean names, but Becky held her head high and fired back some of her own remarks before carrying on her journey inside of the community center.

That day Sue approached her, she had witness the exchange between Becky and the teenagers. The older woman was impressed with Becky's tenacity and went on to explain that she was the headmistress of a prestigious all girl school and offered Becky a place at Sylvester's School For Girls.

Becky was shocked at first; she had heard of Sylvester's School For Girls, most people in America had. It was known for providing the best education possible to any student that gained a place. She had always assumed that the students there were the intellectually gifted, but she was wrong.

Sue had explained to her that she gave every single person a chance at gaining a place at her school. She would read applications and interview each candidate personally. The students at the school ranged from great academics to students that have a troubled past, but the main thing for Becky was that there were also students that had learning difficulties or disabilities.

Sue had told her about a program they had that gives extra help to students that need it. There was even the option of one on one teaching that could benefit students that struggle.

After talking to her parents about it, they all agreed that this was a great opportunity for Becky. As hard as it was for her to leave her parents, it was the best decision Becky had ever made. Even though she was still different from all the other girls at the school, she felt like she had found her place.

A year after Becky had joined the school she started working as Sue's assistant on the weekends. Sue had told her that if Becky wanted it there would be a job for her at the school after she graduated and that she could start her training whilst she still studied.

It was another tough decision but she never felt more comfortable anywhere than she did at this school. It was another great opportunity and would mean that she would have her future secured. She accepted the offer and became Sue's part time assistant and in two years she would take the role permanently.

When she had asked Sue why she had done so much for her, the only reply she got was; "You remind me of a young Sue Sylvester."


Becky was sitting at her desk outside of Sue's office, classes had finished an hour ago and she had taken over from Mrs. Denver who was the receptionist during the day. She was busy working out Sue's schedule for the next day, that was one of her main duties and a big responsibility, something that Becky was grateful for. She was glad that Sue was entrusting her with something important, it showed the trust the older woman had in her.

Sue had taken a chance when she offered Becky a future at the school and Becky was determined to show her appreciation to Sue by doing an excellent job. She worked hard on her studies with the help of the tailor made schedule and the added help of her personal tutor Sue had provided her.

The office door opens causing Becky to raise her head, she's not surprised to see Santana Lopez enter the office since Sue had asked Becky to set an appointment up for this afternoon.

"Ms. Sylvester is waiting for you. You can go straight in" Becky plainly states, it wasn't her job to be polite.

Santana knocks on the headmistress' door and waits for a response. As she enters the office she finds Sue sitting at her desk, writing in a notebook. She doesn't even look up when Santana enters the room.

"Santana, sit."

Sue finishes whatever she was writing and finally looks at her student sitting across from her. Sue stares at Santana for a few seconds with a very distinct look that shows the headmistress is unimpressed.

"Santana at this school we have a standard, that standard is also carried onto the student's appearance. As you know here at Sylvester's School For Girls we wear a uniform. We wear a uniform to show unity, you wear the Sylvester badge on your chest which you are to respect. We have standards at this school and you are nowhere near them. Your skirt is far too short, you have so many buttons undone that I can practically see your chest and you're tie is far too loose. I want you to remove yourself from my office and fix your uniform so it follows my standards and then I want you to re-enter looking like the acceptable student that this school requires. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

"Then off you go" Sue says gesturing with her hand before looking back at her notebook.

Santana exits Sue's office, walks past Becky who completely ignores her and enters the closest bathroom.

She hates wearing a uniform, she had managed to accessorize the best she could but apparently Sue wasn't even going to allow her that little bit of freedom. The uniform consisted of a white shirt that was mostly hidden underneath a light grey V-neck sweater which is emblazed with the Sylvester crest. This was matched with a darker grey plaid skirt, white knee length socks and a black tie. At least she got to choose her own shoes, they had to be black but at least it gave her a little bit of individuality.

She unrolls her skirt a few times so that it hangs at what some people would consider an "acceptable" length. She tucks in the bottom of her shirt and buttons up the rest of her shirt buttons. Santana then unties her so call unacceptable tie so she can redo it, this time she makes sure that it fits snugly against her. She looks at herself in the mirror she doesn't look that bad, nobody really could pull off this look although her roommate did look pretty damn good when Santana saw her leave this morning.

Santana begrudgingly makes her way back to Sue's office, knocks on the door and waits for Sue to answer.

"Come in" Sue calls, prompting Santana to enter the office.

"Good, now you look liken an acceptable student that respects the high standard I set at this school. Sit." Sue instructs.

"Do you see that badge on your chest? That's the Sylvester's crest. The words in the banner underneath that say ''Insufficientia est non bene', that's Latin for 'Failure is not an option.' That is a motto that Sylvester's have lived by for hundreds of years and it's a motto we instill in every one of our students still to this day. The students at this school strive to be the best and we don't accept anything less. Just remember that Santana. Now since it's the end of your first school week, I just wanted to see how you've settled in."

"Everything's fine."

"That's all you're going to give me? How are your classes, are you coping alright?" Sue asks.

"It's a lot harder to skip classes than at my old school."

"I know you're being humorous, but understand Santana that there are no excuses for missing classes here, not even if you're at deaths door. I know what I expect of you academically and I always check to make sure that each student is meeting their expectations. If you're not then I will address the problem and help find you a solution.

"I've looked at your file for this week and I asked your teachers how you were settling in. The consensus was that you're doing well academically, but your attitude in class can improve. Just remember that you're not the only person trying to learn in the classroom and any distraction you cause, can affect other students too and stops them from learning. I'm hard on my students because they need to be pushed to get the best out of them. However, if you ever need anything I am always here. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Ms. Sylvester."

"Do you have any questions?" Sue asks.

"No, Ms. Sylvester."

"Good. Now get the hell out of my office."

Santana does what she's told and for the second time that afternoon she exits the principal's office. As soon she's far enough away from Sue's office she rolls up her skirt, unfastens the top two buttons on her shirt and loosens her tie.


Santana's first week at Sylvester's School For Girls hadn't been as bad as she was expecting it to be. The teachers were relatively nice and made learning a lot easier than at McKinley. Santana thinks it has something to do with the large wage packet they get at the end of every month, but she's not complaining; she's actually learning a lot more and is actually taking an interest in her education for once.

She hasn't managed to make any new friends as of yet, apart from the girls in her dorm and even then they hadn't had much chance to get to know one another. Santana had been kept busy by classes and school work so she is definitely looking forward to the weekend ahead.

Despite living ten feet from each other Santana had barely learnt anything about her roommate either, other than the fact that she talks a lot and gets up at a ridiculous time in the morning. She still had a hard time working out the other girls in her dorm too, but she's hoping that after tonight she'll get to know them a bit more.

Since it was nearing nine o'clock most of the girls were already in the common room of the dorm. Santana exits her bedroom and enters the common room and finds Brittany, Tina and Mercedes sitting on the couch.

"So what are we doing tonight?" Santana asks.

"It's movie night, every Friday night one of us picks a movie and we all watch it together."

"Who's picking tonight?"

"It's Rachel's turn" Tina explains.

"We're just waiting for her and Quinn to arrive" Mercedes adds as she enters the room with an armful of snacks.

"What did you do rob the store?" Santana teases as Mercedes drops the mountain of snacks onto the table.

"I'm not sure what snack I'm hungry for so I grabbed everything."

"I've got popcorn. San, you can share with me."

"Thanks Britt" Santana says taking a seat in the empty space next to Brittany.

Quinn finally enters the room, ten minutes after curfew. She's got a smile on her face and is hiding something behind her back.

"So since it's Santana's first weekend here, I thought we should have a welcome party" Quinn announces holding up a bottle of cheap vodka.

"What about Rachel?" Brittany asks.

"What about little ms. goody two shoes?"

"You really think she would let you drink alcohol in the dorm. She'll have you sent to Ms. Sylvester in a second" Mercedes says.

"Let her try. I don't give a fuck. You're in, right Santana?" Quinn asks.

"Hell yes."

Quinn unscrews the cap off the bottle of vodka and takes a long sip, wincing slightly as the alcohol burns her throat as she swallows it.

"So how's your first week been?" Quinn asks.

She takes another drink of the clear liquid before walking over to Santana and passing her the bottle. She then takes a seat in the space next to Mercedes.

"Shit. I feel like I'm always being monitored" Santana replies taking a quick drink.

"Big Brother is watching you. I'm surprised Sue hasn't started punishing us for thought crime" Tina laughs, only to get confused looks from her friends. Quinn takes this as an opportunity to take the bottle back from Santana and takes another drink.

"George Orwell? Nineteen Eighty Four? You people really need to read a book once in a while" Tina continues.

"Yes well not all of us are here because we have more intelligence than personality. Mercedes has neither and she's still here."

"Oh hell to the no. What did you just say?"

"Shut the fuck up and drink" Quinn says shoving the bottle at Mercedes.

Santana watches the exchange between Quinn and Mercedes with interest. Once Quinn passes Mercedes the bottle and she takes a sip, the argument seems to be forgotten.

"So what's the story with this school then?" Santana asks.

"It used to be a castle; it was commissioned by Henry Sylvester and was used as their family home for over..." Tina starts to explain before Santana cuts her off.

"I didn't want the history, I wanted gossip."

"Sometimes it can be a boring year, but every so often something will happen that gets the whole school talking" Quinn explains.

"Yeah like last month, Mr. Hume was fired for showing up to classes drunk" Tina adds.

"I heard he slept with a student" Brittany says.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Quinn asks the three girls looking her way.

"I didn't sleep with Mr. Hume."

"It does sounds like something you would do" Mercedes points out.

"I didn't sleep with Mr. Hume. I'm not that desperate" Quinn insists.

"You see Santana, Quinn is our resident hot mess. She's the typical holier than thou good girl, gone bad." Mercedes explains.

"Fuck you now give me back my alcohol" Quinn says, grabbing the bottle out of Mercedes hands.

"Are you like this all the time?" Santana asks.

"Yeah, we try not to take each other too seriously. We're the type of people that wouldn't usually cross paths, but since we share a dorm we had to find a way to get along" Quinn explains.

"Don't worry, you'll settle in pretty quick. Tina's nice to anyone and you can take it and dish it out as good as Quinn so you'll fit in here" Mercedes adds.

"What about Berry? What's she really like?" Santana asks.

"Rachel is face value. What you see, is what you get" Quinn explains.

"She looks like little ms. perfect and that's exactly what she is" Mercedes adds.

"So where is she now? I thought we had a curfew."

"She's in Ms. Sylvester's office. She said something about head girl duties" Brittany says.

"She's probably boring Sue to death with one of her long winded speeches. She creates a check list every week about what she wants to discuss with Sue" Mercedes explains.

"She should be here soon, but in the meantime I'm going to try and enjoy my alcohol" Quinn laughs.

As if Rachel could sense that there was something untoward going on, she enters the dorm just as Quinn takes a drink out of the vodka bottle.

"What's going on? Are you drinking alcohol?" Rachel asks.

"Of course not, alcohol is prohibited. That means we're not allowed it."

"Thank you Quinn, I know what prohibited means, but unfortunately for you I also know the meaning of lying."

"Why don't you learn some new words like fun?" Quinn shoots back.

"You know what? I think it's time we put on the movie and if I remember correctly it's my night to choose what we watch. You're about to find out that I do know the meaning of fun. Now, which Barbara movie do you hate the most?"

"Meet The Fockers" Brittany suggests.

"Nice try Brittany but I think I'll settle on Yentle."

"Again?"

"Yes Quinn, again. Aren't you having fun yet?"

"I should have drank more alcohol when I had the chance. I'll get you back when it's my turn to choose a movie. I'm thinking a very bloody, horror movie."

"You can't do that. You know I don't like horror movies" Rachel says.

"Well I don't like Barbara Streisand, but you're making me watch Yentle."

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. You don't choose a horror movie on your turn and I won't tell Sue about the alcohol."

"Add in not watching Yentle then we have a deal."

"Fine but only if we watch something staring Barbara."

"Meet The Fockers" Brittany shouts.

"Okay it looks like Brittany has spoken, that's our movie for tonight" Quinn says.

"When do I get to pick a movie?" Santana asks with a smirk.

"You can choose next week and then we'll start the circle again" Rachel says.

Rachel makes her way over to the couch and sits in the only spare seat next to Santana. It's only a small couch and since both Santana and Brittany were already sitting on it, it was a tight squeeze. That meant that Santana was sitting just inches from her roommate. She had never been this close to Rachel before, even though they shared a room, she remembers telling Puck that Rachel was hot, but being this close to the other girl makes Santana realize how beautiful Rachel actually is.

"Just to let you know, don't tell the others what movies you don't like because they will use it against you" Brittany whispers in Santana's ear, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Thanks for the advice Brittany."

"You're welcome."

The movie starts and even though Santana has only spent a week with the girls in her dorm, she already feels settled in her new school. They were a mixed bag of personalities; each one as dysfunctional as the next but then again it wasn't like Santana didn't have her own share of dysfunctional too.


A/N Apologies on the delay, I've been on holiday.