A/N: Sorry for the wait in updates. Took a last minute trip and was offline for many days. Also wow, did not expect there to be such a divide when it came to Quinn. Come on, she's nice. ;-)
Brittany sat at her desk at home and stared at her computer screen. She was sure the blinking line on her newly opened Word document was mocking her.
You. *blink* Will. *blink* Fail. *blink*
For most of the semester Professor David Maritnez had only assigned the class to write one or two page papers, which Brittany could handle. She had known this big English paper was coming since the first day of class when she had read it on the syllabus. This big paper was only the first of three she had to write for the semester. Brittany knew she was screwed.
She had designed her academic calendar in such a way that she only took the English classes she absolutely needed to graduate. Nothing more. This literature class was one she should have taken her sophomore year, but she had put it off. But there was no more putting it off. She needed to pass this class to get her diploma. Mercedes had been amazing in helping her but Brittany was starting to feel guilty that she was taking up too much of her time when Mercedes herself had just as much work.
"Ugh!" Brittany groaned and slammed the lid of her laptop shut. She still had a week before the paper was due. She still had time.
Professor Maritnez had suggested she get a tutor and had given her the number of someone named Finn Hudson. She let out a breath and picked up her phone. She needed help.
"Hello," the guy over the phone said.
"Umm, hi," Brittany hated that even talking on the phone to someone she didn't know made her a bit nervous, "Is this Finn Hudson?"
"That's me," Finn said, "Who is this?"
"Oh, umm, I'm Brittany. Brittany S. Pierce. I'm, uh, wondering if you're doing any tutoring right now? Professor Martinez gave me your number."
"Oh sweet!" Finn said, sounding excited, "Yeah, I can tutor you. American Lit, right?"
"Yup," Brittany said relived that Finn sounded like a nice guy, "I have to write a 10 page paper and I'm so lost."
"No worries," Finn said with a laugh, "I can help. What's your paper about?"
"Well," Brittany said, "Maritnez had us choose a book and I chose 'Animal Farm' cause I thought it was about animals. But apparently it's not, even though all the characters are animals."
Brittany was sure she sounded like an idiot and hearing Finn chuckle on the other end of the phone only confirmed her suspicion.
"Easy enough," Finn said, "That's one of the classics and not hard at all."
Again, Brittany felt like an idiot.
"OK, good," was all Brittany could say, "Can we meet later?"
"Let me check," Finn said. Brittany heard some noises in the background. "Sure," he said, "Five? At The Bean?"
"Sure," Brittany said.
"Great," Finn said, "So, it's $20 per hour."
"OK," Brittany said letting out a breath. She already knew this tutoring was going to be expensive.
"Awesome! See you tonight."
Brittany hung up, picked up her bag and left for school.
###
Santana looked at the unopened envelope in her hand and let out a breath. She and Tina sat in their usual middle table at The Bean having lunch before Santana had to get ready for the filming of the cheer video. She had stopped by her mailbox on the way to meet Tina on the off chance the mail had arrived. When she opened her box, she had found the lone letter.
"Are you going to open that or what?" Tina asked.
They had ordered food and were halfway done when Santana had shown Tina the letter. She knew she was being silly but she couldn't bring herself to open it just yet.
"It's so thin," Santana said, worried, "Thin letters are usually rejection letters."
"Open it!" Tina said, now frustrated.
"But what if..."
Santana didn't finish her sentence because Tina grabbed the letter from Santana's hand and opened it.
"Tina!" Santana protested.
Tina took the letter out, unfolded it and began to read.
"'Dear Ms. Lopez. Thank you for submitting your short stories to the American Literature Review. We are pleased to inform you that your two short stories, 'The Little Liar' and 'Wondering Heart' will be published in our May issue...' YES!," Tina almost shouted, "I told you you'd get published. This is awesome!"
"Oh my God," Santana said softly. She wanted to jump up and scream from excitement. This was huge. She would be a published author. Santana rarely let herself feel proud of her work, but this was not a time to be humble. This was amazing.
"I told you!" Tina said getting up and going to Santana to give her a hug, "My friend is a published author!"
Santana was still shocked but managed to hug Tina back, "Holly shit!," she said, "I have to...I have to call my parents. Tell Schuester."
She snatched the letter from Tina's hand and got up, "I'll see you later."
Santana grabbed her stuff and headed out the door. The last thing she heard was Tina yelling at her that she forgot to pay for her food.
###
Brittany finished packing up the equipment she would need for the shoot this afternoon. Santana hadn't called so she figured everything was still all set. She hadn't seen Santana or her group of friends since their run in at Breadstix and she was glad for that. She liked Sugar, but Puck and Kate were not really people she wanted to hang out with. Then there was Santana who seemed to be nice when they were alone but got grumpy when they were with other people. She hated to think how grumpy Santana would get this afternoon when the whole squad would be there.
Does her grumpiness get worse the more people are around, she wondered.
"You all set?"
Brittany looked up at the door and saw Quinn standing there with a smile that made Brittany relax.
"All set," Brittany said, "Are you ready?"
"I am," Quinn said coming into the room, "How many cameras are we taking?"
"Two," Brittany said, "This is Santana's only day to film so I figured you and I could film her at different angles while I interview her. The less takes she does the better."
"Good idea," Quinn said, "She's not exactly Miss Personality."
"She's not that bad," Brittany said, somehow feeling the need to defend the cheerleader, "Sometimes she's nice."
"Maybe she is," Quinn said shrugging her shoulders, "But from what I've seen, it's just best if we finish with her as soon as possible."
"Yeah," Brittany agreed, "That's what she wants too."
Brittany handed Quinn her camera and picked up her own.
"Mike is meeting us out front," Brittany went on.
"Mike Chang, make up guy" Quinn stated. Every time Brittany had introduced Quinn to one of her friends, Quinn had tried to associate their name with their major to help her remember who they were.
"That's right."
"Cool," Quinn said, "So hey, umm, I had a good time last night."
"Me too," Brittany said with a smile, "Mercedes totally loved you."
"I loved her too," Quinn said, "She's awesome. So, I know we just hung out last night, but do you want to have dinner or something after the shoot?"
"That'd be great but Mercedes has class..."
"Oh, actually I meant just you and me," Quinn said shyly, "Kind of like a celebratory dinner for our first project together."
Brittany really wanted to say yes. Spending time with Quinn was quickly becoming one of her favorite things to do. "I would totally love to," Brittany said, "But I can't."
"Oh OK," Quinn said shaking her head, "It's last minute. You probably have plans with Jesse, right?"
"No, no," Brittany quickly said not sure why she felt the need to make it clear she wasn't seeing her boyfriend later, "I hired a tutor for my English class and I'm meeting him after the shoot."
"Ah, OK," Quinn said sounding almost relived, "Your paper is due soon, right?"
"Yeah," Brittany said sadly, "I haven't even started. I'm hoping this Finn guy can help me."
"You know," Quinn said stepping closer, "I'm not much of an English scholar but I did get an 'A' in my American Lit class. Maybe I can help you."
Brittany hated when people got too close, it made her feel uncomfortable. However, when Quinn did it, she actually liked it. Brittany looked into Quinn's eyes and was struck again at how pretty they were. She also saw something else she couldn't put her finger on.
She really would love to have Quinn as a tutor and spend more time with her, but she hated the idea that Quinn would see just how dumb she was when it came to this class.
"It's OK," Brittany said with a smile, "I already told this guy to meet me. Besides, you're going to be busy."
"Am I?" Quinn asked with a small laugh, "What am I doing?"
"You're going to come back here and start editing this footage," Brittany said with a wink and began walking to the door.
"You're a mean boss, Brittany," Quinn teased and followed close behind. "Oh by the way," Quinn went on, "Santana's girlfriend called me to make an appointment with you."
Brittany felt like her stomach dropped at being reminded about Kate. It was silly but she couldn't help it. She really, really needed to get over this crush on Santana. It wasn't healthy. She knew Santana had a girlfriend, knew the two of them were perfect for each other and knew that Santana would never waste her time with a film geek who hated a subject she loved. Just as she knew that if she met any of her celebrity crushes, none would give her the time of day.
"Brittany?"
"Oh right," Brittany said snapping out of her thoughts. They continued to walk down the hallway to the exit, "Um, yeah, I guess I can do it."
"You don't have to you know," Quinn said, "You should concentrate on your school work and not the demands of some would be actress."
"I know," Brittany said, "But she did say that'd she'd pay me. And I could use the extra cash."
"Are you sure?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah," Brittany said letting out a breath, "I'm sure."
This was actually great timing, Brittany thought. She'd be able to pay for her tutoring lessons with the money she'd get from Kate Dawson.
###
Santana felt like she was on top of the world. She hadn't been in this good a mood in ages. Actually, she really couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy. She had called her parents and, true to form, they had already pre-ordered about a hundred copies of the American Literature Review. Santana suspected that her mom had probably called the whole family by now.
She walked on to the field and saw that the whole squad was already in uniform and waiting for further instructions. She also saw Sue sitting in a director's chair while Kurt put makeup on her.
If she wasn't in such a good mood, Santana would have rolled her eyes.
"Hello everyone," Santana said with a big smile on her face.
"Well, well," Sue said waving Kurt away, "If it isn't J.K. Rowling. Heard about your little stories. Congratulations."
"What? How?" Santana asked, shocked, "I just opened the letter less than an hour ago."
"You told Schuester," Sue said, "That blabbermouth sent out a mass email to all your teachers."
"Your stories were published?" Kurt asked excited.
"Yes!" Santana said proudly. Kurt squealed and almost tackled Santana to the ground when he hugged her.
"Listen Santana," Sue said seriously, "I don't say this often, but I'm very proud of you. You're a gifted writer and I know you'll be successful."
Santana and Kurt parted and just stared at Sue. Never in all the years Santana had known her had she sounded so sincere. Santana almost expected Sue to tell her she was kidding. Even Kurt looked shocked.
"I am capable of being human, you know?" Sue said. She quickly cleared her throat, "Anyway, where the hell is this film crew?"
"Thank you," Santana said once the shock wore off. She shook her head and took out her phone. "Let me call Brittany and ask her when she'll be here."
Kurt gave Santana an amused look and walked away to check on the squad. Sue didn't wait to find out where Brittany was, instead she followed Kurt.
Santana looked for Brittany's number and clicked on her name. She heard a ring, but not through the phone. She looked up and saw Brittany, Quinn and an Asian guy walking towards her. She hung up and waited for them to get near.
Brittany didn't answer her phone. As soon as she saw that Santana had seen her she figured she didn't have to answer it. She just hoped that didn't make Santana mand but the closer Brittany got to Santana, the clearer she could see a big smile on Santana's face.
That's weird, Brittany thought.
"Hey Brittany!" Santana said looking at her. Her smile faltered a bit when she looked at Quinn, "Quinn," Quinn just nodded. Santana then turned to the guy, "Guy I never met."
"Oh," Brittany said, "Santana, this is Mike Chang. He's going to be doing the make up."
"Hey," Mike said.
"Make up, huh?" Santana asked, almost teasing.
"I'm more of a special effects make up guy," Mike said, "But I owe Britt a favor."
"Actually, you might need to do some special effects to make Sue look good on camera," Santana joked.
Mike laughed while Brittany and Quinn were surprised at Santana being playful. Brittany was starting to wonder if Santana had that multiple personality disorder thing she saw a lot on Law & Order.
"Well," Quinn said, "We should get started."
"Right," Brittany said. She turned to Mike, "Can you touch up the girls? I mean they're already really pretty so they probably won't need much."
"It will be my pleasure," Mike said with a sly smile and walked over to the squad.
"Hmm," Santana said with a smirk, "Maybe he agreed to help you out because he'd be surrounded by girls and not to pay a favor."
"Probably," Brittany said with a smile. Brittany hoped this version of Santana stayed the rest of the shoot.
"Well, well," Kurt almost sang when he approached the three women, "If it isn't the famous Brittany S. Pierce."
"Oh, uh, yeah," Brittany said, "Oh wait, I know you. You volunteered at the pet fair with Santana."
"That's me," Kurt said, "We didn't get a proper introduction. I'm Kurt Hummel. Animal lover, assistant to the squad and lover of all things fashion."
"Oh brother," Santana said rolling her eyes.
"Hi Kurt," Brittany said with a chuckle. She already liked him, "Or should I call you Porcelain?"
Santana let out a hearty laugh, causing Brittany to smile.
"Please don't," Kurt said, "I'm hoping that nickname dies once I graduate."
"OK, got it," Brittany said. She turned to Quinn, "This is Quinn Fabray. She's working in the film department this semester."
"Nice to meet you Quinn," Kurt said, "And may I say, your fashion sense is excellent."
"Thanks," Quinn said with a light chuckle, "It's nice to meet you too."
"Doesn't she dress great?" Brittany asked looking at Quinn, "She always looks fancy even when she's wearing casual clothes."
"Alright, stop," Quinn said, looking embarrassed.
"It's true," Brittany said with a laugh.
Santana didn't see it. This Quinn girl was just wearing some dress that looked like something a hipster would wear at the reading of a poetry jam. Nothing special. Santana couldn't understand why Brittany always seemed to be flirting with this girl when she still had a boyfriend. Or maybe she didn't anymore. Santana inwardly groaned. This was not her business.
"ARE WE DOING THIS OR NOT?" Sue yelled from the spot where the squad was getting their makeup applied by Mike.
"The monster has woken," Kurt said in a deep voice, "I'll go try and tame her." He turned to leave.
"Yeah, we should get started," Brittany said, "Quinn can you go and tell the squad what we're doing and I'll tell Santana?"
Santana saw Quinn give her a quick look before agreeing and gladly watched Quinn leave.
"So what are we doing?" Santana asked Brittany with a genuine smile.
Brittany had seen Santana's smile a lot on posters and TV but it looked totally different in person. It was warmer, nicer.
"Well," Brittany began, "I'm going to shoot all your stuff first. I'll film your interview then have you do one or two routines with the squad. You'll be done before you know it."
"Thanks," Santana said, "I do appreciate you doing this for me. I mean, I probably messed up your film schedule or whatever you do. So thanks."
"You're welcome," Brittany said smiling, "I'm glad to do it. I'm just glad you're not being grumpy."
As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Brittany felt herself blush from embarrassment. She waited for Santana to get mad. But she didn't. Santana actually laughed.
"Grumpy?" Santana asked her laugh now just a smile, "You think I'm grumpy?"
"No, of course not," Brittany said in a high pitched voice, "You're not...not really."
"It's OK, Brittany," Santana said still smiling, "I guess I have been grumpy."
Brittany was feeling more at ease with Santana than she had ever been. She felt very bold all of a sudden, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
The sudden nervousness Santana felt surprised her, "Umm, sure."
"Do you...do you have like, multiple personality disorder?" Brittany asked seriously, "Or like, are you bi-polar?"
Out of all the personal questions she had been asked in the past, Santana had never been asked that. She was taken aback by such a random question. She looked at expression on Brittany's face for any trace that she was joking but Brittany looked dead serious. She was at a loss for words but not at a loss to laugh.
"Are you having an episode now?" Brittany asked in a soft voice, wondering if she should call 911 or something.
"No, no," Santana said trying to control her laughter. She hadn't laughed this much in a while, "I'm not bi-polar or have multiple personalities. I'm fine."
"If you say so," Brittany said not sure if she believed her.
Santana calmed her laughing and just looked at Brittany. The serious and confused expression on her face made her look very cute,
"I'm just," Santana began, "I'm just not a fan of being in the spotlight or resident celebrity and sometimes dealing with that turns me into a total bitch. And I'm not really a big fan of people in general."
Brittany had guessed right. Santana didn't like what she did.
"I get it," Brittany said, "I also figured you didn't like people all that much. I mean, when we're alone you seem really nice. But when it's a group you get all...mean."
Santana shook her head unable to stop smiling. This girl was a breath of fresh air and so different from other people she'd ever met and the idea of being mean to her was something she didn't want to do anymore.
"I'll be nicer," Santana said, "Believe it or not I'm actually in a fantastic mood this afternoon. Nothing can kill my buzz."
"You are?" Brittany asked, "Why?"
"Oh, I, it's nothing," Santana said suddenly feeling modest.
"What?" Brittany asked again. She really wanted to know what had Santana in such a good mood. Maybe it was something she could use to make the nice Santana stay.
"Well," Santana said, "Two of my short stories are being published in a literary magazine."
"No way!" Brittany said genuinely excited at the news, "That's awesome!"
Santana forced herself from jumping up with excitement, "It really is. I still can't believe it."
"It's no surprise," Brittany said, shrugging her shoulders, "You're like a big English genius around here."
"Hardly a genius," Santana said suddenly feeling embarrassed.
"You're a genius to me. I bet you never had to hire a tutor."
"No," Santana said, "Wait, do you need a tutor?"
Brittany wanted to kick herself. She had already felt embarrassed at telling this news to Quinn and now she was getting that same feeling mentioning it to Santana.
"Yeah," Brittany said shaking her head, "It's nothing."
"Tutor for what?" Santana asked.
"I...I have an English paper due soon," Brittany admitted, "And I haven't started. I just, I can't get started."
"What's the paper about?"
"We had to pick a book and write a 10 page paper on it," Brittany explained, "I picked 'Animal Farm' for my paper."
"Oh," Santana said, her eyes lighting up, "I love that book! It's a classic."
"That's what I hear," Brittany said sadly, "Umm, we should get started. I'm meeting my tutor at five at The Bean, so I need to film as much as possible before I have to go."
"Who's your tutor?" Santana asked. She only knew of a handful of English students who were tutoring and she felt like she should at least make sure Brittany had a decent one.
"Finn Hudson," Brittany said, "My teacher recommended him."
"Finn Hudson?" Santana asked in disbelief, "That idiot is tutoring now?"
"Is he not good?" Brittany asked now worried she had hired a bad tutor.
"He's OK," Santana said, "But..."
"LET'S GO!" Sue yelled again.
"We should go," Brittany said, "Come on. Let's get started before your coach bites my head or something."
Brittany walked away from Santana and forced herself to forget about her paper. She may not have a clue about the book about farm animals but she knew exactly what she was doing with this camera. For the next couple of hours she would be doing something she loved and knew very well.
Santana followed Brittany and sort of felt sorry for the girl for being stuck that idiot giant.
###
Brittany was surprised at how smoothly the whole shoot had gone. In the three hours they were there she and Quinn managed to get most of what they'd needed to complete the video. They did need to come back another day to do some more shots of the squad doing routines but for the most part, everything was done. Sue had given them footage from the past season's football games for them to use and a compilation of her favorite routines.
Brittany had thought dealing with Coach Sylvester would be a nightmare but she had learned early on that if she made Sue feel like the star, she was easy to deal with. Brittany had always been pretty good at reading people while she filmed them. She cold pick up on their strengths and insecurities and work it to get the best shot. It was just too bad she couldn't read people as easily in her every day life.
Filming Santana had been interesting. It was like she turned into a totally different person when the camera was on . Santana was playing a character and nothing could break her. Santana's TV persona was so well rehearsed and fleshed out that Brittany couldn't get the real Santana to come out on film. Brittany and Quinn didn't have to do many takes for Santana and had managed to film her stuff pretty quickly. When Brittany had told the cheerleader they didn't need her anymore, she expected her to leave, but she didn't. She had actually stayed to watch the rest of the shoot.
At about fifteen minutes to five, they had finished with everyone. Quinn was on her way to the editing studio to look over what they had filmed while Brittany walked across the quad on her way to The Bean for her tutoring lesson.
She really wished she were going with Quinn instead of meeting this Finn guy.
When she entered The Bean, Brittany suddenly realized she had no idea what this guy looked like. She scanned the room and spotted the only guy who was sitting alone. Maybe that's him, she thought and went to his table.
"Umm, excuse me?" Brittany asked, "Are you Finn?"
"Brittany?" Finn asked with a smile, "I am."
"Oh great," Brittany said with a small chuckle and sat down in front of him, "Have you been waiting long?"
"Nah," Finn said, "I just got here myself."
Brittany reached into her bag and took out her book and notepad, "OK, so," Brittany began, "I have a 10 page paper due next week and I read the book and I sort of get it but not really."
"Let me see how much you've written so far," Finn said.
Brittany had that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach she always got when she had told her teachers she hadn't done her homework, "I haven't."
"Nothing?" Finn asked surprised, "Not even an outline?"
Brittany shook her head.
"Wow, OK," Finn said, "I guess we're starting from scratch. It's still $20 an hour."
"Yeah, I know," Brittany said, already dreading the total she'd have to spend for tutoring.
"Let's get started," Finn said.
###
Santana walked across the campus knowing she should go home. Her mom had already left five messages about having a celebratory dinner with the family and there had also been an angry message from Kate. Kate was upset that she had to hear about Santana's good news from Tina and not from Santana directly. She should go home to sort everything out but that would have to wait.
She couldn't stop thinking about Finn Hudson being a tutor. That was quite possibly the funniest thing she had heard in a while. She had come across Finn a few times and the guy was a cocky bastard who thought he knew everything and what was best for everyone. Santana swore he had some sort of God complex. And now he was tutoring Brittany and that was not going to end well. Not for Brittany anyway. The way Brittany talked about her English class it seemed like she was very insecure about her ability to get through the class. Finn Hudson couldn't help her at all.
Santana knew she wanted to eventually become a professor and she had yet to even tutor anyone. She did have to be an assistant teacher to the local middle school one semester for a class but it wasn't the same. Santana wanted to teach adults, not kids. She needed practice teaching people over 12.
Brittany had kept her word and had finished filming Santana's segment for the video in about an hour. She wanted to return the favor.
She walked into The Bean and her eyes immediately fell on a table near the wall where Finn was talking to Brittany. Brittany had a look of utter confusion on her face.
Santana walked over to them but they didn't notice until Santana was right the table, "Good evening."
Brittany looked up and was sure her mouth fell open in utter shock at seeing Santana, "Hey. Was there a problem with the shoot?".
"Hey Santana," Finn said, "Here for some coffee?"
Santana gave Brittany a smile before turning her attention to Finn, "Actually, I'm here to tutor Brittany."
"What?" Brittany asked. Now she was really confused.
Finn let out an annoyed huff, "Get out of here Santana. I'm working."
"How much is he charging you Brittany?" Santana asked, ignoring Finn.
"Umm, tween..twenty dollars and hour," Brittany said still trying to process what was happening. Why would Santana want to waste her time tutoring her. Maybe this was a joke, she thought.
"Holy shit!" Santana almost shouted, "That's highway robbery! I have a better price for you."
"You do?" Brittany asked. She wished her heart would stop beating so fast.
"Damn it, Santana," Finn said now upset, "Brittany is my client. She already hired me, not you."
"I'll tutor you for free Brittany," Santana said looking at Finn and giving him her best smirk.
"Free?" Brittany asked, "Santana what are you doing?"
"Returning a favor," Santana said.
"Brittany, you hired me," Finn said a bit too sternly.
Brittany looked back and forth between the two. On the one hand, she liked the idea saving her money but hated that Santana would see just how clueless she was. On the other hand, she knew she wouldn't be as intimidated with Finn.
"I, uh," Brittany said looking at Finn, "I'm sorry. But free is way better than $20 an hour."
"You heard the lady," Santana said, "Beat it gigantor."
Finn got up and grabbed his books, "Thanks for making me waste part of my evening. I could have been tutoring someone else and actually made money."
"Calm yourself," Santana said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ten dollar bill she had and gave it to Finn, "Take it and stop your crying."
Finn angrily snatched the bill and walked away.
Santana sat down in the seat Finn had just vacated and reached over and took Brittany's book, "I'm getting so many flashback just looking at this cover."
"Were you serious about tutoring me?" Brittany asked, worried that Santana would change her mind or that that this really was some cruel joke.
"I am," Santana said.
"Why?" Brittany asked, "And what favor are you returning?"
Santana put the book back down, "The favor of you, and Quinn I guess, finishing filming me today. I am now free of all squad media duties. And when I heard that Finn Hudson was tutoring you, I just, I couldn't let anyone suffer going though that."
"Aren't you busy though?" Brittany asked, "I'm sure you have so much to do and not waste your time tutoring me and without getting paid! I mean you were serious about it being free right?"
"Yes," Santana said with a smile, "Listen Brittany, like I said, I'm returning a favor. But, I do need practice teaching people. My plan is to be a college professor. That's the career I want and I should get some practice in teaching. So I help you write this paper and you help me practice to be a teacher."
Brittany thought over what Santana said and figured it made sense. Santana wanted something out of this too. Brittany mentally kicked her self for having the split second thought that Santana wanted to do this just for her.
"OK," Brittany said, "I'll be your first student."
"Awesome," Santana said with a smile, "So first question. Why did you pick this book."
Brittany almost lied, "I thought it would be an easy, cute book about animals living in a farm."
Brittany waited for Santana to mock her, but she didn't.
"I thought the same thing," Santana admitted, "I had to read this in my 8th grade AP class and I thought we'd be reading a nice book about the adventures of all these farm animals. I mean, it is but I never thought it'd be so much more than that and so damn complicated."
Brittany immediately felt better. Maybe having Santana tutor her wouldn't be so bad.
"Let's get started," Santana said.
###
Two hours later Brittany understood more about the book than she ever had. Santana was patient and explained things in a way Brittany understood. Writing 10 pages on this book didn't seem so impossible now.
"You're going to be an amazing teacher," Brittany said as they both put their stuff away, "Thank you so much. For the first time ever I don't totally hate this subject."
Santana felt proud of herself and even found herself proud of Brittany. Brittany wasn't as clueless about this subject as she said, she just needed things explained in a certain way.
"You're a good student Britt," Santana said and noticed Brittany blush a bit.
Brittany wasn't sure what caused her face to feel so hot. Santana calling her by her nickname or calling her a good student, "Not so much. I just want to pass this class so I can get my diploma."
"Give yourself more credit," Santana encouraged, "You understand this better than you think."
"You sound like Holly."
"How?"
"She says I'm always doubting myself," Brittany said.
Brittany got up and placed her bag over her shoulder.
"She's right. And don't be too modest," Santana said also getting up, "If you're good at something. Own it."
"I'm good at making movies," Brittany said her eyes lighting up.
"I'm sure you are," Santana said, "I'll have to check out your movies."
Brittany took in a small breath. Santana wanting to see her movies was one of a thousand scenarios she had dreamed up in her head of how she'd finally meet Santana. In this scenario, Santana would come across her site, watch her movies and seek Brittany to film her in a commercial or something. They'd talk, get to know each other and Santana would ask her out. It was a stupid fantasy.
Now Santana wanted to see her movies, but it was not at all how she had imagined.
"I hope you like them," was all Brittany managed to say.
They began waking to the exit and for some reason Santana didn't want their tutoring session to end just yet, "Hey, coffee before we go?"
"If you want one sure," Brittany said, "I'll just go..."
"No, Britt," Santana interrupted her, "I meant we should both get a coffee before we go. Together."
Santana was finding this girl more and more endearing the more time she spent with her. Brittany was quirky, humble, nice and sweet. Traits Santana had not come across a lot in her life.
"Oh!" Brittany said understanding, "Umm, sure. I have a minute."
"You have to be somewhere?"
"I just wanted to stop by the editing room and see what Quinn was up to," Brittany said.
"Ah, right," Santana said feeling that tiny lump in her stomach every time Brittany mentioned Quinn. There was just something about that girl Santana didn't like.
"Could we take the coffee to go?" Brittany asked, hoping that was fine with Santana. Brittany figured it would be since she was sure Santana was really busy with stuff.
"Sure," Santana said ignoring the slight feeling of disappointment she thought she felt.
Brittany went to the counter and ordered two coffees and paid for them. She told Santana it was the least she could do for he since she was giving her free tutoring lessons. They took their coffees and headed out the door.
"Thanks again," Brittany said as they stood outside The Bean, "You really helped me and I'm pretty sure I can write at least five pages."
"You're welcome," Santana said, "Should we meet again? Get you to write those other five pages."
Brittany wasn't sure how she had gotten to this moment. A week and a half ago, Santana was nothing but a celebrity figure and now she was in front of her asking Brittany when they'd meet again. Even though for Santana it was just a way to practice her teaching, Brittany still felt a rush.
"For sure," Brittany said, "How about the day after tomorrow? I'll write up the first five pages and have you look at them."
"Sounds good," Santana said with a smile. She really should get going but her feet didn't seem to want to move.
"I'll call you," Brittany said, "Oh and tell Kate I'll type up some ideas for her video and maybe give it to her tomorrow. But have her call Quinn."
"Wait what?" Santana asked, "Are you doing her video?"
"Yeah," Brittany said, "She called Quinn and Quinn probably called her back already to set something up."
"Listen Britt," Santana said, "You don't have to do that video. Kate can just find someone else to do it. I'm sure you're really busy. And you have this paper to write."
"I'll manage," Brittany said. She had already agreed to do this for Kate and Brittany hated to backtrack on things she committed to do.
Santana suddenly got a mental picture of Kate bossing Brittany around and she didn't like it. Not one bit. Brittany was too nice to deal with someone with Kate's strong personality.
"Britt.."
"Have a good night Santana," Brittany said turning to leave, "I'll call you to set up the next session."
Santana wanted to say more but just told Brittany to have a good night.
-tbc-