The only word to describe the car ride to the party is awkward. Squeezed between Brittany on one side, Quinn on the other and my mum driving so I can drink as much as I like. My mum is great compared to my friends' mums but she still has this habit of constantly embarrassing me, she doesn't mean to but after what just happened with Brittany it is the last thing I need.
"So Brittany honey, have you got your eyes on any boys at McKinley?" Mum asks, glancing in the rear view mirror.
"Umm not really" Brittany laughs. "I've met a couple guys at school but no one really special." she adds, giving me a soft and innocent glance.
"Mama must you do this? You don't need to give all my friends the third freaking degree all the time." I say before she has a chance to respond.
"Mija just because you're so closed off doesn't mean everyone else is. That's our Tana, Brittany, she never tells us anything, she could have a boyfriend right now and we wouldn't even know about It." she directs to Brittany who responds with a polite laugh. "I'm not that old you know you can talk to me about these types of things." she adds glancing back at me.
"Yeah San, why do you never tell your lovely mum about all your special guy friends?" Quinn chimes in, nudging me with her elbow and winking, the vodka she insisted on downing before we left clearly going to her head.
"Can we just change the subject like right now? I am so not in the mood for this shit." I announce with a stern look.
"Now baby there's no need to get defensive." My mum calmly responds.
"I am not defensive! I just don't understand the need for everyone to be so involved in MY private life. When I meet somebody special I'll introduce you to them, but until then just chill and get the hell off my back." I yell as quickly as humanly possible.
An awkward silence ensues that is broken when mama finally quietly says "I just want you to be happy baby."
"I know mama but I don't need some guy to make me happy..."
"I know sweetie, you're an independent young woman and me and your papa couldn't be more proud." she replies with a smile as we drive up to the entrance of Justin's house.
I lean forward and kiss her goodbye before adding "I love you mama." in which she replies "Love you too baby girl, now you girls have a good night and behave yourselves."
"We will!" is the unanimous harmonious reply as she drives off.
"Well that was just plain awkward." Quinn slurs in her drunken stupor as we stand staring at the mansion-sized house.
"Well my answer to everything is to get so drunk I can't remember my own name never-mind any of my problems… And clearly you're already there." I direct at Quinn whose eyes are rolling all over the place.
"So would you like to join me in getting so drunk you show me that bad girl side you've told me so much about?" I ask Brittany with a smile, the first time since our 'moment' that I've been able to make eye contact with her.
"Absolutely!" She beams "As long as you promise to look after me."
"Absolutely!" I respond mockingly to which she playfully bumps me and adds "You're a meanie."
All I do is smile at her before starting to walk into the house.
Despite her drunken state, when Quinn and I enter a room you can feel the fear and panic in the air and it feels great. Most people look away out of fear and the rest check us out; life is not too bad as a hot 16 year old cheerleader.
"Why is everyone acting strange?" Brittany whispers in my ear.
"You do realise that me and Quinn are top dogs at McKinley... right?"
"Umm..."
"Well not to blow my own trumpet or anything but we are, and one of the many bonuses that come with it is that when we walk into a room we get noticed."
Brittany gives me one of her trademark confused looks.
"Look, don't over-think anything, just enjoy yourself." I smile at her to reassure her.
Brittany and I enter the kitchen whilst Quinn prances off in another direction. Upon entering my friend Zach makes his way towards us. Bronzed and toned with luscious brown hair, he has most of the girls in school running after him, but that is not my style; I don't do the chasing, I get chased after. Also he is totally not my type, whatever my type is.
"Hey sexy lady!" He hollers at me and then gives me a tight hug.
"What's up cankles?" I ask after he stops embracing me.
"Nothing much hellbitch." He responds with a smirk, placing drinks in mine and Brittany's hand "Ooh and who is your lovely friend?" he adds, staring lustfully at Brittany.
After a pause I finally introduce the two "Brittany. This is Brittany. Brittany this is Zach."
"Nice to meet you." she says with a smile.
"It is my pleasure, I assure you." He smirks back. "So how come I haven't seen you around?" he asks whilst leaning further across the counter-top so as to get closer to her.
I take a large swig of my beer and inaudibly mumble to myself "This is gonna be a long night."
"I'm new, umm, I've only been here a couple weeks." she says with an innocent smile.
"And how do you know Santana?"
"She tutors me." she responds smiling at me "and she's amazing at it."
"Well I would say lucky Santana, but really its lucky her for having such a beautiful student like you."
"Oh my god can you get any cheesier? Do these lines actually work on girls?" I scoff at him.
He laughs, and then puts his arm around my shoulder, turning me around "Come on help a brother out, this girl is a 10 and I'm totally getting vibes from her." he whispers to me. I roll my eyes and think for a second. I have no control over her, before today I hadn't even seen her outside of school, we had a 'moment'. That's it, whatever 'that' is. Who am I to say if she can have this guy flirt with her or not?
"You better be nice to her though!" I finally respond.
"I promise." He says with a beaming smile.
"I mean it! I know how much of a dick you can be with girls. And she's special okay, innocent and sweet. So if you hurt her I might accidentally impale one of your testicles with a fork. Got it?"
"Got it." He replies, I can see slight fear in his eyes. That's good.
We turn around to face Brittany who is enthusiastically looking around at everyone in the room.
"Hey Britt, Zach wanted to introduce you to a few people, it'll help you get to know more people at school." I say to her reluctantly before leaning in and whispering "I'll be around nearby though, so if you need me just yell and I'll come running." I give her a half-hearted smile.
"Okay…" she responds with the same half-hearted smile.
I past her, briefly glancing back just in time to see them walk into the next room, his arm around her shoulder.
Ahead of me I see Quinn dancing like a crazy lady in the middle of the room; she's an angry drunk most of the time but it doesn't stop her from having fun.
I walk up to her and steal her half full glass she has been swinging about and down it in one go.
"What the hell bitch?" Quinn yells at me.
"I need it more than you." I reply with a stern look.
She takes me by the arm and drags me into an empty corner.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
"Nothing…" I respond, staring at the floor.
"Bitch I might be drunk but I'm not stupid. We've been here 10 minutes and already you look like you're about to cry… or punch someone."
"Brittany… I… Umm just left her with Zach to… you know."
"Why the hell did you leave her alone with him? He's a nice guy but he's fucked more girls than Tiger Woods!"
"I didn't want to!" I manage to scream in a hushed voice "What did you want me to say? 'No I don't want you hitting on her because I'm pretty sure that I fancy her.' I'd rather everyone didn't know about this okay?"
"Aww you fancy her?" Quinn replies breaking out into a stupid smile.
Only Quinn can make my sternest face turn into a laughing smile in 0.5 seconds.
"Oh shh you idiot." I smile at her.
"Right. You have to go tell her how you feel. Like right now. What have you got to lose?"
"Well there's my reputation, popularity, being head cheerleader, my family, Brittany, I could keep going but I think you get my point."
"Come on, Brittany's a sweetie, she would never intentionally hurt you like that."
"I don't even know if she likes girls." I whisper.
"Well you'll never find out if you don't ask." She says as she forces me across the room.
"Why exactly am I taking life advice from a drunk person?" I yell at Quinn behind me, urging me forward.
"Because even when I'm drunk I'm more together than you are sober. Okay. Now go get your girl, if you need me I'll be where the alcohol is." She announces before leaving.
I scan the room which is full of all sorts of couches and seats, looking for Brittany. I finally see her deep in conversation, sitting on Zach's knee in a one person recliner.
I approach them, internally screaming at myself for not being more drunk whilst doing this.
"Hey guys. I was wondering if I could speak to you Brittany for a minute… in private" I gather the courage to say.
"Of course San!" she replies with the smile that is almost constantly etched on her face. "I'll be back soon." She turns to Zach and says.
"Well hurry back soon before I start missing you too much." He replies with a goofy smile.
I think I might just vomit.
We climb the staircase, looking for an empty room, which is easy enough because the main body of the party is downstairs. I find a games room, full of all kinds of crap, with a pool table in the middle, closing the door behind us.
"What was so important San?" she asks clearly confused.
"I don't want Zach all over you." I unexpectantly blurt out.
"Why?" she asks as she hops onto the pool table to sit on the edge.
"Umm… well… ahh…"
"Santana. If you want me to stay away from him that's fine but you kinda have to give me a reason though."
My mind draws a blank. All I can do is stare at my hands, a million and one thoughts racing through my mind yet not one coming into being.
After about 30 seconds of silence which feels like an eternity, all Brittany says is "San…" in the most loving way possible.
"I don't want him liking you because I… like you." I whisper to her from across the small room, still staring and fumbling with my hands.
"Oh." Was the response from the blonde. And after a pause adds "Come here."
I look up at her and she has both of her arms outstretched, wanting to embrace me.
I don't know what to expect but I slowly make my way to her.
From her seat on the pool table she wraps her legs and arms around my waist, bringing me in close to her.
"Well guess what." She whispers, her sweet warm breath hitting my face, "Today is your lucky day, because I like you too."
I'm usually quite good at composing myself with this time was an exception, as my face quickly breaks out into a cheesy grin. "You like me?" I ask, just for clarification.
"I do. A heck of a lot." She replies with a smile matching mine.
We don't need to say anything more, and so we just gaze into each other's eyes, smiling like crazy people, then, before I knew it her lips were on mine, gently massaging mine with her's. I move my hands that were placed on her waist to her face, grabbing a firm hold and urging our faces closer as our tongues invade each other's mouth. I can feel the smile still on her face and I'm sure she can feel mine.
In this moment so many amazing things are rushing through my mind, but the one thought that sticks one most is the one screaming over and over again; BEST. PARTY. EVER.
