CHAPTER 19

After waiting in the room by the nurses office for what Santana decided was long enough, she left, planning to head home early; only to be intersected by Mr Schue in the hallway.

"Figgins office, now," Mr Schue said.

Not initiating eye-contact, Santana kept her head down as she walked to the principal's office, making sure to hide the burns on her arm from Mr Schue's line of sight.

Inside the office, Santana found that not only Figgins was there, but also Sue.

"Santana Lopez, what you have done today is not acceptable," Principal Figgins said in his highly affected accent. "Now I let it go when you and Quinn Fabray put superglue in my hat causing it to stick to my head, but this impacts more than just me and damages school property meaning it does in fact have to be punished."

Not even the thought of Principal Figgins' struggle to take his hat off, consequently pulling out his hair which never grew back was enough to brighten Santana's mood.

"What do you have to say for yourself young lady?" the principal asked.

Having nothing to say, Santana remained quiet.

Turning to look at Mr Schue before returning his glance to Santana, Figgins stated, "I think a weeks suspension will be appropriate."

The thought of a suspension brought Santana back into reality. She was being suspended. She had done some bad things, but never enough to warrant a suspension, at least not cases that the school knew of. Her parents would be distraught at the thought, particularly her dad who was a doctor.

"A suspension?" Santana asked, appalled. "But I brought a fire hydrant into the courtyard and everything so that it would be safe and no one would get hurt!" During her complaint, Santana had slammed her hands onto the desk, revealing her burn and wincing from the impact.

"Well it looks like someone did get hurt," Figgins stated. That will bring the suspension time up to two weeks.

"Santana, are you alright?" Mr Schue asked, concerned for Santana's wellbeing though still disappointed by her choice to burn the piano.

Santana nodded, not trusting her voice not to crack.

"Are you sure?" Mr Schue followed up.

"I'm fine," Santana grunted harshly. She sat silent for a moment, steadying herself before asking, "Do you really need to suspend me?"

"I have no choice Ms Lopez. I am glad you tried to make the stunt of yours as safe as possible, but that still doesn't warrant setting a piano on fire." Principal Figgins responded.

Santana turned to Sue, who had remained quiet for an unusually long period of time, for assistance.

Sue simply said, "Isn't two weeks a bit harsh. I mean, all she did was set a piano on fire, which I told her to do to prove her loyalty. That doesn't impact anyone important."

"So this was all your idea?" Will asked Sue, his eyebrows raised.

"Well whose did you think it was. Sandbags wouldn't do anything against the Glee club unless I told her too. I hate to admit it, but the clubs good for her and she enjoys being a part of it." Sue justified. Turning back to Figgins she asked, "Wouldn't a one-week suspension be more appropriate?"

"School policy states that if a student is to be harmed, then it has to be two weeks Sue!" Figgins responded.

"Is that why you suspend all the kids who have been tossing slushies in our faces for the past two years?!" Santana argued.

"Slushees are not on the school board's approved list of suspend-worthy weapons. Fire is." Principal Figgins explained.

"Well it didn't harm anyone but Santana who was the one that set it anyway. You wouldn't suspend someone for stabbing themselves, you'd just send them off to Emma Pillsbury the guidance counsellor who will talk to them, accomplishing nothing, and then spend hours cleaning the chair they sat on and anything else they touched! So, Santana shouldn't be suspended for the extra week. She said she was fine anyway. You're fine, aren't you Santana." Sue rebutted.

Santana, not wanting to deal with this, and really not fine as her arm was burning painfully, said, "You know what, just give me the two-week suspension. I don't want to be here anyway!" before storming out of the room.

Mr Schue, concerned for Santana and less angry after hearing Sue admit that the whole piano thing was her idea and that Santana wouldn't have done it unless forced as well as the fact that Santana enjoyed Glee club, followed her.

"Santana, why did you leave like that. Figgins was sure to agree on only a week long suspension. Is it your arm? Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" Mr Schue asked.

Santana meant to say that she'd already seen the nurse, but ended up saying, "Brittany already took me." Now on top of everything else, she was reminded by what Brittany had told her. Santana inhaled sharply, hoping the oxygen would help clear her head.

"Then why did you storm out?" Mr Schue repeated.

"Maybe I want a suspension!" Santana said more loudly than she intended.

"You've never been suspended before Santana; in fact, you have a pretty good record. Why would you want a suspension?" Mr Schue questioned.

"To prove to my parents that I'm normal," Santana said before all her energy visibly drained out of her.

"What do you mean?" Mr Schue inquired more softly this time.

"My parents pretend to be okay with my sexuality and everything; but they're not. My Abuela thinks I'm a sin and refuses to think of me, let alone discuss me or talk to me in person. Maybe if I get suspended, they'll all realise that I'm just another normal teenage girl." Santana elaborated.

Taken aback by what Santana had said, Mr Schue was unsure how to react. The fact that Santana looked like she was about to cry didn't make things easier as he didn't want to worsen the situation. Deciding to keep things simple and let Santana sort her feelings out for herself, he said, "I guess I'll see you in two weeks then.

Later that afternoon when Santana was home, she received a message from Sue reading, 'I'll see you at Cheerios training in two weeks.'

Santana was both relieved that she was still on the team and annoyed by what it took.

-Thank you for reading! I'd really appreciate it if you could follow/favourite and leave a review. I think I'll probably end this au with three more chapters and an epilogue. I'd love it if you could also go read my new Brittana fanfic: When The Walls Come Tumbling Down. Once again, thank you for taking your time to read this!

Note: I don't own Glee or any copyrighted characters or material that are referred to in this story- Thanks also to my amazing friend and editor Aster