I became really encouraged by the responses I received on my last update, so I wrote a little more!

I also wanted to let you guys know that I will most likely wrap this story up in the next update, but don't worry, it will be longer than this one.

And one more thing. I read all the comments and wish I could reply to all of you but most people don't have an account, so I can't reply to you! But know that I do read your comments and I appreciate them all.

Thank you all for the support and I hope you all enjoy this one.

Present Day

"Santana, can you come up here for a second, please."

I stand from my seat on the 3rd row and walk up to Prof. Holliday's desk.

"I just finished reading your story." She smiles. "The topic you chose to write about really surprised me."

"Does that mean I got a bad grade?" I ask.

"No, not at all. You earned an A. I loved it. I was just surprised because it seems like something very personal."

I shift my weight from one foot to the other as I think about how honest I should be with her. "I guess it is kind of personal." I lower my voice for what I say next because I'm sure I've attracted some of the other student's attentions by saying the word 'personal'. "I've never told anyone about... about her. About Brittany.

Prof. Holliday nods and looks down at my assignment which sits on top the stack of papers on her desk . I can read the title from where I'm standing. Primary Education. Prof. Holliday writes a large A on the corner of my paper and hands it to me with a friendly smile.

"Thanks," I say, staring at the bright red A I just earned.

Before I can turn back to my seat, the Prof. asks me if she's allowed a personal question. I nod in approval.

"Have you talked to Brittany since you graduated high school?"

"No, I haven't."

"Do you know where she went to college?"

I shake my head. "I haven't heard anything about her, nor from her." I try to keep my frown at bay. "I'm sure she's doing fine though. She was always so smart."

My prof. nods with a smile. "She definitely sounds like a bright young lady. Maybe you girls will get to see each other again some day. It sounds like you have unfinished business."

I don't really know what she means by that, but I grin and agree with a quiet 'yeah' before going back to my seat.

/

"Argh! I hate my anthropology class! I thought we were going to talk about cool stuff like ancient civilizations, not monkeys and Darwin's theory."

"Sugar, aren't you taking bio anthropology?" I ask.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, that's what biology is about. Cultural anthropology is the class that talks about civilizations and how we evolved to be able to clean our asses with toilet paper and not leafs."

Sugar comes to a halt and I stop a few steps ahead of her. "Dammit!" she says in realization. "Do you think I can still change classes? Maybe I can pay the school extra so that they let me switch."

I laugh. "I don't think money will help you this time, Richie Bitch. Can you hurry up and walk though? I'm starving."

When we get to our school's café, we order some food and take a seat at a table.

"So how do you like the school, so far? It's not bad right? For a jr college."

"Yeah, it's okay," I say. "I do miss my internship though."

"You were so lucky to get that right out of high school. You're a really good writer."

"Thanks. But how about you? What have you been up to? I've been so busy that I don't know what you're doing these days."

"Well." Sugar hovers a hand over her mouth as she chews her salad. "I'm still volunteering at the animal shelter and- Oh my god!"

I jump a little, startled by her excitement.

"Guess who just started volunteering there too! Guess! Guess!"

I roll my eyes. "That idiot guy you liked for like ever. What was his name? Rusty?"

"His name was Dustin! But no, not him. Guess again."

"Ugh. Just tell me."

"Fine, it's Brittany. Remember her? Brittany Pierce?"

I stop playing with my food and look at Sugar. "Do you remember her?" She asks.

"Y- Yeah. I remember her. How could I not... I mean, cause you know, she was really popular in high school."

"And our friend at one point," she reminds me. I don't say anything in reply to that so she continues. "She said she comes here. She's studying to become a veterinarian. Isn't that crazy?"

"Wait, she comes here? As in she comes to this school?"

"Yeah! I haven't seen her here though. And I've been here a whole semester. It's crazy how we all ended up here, huh?"

I take a bite of my sandwich so that I don't have to verbally answer her and just nod.

/ /

After lunch, during my drive back home, I almost crash a few times because I'm so damn distracted. How the fuck did Brittany end up at the same school. I just finished telling my prof. that she's one of the smartest people I've ever met. Why is she even at a jr. college? She should be at an Ivy League or at the very least at a out-of-state expensive university.

I can feel my every thought begin to turn into thoughts of Brittany. I feel like I can fall back into the same high school routine. I can't allow that; I just can't. The first step I need to take to keep that from happening is distancing myself from social media. It's so easy for me to log into Facebook or Twitter and get hooked on her every move; on what she thinks and says. I delete everything: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I don't even know if she has a Tumblr but I delete that too. I also start working out. A lot. It keeps my mind and body at ease and my thoughts away from her for the most part.

Three weeks pass since Sugar told me about Brittany and I'm doing pretty good. I haven't ran into her, not once. This place is huge but I'm beginning to think she might not even be attending this school.

It's a very hot afternoon and I'm waiting for Sugar outside the library. We're suppose to have a study session for our math class. - Yes, we're still struggling with that. - She was suppose to meet me here fifteen minutes ago but hasn't showed up yet. Just as I start typing out a text for her, I see the little woman walking up the library stairs.

"By all means, take your time," I say, dully. "It's not like it's 1000 degrees out here or anything."

"I'm so sorry," she says. "I ran into Brittany and her girlfriend at the coffee shop. They offered to buy me an iced-coffee and I obviously couldn't say no cause it's like super hot today."

I try to keep my cool at the mention of Brittany having a girlfriend. As if hearing about her in general wasn't hard enough. "Where's the coffee?" I ask.

"I drank it." She begins walking towards the library and I follow.

"Did you just stand there until you finished your coffee then decided to walk over here?"

"Of course not, Brittany and her girlfriend asked me to sit with them. I couldn't say no. It's rude."

"You've never cared about being rude before," I comment.

"Yeah, but they started telling me their story about how they met and what classes they were taking and all that stuff. They're really entertaining. Her girlfriend studies here too, obviously, and she-"

"Sugar," I interrupt. "I don't really want to hear it."

"Why? Do you still hate Brittany?"

"What? I never hated her!" An older librarian woman glares us from her desk. "I never hated her," I repeat, gently. "I'm just not interested in what she or her girlfriend are doing and I don't want to be rude to you by ignoring what you say when you talk about them, so how about you just skip telling me about them next time you see them."

Sugar shrugs. "Okay."

/

The second half of the semester has arrived and it's time for me to start my gym class. It's not really a class, but I get credit for working out a few hours per week at our school gym. I'm excited to start because all I've been doing at home is bodyweight workouts and running. I finally get to use an actual gym and it's equipment.

I decide to go during the afternoon, after I've finished all my classes for the day. I walk into the gym and stand by an isolated leg machine to begin stretching: arms, shoulders, back. I take a seat on the floor and outstretch my legs straight in front of me. My hands reach as far as they can until my fingers reach the tips of my shoes. I tuck my head in to reach further and hold it there, feeling my hamstrings pull more than usual.

"Are you using this machine?" A voice asks. I know that voice; I know it well. I stay still for a few seconds thinking about what I should do. I'm not looking up, that's for sure. I shake my head no and hear her climb on to the machine.

I hold my position for another 30sec then get up and move away from the area as quiet as a cat moving in on it's prey.

For the remainder of the semester, I continue to go to the gym at the same time on the same days. After the first time I encountered Brittany, I freaked out so much that I didn't go for a week. But I then realized I had to get my gym hours in or I'd fail the class, so I gave myself about a million pep talks about how it was going to be fine and how I was too old for this shit and got back in there.

It's the last week of the semester and I feel like a blob. I didn't do any real workouts during my gym hours because I can always feel Brittany's eyes on me. She won't talk to me though. We don't even say hi to each other or smile anymore. It's like we're real strangers now. Except there's always this awkward and nerve wracking feeling when I know she's near. I'm always aware of where she is and once in a while I catch her looking at me. At one point, I think about dropping the class, but I somehow get through it and finish the semester.

/

"It ate my dollar!" Sugar kicks the vending machine with the tip of her boot. "This is the third time it does this to me."

"You're rich. Why are you complaining? Just put another dollar in."

"No, Santana! I will not live my life this way. I will not be bullied by a vending machine!"

"Who's bullying you?"

We both turn to see a smiling Brittany walking down the corridor. Just my luck. New semester, same run-ins.

"Brittany! Hi!" Sugar greets her with a tight hug and I walk a little off to the side and scroll through my phone as if I wasn't with Sugar. "This stupid machine! It's eating all my savings! I just want my Snickers bar." She frowns.

Brittany walks around to the back of the machine, un-plugs it then plugs it back in. The Snickers gets pushed forward and falls onto the delivery bin. Brittany bends down to pull out the chocolate and hands it to Sugar. "A sweet treat for a sugar-y lady," she says, sweetly.

Sugar grins widely. "Thanks so much Brittany! Do you want a snack? My treat."

"No, thanks. I have to get to class. I'll see you around though, yeah?"

"Of course!"

When she's finally out of sight, I notice Sugar is staring at me through narrowed eyes.

"What!"

"You're going to keep pushing that 'I don't hate Brittany' thing?"

"I don't hate her, Sugar."

"Right. That's why you completely ignored her just now."

"I haven't talked to her in forever. I can't just be her best friend now. Plus, she ignored me too! Why are you always on her side!"

Sugar takes a bite of her chocolate and thinks as she chews. "She did ignore you. Huh. You guys are just so weird. Do you have like a crush on her now?"

"What?" I ask, incredulously. "Of course not. You know, since the day I told you I was gay, you've always assumed I have all these crushes on a bunch of girls. Just because I'm gay it doesn't mean I want every girl I see."

"I know. But you act weird around her and she does too. Maybe she still has a crush on you." Sugar laughs and takes another bite of her Snickers.

"A crush?" My cheeks flush. "What?"

"I wasn't suppose to say anything. I've kept it a secret since like middle school, but we were super young then, so I don't think it matters anymore if you know."

"Know what?" I ask with desperation in my voice.

"That she had a huge crush on you for like ever. I mean huge! She told me during 8th grade. That's why she gave you all the Valentine's candy and stuff. Oh and that's why she didn't want to talk to you anymore during high school. I actually advised her to stay away from you."

"You what?"

"I told her to stay away from you. I remember she was super happy when you invited her to your house. I think you were suppose to do homework or a project or something, but I thought it was weird that both you and Quinn were talking to her, so I told her she should be careful and that it was probably best to stay away from the two of you."

My mouth dropped. "Why would you tell her that!"

"Because I knew how bad you had treated her when you found out she was your secret Valentine! I wasn't going to let you do something like that again. Plus, Brittany told me what Quinn said to her during that school field trip you guys had. She was such a bitch. I just didn't want Brittany to get hurt."

"I can't believe you did that."

"Oh get over it. She was my friend and I cared for her. It was years ago anyway. What does it matter now?" She throws her wrapper away and begins walking towards our next class.

"It does matter," I say.

Sugar stops and turns to look at me. "What?"

"It does matter. I've felt- stuff... for her for a long time."

"Wait, what?" She walks back to me. "What are you talking about? What stuff?"

I shrug, rapidly becoming nervous and second guessing what I just said. "I don't know. Just stuff."

"No, no, no. You need to tell me what kind of stuff. Like romantic stuff?"

"I guess. It's stuff that I've never really felt for anyone else. I just.. I don't know. I kinda came to terms with this in high school, but I'm not really sure what I feel. I feel attracted to her but not just physically. I used to imagine what it'd be like to spend time with her, to do stuff together, to have long talks with her and be able to learn things about her. It's weird because I used to know her, but I haven't talked to her in so long. I'm sure she's a completely different person now, so I guess, in reality, what I feel and what she felt doesn't really matter now."

"Okay, no, wait. First of all, it does matter. Feelings always matter. And secondly, you're confusing me. You're mixing present tense and past tense, so do you still feel stuff for her or not?"

I take a deep breath. "I don't know."

"No, you do know. Do you still want to date her?"

"What?" I scowl. "I didn't say I wanted to date her."

"That's pretty much what you described with all your day dreams!" She sets her hands on my shoulders and asks, "Do you feel nervous when she's around?"

I nod, embarrassed.

"When you get nervous does your heart race?"

I nod again.

"Do you still imagine yourself spending time with her?"

"Well, I mean, I try not to-"

Sugar shakes my shoulders. "Yes or no!"

"Yes! Sometimes..."

"Oh, Santana." She sighs dramatically. "You need to talk to her."

"Why would I do that?"

"Uh, to tell her how you feel!"

"I don't think so. That's embarrassing. She had a high school crush on me, which I'm sure is gone by now since she's apparently going through boyfriends and girlfriends like water."

Sugar's face drops. "Oh, right. The Girlfriend."

"Yeah... It's fine though. I'll get over it sooner or later." Not even I believe what I say.

/

The next time I see Brittany is two weeks later. Sugar has been good about not bringing her up, so I haven't been thinking too much about our conversation, but everything comes rushing back when I see her. It's at the same vending machines where I last saw her, except I'm alone this time and she's apparently trying to choose a drink to buy.

She looks really, really pretty today. Like more than the usual. I think she probably has a presentation or something because she's wearing a nice fitted pencil skirt with a light orange blouse and some black heels. I don't know if it's because she's wearing my favorite color, but I really want to talk to her right now. Maybe confessing my truth to Sugar and finding out that Brittany liked me at some point in her life activated some weird chemical in my brain called confidence and it's making me want to turn my day dreams into reality.

I stand there staring at her for so long that she finishes buying her drink and turns to walk away but sees me instead. She locks eyes with me and neither of us say anything for a few seconds. I can only imagine how fucking creepy I look right now.

She looks down at the floor and begins making her way past me.

"Hey," I say. Well, it kind of comes out more as a partial squeak.

She stops next to me and her irises move to the corner of her eyes to look at me.

I nervously grab the straps of my backpack and swing them back and forth a little. "You look really nice. Do you have a presentation today?"

Brittany nods.

"Good luck."

"Thanks," she says and takes a step forward.

"Brittany, wait." I almost grab her arm but I luckily catch myself before I can do so. "It seems like we're going to be running into each other a lot and it's really weird for me to see you and pretend I don't know you. It's really awkward. Can we just pretend we stayed friends all this time and at least say hi to each other?"

"Were we friends?" She asks. There's no sarcasm or anger in her voice, so I don't really know how to respond but I do anyway.

"No, I guess not. But, maybe we can be friends now? At least acquaintances... Please? I promise I won't be a bitch like I was in middle school." I say that with a small smile in an attempt to make light of the situation, but she doesn't seem to find it funny at all. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" I shake my head. "Sorry." This time it's I who takes a step forward with intentions of leaving, but Brittany stops me by gracing my forearm with her fingertips. It's a quick light touch, but I feel it over my entire body.

"We can try to-" She seems at a loss for words. She doesn't want to promise that she'll be my friend. Or even try to be my friend. "Do you want to come to my track meet this Saturday?"

"Really?" I wasn't expecting an invitation to anything. I wasn't expecting much at all.

"Yeah."

"Okay, yeah. I'll go." I nod almost too excitedly. "Of course."

"Cool. It starts at 10am."

"Okay, I'll be there." I can hear my tone of voice change to that of a young girl thanking her parents for buying Disneyland tickets. This invitation is definitely my version of getting to go to Disneyland.

"What class do you have next?" Brittany asks.

I make a face and sigh. "American History."

"Here." She holds out her blue Gatorade. "Take it."

I don't know why she would randomly give me a Gatorade. I mean yeah, history is boring, but I don't usually fall asleep. I don't want to start questioning her though, so I accept it.

"Don't pass out during class." The left corner of her mouth pulls up to form a tiny grin and I chuckle when I finally figure out what she's doing.

"Thank you, Britt."