A/N: I don't own glee. I do own Asher. Social Casualty by 5 Seconds of Summer
Chapter 10: Social Casualty
The next morning, Santana wakes up after a particularly good dream involving a beautiful blonde. She wishes it were real, but at the same time knows she isn't ready for that yet. She isn't completely over what happened. She looks to the clock and grunts. It's barely eight and she's awake on a Saturday. However, when she sees a text from Brittany on her phone she changes her tune. Her girlfriend had texted her at six to let her know when she was awake.
S: just woke up. Need shower.
B: I'll be there in 30 minute
S: CRAP I'LL HURRY
Santana puts her phone down and quickly takes a shower. When she's blow drying her hair, her phone dings alerting her of another message. It has only been fifteen minutes!
B: Wear something comfy but stylish
S: jeans and a hoodie?
B: I'd say jean jacket
S: copy that
Santana texts this all with one hand while managing to get her bra and underwear on. She pulls a long sleeve "So Wrongs It's Right" t-shirt on before slipping into tight black skinny jeans. She grabs her jean jacket and slips it on. She checks the time as her phone lights up with another message.
B: Wear vans
S: Roger that
B: dork.
S: just for that i'm wearing my glasses
Santana smirks as she puts on some light make up, slips on her glasses and throws on her black high top Vans. She's tying the laces when her phone buzzes.
B: I'm at your door. I know I'm early.
S: I'll be right down. Thanks for no knock
B: ali still asleep?
S: yup
B: leave a note saying you'll be home with mr for dinner
S: okay
Santana quickly scrawls a note and sticks it to the coffee maker. She knows her tia will stop there first thing when she wakes up. She opens the door and finds a smiling Brittay also in a jean jacket.
"That jacket is vaguely familiar." Santana grins pulling the girl into a kiss by the lapels.
"My girlfriend made it." Brittany winks.
"I bet she loves kissing you." Santana smirks.
"Totally." Brittany kisses Santana again but pulls away to try and make sure she can get her surprise going.
"So y'know I have a cat right?" Brittany asks as she leads Santana to her car.
"Vaguely remember a blur of fur hissing at me." Santana jokes. Brittany had told Santana a number of stories about her cat Lord Tubbington.
"Whatever. I think I told you, but my parents got him as sort of a therapy animal of sorts. Keeps my anger under control, keeps me company, helps with anxiety and stuff. He's not trained or anything but he senses my feelings pretty well." Brittany starts the car.
"Where are you going with this Brit?" Santana arches an eyebrow.
"Ever had a pet?" she dodges.
"Diego and Tia had a dog when I was little. He passed a while ago. Before things happened." Santana vaguely implies her history.
"I'm sorry. Why'd they never get another?" Brittany needs to know if her plan is gonna be okay. She'd asked Diego but not Ali. She was afraid she'd spill the beans.
"Oh they wanted to. Diego begged but it was tight for money at one point and it was dog or piano. When things got back to stability, I guess they just never got around to it. I'd love a big dog to hug and stuff. Cookies, their pitbull, was so sweet." Santana explains.
"Cool. Well you can hug Tubbs." Brittany offers, and Santana smiles. Her smile grows when she seez they're parked at the diner.
"You getting lazy?" Santana questions.
"Nah, this is just to feed you. Not the best part." Brittany leads Santana inside. The girls chat about ideas for glee and random gossip over breakfast before heading out. Brittany snuck away to bathroom at one point to make a secret phone call to Ali. The enthusiastic yes that nearly cost her her hearing was all she needed.
"Alright Miss Pierce, what do you have up your sleeve?" Santana buckled her seatbelt.
"Patience." Brittany smiled and Santana couldn't contain her excitement when they pulled up the Lima SPCA.
"Tell me I'm getting a puppy, please tell me I'm getting a puppy." Santana begged.
"You're getting a puppy" Brittany smiled "I pulled some strings so Ali wouldn't have to be here to sign the adoption forms. She is totally okay with this though."
"God you're perfect." Santana smiles. Brittany blushes and leans over the center console, gently pressing a kiss to Santana's cheek.
"Far from it. But thank you. Let's get you a puppy." Brittany smiles, quickly jogging around the car to open the passenger side door. She leads Santana into the shelter and they are buzzed into the dog holding section by a volunteer.
"You sure you want a dog?" Brittany shouts over the noise of rattling cages and barks.
"B, look at them! Of course I do." Santana giggles, searching all around for a puppy. Brittany looks to her left to see a slobbering Mastiff and arches an eyebrow.
"Yeah...totally adorable." she mutters. Santana turns around, confused by the blonde's odd aversion to dogs. She'd never heard the girl say a word about an animal, including a naked male rat, that wasn't cute.
"What's wrong?" Santana grabs Brittanys hand, playing with her fingers.
"Nothing, just a cat person." Brittany shrugs.
"You said you loved that documentary on wolves in biology though! They were, and I quote, MASSIVELY ADORABLE." The Latina imitates the blonde and Brittany chuckles.
"Fine, fine. I think they're cute from a distance but-" the mastiff deeply barks and Brittany jumps.
"Babe?" Santana questions.
"He had a dog y'know. And he trained the poor thing real badly. Livvy she...well she was just a kid y'know and so of course any dog is an innocent little puppy. And he never told her not to touch the dog. But uh. She got a little close. I could hear the dog growling so I, y'know told her to backup, but when she didn't listen I got in between em." Brittany shudders at the memory.
"You got bit?" Santana finishes and Brittany nods.
"It was real bad. Y'know he came in right as it happened, Liv crying and what not. And he told the dog no. But yeah. Bit my arm." Brittany shrugs her jacket off her shoulder, pulling down her shirt a little, and low a behold on her bicep is a faint scar from stitches.
"How'd I not notice before?" Santana marvels.
"You weren't looking for it. He didn't want my parents knowing anything so he took me to this plastic surgeon. They fixed me up real good. He said he couldn't have me looking ugly." Brittany shudders.
"Hun, I promise my puppy will be so much better." Santana kisses the scar.
"I know. Just don't get a mastiff alright?" Brittany looks at the dog again.
"Okay babe." Santana promises leading Brittany down the aisle. She stops in front of a kennel with 3 or 4 puppies cuddled together. She looks over the information clipped to the cage.
"Babe, they say they think they're pitbulls mixed with huskies." Santana smiles. The puppies are just eight weeks old, completely weaned off their mother's milk.
"They are pretty cute." Brittany nods.
"I want to meet them." Santana says, and Brittany waves over a volunteer who lets them sit in the kennel with the little pups.
"They are pretty tame little fellas." the volunteer says "Totally loving, give tons of kisses and love to cuddle."
"Thanks, so are they all boys?" Santana asks.
"Yeah, not a single sister in the litter surprisingly. One hell of a daddy." he explains.
"You want a boy San?" Britt asks and Santana nods enthusiastically.
"Yeah, Cookies was a boy." she smiles as the puppies walk over to the girls.
"We didn't wanna name em too much, so that's just Uno, Dos, Tres and Quatro." the volunteer says.
"Why in Spanish?" the latina raises an eyebrow.
"The names were cuter that way." The volunteer shrugs. Santana nods as a puppy crawls into her lap and licks her face. The other puppies mingle around the girls, licking their fingers and sniffing them, but this one is particularly excited. "It seems that Quatro likes you. He's the runt but he keeps up real well."
"I think I like Quatro." Santana says, ruffling the fur on the top of the dogs head. Both ears are still pretty floppy but one seems to be starting to stand up. He's got a big gray spot around his eye and like some huskies has a blue and brown eye (the spot is around the blue eye). The rest of his fur is gray with a white spots on the tip of his tail and his paws. His belly and chest are white too and a bit fluffy, but his fur is closer to that of a pit.
"He's adorable." Brittany smiles and the puppy hops up and licks her face too.
"I think we've got a match." the volunteer says.
"I agree." Santana smiles and the volunteer helps them get everything they need for the first few days until they can pick up nicer stuff from the store. Once they're back in Brittany's car, Quatro curls up and falls asleep in Santana's lap.
"So are you going to give him a name other than Quatro?" Brittany says, carefully pulling out of the parking lot.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure what." Santana observes the little puppy. He's certainly unique in his coloring.
"I'd help but I've got nothing." Brittany drives toward the pet store, per Santana's insistence that they needed to shower the puppy in gifts.
"What about Asher?" Santana asks.
"That's cute. Where'd you get it?" Brittany pulls into the pet store parking lot.
"Well, he's gray. That's the color of ashes. And not in a weird way. You know like after a campfire." Santana says, having enjoyed the firepit in her aunt's backyard a lot.
"Yeah. I like it." Brittany nods.
"Hey Asher" Santana tests the name and the little puppy perks up, the pointer ear standing up. "You like it too. Let's get you a collar and toys and a leash and food and treats." Santana lists. Brittany runs a hand through her hair. Neither of them have jobs, and this was becoming expensive.
"San?" Brittany asks as the girl picks out a tag to design.
"What's up babe?" she asks.
"Do you have...like money? For all this? Cause Asher had a fee and breakfast and gas and…" Brittany feels awful, but her parents date budget wasn't built for this and they'd cut off her Lord Tubbington funds after realizing the cat needed to go on a diet.
"Britt. I didn't expect you to pay for anything. Except maybe breakfast. Of course I've got this covered." Santana settles on the bone shape.
"Okay I just feel bad. I took you out and…"
Brittany trails off.
"Well if you never let me take you out it'll stay that way. So help me pick stuff out for our dog and then we can continue the rest of our date okay?" Santana smiles and Brittany nods. They leave the pet store with a bag of puppy food, a bag of assorted treats, a collar and a sign up for puppy training.
"Okay, so I was thinking we could maybe go hang out at the treehouse if you're not worried about him." Brittany glances to the small dog.
"It'll be a bit difficult to get him up there, but it sounds fun." Santana doesn't take her eyes off Asher who is fast asleep.
"Awesome." Brittany smiles. She really wants to show her the song she's planning for glee. They drive to the parking lot at the edge of the woods and Brittany leads Santana to the treehouse. Asher happily walks alongside them, entranced with all the new smells. When they arrive at the treehouse he is quick to mark his territory.
"Good dog" Santana praises.
"Up we go?" Brittany asks, and Santana nods. Brittany goes up first and then they carefully carry Asher up with the basket pully. Santana follows right behind to keep it stable. Brittany smiles as Asher curls up on the mattress she has up there.
"So, how are you gonna woo me?" Santana smirks, twirling her hair.
"I want your opinion on something I'm working on for glee club. You know the song social casualty by 5SOS?" she tunes her guitar.
"Yeah. It's a good one." Santana says "You think you wanna do it for glee?"
"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it'll give a good idea for a lesson." Brittany shrugs.
"Or we'll end up with a boyband week." Santana shudders.
"I'll take that chance." Brittany winks "I want to make it acoustic…" she mumbles.
"Do you have any idea how to do that?" Santana asks after a few quiet moments.
"Uh...not really." Brittany admits quietly.
"Well, I could give it a try on piano if we head home." Santana pouts.
"I wanted to do this for you first though and then ask for your help." the blonde frowns frustrated.
"It's okay B." the latina lays a hand on her arm.
"But how am I supposed to woo you into getting our mack on now?" Brittany runs a hand through her hair.
"You don't have to." Santana presses a firm kiss to pink lips. Brittany pulls her closer. Santana tightens her hold as the blonde trembles and starts crying, salty tears falling in between their lips. Santana pulls away, wiping the tears away with her thumbs. "What's wrong?"
"I let you down. I mean I can't even read music I was stu-" Brittany is cut off by a swift kiss from Santana.
"Don't ever call yourself that. You're a genius. You came up with the idea of getting me a puppy, you learned embroidery quickly, you can play guitar by ear. Yes, I can read music, but you're no less than me cause you can't." Santana insists.
"You think I'm a genius?" Brittany whispers.
"I know it." Santana smiles.
"I'm happier but I kinda just want to go back to your house now." Brittany shrugs. Santana looks over Brittany, it didn't seem like her to give up sweet lady kisses.
"Are you sure Britt?" Santana asks, and Brittany nods. Santana knows that something is wrong, but she hopes music will help her fix it. With a little maneuvering, they get back down from the treehouse, Asher looking between his mom's curiously. They managed to safely get Brittanys guitar down as well. On the drive back, the car is eerily silent, neither girl turning on the radio. They pull up the driveway and grab their bags from the pet store and Britt's guitar.
"Tia, we're here!" Santana shouts up the stairs. Ali comes barreling down the stairs and hugs Brittany. Brittany lightly hugs her back.
"Where is my new perro?" she asks and Santana picks up Asher from his spot by her feet. "He's so cute. What's his name?"
"Tia, this is Asher. Asher this is your tia." Santana says, grabbing the puppy's paw to shake Ali's hand.
"Perdoneme? Tia?" Ali looks at her niece.
"Si Tia. Asher, quen es tu Mamí?" Santana asks the dog who his mom is and he licks her cheek. "Y Mamá?" she repeats the question, and Asher tries to go to Brittany.
"Dios mio, I'm a grand tia!" Ali fans herself as she walks away.
"Britt?" Santana asks the blonde has stood stock still beside her through the entire ordeal.
"Huh?" Brittany turns to Santana, a glazed look in her eyes.
"Go sit on the couch. I'll bring you a hot chocolate." Santana gently nudges the girl. She sends Asher to follow her.
"San, can Asher be on the couch?" Brittany finally breaks her silence.
"Si." Santana says back. Brittany pats her leg and Asher jumps up. He nudges Brittany's wrist. She pulls her wrist away and pets the dog carefully.
"Here's your hot chocolate." Santana says, holding her own mug of coffee.
"Thanks." Brittany whispers. Santana observes the way Brittany doesn't touch her wrists. She noticed it earlier when she'd picked up the guitar too.
"What's wrong with your wrists?" Santana asks after they sit quietly for a few moments.
"Nothing." Brittany doesn't make eye contact.
"Brittany." Santana asks again.
"Go on, roll my sleeve up." Brittany says. When Santana rolls the sleeve up she's met by a sickly red scar
"This is new B." the Latina holds bcak her tears.
"I know, I just…" Brittany mumbles quietly.
"Hey. I'm not mad, just worried. What happened?" she searches deep blue eyes.
"I just...craved it." Brittany admits.
"Britt, I get it." Santana kisses the girl lightly "But this is dangerous. You need to seek help if you can't fight the impulse."
"San I don't want to see a therapist." Brittany yanks her sleeve back down.
"I do." Santana says quietly.
"When?" Brittany asks.
"Every Monday night. She's helping." Santana admits "She encourages me to play piano and sing and take things slow with you."
"She knows about us?" Brittany blinks.
"Yeah. I love you but our relationship was really sudden and after my…" Santana stops
"It's okay I know." Brittany laces her fingers with Santana's "I'll go. I'll tell my parents and I'll go."
"Your parents don't know about your scars?" Santana gasps.
"Not yet. Do you think we could work on the song now? It'll make me feel better." Brittany pouts.
"Yeah. I've got the sheet music" Santana grabs the freshly printed music "And all I have to do is slow the tempo. Maybe adjust a few notes."
"And you'll help me?" Brittany asks.
"Just listen. If you need help after, then sure."
Just a kid, it's all the same
Growing up, it doesn't change
Who are they to try and put us down
Brittant stands up, guitar slung from her shoulder and stands behind santana strumming and singing the next part
Had enough of what they say
Sick and tired of all their games
Stand up and sing it with me now
Santana stand from the piano bench looking at Brittany as they both sing
So save me, from who I'm supposed to be
Don't wanna be a victim of authority
I'll always be a part of the minority
So save me, from who I'm supposed to be
Tell me, tell me, tell me what you want from me
I don't wanna be another social casualty
Santana smiles as they play through the rest of the song. Brittany stumbles a bit, but by the end she seems to have caught on. They run through it a few more times, Santana even pulling up an acoustic on YouTube for the blonde to try to imitate.
"I think this is really good for Glee." Santana says "I feel like everyone will connect to it."
"Exactly. That's why I want to do it. I think, even if it's not a contender for sectionals, it'll unify the team." Brittany smiles.
"See! Genius." Santana says and Asher barks in agreement, before running to the backdoor and nudging it.
"Looks like our puppy needs some fresh air. Shall we?" Santana reaches a hand out to Brittany who gladly follows her out to the backyard. She'd never seen it in broad daylight before, but she loves it.
"Your backyard is huge. I didn't notice at night." Brittany notices a pool that has been covered and drained in preparation for the cold weather. Nearby the pool is an above ground hot tub. They stand on the deck while Asher runs around in the grass that separates the pool from the rest of the backyard which is mostly open space. There's a small fire pit too.
"It is. It may seem like Ali doesn't work, but she does. From home. She does a lot of scientific formulas and stuff. Sometimes they call her into the lab, so she periodically is gone all day or on a weekend. She cut back when I moved in though." Santana explains. Brittany nods. Admitelly, hers isn't much smaller, Lima is great in cheap living costs. Even the poorer housing in the apartments have nice amenities.
"Can we dance?" Brittany asks suddenly.
"Right here on the deck?" Santana questions.
"Yeah." Brittany nods.
"We don't have any music." Santana says.
"Sing for me." Brittany says. Santana blushes and sings songs as she twirls in Brittany's arms.
After dinner with Ali and Santana, Brittany heads home to have a serious talk with her parents. They knew about her impulse control when it came to anger, so she knew that they'd be happy she was finally willing to see someone. She opens the door and Liv runs up to her, hugging her tightly around the legs.
"Hey Little Liv, where are Ma and Pop?" Brittany asks.
"In the kitchen Britty!" Susan calls.
"Why are you cooking? It's long past dinner." Brittany asks.
"Daniel, come here!" Whitney smiles at her daughter.
"Hi darling." Daniel says but Brittany doesn't say anything. Next to her father is none other than the man who ruined her life: Robert Humphrey.
"Look B, Mr. Bert came to visit." Liv says happily
"I'm going back to Santana's" Brittany turns around and heads for the door.
"Britt no." Daniel says "He came to apologize."
"I don't care. The damage is done." Brittany growls.
"Oh please Bumble B, let me apologize." sneers.
"You can't call me that." Brittany says.
"I had sex with you, I own you!" Robert shouts. That's enough for the police hiding around the room to cuff him and take him away. Brittany collapses to the ground as the man smiles at her on his way out.
"What just happened?" she whimpers. Her parents come forward to explain, but she can't hear them. She closes her eyes and covers her ears as the sickly smile and sneering voice invade her head. She's not sure how long she sits in the crumpled position on the floor. What she does know is the smell of vanilla and coconut brings her out of it- the smell of Santana.
"Hey B." The Latina says softly, soothingly rubbing the angry red tear tracks on her girl's face. The Pierces sit nervously at the dining room table, still accompanied by a police officer. When Santana got the call, her first instinct was to scream and shout but she decided that wouldn't help. Still, she followed the sad questioning eyes of her girlfriend to her parents and gave them a steely glare.
"Why?" Brittany asks, loud enough that the party holding the answers will here.
"If I may explain." The officer says "We found that was abusing other young women. We remembered your case from long ago, and because we were having trouble pinning these other situations down, we enlisted your parents help. He admitted to his crimes ."
"At what cost?" Santana barks, gathering a still trembling blonde in her lap.
"We never meant no harm. We wouldn't have done it without 's consent." the officer admits.
"You!" Santana shouts towards the man of the house "You let that filth near her not once, not twice, but a third time?"
"Santana, you don't under-"
"I understand perfectly well what evidence is necessary to prove a rape. I know exactly what it's like to watch them walk away scot free." the Latina's heart clenches.
"Daniel, I can't help but side with the girls. I told you this was a bad idea." Whitney Pierce huffs.
"You didn't exactly stop it!" Santana turns on the matriarch.
"Sanny stop" Brittany begs and immediately Santana deflates.
"I'm angry though." she sees torturous pain in blue eyes. And she sees her own fiery brown reflect back at her.
"I know. Just...get me away." Brittany says.
"Okay." Santana stands and manages to balance the lanky dancer's body in her arms.
"Tana?" A little voice asks. Santana gently sets Brittany down to lean against the foyer wall.
" , do you want to come for a sleepover? Brit is." Santana shoots a look at the Pierce's, daring to deny their youngest daughter.
"Can I?" the blue eyed angel pleads, and the Pierces nod.
"Go grab some clothes for tomorrow. I'll be waiting right here when you come back." Santana taps a little freckled nose. Once little feet are scurried up the stairs, Santana makes quick work depositing a nearly lifeless Brittany in her car before coming back inside.
"Can we explain?" the Pierces ask, taking advantage of young indecision, causing Olivia's delay.
"I heard your explanation. And while I understand why, I think if you'd taken a moment to think about what seeing him would do, you'd never done it." Santana growled.
"I regretted it the minute I saw her eyes. I knew I'd made a grave mistake. I made a bad decision." Daniel attempts a weak apology.
"I know. I can see your regret. And believe me, a rapist behind bars makes me happy. I just hope your daughter can recover." Santana says. She hears footsteps scurry down the stairs and is met by a Liv with a backpack (hopefully with clothes) and a lamb clutched to her chest.
"Say goodnight to your parents" Santana insists and watches the oblivious girl kiss her parents cheeks before running back to Santana who deftly holds the girl on her hip. "I'll take good care of them both. Call Ali. She's been through this when I first came to live with her. Goodnight Mr. and Mrs.P." with that, the teen leaves, taking with her two fragile young blondes.
When Santana arrives home, Ali is waiting on the porch for her. They'd hoped there was some sort of explanation that would grant the Pierces a little more innocence. One look from Santana told Ali otherwise, and when she saw the sleeping 8 year old in the backseat the thought was cemented. Santana smiles gratefully at her aunt who takes Olivia to Diego's room.
"Britt?" Santana gently nudges the dancer.
"San?" she barely opens her puffy red eyes.
"I've got you. Ready to go up to bed?" Santana reaches a hand out, gently leading Brittany up the stairs and to her room.
"Why?" Brittany whimpers as Santana helps the girl sit.
"Because the cops couldn't do their damn job." Santana breathes, her anger growing again.
"Santana?" Brittany asks as the Latina coaxes her to lay back and wipes the girls eyes free of makeup.
"Hmm?" the girl hums.
"You have to try to understand." Brittany breathes softly.
"I do." Santana throws the makeup wipes away and lays a wet washcloth over the girls eyes "I just think the cops shouldn't have put your parents in that situation."
"Do you think my parents were forced?" Brittany mumbles.
"Yes. They wouldn't say it with the officers around. But I believe they were told they could be charged with obstruction of justice if they didn't. Which is bull, by the way." Santana explains.
"How do you know?" Brittany wonders.
"My mom is a lawyer." Santana is blunt.
"Can you take the washcloth off?" Brittany pouts.
"Ummm" Santana sees the redness has lessened "Yeah." she takes it off, setting it aside.
"I wanted to look at you." Brittany says, finding brown eyes full of anger, but also despair. "I'm okay."
"I know." Santana sniffles "But I saw you there, curled in a ball and I just…" Santana wipes stray tears "I just wanted to hurt anyone who'd let that happen. And I wanted to take all the hurt away." Santana looks away, but Brittany forces eye contact and her resolve breaks.
"Shh. It's okay. I'll stay with you, we will focus on our song for glee, and we will blow them away." Brittany kisses a tan nose.
"You missed." Santana pouts.
"Oh?" Brittany smirks.
"Yeah." Santana pulls Brittany on top of her and pulls her into a strong kiss.
On Monday, Brittany and Santana leave early, stopping by the Pierces so Olivia can get ready for school and Brittany can grab some clothes. She's not ready to go home yet, so she prepares herself for a week. She does give her parents both a hug on the way out. Santana watches warily from the foyer the entire time, but when Brittany smiles she nods at the Pierces in acceptance. Their day is pretty uneventful and they're super excited for Glee.
"Good afternoon! Alright so this week's assignment is to take a song and change it. Make it your own. Brittany?" Mr. Schue calls.
"Santana and I were actually working on something. It fits the assignment oddly enough." she smiles and Mr. Schue gladly gives them the floor. Brad steps away so Santana can sit at the piano. Brittany borrows a guitar from when of the band guys and there's a collective gasp around the room. She grins.
"Ready B?" Santana asks and Brittany nods.
Just a girl turned eighteen
She ran away to chase her dreams
They said she wouldn't make it far
She took a chance and packed her bags
She left town and didn't look back
So tired of wishing on the stars
So save me, from who I'm supposed to be
Don't wanna be a victim of authority
I'll always be a part of the minority
So save me, from who I'm supposed to be
Tell me, tell me, tell me what you want from me
I don't wanna be another social casualty
Brittany dances as she strums through an acoustic version of the guitar solo.
So save me, from who I'm supposed to be
Don't wanna be a victim of authority
I'll always be a part of the minority
So save me, from who I'm supposed to be
Tell me, tell me, tell me what you want from me
I don't wanna be another social casualty
When they end, the club breaks out in immediate applause.
"How did you make that song acoustic?" Tina asks, shocked. Santana shrugs shyly. Rachel is even impressed.
"I have to say, this is the most astounding performance not given by me so far. Mr. Schue, I actually think the original version of this song may be perfect for sectionals.
"Why's that?" Brittany asks, handing the guitar back.
"Well, according to the glee club websites the judges really want to hear something a little different, but still with that pop flare." Rachel says.
"And you think this song will give them that?" Santana arches an eyebrow.
"It's very, what do you call it, punky?" Rachel asks and Santana nods with an eye roll.
"Well, I'll have to give the original a listen, but from this performance I say it makes the cut. However, just because Santana and Brittany performed it today, doesn't mean they'll perform it at sectionals. Especially if I need Brittany dancing." says.
"If I may suggest a trio? There's 3 singers on this track." Santana offers.
"Well, if we decide on it, we'll hold auditions for the trio. The rest of you, work on your assignment. Santana, Brittany, hold back for a second?" he asks and they nod nervously.
"Don't be nervous. While you can't play instruments at glee competitions, I'd love for you two to do something for the assembly." he says.
"Won't Rachel want lead?" both girls ask in unison.
"She'll get it. I want to highlight your instrumental skills and your voices. Do you play electric keyboard too Santana?" he asks.
"Schue, look at me. Of course I do. I actually play keytar too." she shrugs.
"Show off" Brittany says.
"Britt, electric guitar?" he asks.
"Yeah. Plenty." she smiles.
"Great. We need to excite everybody for homecoming at this pep rally." he says.
"Well, better find a song then Schue. We'd love to chat, but we got lives, Adios!" Santana says leaving the teacher to figure out a song.