Chapter 42: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
a/n: a short one, but this song makes me go absolutely feral. it's by Set It Off
While she'd stayed at Santana's, Brittany had really fallen out of touch with Liv. Her sibling was 10 years old, gender fluid, and had been moved into 6th grade. Brittany was surprised to hear that Liv had skipped 5th grade completely, and also worried that they would be bullied at middle school. So, now that she was back home and Thanksgiving had passed with little incident, she made an effort to be there whenever they needed her.
"Britt?" Liv said, peeking into the blonde's doorway. Brittany was playing scales on her guitar, but set it aside as soon as she saw her sibling's face.
"Liv, what's wrong?" Brittany asked immediately and Liv fell into their older sister's arms.
"I'm not old enough for middle school." they cried.
"What happened?" Brittany asks, rubbing their back softly. "Are they bullying you?"
"At first I didn't think so." Liv admits "They lied, said it was so cool I was barely 10 and already so smart. They said I could sit with them at lunch. They even respected my pronouns."
"They lied, didn't they? So you would let your guard down." Brittany says with certainty.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Liv asks, surprised "Did…did that happen to you too?"
"Yeah Liv. It did. I was worried that something bad was going to happen to you. I'm gonna teach those middle schoolers a lesson." Brittany growls.
"Britt! You can't. They're only 11 and 12, that would be worse than what they did." Liv says "It wasn't even that bad."
"What did they do to you?" Brittany says "Did they slushy you? Graffiti your locker? Steal your gym clothes?"
"Britt, they just- they spread this nasty rumor about me. That I wasn't in middle school because of my brain, but instead because I'd been acting inappropriately for my age. That I'd done…stuff." Liv shakes their head "And they said, they said I had boy parts and they were scared I was going to knock them up too."
"I'm gonna kill them. I'm going to kill them." Brittany is furious. This could ruin Liv's life forever. Certainly any chance for friendship they had for the next few years went down the drain.
"Britt!" Liv yells "I don't want you to kill them, it won't do any good. I'm more worried about what's next."
"What's next?" Brittany stands up "There will be no next." Brittany paces "Did you tell the principal? Anyone other than me?"
"No, that'll just make it worse." Liv shakes their head "I don't need to be known as a tattle-tale too. You never told on your bullies."
"And where did that get me?" Brittany raises an eyebrow "Not very far Liv. You're the smart one. You should get this."
"I'm book smart. You're street smart. You have great social skills. I don't. It's fine. I'll keep to myself and not react and hopefully it'll become boring for them. My favorite teacher always said that their door is always open if I need somewhere to eat for lunch." Liv assures.
"Good. Go there everyday. Walk between classes as fast as you can. Don't go to the bathroom or stop at the water fountain. If you can avoid it, don't go to your locker." Brittany instructs.
"So make myself invisible? Good thing I've got lots of practice doing that." They leave and Brittnay shakes her head. She's angry- rightfully so. Her little sibling doesn't deserve to be bullied for being different. She has to send them a message. Sure, Liv can make themself invisible for a little while, but eventually they'll be caught alone.
"What's wrong Britt?" Santana says as she climbs into the car the next morning- Liv was being dropped off first due to an extra class in the morning to catch them up on things they simply hadn't learned.
"Liv is being bullied." Brittany growls, her grip tightening on the steering wheel.
"So why aren't you kicking middle school ass right now?" Santana asks.
"Liv told me not to. And I respect their wishes. But we've got to send a message somehow." Brittany sighs as they pull into McKinley.
"We usually communicate best through music." Santana says "I'm just not sure how we can deliver that to the middle school." The Latina gets Asher's leash on and they make their way into school.
"Maybe Mr.Schue has an idea. We can ask." Brittany shrugs "It can't hurt."
They make their way to the teachers office where he's flipping through sheet music for every Journey song ever written.
"Hey ladies. How can I help you?" He says looking up at them.
"We were wondering if it would be possible to do a performance for the middle school." Brittany asked.
"I don't know. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for the Holiday show." Mr.Schue says "Why the sudden interest?"
"Britt's little sibling just started there, and it's not going so well." Santana explains "They're getting bullied. We just want to send a message that bullying isn't okay."
"Aren't there videos or traveling advocates who can do that?" Mr.Schue questions.
"We never ask for anything, can't you do this one thing?" Brittany asks.
"Fine. I'll put a call in and see if I can get you guys a chance to go to their assembly on Friday. But you have to work on this on your own time. This isn't a Glee club event, so if people want to help they can but no one has to." Mr.Schue says dialing the number. They wait patiently and finally he hangs up. "You're in. Don't mess this up. If you do something that creates a bad reputation for us it could cost us not getting the funds we need at the winter showcase."
"We've got it Mr.Schue." Brittany assures and they leave his office "So the song I wanna do isn't the most appropriate."
"Britt, you heard Mr.Schue." Santana says "He's really going out on a limb for us."
"Santana, I know. That's why we need someone else's help too." Brittany says, dragging the Latina into Sue's office.
"Ladies, how can I help you? Need me to take over your club?" Sue asks.
"No, we uh, we need you to help us with a bit of mischief." Brittany says nervously.
"What's the deal Blondie?" Sue smiles, already in. Brittany lays it out and Sue nods "So I just need to make sure that your performance doesn't upset anyone?"
"Yup." Brittany smiles "Think we can pull it off?"
"Oh yeah. I can sell your siblings sob story as an excuse for your poor judgement.' Sue waves off any worries "I've got your back."
"What exactly is in this for you Sue?" Santana asks, wary of the principal.
"It means they're less trouble when they become my Cheerios in the future. Aren't you supposed to be smart?" Sue shakes her head. "Good luck ladies."
The week is hectic. Everyone is vying for a spot in the Holiday Concert, and Mr.Schue has assigned Brittany and Santana to do a number for Santa baby. Now why Brittnay dressing up in the hottest Santa costume anyone had ever laid eyes on made a look of sense was not Santana's issue. She had to get the song down and there was a dance with it. Brittnay was also figuring out how to keep the costume sexy but cover her scars.
"Tina, I'm glad that it has sleeves but thus skirt is way too high." Brittany sighs.
"I'm sorry. Mr.Schue insisted. You can do black tights under it. I think that'll do it." Tina tries to comfort the blonde.
"I hope so. I'm not mad I'm just…" Brittany shakes her head "It's not even just the scars. I feel sexualized."
"It's a sexy song." Santana says sibling up next to her.
"So where's your sexy dress?" Britrany raises an eyebrow.
"In my closet at home. Babe you know my red dress with the sleeves is perfect for this." Santana smiles softly.
"I just don't feel good in this Santana." Brittany sighs "I feel really exposed."
"I'm sorry hun, honestly. Is there anything I can do?" Santana says.
"Just help me block the number to ensure no one gets an eyeful." Brittany says, leading Santana in their dance.
While they really should be practicing for the concert when their home, they spend their time preparing for the middle school assembly before parting ways every night before bed. Brittany missed the ducks, so for the time being they ate dinner together at the Lopez house. Santana knew Liv missed her sister, but all the hard work and time was mostly for her. Friday approached extremely quickly, and Brittany and Santana were ready to wow. They'd kept the assembly a surprise to Liv as well, just in case they tried to stop them. And so, they showed up at the anti-bullying assembly. They even talked a bit before their performance. Santana was still scared to ruffle feathers. After all, it wasn't really an anti-bullying song, there were swears, and it was going to be obvious who Brittany was singing about. She wasn't going to let her go down alone though- this was for Liv and would scare the kids straight.
Beware, beware, be skeptical
Of their smiles, their smiles of plated gold
Deceit so natural
But a wolf in sheep's clothing is more than a warning
They'd managed to convince the band to come, and Santana was glad as the drums really drove the point home.
So could you
Tell me how you're sleeping easy
How you're only thinking of yourself
Show me how you justify
Telling all your lies like second nature
Listen, mark my words, one day (one day)
You will pay, you will pay
Karma's gonna come collect your debt
Santana could see the fire in her girlfriends eyes, and honestly it was burning in hers too. They were no longer singing to Liv's bullies, this was to everyone who ever bullied them too.
Karma's gonna come collect your debt
Karma's gonna come collect your debt
They finished the song and slowly but surely applause filled the room. Santana decided to end with a message.
"The next time you think about bullying someone, remember that it'll always come back to haunt you. Just like the song says. So just don't. Bullying doesn't make any sense. Be better people." Santana puts the mic on the stand and exits the stage with Brittany. She hopes that this worked, because she knows that some of her bullies wouldn't have been phased. But she had a feeling the 6th grade girls weren't nearly as tough.
Liv found them as the assembly ended with the principal announcing a new national bullying campaign.
"What the hell was that?" they asked "I looked over and the girls were literally so scared. They came up to me afterwards and were like "Please tell your sister not to murder us." It was so crazy."
"Glad you liked it, Liv. So do you think they'll try and clear up the rumor?" Brittany asks.
"Yeah, I heard them spreading the word that it was all a lie on their way out. I'm definitely not going to be their friends, but I'm finding more like minded people. There's another kid who eats lunch in my teachers room. I think one friend is enough for me for now." Liv smiles.
"Good to hear it. We've got to head back to McKinley, but we'll see you after school okay?" Santana smiles.
"Yeah of course. See you later." Liv leaves.
"There's one more bully who needs a lesson taught to him." Brittany growls as they get in the car.
"Mr.Schue. Forcing us into those costumes, threatening us to not mess up this performance, tearing us down when we aren't perfect- he needs to understand he's a bully too." Brittany says "one more performance?"
"You've got it." Santana smiles.
Maybe you'll change
Abandon all your wicked ways
Make amends and start anew again
Maybe you'll see
All the wrongs you did to me
And start all over, start all over again
Brittnay tried to believe the lines in the bridge, but she knew it would only work if Mr.Schue realized he was wrong.
Luckily, he got it and quickly ordered some less revealing clothes for the girls.
Maybe the song seems like a weird choice, but it worked, and damn well at that.