1
Santana's POV
Most people are nervous for their first day of high school, but I wasn't. I'd been on my middle school's cheerleading squad was planning on joining the high school squad and being popular. I didn't have any friends from middle school, but that was alright. Popular girls get all the friends and all the boys.
I needed to make a great first impression, so I woke up extra early. I went on a run, showered, got dressed, and did my hair and makeup. I grabbed a granola bar, and went outside to wait for the bus. I hated taking the bus, but my parents wouldn't drive me to school, even on the first day.
On the bus, an annoying seventh grader sat beside me. I sort of knew her since my dad worked with her dad, but that didn't make her friends. I told her to leave, but the bus was too full for her to find another seat.
Our bus stopped at the middle school, then the high school. Plenty of people were already outside, talking to their friends, and making their way inside the school. I'd been inside before, but it felt more grown up this time.
My first class of the day was English. I'd never been a top student in school, but I wanted to graduate with my grade, so I wasn't going to slack off. I barely knew anyone in my English class from middle school, so I sat by myself. After English, I had science. Again, I sat by myself. This arrangement seemed to be my destiny in each and every one of my classes. Sure, I maybe wasn't the nicest to kids in middle school, but that didn't necessarily mean I wanted to sit alone all the time.
Once all my classes were over, I made my way to the girls' locker room to change for the cheerleading tryouts. There were probably close to 50 girls waiting in line to try out. The coach, Sue Sylvester, didn't want people watching others' routines, so we had to wait outside the gym after we warmed up. I noted how few boys there were, probably only five or six.
"Most of you won't make it past the tryouts," Sue said. "In fact, most of you probably suck. When I call your name, come in and show me what you've got."
I wished I could see the tryouts, but I was so far back in line, that I couldn't. Sue had lined us up in alphabetical order by last name, and with the last name Lopez, that put me close to the middle of all the tryouts.
As I started to near the front of the line, I started to get a bit nervous and everyone seemed annoying.
"Move over, jerk!" I shoved another girl over, and she looked at me, angry.
"What did I ever do to you?" she asked.
I shrugged and turned away from her.
A few came out of the gym looking worried, others happy, others crying. I didn't know what went down in there, but obviously, Sue was saying stuff to everyone after their tryouts.
Finally, I was at the front of the line, ready to head into the gym. When I heard my name being called, I walked inside.
I waited for the music to start, then performed my routine. I'd practiced it a lot, knowing how hard this coach was; she had to be since her squad had won Nationals for four years in a row.
"Well, Santana," Sue said, "that wasn't awful. You can head home now. I'll have names posted on the bulletin board tomorrow. If yours is there, come here after school."
I nodded, then left the gym as the next girl went inside.
Since the buses ran after school, I had to walk home after the tryouts. I'd told my mom that before leaving for school in the morning, but they were both working and couldn't come pick me up afterwards. The walk was long, but I knew if I wanted to make the Cheerios, I had to exercise more than I already did.
Back at home, I organized my binder, then started stretching. I needed to get my splits perfect if I wanted to succeed on the Cheerios.
My mom came home a bit later and started making supper. It was just us at supper since my dad had to work late that day. She asked me about my day, then kept eating.
"Do you think you made it onto the squad?" my mom asked.
"I hope so. I think I did alright," I replied.
She smiled, then started cleaning up the supper dishes. I went back up to my room. I wished I had someone to text or talk to, but I didn't, unless you counted family and neighbors. So, I decided to go to bed early instead of sit in my room, lonely.
The next morning at school, I rushed over to the bulletin board. I searched the list of only about 15 people and finally found my name. I recognized a few of the names on my list from when roll call had been taken in some of my classes. What I really needed was a friend on the Cheerios who could rule the school with me.
In science class, a skinny, blonde girl approached me.
"You made the Cheerios?" she asked.
"Yeah. How did you know?" I replied, looking at her.
"I did, too. My name's Quinn. The thing is, I want to be popular, and in order for that to happen, I need a sidekick. You in?"
Her tell-it-like-it-is attitude surprised me. I didn't necessarily want to be a sidekick, but I said, "Sure. Anyone else you want to enlist?"
"There's another girl who made the Cheerios. Her name's Brittany Pierce and she's been dancing since she was a toddler. If we could get her on board, we'd be unstoppable."
I wondered how she knew almost everyone, so I asked her.
"I needed to scout out the competition," she replied. "I transferred to Lima in eighth grade, but made sure to get to know everyone who could get in my way."
"Is this Brittany girl in any of your classes?" I asked Quinn.
"No, but we'll find her at lunch."
The rest of the morning passed quickly, and I found Quinn just outside the cafeteria.
"Finding Brittany comes first," she said. "Food's less important."
We walked together, but I made sure to stay one step behind her. She wanted to lead and although I wanted to as well, I didn't want her to hate me the second day of school.
Quinn pointed to a tall blonde girl in line at the cafeteria. "That's her. Go ask her if she wants to join us," she said; so I did.