13

Santana's POV

Usually, I try to avoid doing childish things like having a snowball fight, but I had a lot of fun playing outside with Brittany. That was until she tried to kiss me again. Why could she not understand that she's my friend, and friends don't kiss? Then, I came up with linking pinkies; it seemed to make up for my rejection.

After Beauty and the Beast was finished, I sat up and lifted my head from Brittany's shoulder.

"I almost forget," she said suddenly, "your Christmas present!"

She got up off the couch and went to get the gift from her jacket. I wasn't expecting anything from her, but I had actually gotten her a gift too.

"Well first," Brittany began, "my sister got friendship bracelets for us; I'm already wearing mine."

I took the second bracelet from Brittany and put in on my wrist. It was the type of thing I would have done as a child, except the bracelets looked more mature than that.

"And, now, here's your real gift."

I took a small wrapped package from Brittany's hands. The best guess I had for its contents was jewelry, but I didn't want to say anything out loud in case I was wrong.

I peeled back the wrapping paper, slowly and carefully. Inside was a box, which I opened to reveal a zip drive.

"What's on it?" I asked.

Brittany said, "Well, since you love music so much, I compiled a list of my favorite songs. It's a good way for you to get to know me. I thought of burning a CD, but I didn't want the package to be so obvious."

I smiled. "Thank you, Britt. I can't wait to listen to it." I paused for a moment. "Wait here a minute; I have your present in my room."

I got up from the couch and ran to my bedroom, digging to find the present under a small pile of clean laundry. Bringing it back to the living room, I gave the package to Brittany.

She opened presents differently than me, first asking what the contents were, then shaking it, before she unwrapped it, actually tearing the wrapping paper into shreds. Inside the box that I had wrapped was a notebook and box of crayons (Brittany's preferred writing utensil).

"It's not very personal, but I do see you writing and doodling a lot, so I thought..."

"It's perfect, Santana," Brittany said, calming my nerves.

I've always hated giving and receiving gifts when it was with people I actually liked. I didn't want people thinking I was too cheesy, but I also wanted to seem genuine. I was glad she liked my gift.

"It's almost suppertime," I noted, looking at the clock. "Do you want to order in?"

"Whatever you want," Brittany replied.

"I really just want dessert," I said honestly. I knew it was bad because I needed to lose weight for Cheerios, but we did run around outside before watching the movie; my body and mind felt as though they were in constant conflict when it came to being healthy.

"Do you have candy and ice cream?" Brittany asked excitedly.

"Yeah, probably."

She followed me into the kitchen where I opened the freezer and found both chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

"There should be some candy in that cupboard there." I pointed to the cupboard where my snack food was usually kept (a good part of being an only child).

I took two large bowls out of the dishwasher that I had ran in the morning, and then two spoons while Brittany got out the candy and chocolate sauce.

"Take what you want," I said, handing Brittany the ice cream scoop.

She smiled widely and took a large scoop of vanilla and two scoops of chocolate ice cream into one of the bowls before scooping the same into the other. She drowned both piles of ice cream in chocolate sauce, then looked at me.

"You can pick your candy," she stated.

Once our ice cream sundaes were made, we went to my bedroom and sat on the floor, leaning against the bed, to eat them.

"I'm thinking of breaking up with Matt," Brittany mentioned casually.

"Why?" I asked. "He's good for our popularity."

"So is Puck, but you're not technically dating him."

I'd never told Brittany that we were only sleeping together, so I was surprised that she'd caught on. Then again, she's much smarter than anyone realizes.

"You're popular if you are seen with someone popular," I said, "but guys need to see the possibility of dating you somewhere in the future because that can add to your popularity. So, I sleep with Puck. If you break up with Matt, you need to find someone else to be your rebound."

"Why don't we just sleep around with the football team?" Brittany asked. "Wouldn't that help our popularity more than just sticking to one guy?"

"You are a genius, Brittany," I said, smiling as I scooped more ice cream into my mouth. "Now I just need to find a way to tell Puck I want to sleep with other boys too. Then, our popularity will be set."

We finished our ice cream sundaes before picking the four Bring It On movies from my collection to marathon. Movie marathons were my usual New Year's Eve routine, and Brittany happily agreed that it would be fun.

Usually, I would get out a few bags of chips and candy, but I decided to make some popcorn instead; it was mostly air, wasn't it?

Once our popcorn was made, I carried it into the living room where Brittany and I got comfortable on the couch with some blankets and our pillows. By the time we were settled, Brittany had gladly calculated what time we would be finished watching the movies. The total length of all the movies was 6 hours and 20 minutes, meaning we would finish about 10 minutes before midnight; perfect timing.

I enjoyed watching movies with Brittany. If she knew any random facts about any part of the movie, she'd spew them out, but if I hadn't watched the movies, she wouldn't have spoiled anything for me. She sang along to the songs, and laughed loudly when she thought something was funny. I found myself following in her steps.

When the credits for the final movie started rolling, I turned the TV to a New Year's countdown.

"10, 9, 8," Brittany started once we were in the final seconds of the year.

I smiled, then joined in, "3, 2, 1. Happy New Year!"

Brittany hugged me tight, then linked my pinky finger in hers. "Instead of kissing on New Year's," she stated.

"Do you want to stay up or go to sleep now?" I asked.

"Sleep," Brittany mumbled.

"Okay."

School started up again after Christmas break, sending us straight into our first exams of high school and more Cheerios practice, especially since we had won our Sectionals and would be heading to Regionals. All-in-all, I was happy with my high school experience so far.

In second semester, I actually had a few classes with Brittany. We had math together right after Cheerios practice, and we had gym class together after lunch. Brittany surprisingly was struggling in math; I knew that she was really smart, she just didn't seem to want to try in her classes. She was the same Brittany in class, meaning that she blurted out things that were meant as a joke, but it led to a lot of people calling her stupid.

Just as Brittany had said she would, she broke up with Matt a week into second semester. She told him that she didn't want to be in a committed relationship, and almost immediately, her popularity spiked. I did the same with Puck, leaving Quinn as the only one of us dating, who refused to leave Finn.

"I really like him," she argued.

So, we left her alone when it came to dating, sex, and boys.

January faded into February as I slept with my second boy: Azimio, and Brittany slept with her third boy: Mike. Both of them were on the football team, and both of them helped boost our popularity. Our popularity plans were coming along as planned, and our high school careers were going great.