Santana clutches the straps of her backpack as she looks at the ginormous building in front of her. William McKinley High School. Her new school, the school she's going to be going to for her entire senior year. She shuffles her feet back and forth as she just gazes at the tall building and takes a big gulp.
Santana turns around as her Tio honks the horn behind her. He waves at her and gives her an encouraging smile. She smiles shyly back, it's only been a few weeks since she met him, and her Tia. She's still sort of still trying to see what type of people they are, she does that a lot with people she meets, it's like a game. Ever since Santana came to Lima with her brother Jake and her sister Mercedes, they've all lived with them. It's certainly better than foster care, where Santana and her siblings used to live for two years.
Santana, Jake, and Mercedes all used to live in Philadelphia with their parents. If Santana wanted to be extremely technical, Jake and Mercedes are only her half siblings. All three of them share the same father. Besides being black, Santana's Puerto Rican and Jake is Jewish. Mercedes is just fully black. She couldn't explain though, why her and Jake are Lopezes and Mercedes has the surname Jones, it's just how it's always been.
Santana knows her father, Sean Jones, was a very loving and compassionate man, but he had a reputation in the neighborhood. He was a player, to put it simply, and got with anyone that would get with him too. That behavior led to the making of her and her siblings! Santana's Mom, Maribel Lopez, was known as the woman who was too dumb and blind to leave "Sexaholic Sean" as he kept dropping kids at her doorstep. From an early age, Santana saw her parents argue, but she also saw them in love. No matter how confusing their relationship was, they always loved each other somehow at the end of the day.
Soon it happened. The thing that changed her life. Her parents were gone, and she was put in foster care along with Jake and Mercedes. Santana was lucky, she didn't get separated from them, she thought they were all she had left. For two years she lived in a group home in Philly, the conditions were poor and there wasn't a lot to do. The worst thing about it was watching Jake lose his innocence, he came in as an optimistic 12 year old and changed into a hardened 14 year old. He was still so sweet, Santana and Mercedes could see that, but he was gaining the same reputation as his father in that group home. Some of the stories that were told were quite outrageous, and Mercedes tried so hard to clear her brother's name.
But it was hard for Santana to defend him, especially when she's been mute ever since she lost her parents.