Ch. 11: Operation Chummy

After running through various drills with the campers, Santana and the rest of the team breaks the campers for lunch. Santana keeps a watchful eye over the campers as they go through the cafeteria lines, only selecting her food and sitting down once all the campers have picked their own food. As Santana sits down at the table with her teammates, the girls start to question her about her face.

"Yo, Cap, what happened to your face?!"

"Yeah! Rough night last night with the ladies?" another teammate hollers.

"Oh! Or did you try hooking up with someone and their boyfriend came out and let you meet his fist?"

Santana scowls at her teammates. "Why must you all assume that everything that I do or everything that happens to me is because of a woman?" I know I'm hot, but I'm not always out fucking women!"

"Oh, Snix is coming out! Watch out ladies!" one of Santana's teammates jokes.

"You want Aunty Snix? I'll give you Aunt Snix. Suicides. Everyone. Now." When you no one gets up to move, Santana folds her hands in front of her, looking expectantly around at her teammates. "Oh. So no one wants to run suicides? Okay. I see. Just like you don't want to run suicides, I don't want to have my love life joked about. Not now." With that, Santana abruptly pushes her chair back, causing it to screech loudly and fall to the floor. "Fifteen minutes. I want all the campers back outside for the last set of drills before we have a scrimmage. I'll be out at the field."

After Santana is out of earshot, everyone at the table buzzes with wonder over what has made Santana so unusually bitchy. "E," one of the girls turn towards Erika. "You were with her last yesterday. Do you know what's causing this? I mean, she's got a broken nose and an attitude that's worse than I don't know what! All I know is that she's acting worse than when her and Koh broke up. And that was bad. Was she dating someone and none of us knew?"

Erika looks at her teammates questioning faces and sighs. "It's not my place to tell what happened. Just let San tell you on her own. But, in the meantime, maybe a little less about her love life would be good, especially while we still have the campers here." Everyone nods their heads in understanding. Satisfied, Erika stands up. "Okay. You heard Santana though. And since she's already pissed enough, let's get these campers outside before she has a coronary!" With that, the team gets up and calls to their respective squads that lunch is finished and it's time to go.

The rest of the afternoon goes by smoothly, with no incidents during the drills or the scrimmage. The campers are all packing up, waiting for their rides to pick them up when Erika walks over to Beth. "Hey, Beth. I'm –"

"Oh my god, I know who you are!" Beth exclaims, cutting off Erika. "You're –"

"Yes, I'm Erika Harding. One of –"

"No. I was going to say that you're Santana's – I mean Coach Lopez's – friend."

"Oh. Yeah, I'm her friend. Sorry. I'm just so used to people getting excited over who I am, not who I'm friends with."

"Well, I am at your soccer camp, so I already know who you are. But, I'm more interested in you being friends with Coach Lopez. My mom and her were chummy back in high school, whatever that means, and I'm trying to figure out how to get them to be chummy again."

Erika ponders Beth's statement for a moment. "You're trying to get your mom and San, I mean Coach Lopez, to be chummy again, huh?"

"That is what I just said. Coach. Coach Erika," Beth says, wondering why this woman is repeating what she says back to her. "You have the same look on your face that my Aunt Rachel has on hers when she's making one of her elaborate schemes. What are you trying to do?"

Beth's inquiry shakes Erika out of her train of thought. "Oh, um, nothing. I shouldn't be getting you involved because you're a camper. And a minor. And I'm pretty sure that both Santana and your mom would kill me. And I don't even know your mom, except for what San's said in the past."

"Coach Lopez has talked about my mom before?" Beth asks, hopefully.

"Shit." Erika exclaims. Beth raises her eyebrows at Erika's choice of words, mimicking the way that Quinn would raise her eyebrows during her HBIC days. Erika looks at her and then her eyebrows shoot up as she realizes her word choice. "Um, can we act like I never said that?" Erika asks pleadingly.

"You're more worried about saying 'sh—'"

"Hey! Don't you say it too! You're like what? Ten?"

"Fine. You're more worried about saying that in front of me than letting it slip that Coach Lopez talks about my mom?" Beth says with a questioning look.

Erika sighs. "What's it going to take for you to keep quiet about both things?"

"Let me in on Operation Chummy."

"Operation Chummy?"

"Yeah, it's what I just named out operation to get my mom and Santana – Coach Lopez – chummy again like their high school days. Puck said that they were really chummy. I'm guessing that chummy means happy and my mom sure could use that after her last – well, after this move. So, let's work together and I won't –"

"Beth!" Quinn shouts from her car as she gets out and starts to walk towards her daughter to pick her up.

"I won't tell," Beth continues.

"But, you're a kid," Erika states.

"Haven't you ever seen The Parent Trap? Kids are great at these kinds of things. It's the adults that suck with feelings."

"Language," Erika interjects.

Beth rolls her eyes. "So, what's it going to be?" she asks as her mother gets closer. "Time is slipping away."

"okay, I'm in," Erika states right before Quinn reaches them.

"Hey Mom! This is Erika, Coach Erika Harding," Beth states. "She's one of Coach Lopez's friends. She was the one who nailed Coach Lopez in the face yesterday when you showed up," Beth says cheekily.

Quinn pales slightly. "How's se doing today? Coach Lopez, I mean? Oh, and hello," Quinn states as an afterthought and reaches out her hand to shake Erika's.

"Oh, she's doing okay. Just –" Erika stops as Beth stares at her, wide eyed. "You can ask her yourself?" Erika ends her statement in a question, not sure if that's what Beth meant by the wide-eyed look. Beth nods her head slightly in approval.

"Oh, um, I'm sure she has better things to do then to talk to an old friend right now about a soccer injury." Quinn says, self-depreciatingly.

"Well, if you change your mind," Erika reaches into the pocket of her warm-up pants ad jots down a number on a business card, "here's her personal cell number. I'm sure she'd love to hear from an old friend, even if it has been awhile and is only about a soccer injury." Quinn takes the card carefully, as if it may bite, and places it in her purse.

"Thank you," Quinn says to Erika before turning to Beth. "Okay, Beth. Let's head home" As Beth goes to follow her mom, she turns around quickly and shoots Erika the thumbs up.

"Oh!" Erika exclaims, catching the mother and daughter duo's attention one last time before they get inside their car. "When you get in touch with her, don't let her blame her broke nose all on me, okay? It's not my fault she looked away!" Erika says jokingly.

Quinn's eyes go wide. "Broken nose?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. Santana's been through worse injuries than that."

"Oh, okay. Well, thank you. I believe that we've held you up long enough. And thank you for Coach Lopez's number."

"No problem. See you tomorrow, Beth!" Erika waves to them both as Quinn gets ready to drive away, mouthing Operation Chummy to Beth with a smile.