Chapter 3: Getting to know you
Late August 2013
Rachel, Kurt and I have been working on the apartment all day now, well they have, I was working up until 4pm and then I went to help. The painting is all done and we're almost done sorting the bedroom and putting up some curtains to divide the apartment to give two other areas that can be used as bedrooms. After much discussion, it was decided I'd get to have the bedroom and Kurt and Rachel would need to make do with the other areas.
"It's still really early, what do you say we all go out tonight and celebrate" I say. "I mean the apartment is pretty much finished and we just need to move our stuff in so we could do that tomorrow and have some fun tonight."
"I would like to get out for a change" Kurt nods.
"Let's do it then, let's let our hair down and have a good time" I say enthusiastically.
"What do you think Rachel?" Kurt asks.
"I'm not really in the mood to go out?" Rachel replies.
"Oh come on, don't you want to have some fun?" I ask.
"I do but not tonight, I'm too tired" Rachel says.
"Would you be offended if Santana and I still went out then?" Kurt asks.
"No you two go and have some fun" Rachel smiles.
"Cool, we might as well just stop where we are just now with the decorating and go back to the house and change" I say. Since we still don't have any of our stuff here then we'll probably stay with Rachel's aunt one more night tonight.
XXX
I'm just sitting at the bar causally looking around while Kurt is off dancing with some guy when I notice someone familiar out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't until I got a little closer that the person didn't just have a familiar face, I actually knew them. I nonchalantly move closer to them and take a seat next to them.
"Hey I'm Santana" I smile while holding out my hand.
"Brittany" Brittany smiles back while shaking my hand.
"Can I get you a drink?" I ask.
"Sure" Brittany nods. "I'll take the same again."
"Which is what?" I laugh.
"A martini" she smiles.
"Ok" I nod and then order us both a drink. "So tell me about yourself Brittany?"
"What do you want to know about me?" she asks.
"Anything at all" I smile.
"Ok so I'm 22, I'm a dance teacher and I've lived in New York my whole life" she smiles. "What about you Santana?"
"I'm not 22, I'm not a great dancer and I haven't lived in New York that long" I laugh. "I do however work as a waitress although I absolutely hate it."
"Are there no perks whatsoever in the job that you do?" Brittany asks as the bartender places our drinks in front of us.
"There really wasn't initially but since the other day there might be one" I smirk.
"Oh really, what's that?" she smiles.
"There was this really hot blonde that came in and now I sorta can't stop thinking about her. Do you ever get that feeling as soon as you see someone you're super into them?" I reply.
"Funnily enough I do" Brittany laughs.
"What's she like, the girl you're into?" I ask.
"Look are we going to pretend we don't know one another or shall we just get right to it?" Brittany smirks.
"Depends what you mean by right to it?" I smirk back.
"Well I think it's obvious I like you since I keep trying to flirt with you in the diner so I don't see the harm in one of us asking the other out" Brittany says.
"Yeah, me too" I smile.
"Hey do you like it here or do you want to go and get something to eat?" Brittany asks.
"I wouldn't mind getting something to eat" I smile.
"I know a really good place we can go to" she smiles while standing up. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah" I smile while following her.
We get into a cab outside and the driver takes us to our destination. Brittany quickly gets out first and then runs around to the other side and opens the door for me before helping me out of the cab.
"Thanks" I smile.
"You're welcome" she smiles back before leading us into the restaurant. "Have you been here before?"
"Nope, never" I shake my head.
"I love this place so hopefully you'll like it too" Brittany smiles.
"Yeah, hopefully" I smile back.
As soon as a waiter seats us, we look over the menu and order some drinks. Once we're satisfied on what we want to order, the waiter comes over and takes our orders. We're just sitting talking now as we wait on our food arriving.
"So where are you from Santana?" Brittany asks.
"Ohio actually" I smile. "I moved here a few weeks ago with two of my best friends. They were both coming here to live their dream of being stars and even though I don't quite know what my dream is, I wanted to come here to try and find it."
"It makes sense" Brittany nods.
"I did spend some time in Ohio working as a waitress after I graduated high school but I just hated it so much being stuck in Ohio and my friends were in New York so I just bit the bullet and came here" I tell her.
"So is working at the Spotlight Diner just temporary for you then?" she asks.
"Yeah just until I know what I want to do with my life" I say.
"So when did you graduate high school, this year?" she asks.
"I didn't actually tell you I was 18, did I?" I laugh.
"No you didn't" she smiles.
"Is that a problem because if it is then it's cool. We can just be friends" I say honestly.
"I don't see it as a problem" she smiles. "I mean I did think you were a little older, not that you look old but…anyway what I mean is I thought you were perhaps 20 or 21 but I don't mind that you're 18."
"Cool" I smile.
"So what else can you tell me about yourself?" she asks.
"Well I have two sisters, Ava is older than me and Olivia is younger. You already know where I come from and why I'm here so...um…there's not much else to say about me" I shrug.
"What about your relationship status, nothing to say about that?" she teases.
"Right, yeah" I laugh, "well I'm currently single at the moment but I kinda have my eye on someone."
"I see" Brittany nods just as the food comes over.
"This looks so good" I smile down at my plate.
"Yeah it really does" Brittany nods in agreement.
"Shall we eat then?" I ask and Brittany nods so we begin eating.
"So where were we?" she asks.
"Well I was just telling you about me but I think we've heard enough about me so let's talk about you" I smile.
"Ok" Brittany smiles back.
"You said you were 22; born and raised here; and you're a dance teacher?" I ask to clarify.
"That's right" she nods.
"Do you live alone or do you still stay with your parents?" I ask.
"No I live alone. I mean my parents don't stay that far away from me but yeah I have my own place. it's just a one bedroom place not too far away from where I work" she replies.
"Cool" I smile. "So what made you decide you wanted to be a dance teacher?"
"Well I've always loved dancing, I've been doing it since I was about three year's old" she says. "I mean my ultimate dream was to become a professional dancer but I just wasn't good enough" she admits sadly.
"Oh" I nod.
"I still loved dance though and to me I was pretty good at it so I figured I'd do teaching because at least that way I could still do what I loved, you know?" she replies.
"Yeah I completely understand that" I nod.
"I shouldn't complain though because I'm not doing too badly in life. I mean I have my own place and I have a job, what more could I need" Brittany shrugs.
"Who told you that you weren't good enough, did you just feel that way or did someone say that to you?" I ask.
"I went to a lot of auditions during and right after high school but the general consensus from everyone was that I wasn't quite up to the standard they were looking for. I was good but not good enough" Brittany replies. "I mean I took it pretty bad for a while but then I got my act together, went to college to do teacher training and here I am now as a dancer teacher" she smiles.
"I've never seen you dance Brittany but I can't imagine why anyone would turn you down" I say honestly. "I just have this feeling you're a lot better than what people think you are so I want to help you."
"Help me?" she questions, "with what?"
"Making your dream happen" I smile. "I don't know what my dream is yet but we know yours so let's work on it together and maybe I'll find mine along the way."
"Santana there is no point wasting time and energy on that for me because it'll never happen, no one wants me" she states.
"I mean I kinda want you" I smirk.
"You know what I mean" she smiles.
"Seriously though, I want to help you" I tell her. "Please let me do this."
"I'm not saying no, I'm just saying be prepared to be disappointed" Brittany shrugs.
"Hey how about we change the conversation now. I mean you probably don't want to talk about work related things right now" I say sensing this isn't a very positive topic for Brittany.
"Yeah let's change it" she smiles.
"So let's talk about the tips you give me" I smirk.
"What about them?" she asks slightly embarrassed.
"Well why were they always so generous? I mean it wasn't like just a couple of dollars you gave, it was a lot more." I ask.
"Um…so you would notice me" Brittany says embarrassed.
"I don't understand" I say confused.
"I go into that diner frequently but you never seem to come to my table. It was always that boy that seemed to take my order whereas I watched you serve just about every other customer" Brittany replies. "I mean no matter what table I was at or even if I thought it was your section you never seemed to take my order until recently."
"I'm sorry, I had no idea" I say honestly. "I literally haven't seen you until recently."
"That's what I mean so I gave you such big tips because then you'd remember me" Brittany smiles.
"Well I certainly did remember the girl with the big tips" I smile before instantly frowning. "I should really be careful how I say that, a slight issue with my enunciation could totally change that sentence."
"Yeah" Brittany laughs.
"Seriously though, I don't know how I missed you. The day I finally took your order, you were like the hottest person in there…besides me but still" I smirk.
"There's a compliment in there somewhere so I'll take it" Brittany smiles.
"Wait a second…" I say just realising something. "Did you say the male waiter always takes your orders?"
"Yeah" Brittany nods.
"Is his name Mark by any chance?" I ask and Brittany nods again. "That's why I've never seen you then. The thing is he sort of likes you so he's probably been going over to your table before anyone else has a chance."
"I think he has the message now though since I told him he wasn't really my type" Brittany says.
"Yeah" I nod in agreement.
"So tell me, were the big tips the only reason you kept serving me?" Brittany smirks.
"Well they certainly helped but believe it or not, I kept going to your table because I thought you were hot" I smile.
XXX
"So the food was nice but what do you say we get out of here now?" I ask.
"Yeah that's cool with me" Brittany nods. "Let me just pay this and then we can decide where we go next" she smiles.
"No wait let me pay half because I did eat half" I joke.
"I invited you so it's only fair I pay unless you're really desperate then you can pay" Brittany smiles.
"I'm not desperate and to be fair I could do with saving up some of my money so I'm happy for you to pay for it" I smirk.
"That's settled then" she smiles.
"I'll just get you outside if you want because I want to quickly use the bathroom first" I say.
"Yeah that's cool" she smiles. We then go in different directions and as soon as we're done we meet outside.
"So where now?" I ask.
"We could go back to my apartment if you want" Brittany suggests.
"Yeah I could do that" I smile.
"Awesome, let's go" she smiles back before waving down a cab.
The journey only takes a few minutes because Brittany doesn't actually live that far away. I think I actually know the location because I'm sure we viewed an apartment near there the other day.
"Hmm…nice apartment" I say looking around as we walk inside.
"Thank you" Brittany smiles. "So can I get you a drink?"
"Yes please but can I just get water, I'm working tomorrow" I reply.
"Yeah that's cool" she smiles. "Just take a seat and I'll be back in a moment."
"Ok" I smile and take a seat. Two seconds later Brittany comes back through.
"I just put some music on, is that ok?" she asks as she sits down next to me.
"Of course, I love music" I nod.
"That reminds me, I saw you performing in the diner one night and you were amazing" she smiles.
"Thank you" I say blushing slightly.
"So…" Brittany says hesitantly while turning to face me.
"So…" I say smiling at her.
"I had fun at dinner tonight and it was nice getting to know you" she says.
"Yeah I had fun too" I smile.
"Ok I just need to come right out and say this but I've been dying to kiss you for ages but I didn't want to make you uncomfortable by coming on too strong" Brittany admits. "Is it just me or do you feel like we have something here?"
"It's not just you" I reply. "Truth be told I've wanted to kiss you too but I didn't know what kind of pace you wanted to go at."
"Well this is the pace I want to go at" Brittany smiles before leaning in to kiss me.
"Me too then" I smile before kissing her this time. Just as I'm about to deepen the kiss Brittany interrupts.
"I'm sorry this is one of my favourite songs, let's dance to it" she says while taking my hand and pulling me up from the couch.
"Um…ok" I laugh. "Please don't let me make a fool of myself though because I've heard you're a great dancer and I'm really not" I smirk.
"Trust me, I won't do that" she smiles while taking my hand in one of hers and wrapping her free arm around my waist. "As soon as my song ends you can put a song on that you like and I could teach you to dance to it" she smiles.
"Ok" I smile back. As soon as Brittany's song ends, I put a song on that I like on Brittany's iPod.
"Oh it's a sexy song" Brittany smirks.
"Is it, I didn't even notice" I smirk back.
"Anyway you picked it so let's dance to it" she smiles while taking my hands and pulling me closer before wrapping her arms around my waist. I put my arms around her waist and we begin slowly dancing to the music.
"Do you know if you move your hands any lower they'll be on my ass" I smirk.
"Is that going to be an issue for you" she whispers in my ear.
"I guess not" I wink.
"If you feel I'm being too forward then just say. I'd hate to make you uncomfortable" Brittany says genuinely while looking into my eyes.
"You are very confident at times but I like that and I find it very sexy" I smile.
"I think you're sexy too you know" she smiles before leaning in to kiss me.
XXX
"Oh fuck Brittany…that feels so good" I moan.
"You sound so sexy when you swear" she says smiling up at me for a split second before continuing what she's doing.
"Uh…keep going" I moan again while pushing Brittany's head closer to me. "I'm almost there" I say while grabbing the sheets tightly. A few moments later, Brittany makes me cum.
"How do you feel now" she smiles while moving to lie beside me.
"Really good" I say turning a little so she can wrap her arms around me.
"I'm glad you liked it" she smiles while kissing me.
"I did which is why I don't want to say this but I kinda have to go now" I say regrettably.
"Oh, ok" Brittany says a little surprised.
"Sorry but I have a really early shift tomorrow so I need to go home and get some sleep" I say while beginning to get dressed. "I really did have fun tonight though, it's just all my things for work are at home plus my friends will be worried if I don't go home."
"Ok that's cool" Brittany says honestly.
"So I'll see you then" I say once I'm finally dressed and ready to go.
"Is there any chance we'll be able to do this again" she smiles.
"I'd definitely like to so give me a call sometime" I tell her before going over to kiss her. "Bye" I say walking to the door.
"Wait" she frowns, "I don't have your number so how can I call you?"
"Check your nightstand" I say winking before leaving.
I just make it into the cab when my phone vibrates. I quickly look at it and see I have a text.
From unknown: I found your number and the little present you left me B x
To Brittany: did you like it? ; )
From Brittany: no one has ever left me their panties before on purpose after sex
To Brittany: it was just something to remember me by until we see each other next
From Brittany: when will we see one another next?
To Brittany: well I'm working tomorrow and you know where I work so…
From Brittany: I can't actually come to the diner tomorrow, I've got plans
To Brittany: well we'll just need to keep texting until we're both free to meet up
From Brittany: ok cool
To Brittany: I should really go now though, talk to you soon x
From Brittany: ok, goodnight Santana x
A few days later
"First official day at NYADA, are you excited?" I ask Rachel as we sit and eat breakfast together on the floor of our new apartment. Since we don't have a lot of money, we've not actually got anywhere to sit at the moment.
"Yeah excited but also really nervous" she sighs.
"Why are you nervous?" I ask.
"Because what if I'm not good enough" she shrugs. "Like we all know I was the best in glee and everything but I'm actually going somewhere now where people as good as if not better than me also go."
"Yeah I guess I can see where you're coming from" I nod.
"I have wanted this for so long but now it's scaring the crap out of me" she says taking a deep breath.
"Hey why don't I tag along to one of your classes?" I suggest. "I can be there for support and your first class is a dance class anyway and I love to dance so I could get a free lesson out of it all."
"You would really do that?" Rachel asks.
"Look I know I can be a bitch sometimes but this isn't high school anymore. Being out in the world without the safety of high school is scary so if me going with you makes you feel better then I'm happy to go" I say. "Plus I would like to see what goes on at NYADA, like why is it so much better than the rest of the schools out there?"
"Ok, thank you" Rachel smiles gratefully. We quickly finish breakfast and then leave the apartment.
As soon as we arrive at the dance studio, we put our things to the side and wait for the teacher to come to start the first class. Even though I went with Rachel for support, we didn't want everyone to think she needed someone with her or she wasn't willing to mix with others if she had me so we decided to stay on opposite ends of the room. This way no one needed to know we knew each other but at the same time Rachel felt less nervous because I was in the room if she needed me for anything.
Everyone is either warming up on their own now or sitting at the side on their phones. However as soon as someone walks into the room and goes straight to the front, everyone quickly stops what they're doing and pays attention. I'm guessing now that this blonde haired woman with the sunglasses on is the teacher. She actually reminds me of someone, only her hair is tied up and she…
"Oh shit" I mutter to myself as soon as she takes the sunglasses off.
"Ok listen up everyone, we're going to get started right away but firstly let me introduce myself. I'm Miss Pierce and I'll be your dance teacher this year" Brittany says. "Ok everyone, let's take to the floor" she smiles and everyone stands around on the floor.
I on the other hand, move to the very back and try to hide my face. I think Rachel notices me acting weird because she starts mouthing words to me.
"Are you ok?" she mouths.
"Fine" I mouth back even though I'm not actually fine. I mean it's not like I don't want to see Brittany because I do, we've been texting every day since we last saw one another, it's just I don't want her thinking I lied to her.
"I want you all to start with doing some freestyle to the music until I see what level you're at and how well you can interpret music. They can be any kind of moves, hopefully good enough ones that prove you should be here and that you're good enough for my class" Brittany says. "I'll give you a couple of minutes to get into it and then I'm going to take a walk around and I'll speak to you all individually" she says while beginning to play the music.
After a few minutes, she does as she said she would and begins making her way around the room. She didn't spend a great amount of time with each person which doesn't help my situation because I was hoping to slip out the door the minute she was at the far end of the room.
In the meantime though I tried my best to ignore her and have my back to her at all times until I figured out how to get out of here before she notices me. However it doesn't actually work because a second ago I assumed she'd go to the person left of me so I turned around but she ended up going right so now there's no way I can sneak out before she comes to me. I continue facing the other way hoping she might forget I'm here but the minute she taps my shoulder I know I need to turn around.
"Ok, what's your…name" she asks, trailing off at the end once she notices it's me when I turn around.
"Uh…hi" I say nervously.
"Yeah, hi" Brittany says shocked.
"So…this is awkward right?" I say embarrassed.
"You got that right" she sighs.
"I'm sorry" I say. I'm not exactly sure why I'm apologising right now but it feels like I should.
"Look Santana…wait it's not Santana. What is your real name?" Brittany asks.
"It is Santana" I reply.
"But there's no one called Santana in my class" Brittany says confused.
"Ok so I'm kinda not supposed to be in here, in fact I don't even go to this school" I admit embarrassingly.
"I guess that makes sense then" she nods.
"Can I explain to you after class why I'm here because I don't want to cause a scene right now?" I ask and she nods again.
"Ok but I need to move on now" she says. "You're a good dancer though" she smiles and moves onto the next person.
XXX
As soon as the class ended, we went back to Brittany's office to talk.
"Can I just say I did genuinely think you were called Santana because I didn't think you'd lie at work but it was weird seeing you and knowing there was no one called Santana in my class" Brittany says.
"Yeah and I'm sorry for surprising you. In my defence though, I didn't even know you worked here. I mean you said you were a dance teacher but I had no idea that you meant at NYADA" I say.
"I probably should have said but it didn't really come up" Brittany shrugs.
"Yeah I probably should have been more clear too because even though I said I didn't know what my dream is yet, I didn't exactly say I definitely wasn't in college either" I point out.
"So why are you here?" Brittany asks.
"Remember I told you I moved here with my friends?" I start and she nods. "Well one of them goes to NYADA and she was just a bit nervous this morning so I said I'd go with her as support and since I liked dancing it made sense I'd go to your class. I mean I had nothing to do today and since I don't have a clue what my dream is then doing something I like seemed like a step in the right direction. I'm not saying I want to be a dancer but I can dance to some extent so it made sense."
"I understand that" she nods.
"I had no idea it was your class though so I'm sorry if I made things awkward" I say. "I don't want you to think I was lying to you because I wasn't. I mean if you hadn't been the teacher or even worked here, I'd have told you this story anyway about me turning up to a class I don't even do because we're sort of seeing each other so I want to tell you what I'm up to."
"Ok" she smiles. "For the record though, I didn't think you were lying, I was just really surprised to see you today and couldn't think why you'd be there if you weren't a student but I get it now."
"Good" I smile. "So you're not mad at me enough that I won't see you again, right?" I ask.
"I'm not even mad" she smiles. "I get why you're here so it's ok."
"Ok phew" I say in relief.
"Although you do need to be registered for this class and if my boss finds out I'm teaching someone that shouldn't be here then I could get fired and you could be in some serious shit" she says.
"That's ok, it was only going to be a one-time thing" I say. "As much as I had fun, I know this isn't where I'm meant to be."
"I'm being serious when I say this, if you ever were interested in dance then I could teach you sometime. Like if you think your dream could be something to do with dance then I can help you" Brittany says genuinely.
"Thanks, I'll definitely think about it" I say honestly. I doubt my dream will involve a lot of dancing but it could be something I could get into in the meantime.
"So…since you're here and everything, how about we arrange a time to see one another again" Brittany smiles.
"Ok, cool" I nod. "When are you free?"
"I'm quite busy today since it's the first day back and everything but I'm free tomorrow night" she replies.
"Yeah I am too because I'm only working in the morning" I say.
"How about we go out for dinner tomorrow night then?" she smiles.
"I can be down with that" I smile back.
"Excellent" she winks.