Brittany Pierce was quite different herself. Unlike Santana though, she had her full eye sight. On the contrary, she had an entirely different view on things around her. While kids her age would believe what they have been taught, Brittany here saw things for what they really were and unfortunately to some, it was considered bizarre. Brittany didn't let that get to her though. She loved the fact that she was weird, out-going and loud. She embraced it. It was just… her.
Of course, Brittany did have some friends. It's hard not to be friends with her. What, with her gorgeous blonde locks of hair, her serene sky-blue eyes and her insanely contagious smile – who wouldn't want to be? She was truly a breath of fresh air and although she can be quite a puzzle, everyone pretty mumch adored her. The only thing was that she usually found herself hanging out with the guys more than girls.
Brittany only lived with her Dad since she was an only child and her mother died not so long ago. She was there when it happened so it left her traumatised. Luckily, her dad never left her side after that and she sloly began to adjust again. She loves her mother and she knows that she is in a safe and better. Ever since then, things have been pretty normal.
But at this very moment, Brittany could say otherwise. She has never met a blind person before. But here she was, sitting next to a blind person and it was a child, nonetheless. And it was at that moment Brittany felt a wave of emotions crash on her as she took in the shy brunette. There was pity, awe, shock, warmth, curiousity… the list just goes on. Brittany wanted to know everything about this girl and she knew they were going to be the best of friends.
"Wha… Ho… Are you okay?" the blond whispered.
Santana's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly as she replied "Oh… um… yes. What about you? You're the one that almost drowned. Are you okay?"
"Oh right! Hehe, I'm fine. Thanks to you! You actually saved me life. You're my hero!" Brittany broke out into a grin and wrapped her arms around Santana's frame "I should probably get cleaned up though. And so should you! Um.. thanks again Santana! I owe ya! We should hang out another time"
"Oh no worries." Santana blushed, "I would like that… be careful, yeah?"
And with that, Brittany set off. But not before taking a glance back. She softly smiled when she saw Santana smiling at the ground too.
Brittany arrived home and rushed to her dad, yelling "DAD! GUESS WHAT! I WAS SWIMMING IN THE RIVER BUT THE CURRENT WAS TOO STRONG SO I WAS SWEPT AWAY BUT TH-"
"WHAT?! ARE YOU OKAY?" her dad interhected loudly "Britt! You could've been hurt!"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry…" Brittany cowered but then regained her spark as she continued "But dad! Someone saved me! And she was just like me! Well not EXACTLY like me cause then we'd be twins… she actually has coolbrownhairandreallytanskinandshewasreallypretty but she-"
"Woah, Britt! Honey, slow down!" her dad laughed "deep breath and try again. Slowly"
So Brittany took a huge breath and began again
"Oh well, yeah. This girl around my aged saved me, dad! And it was amazing because she's blind!" Brittany breathed out.
Of course this sparked Mr Pierce's attention. "Really? Wow! We must invite her over to say a BIG thank you! What do you think, honey?"
Brittany instantly squealed and ran up to her dad to give him a bear hug "Yayayayayay! That's the most awesome-est idea!"
Meanwhile, Santana decided to head back home after her little incident. To say her mother was mad was an understatement.
"Santana Lopez! WHY ARE YOUR CLOTHES DRENCHED?" her mother shrieked.
Santana saw this coming but experiencing such discipline was another thing. She shied away at her mother's loud tone and dropped her gaze to the floor.
"I saved someone drowning, mami…" she whispered back.
"Goodness Santanita! What am I goinng to do with you! I cook, I clean, I work just to put a roof above our heads but what do you do? You go swimming in your clothes and expect me to just be okay with it!" her mother exclaimed. "Go do something else elsewhere"
Knowing better than to argue back, Santana took her little cane after she got dressed into dry clothes, trudged back outside and started walking. It's not unusual to have kids around her age be walking around the place on their own. The neighbourhood was actually very friendly and everything was super close. Of course, there were some exceptions like her mother and some troublesome kids – but overall, the place had no fault.
Letting her cane pave out her way, Santana carried on down the path and her mind somehow drifted back to the earlier encounter with the girl. Brittany. Santana never met anyone like Brittany and she hoped she would run into her again. Suddenly, a body impacted with hers and she fell to the ground almost instantly.
"Hey blind eyes, watch where you're going! OH WAIT, you can't!" a boy sneered as his friends laughed along with him.
Santana instantly felt a prickling sensation in her eyes as she scrambled about to find her cane and get out of there. She felt a strong poke in her side and she yeled in pain.
"Looking for this?" the same boy sneered again, attempting to poke her side once more.
"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" a familiar voice yelled.
Santana stopped moving and listened for the voice again. "GIVE IT BACK OR I'LL SUMO KICK YOU WITH MY BAD AZ KA-RAH-TEY SKILLS… HUWAAAHHH!"
Brittany.
Santana recognised that voice from earlier today. It was the girl whom she saved. And now she was saving her. Santana smiled softly as she heard the commotion. It sounded like Brittany was really teaching those guys a lesson.
"YEAH, YOU GO GIRL!" another girl called out.
Once it was all over, Santana felt a soft hanf on her arm and somehow she instantly knew it was Brittany.
"You okay?" Brittany whispered to Santana.
"Y-y-yes. Thank you"
"Good. Come, I want you to meet some people."
Santana furrowed her eyebrows and carefully stoof up with Brittany as her guide. She was handed back her cane and she held on to Brittany's arm. Brittany slowly walked her to her other friend and said excitedly "This is Sugar! She's one of my good friends!"
"Hi! I'm Sugar! Nice to meet you! Britts really scared off those silly boys, y'know!"
"Hi, I'm Santana… Nice to meet you too"
"Hey Sugar" Brittany interjected "I'm going to take her to meet my dad now so I'll see you around, mmkay?"
And soon enough, they headed off towards Brittany's house. Santana had no idea why she was going to meet Brittany's dad. She started to panic as she thought that she was about to get punished for getting Brittany wet. That's what her mother would do anyway. Brittany, on the other hand, just rambled on about how her dad wanted to meet the brunette and Santana merely blushed at the thought. Once they got to Brittany's house, the blonde instantly introduced Santana to her dad.
"Why, it's such a pleasure meeting the girl who saved my baby!" Mr Pierce took and shook Santana's hand warmly. "Thank you so very much"
"Oh.. It's no problem" Santana blushed more. She was definitely not used to this much praise. Or any praise for that matter. All she was ever told was that she was a burden.
"Please, stay for dinner!" Mr Pierce interrupted her thoughts, "We'd love to say thanks"
"Oh no, it's okay Mr Pierce. I think mom would want me home…" Santana rushed.
"You're right. Maybe next time! You're more than welcome to come over whenever you want!"
Santana smiled and felt a gentle squeeze in her hand. No doubt it was Brittany, who wore the same smile on her face.
"Thank would be lovely, Mr Pierce, Thank you. I would love
For the first time in a long time… Santana actually felt welcomed.
A few months later…
It wasn't that long ago when Santana saved Brittany and Brittany saved Santana. Since then, they've become inseparable and hve become the best of friends. They told each other everything, hung out every day and went everywhere with each other.
Santana has been at the Pierce household more times than Brittany has been ot the Lopez household. But of course, they had their obvious reasons. Santana felt safer with the Pierces and would rather spend her day there than at her home where her mother was. It wasn't that Santana didn't love her mother. But sometimes (perhaps most times), it just got a bit too much for her.
Brittany, on the other hand, loved Santana's company. The other friends she had never really paid attention to what she had to say because it always ended up being something weird. Santana didn't do that. She always listened intently to Brittany and loved every minute of it. Brittany appreciated Santana and made a promise to herself on the day they met that she would take care of Santana forever.
After a long spent day, Santana and Brittany parted ways. Brittany made sure that Santana got home safely, so she insisted on walking her home. Standing outside Santana's house, Brittany hugged her best friend goodbye and reminded her of tomorrow's plans before she set off.
Santana entered her home, called out for her mother and continued her rehearsed route around the house to greet her personally. As she reached her mother's bedroom, she heard a distinct bag being zipped up.
Pushing the door open, Santana began to question her mother "Mami? Are you packing? Am I going too? Where are we going? Have you packed my things? Don't forget to pack my clothes too, okay!"
Mrs Lopez stood quietly and then breathed out "Yes, we're going to another state."
Oblivious to her mother's hesitation, Santana got pretty excited "Really? Where? Will there be a Disneyland? Can we go to Disneyland, Mami?"
Mrs Lopez merely hummed at her daughter. Of course, it was rare to have Santana so happy in her own home. But this was something new. She couldn't wait to tell Brittany about her trip – but she knew she would miss her terribly. Santana knows she would be back though.
2 days later…
Mr Pierce and Brittany stood alongside the Lopez family at the trian station for their goodbyes. Santana broke the news to Brittany the previous day and although Brittany was sad, she was glad her friend would be having a good time.
Whilst the bestfriends were idly chatting, Mr Pierce made small talk with Mrs Lopez and didn't fail to notice a slight edge to her behaviour. She was fidgeting, glancing around, looking at her watch and went back to fidgeting and avoiding eye contact.
"THE TRAIN WILL DEPART IN 2 MINUTES" a speaker voice boomed.
Taking a deep breath, Mrs Lopez tugged on Santana's hand and hugged her. To say Santana was surprised was an understatement.
"The train is leaving soon, mija. Why don't you and Brittany go look around the shops for some snacks?" her mother whispered.
"Okay! Wait for me here okay!" Santana replied and set off with her best friend as she called over her shoulder "Don't leave yet! Wait for me here!"
Mr Pierce cocked his eyebrow and observed Mrs Lopez. Feeling his gaze, Santana's mother locked eyes onto his as if to say "I'm sorry. Truly. Please, Take care of her" and she quickly took off. She only lugged her belongings onto the train and left Santana's by Mr Pierce's feet. She glanced back at Mr Pierce who had a cold expression and turned back to enter the train.
"Mami?" she heard her daughter in the distance.
It was then that Santana's mother broke down into tears. She just couldn't handle the responsibility anymore. She needed to live but Santana and her condition just made things hard. She loved her daught but it was just too much. It was a hard decision but she just could not handle it. She left her own daught without a proper goodbye. She knew the Pierce family were good would take care of her better than she ever did. So she made the decision and packed her bags.
Back on the platform, Santana and Brittany arrived with snacks in their hands. "Mami?" Santana called out "I got the snacks! Is it time to go?"
Brittany looked up curiously at her dad, as if to ask "where did Mrs Lopez go?" and he returned her look with a sorrowful one. Brittany scrunched up her face in confusion and noticed the lac of Mrs Lopez' bags and the train stating up. Her expression turned cold too and she slowly turned to watch Santana still calling out to her mother.
"Mami? MAMI? THE TRAIN'S LEAVING MAMI! WHERE ARE YOU?" Santana cried "MAAAAAAMI!"
Oblivious to the stares around her, Santana had her arms spead out with her cane in hopes of finding her mother. "Maaa-a-a-aaaaami" she sobbed and hiccuped.
In the train, Santana's mother tried to block out her daughter's cries and her own cries. She knew this was heartless but at least she made sure Santana would be in good hands.
The train whistle went off and the engines roared, signalling the train ready to go. After the initial jolt, the train slowly began to trek forward and that's when Mrs Lopez heard her daughter's cries get louder.
"Maaaaaaaaaami!" Santana shrieked but was muffled by the train "Maaaaaami"
Santana fell to her knees and sobbed as the train zoomed past, messing up her hair in the process. Brittany and her dad ran up to the helpless girl and wrapped her arms around her. Both of them uttering comforting words but was blocked out by Santana's sobbing.
Santana couldn't believe it. Her own mother left her.