By the end of the week Sue was going crazy trying to find replacements for us. She called me into her office on Friday morning and told me that she decided to get rid of the canon for the routine.

"So, now you and your minions can come back to the squad and stop this silly idea of civilian life."

I sat there in my plaid pants, monkey shirt and boots thinking how much I had liked wearing actual clothes to school this whole week. "No."

"Excuse me?" Sue leaned forward and looked a little confused.

I shook my head. "I don't want to come back. If Santana and Quinn want to, you should ask them, but I don't want to be a Cheerio anymore."

"Listen, Barbie. I realize you get confused easily but let me spell this out for you. You need the squad. You need to be a Cheerio. I know about your college applications and how you're applying to those schools in Chicago."

"How..how do you know?" I suddenly worried that Sue would somehow mess up my chances.

"I know everything," Sue said, "If it wasn't for your freakish ability to understand numbers, I'd laugh at you even trying to get into a college. But you have a chance, and quitting Cheerios will look bad on your applications. Do you want that? Do you want to see your girlfriend go off to Chicago without you?"

"Wha…what?" Did she know? Did she know about me and Santana? I got really scared because if Sue knew, then who else knew? Santana would be so mad. "What do you mean?"

"I know you and Sandbags are attached at the hip." Sue got up and began to pace around her office. "Stupid best friend crap. And I know Santana is keen to go to college in Chicago and even without Cheerios, she'll get in. Her whole family is pretty prominent in the city and can pull strings. Plus she's pretty smart. But you, you don't have any strings to pull."

I was glad Sue didn't seem to know about what Santana and I did in private, but now I was worried about not getting into any Chicago schools. I knew Sue was just scaring me but she did have a point. What if I didn't get in to any of those Chicago schools? What then? But I didn't let Sue know she had me worried. "I have a back up plan."

"Is that right?"

"I was already thinking about a backup plan for quitting the squad before that canon stuff." I smiled when Sue looked surprised. "Next week, is the first episode of my new talk show. Fondue for Two. I have a channel and everything. Artie is helping me stream it worldwide."

Sue just stared at me with her mouth open. I guess I shut her up. I smiled even bigger and got up. Sue seemed to recover and finally spoke as I was out the door.

"Bit of advice, Blondie. Don't put all your hopes on Chicago. It's never a good idea to live your life according to how others are living theirs."

"What do you mean?"

Sue sighed really loud and sat back down. "Santana may want to build a life in Chicago, but that doesn't mean she wants you there with her. She's thinking of her own future and you should think of yours. Are these Chicago schools even a good fit for what you want to do with your life? What do you want to do anyway?"

I thought about how Santana had looked at schools last time she was there and didn't mention it to me. If I hadn't asked, I wouldn't have known. I thought about how Santana hadn't even asked me what I wanted to do after high school or what schools I wanted to go to. I thought about how she always wanted to forget after being together.

"I….."

I didn't answer. I just turned around and left Sue's office thinking about her question.

What did I want to do?

###

I finished solving the last problem on my calculus class and smiled. This class was so easy. I looked around the room and saw everyone with confused or worried looks on their faces. I smiled bigger. I knew it was mean, but this was the only class where I wasn't the one totally confused for a change. I was always the first one to finish and I was the only one who had gotten a perfect score on all the tests.

I was done with my test 30 minutes before the class finished. I put my pencil down and looked over my answers and wondered if I should find a career in math. I had an uncle who was an accountant and I tried to picture myself as one. I yawned. That sounded so boring. I could be a math teacher, but that sounded boring too.

I sighed and got up to turn in my test.

"Thanks Brittany," Mr. Widdle said, "Well, you know the drill. Sit at your desk until class ends."

"Can I just go? I didn't bring any magazines and you said we can't use our phones. I promise I won't wonder the hallways. I want to go to the choir room and practice my assignment song."

Mr. Widdle looked around the room before looking at me. "Fine," he said really softly, "But go straight to the choir room, OK?"

I gave him two thumbs up before going to my desk to get my things. As usual, I got some jealous looks that I had finished so fast. I picked up my things and snuck out to go to the choir room.

###

I expected the choir room to be empty but I found Rachel sitting in her regular Glee seat and I wondered if she even went to class or just hung out here all the time.

"Brittany!" Rachel looked up from the book she was reading. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you live here? You're always in here."

Rachel smiled and shook her head. "I have a free period this hour. I usually come here to study. What about you?"

"I finished my calculus test super early and the teacher let me leave." I went to the seat next to Rachel and dropped my bag, then went to sit on the next seat.

"I have to say Brittany, I am quite surprised, in a good way, that you are such a genius with math. I never would have expected that."

"No one does," I shrugged, "I'm pretty good at science too."

"That's fantastic!" Rachel closed her book and turned to face me. "We can use that to give you and edge with some of those applications."

I was so glad I had Rachel to talk to about things like this now. For some reason, I couldn't picture myself talking about all of this with Santana and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Santana was my best friend but I always worried that I'd make her mad if I talked about things she didn't want to talk about. So I didn't. But now I had Rachel and I felt like I could talk to her and she wouldn't get mad.

"I'm worried," I said.

"About what?"

"I don't know what I want to study. And like, what if I don't get to any of those Chicago schools? Maybe I should apply to other places too. Are you just applying to New York schools?"

"Well, I am hoping to get in NAYADA in New York, but…." Rachel sighed and stood up. "Like you, I don't have any backup schools. I think you have a point. We should apply to other schools too."

Rachel made me feel better. It was like I had partner in crime for colleges. "So what do you want to study?"

"Music, theater, acting," Rachel said, "I want to be a Broadway star."

"What's your backup plan for that? That's gotta be super hard to do."

"I…well, I never considered being anything else." Rachel's shoulders slumped and she looked worried. "You're right! What if I don't make it? Then what?"

I got up and gave her a hug. "Don't worry, you'll be OK. At least you know what you want to do."

Rachel hugged me back and pulled back. "What do you want to do Brittany? Something in math?"

I let her go and went to my bag. I searched through the front pocket and pulled out one of the post cards I had made to advertise my show. "I have no idea," I said as I walked back and handed her the post card, "I'm awesome with numbers but I don't know if I want to do that. So far, being the next Oprah is at the top of my list."

Rachel looked at the post card, smiled then looked up at me. "Do you need a manager?"

I laughed and took the card back. We spent the rest of the time trying to decide where else to apply. One thing we were sure of was that we didn't want to stay in Ohio.

###

The rest of the week I did a lot of research on what schools to apply. Rachel said there was a deadline and the sooner we applied the better. We still had like two months left of junior year and everyone was more concerned about getting a date for Junior Prom than applying to college.

Eva helped me too and I was so glad I had her and Rachel to help me with this. I wanted to ask Santana about this but something was stopping me.

Mike had been hanging around me all week, and I figured he wanted to ask me to Junior Prom but it seemed like every time he started to ask me, Santana was around and she would change the subject.

I wondered if Santana would be my date. Santana hadn't tried to kiss me or be with me since we kissed in the locker room. I guess our public make out session had scared her.

I told you so.

"Shut up brain!" I muttered.

Just as my brain had predicted, she didn't mention it and pretended like it didn't happen. I wondered how long she'd last before coming to me again. We still hung out all the time, but she made sure to not get too close. She reminded me of my dad quitting smoking again.

I was sitting in the library looking through college catalogs and trying to see what schools looked cool. I still really wanted to go to Chicago even though Santana hadn't said she wanted me there with her. She wouldn't be mad if I followed her, right?

I sighed and closed the catalog for a school in Idaho. It looked boring. As I grabbed the catalog for the University of Los Angeles, Santana sat down across from me and took it away.

"What is this?" she whispered, "Why are you reading this ULA catalog?"

I took it back and opened it to the first page. "I think I'm going to apply here. You know, for college."

Santana moved around the other catalogs I had on the table and picked up one for another LA school. "CULA? Are you…do you want to move to California?"

I shrugged. "Maybe." Santana looked really surprised and it made me a little upset. "What? You don't think I can get into college?"

"What? That's not it, no, Brittany," she shook her head, "I mean, I know you can…I just, I didn't know you wanted to go to college."

I huffed and continued turning pages. "You never asked me."

"I…just…I'm sorry. I should have asked." She picked up the catalog for Chicago. "You want to go to Chicago?"

I looked up expecting her to look mad but she had a small smile. "Maybe. I'm just window-shopping right now. Rachel says we have to have our final list soon."

Her smile disappeared. "Rachel? What does that hobbit have to do with this?"

"Please don't call her that," I sighed, "Rachel and Eva have been helping me with my essay and filling out the applications." I pointed to the small stack of New York schools. "They both want to go to New York and I think I might apply there too."

"Eva too?" Her voice was harsh. "So, wait. Are you following Rachel Berry and Evil Hag to New York?"

I ignored the mean name she called Eva. "No, but it'd be cool to move to a city where I know someone." I put the ULA catalog down and looked at my best friend. "Would you be mad if I followed you to Chicago?"

"Of course not," Santana said, quickly, "The both of us living in Chicago would be awesome."

"Then why haven't you said something? You looked at schools and didn't say anything."

"It's just so early," Santana said, "And I didn't think you wanted to go to college so I just never mentioned it and figured you could come to Chicago with me anyway. I wasn't going to leave without you."

I should have been happy that she said that but all I could think about was what Sue said. How Santana had been making plans for her own future and that didn't include me. "So, you thought I'd just move to Chicago with you and do what? If you didn't think I was thinking about college, what was I going to do there?"

"Hang out with me," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Again, I should have been happy to hear her answer. A few months ago I would have been because all I really wanted was to be with Santana. A few months ago I wasn't worrying about what I wanted to do after high school. Sue was mean, but she did have a point and I needed to think about my own future.

"That's not enough," I said and my answer seemed to make her sad, "I can't just hang out with you, Santana. As awesome as that sounds, it's not enough. Like, what am I going to do for a job? Unless you're going to pay me to be your friend. Or, I don't know, marry me and I can be one of those desperate housewives like that show."

Santana seemed to get really uncomfortable all of a sudden and started shuffling in her seat. "Maybe we should talk about this later."

I closed the catalog and started gathering the others on the table. "Fine."

We got up and I went to give the catalogs back to the librarian. Luckily, I had looked through all of them before Santana got there and I already had a good idea of what schools had what I wanted to apply.

###

"Is everyone set for Junior Prom?" Kurt asked.

We were all sitting at the Glee table eating lunch, including Santana and Quinn. They had gotten more comfortable sitting with everyone and I had even caught Quinn talking to Mercedes and Rachel about clothes. I knew that if they just spent time with my Glee friends, they'd see how awesome they were.

"I am!" Rachel said, "I already have my dress and…a date."

The whole table looked shocked. "That's great Rachel," I said, "What color is your dress?"

"Forget that," Santana said with a laugh, "Who is desperate enough to go out with you?"

"Is it so hard to imagine someone interested in me?" Rachel looked offended.

"YES!" Quinn and Santana said at the same time.

Rachel rolled her eyes and looked at me. "My dress is beautiful. How about you come over after school and I'll show you."

"For sure!" I smiled.

"Answer the question Berry!" Santana insisted.

"Fine," Rachel huffed, "His name is Jesse and he's a senior."

"Who the hell is Jesse?" Santana asked, "Wait, is he invisible and only you can see him?"

"He goes to another school," Rachel explained, "Anyway, at least I have a date. How about you Santana? I heard Puck is taking Lauren Zizes."

I looked at Santana and she had her jaw clenched and that vain in her neck was almost popping out. I was also curious about who Santana was taking to prom since she hadn't even mentioned the dance.

"Don't worry about me, Hobbit," Santana said, "I have a date and a killer red dress."

"Who is your date?" Quinn asked before I could.

Santana gave everyone her famous smirk. "You'll see."

I looked down at my food and tried to think of who Santana would be taking. I had kinda hoped we could be each other's dates. I guess that was a dumb idea.

When lunch ended and everyone was cleaning up, Mike came by the table and said he wanted to talk to me and that he'd walk me to my class. I told Quinn and Santana that I wouldn't be walking with them. Santana didn't look happy.

"So Britt," Mike said as we walked down the hall, "I've been…uh, OK, so for the last few weeks, uh, I've been meaning to ask you something?"

I giggled a little at how nervous he sounded. "You wanna ask me out, huh?"

He stopped walking and so did I. "How did you know?"

"I'm really good at reading people," I said, "You were circling around like a creepy shark."

"Sorry," he said, "Umm, so do you want to go to prom with me?"

I really liked Mike and I still thought we'd have fun going out again. I turned to look down the hall and spotted Quinn and Santana a little far down. I guess they were trying to spy on me or something. I turned back to Mike. "That sounds fun. Yeah, let's go."

"Awesome!" Mike was grinning like the Joker, but not in a creepy way.

I let him walk me to my class, glad I also had a date to the prom.

###

I tried to get Santana to tell me who her date was but she kept telling me that it was a surprise. She was being really weird about the whole thing and I started to wonder if she even had a date and just said she did because Rachel had one.

I was in my room setting up my camera for my very first episode of Fondue for Two. I had two guests lined up and a we were going to talk about the hottest topics at school. Gossip and prom.

Mercedes and Tina had been totally happy to be my first guests and having the schools two biggest gossips was going to make a great show. The afro reporter guy, who I finally found out his name was, Jacob, was not happy that I was making a show. He said he had the exclusive rights to McKinley news. I just shrugged and gave him a post card advertising my show.

"This is going to be fun!" Mercedes said. She sat next to Tina and took a piece of fruit I had set up around the fondue pot.

"This is awesome Brittany," Tina said.

"Thanks! I hope this is my first step in becoming the next Oprah." I adjusted my cool rainbow belt and sat in my seat. "Are you guys ready?"

"Let's do this!" Mercedes fixed her hair and smiled big.

I turned on the camera and started my show.

We talked about gossip, prom and sports. I think. I'm not sure but there was talk about playing for other teams. The team talk seemed to really interest Tina and Mercedes, especially when I mentioned that Santana played for the other team. I mean, she does now. So do I and so does Quinn. We were on the Cheerios team and now we're on the Glee team. I'm not sure what the big deal was.

Lord Tubbignton made his debut on camera and was a big hit. My cat is awesome. I adopted him like two months ago and it was like he had always lived here. I used to have another cat, Charity, but she died. That had been a year ago and I had to mourn but when I saw Lord Tubbington at the shelter, I had to have him. He was seven months old, but looked older. Oh, and he's super fat. But he's sensitive about it so I don't bring it up.

Santana wasn't too happy I got him, but she eventually accepted him.

I spent the rest of the night editing my show and I posted it the next morning before heading off to school. I posted it and alerted my subscribers and I kept getting views all day. By the end of the day, I found out my show was a hit. Everyone was talking about it and about playing on teams.

I was sitting in Glee club and everyone was fighting about something. Apparently the rumors and gossip had gotten out of hand and things were a mess. I just sat there watching since it was a little entertaining. I was watching Quinn, Finn and Puck were arguing about how Finn heard Quinn and Puck were having an affair. Kurt and Rachel were fighting about how Rachel thought Kurt had stolen the next big solo. I thought about how glad I was that I didn't have any drama when Santana burst in the room and started yelling at me.

"What the hell, Brittany?" she shouted, "Why did you say I play for the other team on that dumb melted cheese show of yours?"

"But you do play for the other team! You were on the Cheerios and now you're just in New Directions. Quinn and I play for the other team too. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that it sounds like…." Santana put her arms on her hips and shook her head. "It sounds like something else! I've already had offers to join the golf team!"

"I don't know what that means," I said.

"Forget it!" Santana walked to her chair and sat down, her arms crossed. She turned her body away from me.

Luckily Mr. Shue came in and calmed everyone down. I tried to get Santana's attention thought the class but she kept ignoring me.

After school, Mike and I went to the Lima Bean and we had fun. We shared a shake and I thought we were pretty cute. I felt comfortable with him and things were easy and not complicated. We had a talk and we decided to not be totally official and just start with prom for now. It was kinda like how Eva was my friend I made out with at parties. Mike was my friend who was sometimes my boyfriend.

I looked around and saw that a lot of people from school were also there. Including Santana. She was sitting with Kurt, Tina and Finn. I looked away before she caught me staring.

About ten minutes later, I looked up and she was gone.

###

Santana didn't talk to me for three days. She switched seats in the classes we had together and I got a ride to and from school from Rachel. On the third day, everyone seemed to have made up and forgot about the whole team thing and the rumors.

I was used to Santana not talking to me for days so I just went on with my business. Normally I'd try to be nice to her in hopes she'd talk to me sooner but I just let her be. I reminded myself of my promise to not wait for her anymore since I always ended up sad when I did.

I got to Glee club and everyone was there. Everyone except Santana. She came in last followed by Dave Karofsky. I was so confused and so was the rest of the club.

"Attention everyone," Santana said with a big smile, "I have an announcement. I know many of you.." she looked at Rachel, "Have been wondering who I'm taking to prom. Well, it's Dave."

Gross. I scrunched up my nose looking at them. I sighed and shook my head. This wasn't right. Santana had never once even mentioned Karofsky or looked his way. To be honest, I always got the feeling Karofsky rode unicorns like Kurt.

"What the hell is this?" Puck asked.

Santana took Karofsky's hand and intertwined their fingers. Gross again.

"Dave and I are dating," Santana said holding her head high. She glanced at me really fast then looked away.

"Umm, Santana," Quinn said, "I don't think…."

"Anyway," Santana went on, "Dave and I are running for prom king and queen so you better vote for us."

I just shook my head and looked away.

###

The next day at school, I didn't feel so well. Mike tried to cheer me up but I just felt sick. I went to my locker and started taking out my books when I heard Jacob start shouting questions. I looked up and saw Santana. He was asking her about Karofsky and if he was her soulmate. I caught her eye and I really thought she was going to say no, that it was dumb that Karofsky wasn't her soulmate. She didn't.

"Yeah," Santana said looking at me.

I looked down and then at my locker. I felt like I wanted to throw up. I knew she was lying. There is no way that guy, who she probably just started talking to, was her soulmate. No way.

I hated how easy it was for her to make me sad.

###

After her announcement, Santana finally talked to me during our first class together.

I had been sitting next to Artie these past few days but he wasn't here today because he had a doctor's appointment. Santana sat next to me, I did't look up.

"Hey," she said really softly.

"Hi." I didn't want to be rude and I did miss talking to her.

"How are you?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "OK."

"So, uh, do you have your dress?" I nodded. "What color is it?"

"Yellow."

She let out a big sigh. "Look Britt, I'm sorry, OK? I just freaked out with that whole team thing. But everything is back to normal so we can forget it."

"OK." I didn't fell like talking. I didn't like that she stopped talking to me when she got upset because of something she thought I did. Then, when things were fine, she'd be my friend again.

"Are you mad at me?"

Was she serious? She was the one who wouldn't talk to me for three days! "No."

She didn't say anything again until halfway through class. "Do you need a ride home after school," she whispered.

I shook my head. "Rachel's giving me a ride. Anyway, you have a boyfriend again so shouldn't you hang out with him?"

"Whatever," she sighed and turned her attention back to the teacher.

I stayed quiet the rest of the class. I shouldn't be mad at her but I was. I was mad she was with Karofsky. I was mad about the soulmate comment. I know it was silly since I was with Mike, but I wasn't calling Mike my soulmate or anything. It took her three days to get over whatever I did and now I needed some time too.

-tbc-

A/N: Wow, thanks for all the follows and reviews. I didn't expect that since the show is over (well the Brittana parts). Thank you. This story won't all be from Britt's POV. Part II we get into Santana's head. Not sure about Part III yet. Maybe Lord Tubbington's thoughts. :p