So, Posting just two chapters tonight even though I have two more to upload. Just wanna let you guys get a feel for the story. I'll upload the other two tomorrow. Hope you enjoy my little "intro" chapters.

Chapter 1

Although the drive from Cleveland to Lima is about 3 hours, it felt like 3 years. It had been a little over 3 hours since I was separated from my best friends. Let's just say it was a lot harder than I even imagined.

I just stood there, scanning the faces of my three closest friends. First, there was Erin. She was known as the angel of our group. If you honestly met her you would find her to be the sweetest person you have ever met. It was literally impossible to be even some what mean or sarcastic towards her. Normally people annoyed the hell out of me if they took my sarcasm too seriously but Erin was an exception. She had proved to be the person I could tell anything to. As I took in her face for the last time, I definitely realized how much she means to me. I pulled her into a hug and heard her sniffle into my shoulder. She was always the most sentimental of the group but in this case, it was appropriate. We parted with a soft, sad smile.

I moved on to Janet. We had most recently become friends but we became close fast. If somebody would have told me I would be buddy-buddy with her now, I would've told them to check in to the nearest mental institution. She is one of the most popular girls in school. Cheer captain, Freshman class president, and had every honors class imagineable. You would think she would be full of it, hell, I thought she was when I first met her. But I was so wrong. She's my voice of reason. She kept me in check. And I'm forever grateful for her for telling me the truth even when it hurt. Just seeing her made my lip quiver. She started shaking her head and quickly pulled me into her warm embrace. I immediately began to whimper into her her neck. She whispered,"No crying, honey. You can't get rid of me that easy." I let out a watery giggle. Typical Janet being positive in shitty situation. We pulled away and I sent her a wink before I moved down the line to the very last but definitely not least person.

Chelsey wasn't even looking at me and I was kind of grateful for that. If I saw those green eyes looking straight at me I think I might've let what little resolve I had left crumble right then and there. I saw her trying to look everywhere but me, but I could tell she could feel my eyes on her because she glanced at me quickly before averting her gaze to the floor. I let out a shaky breath before rolling my eyes. "Well, are you gonna hug me or what?" She laughed and for the first time today it felt peaceful, like I wasn't about to leave in 5 minutes. She stepped forward and practially mauled me but I didn't mind.

"I'm gonna miss you so much!" She whispered into my hair. She's a couple inches taller than me so her nose was buried deep in my dark brown locks.

"Yeah, me too. I'll be seeing you soon though. We'll visit and skype the shit out of each other, okay?" We pulled away and she nodded with a sad smile.

This was it. Closing a chapter and starting a new.

We got off the freeway and I literally rolled my eyes at the scenery. There was none. It was just farmland and a single road. Exactly how you picture the isolated small towns in your head. I felt like I was in a really cliche drama where I was forced to move to a small town and probably become a sister wife with 13 kids. I let out a long sigh and rolled my eyes at how ridiculous I sounded in my head but still somewhat aware that that could still be my actual fate.

We drove on the road for about 30 minutes before I saw, what looked like a town from a distance. Thank god. At least there's actual life here. We were driving through unfamiliar streets with little "Mom & Pop" shops and whole in the wall restaurants, most I've never seen or heard of before. After about 2 minutes, we finally pulled into a suburban neighborhood. The houses were surprisingly nice. Actually a lot nicer than our old one but that was probably because the property was cheaper here than in Cleveland.

It was a two story house with blue shutters, red door, and a white picket fence. How very cliche for the countryside. My mom had always wanted a country style home and I guess she finally got it. At least someone is getting something out of this move. As we pulled into the garage, I looked to my left and gently shook my little brother awake. "Psst, Aaron! Wake up ugly."

He mumbled incoherent words as he slowly awoke from his deep slumber.

"Mmm, where am I?" I smiled at him amusedly as I simultaneously rolled my eyes.

"Our new 'home'. Welcome to hell." He playfully rolled his eyes at me and we both got out of the car. Not even a second that I was out of the car that I was approached by my mom.

"Santana, your room is the second door on the left on the second floor." I glared at her and scoffed in disagreement for already having my room picked out without me actually picking it out.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. I don't get to pick? This is bullshit." I crossed my arms defensively across my chest.

"Can you just check it out before you judge it? How do you know I didn't already pick the best one?" She raised her eyebrows and gave me a challenging look.

"Ugh, fine. but if I hate it I get to swap." She rolled her eyes at me and I quickly made my way inside the house and straight to my room, not even bothering checking the rest of the place out because I honestly didn't care. Didn't wanna get too comfortable with this place knowing we'd probably move again. My room is the most important part anyway.

I walked inside and was not completely impressed but it would do. The walls were a very dark grey, almost charcoal black, with cream stripes, I had a walk in closet, a window with a built in bench, and I had my own bathroom with a walk in shower and jacuzzi tub. Yeah, I could work with that. I heard footsteps approaching me but didn't even bother to look back because I could tell whose feet they were.

"May I help you Aaron?" I asked with annoyance.

"This place is pretty sweet huh?" I turned around and shrugged indifferently.

"Eh, it's alright. I've seen better." He scoffed and rolled his eyes. He was three years younger than me and only in middle school. He really wasn't saying good bye to much when we moved. Yeah, he would miss his friends but he didn't really have as hard a time making friends as I did. I know he was pretty bummed about leaving his best friend Liam though, who happened to be Chelsey's little brother.

"Well, you're gonna have to start loving it pretty quickly cuz we're not going anywhere." He was getting snippy. There was an edge to his voice reminding me that I'm not the only one who left their best friend behind.

I sighed," Yeah, I know." He sent me a tight lipped smile and walked out of my room.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking. I had, for the most part, made my room look pretty decent aside from a few boxes I left untouched because I got tired. I laid on my bed thinking about the weeks to come. My new school started next week and I was less than enthused about it. At my old school, I was pretty reserved until about second semester. I think it was because I joined the softball team.

My family is a major baseball family. Every generation before me has had baseball as a major part of their lives. Growing up I would see my dad teaching my brother at a young age how to play. I, however, was put into hip hop classes. I loved dance, don't get me wrong, but there was something about seeing my brother play that made me want to give it a try. My dad didn't want me playing with a bunch of boys though so he put me in softball when I was seven. I've been in love ever since.

Maybe I'd join here? That could make me a few friends I guess. Everybody is gonna know every one already because they've already went to school together for a year so maybe joining a team is the safest way to meet people without trying to crash into already formed cliques.

That first week had gone by faster than I had anticipated and would've liked it to. I had spent all week with my family, getting familiar with the shops, and introducing ourselves to our neighbors. One of which happened to have a daughter who goes to my school. She wasn't home at the time but her dad was really cool, I guess. A little flamboyant though if you ask me. I think he made my parents a little uncomfortable. My parents are very devout Christians so you could see why they would have felt eager to leave that house rather quickly.

My alarm woke me up at 6 am the Monday morning of my first day at William McKinley High School. How lame is that? Going to a public high school named after one of the lamest presidents.

I did my normal morning routine except for when it came time for me to decide on what to wear. I've gone to private Catholic school my whole life so I would normally go to school in a uniform. Today was my first official day of going to school in regular clothes, and I was A-okay with that. I went downstairs and lazily ate my breakfast while I waited for my mom to come downstairs. My brother eventually came down with my dad in toe. I guess they were running late on the first day, typical. Aaron brushed by me but not before taking a hearty bite out of my bagel. "Hey freeloader, get your own starchy breakfast!" He just came back and planted a quick kiss to the top of my head just as I was swinging my fist into his stomach. He dodged it and ran out the front door with an 'I love you!' I just shook my head because, what can I say? He's like my best friend.

My mom finally made it down as I took the last sip of my milk.

"You ready to go mija?" She said as she grabbed a juice box from the fridge.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She sent me a tight lipped smiled and led the way out the door.

The drive over was silent except for the Alanis Morrisette CD that was playing. It only took about 7 minutes to get there. I sighed before I opened the handle to my door.

"Have a good day, San." I turned back to my mom with a soft smile.

"You too mom." And I finally closed my door. I just stood there rooted looking up at the school. It was a typical looking public school, the kids looked completely cliche too. I felt like Cady Heron in the opening of Mean Girls. I could see the jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, stoners, and wanna-bes in their familiar cliques. I could tell this was going to be a long year.

I made my way through the halls avoiding all eye contact with anybody, ignoring the catcalls and whistles, on my way to finding the office. I finally reached it and stood there awkwardly as I waited for the receptionist to realize I was there. When I noticed that she was not going to look up an acknowledge my presence on her own I cleared my throat annoyingly. She looked up slowly with an unamused look.

"May I help you?" She said with a sarcastic smile. Ugh, what a bitch.

I smirked in reply,"Oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt something? I'd hate to think that I disrupted you from doing your personal grooming rituals at work." She rolled her eyes impatiently.

"That's a new one," she muttered. "Are you new here?"

"Yup," I popped my 'p',"Can I get my schedule?" She nodded and asked for the usual shit. When she found my name in the computer system, she printed my schedule, and handed it to me.

"Welcome to Mckinley Miss Lopez, and have a wonderful day." She smirked and spewed those words out in sarcasm.

"Oh I will donkey lips. Have fun picking the dirt and manuer from under your cuticles." And with that I went back into the hallway that was now completely deserted. Well, shit. I'm late on my first day. Nice first impression, Lopez. I looked down at my schedule to see what class I had and it's classroom.

"Honors Algebra II, Room 182." Hmm, I squinted my eyes at all the rooms I passed in hopes that 182 was somewhere nearby. Not really paying attention to where I was going I suddenly collided with something that sent me to land flat on my ass.

"Shit, mother-"

"I'm so sorry! Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"Jesus Christ, are you blind?"

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

I started to get up and slowly move my head up to meet the gaze of the person who did this,"Damn right you weren't-" I stopped when I was met with crystal blue eyes. Anyone who really knows me knows that I'm a sucker for gorgeous eyes. That's the first thing I notice about a person so it's no wonder I was immediately drawn to hers. I've never seen eyes so blue before though. I was brought out of my daze when I heard someone talking to me. Oh right it was her.

"Hey, are you in there? Did you land on your head? Cuz sometimes when I hit my head I forget where I am and I start staring at random things too but usually I do it for like 2 hours, or until someone comes and finds me." As she kept on rambling I realized that she was extremely weird, but for some reason I didn't care.

"Uhh, yeah sorry I like zoned out for a sec. Sorry for running into you." I mustered up an apologetic smile. She beamed at my apology and began to speak again.

"It's okay. I'm Brittany by the way." She stuck her hand out for me to take and I did without hesitation.

"I'm Santana." She smiled impossibly wider and let go of my hand. I was kind of sad at the loss of contact.

"Are you new? I've never seen you before." She looked at my curiously and expectantly.

"Uh yeah, that's why I wasn't paying attention. I can't seem to find my class." With this she brightened,"Oh! I can help you with that! I brought my compass today so we'll find it in no time." She took a quick look at my schedule, grabbed my hand, and led me to my classroom. As soon as we got there, we stopped in front of the door.

"Well here we are." I smiled graciously at her.

"Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it." She just shrugged and then a thought came to me,"Wait, aren't you late to class?"

She looked at me sadly,"Yeah, I got lost in the crowd of people and I was headed back there now when I ran into you." I felt bad for keeping her away that much longer.

"You didn't have to help me then. I don't want you getting in trouble." She shook her head giggling slightly.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad I ran into you." She bit her lip shyly trying to suppress her grin. It caused me to blush and smile back nervously.

"Well, I'll see you around Santana." She sent me a wink over her shoulder before I watched her disappear around the corner.

I smiled to myself, maybe this town isn't so bad.