A/N: A lot of things happen in this chapter and it finally goes more fast paced from here on out, I think. So for the people that don't like waiting for the major stuff to happen, this would be good. There's also more of other characters in this chapter with Rachel. Oh, and I know I keep saying this, but all your reviews mean a lot and they keep me writing, so thank you everyone.
Santana walked into her new bedroom behind her new brother, Felix. He walked around the room, doing last minute organizing and cleaning. Santana carried her tiny suitcase bag filled with the little things that she ever had owned and pushed it up onto the bed. She opened it and took out her clothes, all of which didn't even last a week. Felix walked over and saw the clothes, holding out his hand to take them.
"Ma's probably gonna buy you new stuff." He said, and she just nodded, holding up her clothes for him to take.
"Am I ever going to see my friends again?" She knew she had no friends, more like just one friend. Just her. And Santana didn't know if she could handle never seeing the only friend she had.
"Probably not," Felix said as he opened each shelve of the dresser and put the clothes in. "You're probably never going to see anyone from that place again," Felix shrugged and when he finished he stood up and walked to Santana. "Might as well forget about it."
"But…" Felix knelt down and put his hand on her shoulder.
"This is your family, now. And as much as I didn't plan to have a little sis, I got one," He smiled lightly. "I'm your hermano now, and this is your new life. So just forget everything from before." Santana frowned and he ruffled her hair. Yes, she thought bitterly, might as well forget the past. Felix was right, this was her new life, and everyone at the orphanage didn't matter anymore, they might as well be erased from her mind. And that's what she was going to do, forget everyone. Completely.
Santana woke up and groaned as she turned her head and looked at the clock, which read two in the morning. She cursed as she turned over and stared at the wall. She had completely forgotten about that day, when she first arrived at the Lopez house. She had completely forgotten about the orphanage too, just like she promised herself years ago. Why was she remembering it now? Santana sighed and closed her eyes, trying to get at least some sleep.
Rachel walked into school energized and ready for the day; after all, today was when she got to work with Santana, and anything involving Santana would brighten Rachel's day. Rachel walked to her locker to see Puck leaning against it, looking across the hall at something with a grin on his face. Rachel walked up to him, and when he didn't notice her, she looked in the direction of his gaze and rolled her eyes when she saw a group of Cheerios.
"Are you staring at the Cheerios butt again, Noah?" Puck jumped up and looked down at her.
"Hey bro, and yeah, I can't help it if they have a nice ass."
"Noah! We are in a school, someone would think that the male population, including you, would show just a little restrain when it came to their more vulgar and…manly side." Puck raised an eyebrow.
"Manly side?"
"I meant your dirty mind." Puck laughed as Rachel pushed him aside and opened her locker.
"C'mon, I bet you've stared at someone's ass before."
"I assure you, I have not. I'm going to class now." Puck pushed himself up off the lockers and began walking with her to her class.
"So, you excited about working with Satan?" Rachel frowned and looked up at him confused. "Oh sorry, I meant Santana." Rachel rolled her eyes and stopped at the door to her class.
"In fact, I am excited about working with Santana," Puck grinned at Rachel's emphasis on her name. "I think this would be good for my constant struggle to get her to remember me."
"Yeah, and maybe I won't even have to do as much as I thought," Rachel nodded and Puck gave her a wave as he started to turn around. "See ya later." Rachel gave him a wave and walked in to class, and spent each period getting more and more excited for Glee club. Once Spanish came by, she walked to the back the class and sat down in her seat. She smiled when she saw Santana walk in with Brittany but frowned when she noticed how tired the Latina was.
Santana had her hair up in a messy ponytail, her shoulders were slumped, and she had noticeable bags under her eyes. She sat down at her desk and immediately brought her head down. Brittany noticed Rachel staring and looked back at her and waved, and when Rachel returned it Brittany looked back at Santana and patted the Latina's head. Puck came in late but, as always, Mr. Schuester was late as well, so he walked to his seat next to Rachel's. He had barely sat down when Rachel questioned him.
"What's wrong with Santana." Puck just shrugged.
"I don't know, probably tired." Mr. Schuester came in and soon class started, and Rachel couldn't help but look at Santana time to time, checking to make sure she really was just tired and nothing else was wrong. Luckily, at the end of the period, Santana didn't charge out of the room like usual, giving Rachel enough time to collect her things and walk up to Santana. She walked up behind the girl and tapped her shoulder, making Santana turn around.
"What Manhands, I'm too tired to deal with you." Rachel sighed at Santana's nickname for her. Fine, if she wants to play that game, then so be it.
"I was just wondering if you were okay, Santana. I noticed you weren't as awake as usual, and I don't want that to hamper our ability to make a great song together in Glee Club." Santana rolled her eyes.
"I'm fine, just tired, now leave me alone or I'll be late for class."
"Our next class is lunch…"
"Then just leave me alone." Santana looked back ahead of her and walked out the door angrily with the other students, leaving Rachel, Brittany, and Puck.
"Someone's bitchier than usual." Puck said.
"She said she didn't sleep well." Brittany said and waved at Puck and Rachel before running after Santana. Puck shrugged and poked Rachel's shoulder to get her attention.
"Let's go, I want to eat." Rachel nodded and they walked to lunch and went their separate ways to their tables. As Rachel talked with everyone at her table, she kept looking at Santana, who was sleeping with Quinn and Brittany sitting on either side of her. Rachel couldn't wait until Glee Club and actually talk to Santana, so she waited anxiously for all of the classes she had left, her patience growing thinner with each passing minute.
When the bell rang, Rachel stood up and looked over to see Santana already getting up and heading for the door as fast as her tired self could. She sighed and collected her things, not even bothering to run after her. Rachel thought this was going to be another unfortunate everyday thing.
Slowly, she got out of class and decided against going to her locker if it meant she wouldn't have to see Finn again. She had a feeling he never got it in his head that she didn't want him. She walked into the choir room and found it totally empty. She sat down at one of the far chairs and waited until the rest of Glee came in. After five long minutes, they started piling in one by one and they took their seats. Well, everyone except the Cheerio. After everyone settled into their seats, and after Finn tried to sit next to Rachel but Mercedes took the seat, Rachel looked down at Puck, who was sitting in front of her on the lower level.
"Where's Santana?" Puck looked up and shrugged.
"You're looking for Santana?" Kurt asked incredulously. "What did she do?" He asked suddenly, and Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Nothing, I'm just curious that we're missing a member of the club. I like good attendance to anything." Puck grinned and covered his mouth with his fist to try and hide it.
"Then shouldn't you be asking about Quinn and Brittany?" Mercedes asked, and Rachel groaned in frustration.
"Right. Yes, where are they?" Puck looked up at Rachel again, fist still covering his mouth.
"Probably at some Cheerios meeting Sylvester had randomly."
"What's wrong with you?" Mercedes asked.
"Nothing." Puck said quickly and looked back forward. Finally Mr. Schuester walked in, and looked at the group, frowning when he noticed the three Cheerios missing.
"Where's Brittany, Quinn, and Santana?" Everyone shrugged and muttered they had no idea. "Well, we'll just start without them." Rachel felt herself get disappointed, and mentally scolded herself for getting too excited. Mr. Schuester had everyone work with their partners, leaving Rachel, Artie, and Mike.
The three stood together in a small group, Mike looking indifferent that Quinn wasn't there, while Artie and Rachel were both sulking. Mike looked between the two and tried small talk.
"I bet they're going to come soon," Mike said, and Artie grinned back. Rachel just looked at the floor, hoping but not really expecting Santana to come, especially after what happened earlier that day. Mike poked Rachel's shoulder, making her look up. "Santana's going to come." Rachel smiled at him.
"Thank you Mike, so, do you and Quinn know what you're going to do for the duet?" Mike shrugged.
"Nope. But if all else fails, I'm going to dance." To prove it, he walked to his backpack quickly to grab a hat, then walked back to the two, spinning and moving his body in a way that no one but him and Brittany could do. He danced up to Rachel, took off his hat, and placed it on her head, making her giggle. He took a few steps back and bowed. Both Artie and Rachel clapped, earning periodic stares from everyone else, and just glaring from Finn.
"I can't dance, but I can rap pretty good." Artie said, and started rapping from a random song. He stopped and grinned up at Rachel and Mike.
"And we all know you can sing, Rachel." Mike said, but he didn't say it with any malice or jealousy in his voice.
"Yes, well, I always sang a little bit at home, even before I moved here."
"Makes sense." Mike said.
"Where did you move from?" Artie asked, curiously.
"Yeah, Mr. Scheu never told us anything about you, and you haven't much either." Rachel just shrugged.
"I don't like talking about my past, and it's not like there's any bad rumors out there."
"Like Santana," Artie said quietly, mostly to himself, but both Rachel and Mike heard him. "There will be soon anyway, with this school." Mike nodded.
"And Jacob Ben Israel." Rachel's faces twisted a little bit in disgust when she heard the name, she had already met the boy, and it wasn't pleasant.
"I moved here from New York." Mike and Artie gaped at her, but before they could say anything, Mercedes voice was heard right by Rachel.
"What!" The three turned their heads to see her staring at Rachel wide eyed. "New York? New York? Girl, that's amazing, why are you here then?" Kurt seemed to hear from where he was, and he left his partner, Puck, to go to the growing group around Rachel.
"You're joking, right?" Kurt asked, and when Rachel shook her head, he jumped up with the same excitement as Mercedes. Puck watched from the distance, and laughed as he saw all of them question Rachel and the short brunette looking like a deer caught in headlights. He walked to the group, actually curious about New York, and the rest of Glee practice was spent listening to Rachel's stories of New York.
When Glee was over, everyone left, and Mercedes and Kurt tried to invite Rachel to hang out with them, but Rachel turned them down, because she "needed to get home". But what she really needed was to check on Santana, not that she would admit that to anyone but Puck, who had to leave for football practice with the rest of the guys, except Kurt.
She slowly walked to her locker, and after she made sure everyone from Glee was gone, she walked to the football field in silence. Once outside, she walked to the back of the stands so Santana wouldn't see her if she happened to look that way. She looked out to the field and saw all the cheerios working out, and scanned each one until she saw Santana. As soon as she saw her though, her worry deepened.
The Latina was warming up separate from everyone else, though it wouldn't seem that way with just a glance. Rachel noticed Santana seemed to be working harder than the others too, and her breaths seemed more labored, though Rachel couldn't tell since she was far away. Rachel looked for Quinn and Brittany, and saw that they would look at Santana worriedly from time to time when Sue wasn't looking.
Rachel sighed and walked to the front of the stands, not caring anymore if Santana sees her and gets mad again. She sat down on the first level and leaned back against the one behind her. She moved her backpack in her lap and wrapped her arms around it, and closed her eyes as she snuggled into it like it was a teddy bear, waiting until the practice was over.
Rachel woke up to herself being shoved roughly back and forth from her side and she groaned in frustration but didn't bother waking up. When she was shoved harder she finally opened her eyes she noticed the sun setting and looked to where she was being pushed from. Next to her was Santana, looking tired, sweaty, and her face was still red from working so hard.
"Santana…?" She looked around, realizing she was in the football field. Then she suddenly remembered everything that occurred in the day, and the reason she was in the field in the first place. She sat up and turned to Santana. "Santana, um…" Now that Santana was sitting next to her, she had no idea what to say. Santana just rolled her eyes and removed her hand from Rachel's shoulder.
"What the fuck are you doing Manhands?" Rachel looked down at her feet. "Jesus, here I am doing cheerleading practice and you're fucking sleeping outside. What if I hadn't seen you? Then what? You'd be sleeping out here all day." Rachel noticed under the harsh tone there was something like…worry? Rachel was so surprised she accidentally let the question out of her mouth.
"Were you worried?" Santana froze and scowled even more, crossing her arms with a huff and sat next to Rachel.
"Fuck no. I just don't want it in my conscious that I let someone freeze outside or something. I'm not that much of a bitch." Rachel smiled at Santana's concern. They sat in silence and Rachel noticed how hard Santana was still breathing.
"Why did Coach Sylvester make you work so hard today?" Santana looked at her shocked.
"You noticed?" Rachel nodded.
"Yes, you weren't that far from everyone else, but you far enough that you were excluded. And you were working harder than everyone else. I wasn't awake for it, obviously, but I suppose you were also at the bottom of the pyramid." Rachel looked at Santana, and the other girl sighed.
"Yeah, Sylvester got mad cuz I was so tired and was lacking. So she just worked me harder than the others, its fine." Rachel stood up, appalled by Santana's words, as if it was just a casual thing every day.
"That's not right, that's horrible!" Rachel screamed out, frustrated. Santana suddenly stood up at her full height, right in front of Rachel so fast that Rachel took a step back and cowered a little bit. Santana stared down at Rachel, and to Rachel it seemed the Latina was taller than she ever was, or Rachel was just even shorter than Santana than she thought.
"Listen Berry, I don't gots a clue where you're from, but here, there's no mercy," Santana looked down at Rachel and smiled cruelly, mockingly. "You would know, wouldn't you?" The words were like a slap to the face and Rachel took another step back in fear, and Santana advanced towards her in a just as taunting way as her words. "I bet all those slushies get annoying, don't they?"
"Stop it…" But Santana wasn't listening.
"You look like you've been a loser all your life, well guess what? You don't know what a loser is until you've seen a Lima Loser, and that's what you really are now."
"I-I'm not, so stop…"
"You're on a different level than me, you're just a Lima Loser, and I'm a fucking cheerio. I'm not Head Cheerio yet, Q is, but I bet I will be soon. Then, I'll rule this lame school, and not even Sylvester will be able to push me around like today," Santana suddenly turned around and grabbed her bag that Rachel didn't even notice she had before carelessly throwing it over her shoulder. Santana just stood silently still with her back facing Rachel and breathing hard, and Rachel wondered if she should make a run for it. After a few seconds Santana turned her head around slightly, casting an eerie shadow over her face.
"Look," Santana tone was a drastic change to the one before, it was deeper and her voice cracked as she tried to maintain it and not raise her voice. "I don't know why you came here, but you let me do my things, you do yours, and we only see each other for Glee and we're good." With that, Santana hurriedly walked away, her hands balled into fists so tight her knuckles turned white.
Rachel stood alone and watched Santana's retreating form. She looked up at the sky, noticing its dark blue color, and she closed her eyes. She let out a shaky breath and walked slowly to her backpack, feeling numb. She picked it up and slowly put it on, she felt as though she was a robot, walking slowly from one place to another. The only thing on her mind was of what had just happened between her and Santana. She walked to her car, not looking anywhere but in front of her, and got into her car. She turned it on and drove off to her home as fast as she could, not noticing there was someone watching her the entire time.