Chapter 6: Regionals
Brittany and I have been on good terms for a while now since our little disagreement. It's now a night away from regionals and it may sound selfish but I still wish Brittany was coming to watch me. I totally respect her career and the choices she makes regarding it but I can't stop thinking about how I really wish she wouldn't do it tomorrow. I just feel I need her there in case I mess up and ruin it for everyone, this is my first solo at one of the major championships so it's a big deal.
"Earth to Santana" Brittany says laughing which brings me out of my thoughts.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" I ask while looking at her.
"I said, how do you like my dress for tomorrow night?" she asks while twirling round.
"Um, yeah it's nice. You look great Britt" I say.
"Ok what's wrong" she says while sitting next to me on the bed.
"Nothing is wrong, why would it be?" I say with a fake smile.
"I know that voice honey" she says. "That is not a happy sounding voice so what's up?"
"It's nothing, honestly" I reply. "Anyway why don't you show me the shoes you're wearing" I say trying to change the subject.
"Babe you can tell me anything so come on, tell me what's up" she says.
"Honestly Brittany, it really is nothing so forget about it" I say.
"If you tell me, I promise to dance for you this weekend" she says with a playful smirk.
"Really" I say a little too excitedly and quickly and she nods. "Wait a second, you're working all weekend so how can you dance for me? You only said that so I would tell you what was wrong didn't you?"
"Ok, guilty" she replies. "I will however dance for you if you wanted anyway, I know how much you like it" she says smiling.
"Ok yes I like it when you dance but I'd rather not talk about my problems just now so can we move on?" I ask with a sigh.
"Sure" she smiles. "Ok I'll put these shoes on and you can see how you think they look" she tells me before quickly running to her room to get the shoes. "Tell me what you think" she says while running to the living room where I am.
"I think you look great, pretty hot actually" I say smiling slightly.
"Thank you" she says while taking a sip of her water. "After the show on Sunday night, some of us are going out for some drinks, is that cool?"
"Of course it is" I tell her. "You don't need to ask for my permission."
"I know but I just wanted to make sure you didn't plan for us to hang out or anything" she says.
"I didn't so you should go and enjoy yourself" I say smiling. "We're going to a concert on Tuesday night anyway so I can wait until then to hang out."
"Ok cool" she says. "Well I better take this dress off so it's kept clean for the show tomorrow so you can switch the TV on for 5 minutes if you want while I get organised."
"Cool" I say while putting the TV on. I just get comfortable on the couch to settle with a comedy I haven't seen in ages when I notice Brittany undress out of the corner of my eye. "Are you doing that here?" I ask nervously.
"Yeah, I mean I was going to hang the dress in the bathroom so it doesn't get crushed in my room with it being so messy so I didn't see the point in walking to my bedroom to change to then walk all the way to the bathroom when I could save time and change right here" she says rambling on.
"Oh, ok. I guess it makes sense" I say while blushing slightly because I think she just caught me staring at her awesome boobs peaking over the top of her bra.
"Would you rather I didn't change here?" she smirks.
"No of course not" I blurt out. "I mean it's your place so change wherever you want."
"Ok, I will" she laughs. I am making myself look like such an ass here. "I'll be back in a second" she says while leaving the room with her dress.
Sometimes I suddenly get nervous around Brittany because I feel intimidated by her. She's a very confident and sexy person whereas I'm not always. I mean I'm confident in who I am but I'm not the sexiest person ever. Sure Brittany and I have sex but she was my first so at times I feel a bit nervous because I'm probably more inexperienced. When we make out and stuff its all cool because I have made out with other girls before but when it comes to more than just making out I get a bit embarrassed because Brittany is the only person I have done that with.
"Right Miss Lopez, it's time for a little lesson" Brittany says as she walks in the room and straddles me as I sit on the couch.
"Uh…what do you mean?" I ask nervously.
"I saw that nervous look a second ago but it's ok to stare at me" she says. "You don't have to be embarrassed, if you want to stare at my boobs then go for it, in fact I'd be offended if you didn't look."
"But I…" I try to explain but I just can't.
"Santana you don't ever need to feel intimidated, you're just as hot and sexy as me, I can assure you" she tells me. "We've talked about it before baby so just relax and do what feels naturally."
"I feel like an ass though when I'm constantly staring at you or doing something stupid. I'm not as confident sexually as you so…" she cuts me off.
"Look to me you're the sexiest girl alive and I think a lot of myself so that's saying something if it comes from me" she says jokingly and I smile. "Honestly all that matters is how we both feel about each other and I know you're super attracted to me and I'm super attracted to you so there really is nothing to worry about" she tells me.
"Ok, I'm sorry for going all insecure on you again. I just worry sometimes because it seems too good to be true, do you know what I mean?" I say.
"I definitely know what you mean, I wake up every day and wonder how I got so lucky. You're so amazing that I can't believe I actually got you, you're out of my league" she says and I smile so brightly.
"So how are the preparations for regionals tomorrow?" Brittany asks.
"Yeah good" I say.
"Is that it?" she laughs. "Just good?"
"Yeah what more can I say?" I reply.
"Well are you nervous or excited, are you looking forward to it?" she asks.
"Yeah I'm excited but I'm also nervous" I say quietly.
"You're still annoyed I can't come aren't you? That was what was wrong earlier, right?" she asks and I shake my head. "Come on babe, I'm not silly" she says smiling. "I know you're still upset that I can't come to regionals tomorrow."
"I'm sorry" I say. "I just really pictured you in the audience when I performed my first solo at a championship, I know I perform solos all the time in glee club but this is different, lots of people will see me."
"Babe its ok, I know you want me to succeed in my career. I'm annoyed too that I can't be there but sometimes life sucks and we just need to deal with it" she tells me.
"I never want you to think I'm affecting your career but this is the first time ever that you would see me on stage performing apart from last summer which doesn't really count because there was far less people" I state.
"I know and I'd love to see you perform tomorrow too but I can't" she tells me.
"I just hope this isn't always going to happen" I say and she looks confused. "I meant I hope every time I have something big on you won't end up having something too. I can just about handle it this time but I'd hate for us to have events all the time on the same night and never see each other perform" I tell her.
"I'm sure it won't happen, we'll just need to be really clear with our schedules" she tells me.
"Maybe I should come and watch you perform on Saturday night" I say to Brittany.
"Babe don't waste your money unless you're into a show like this. I'm only in one musical number so if you're just coming to see me then it might be a waste" she tells me and I suppose she's right. I would just being going to watch her so what would be the point of paying money for a ticket just to watch two or three minutes of it.
"Yeah, maybe best I don't go" I say.
"However the dance studio is putting on a Christmas show this year so I'd really like you to come to that and see me dance, I've got quite a big part in it" she says and I can't help but laugh. "What?" she says looking slightly embarrassed, she must think I'm laughing at her but I'm not.
"It's nothing babe" I say laughing. "It's just Christmas is nine months away so I'm just laughing at how early you're asking me to come."
"Ok sorry for being organised" she says in mock annoyance.
"Look I'd love to come, whenever tickets are on sale get me one" I tell her.
"Cool, so back to regionals. Do you want to do a run through of your solo?" she asks.
"What just now?" I ask and she nods. "Ok, are you giving me feedback at the end?" I ask and she nods once again. I like Brittany to hear everything I do because she's been through a lot of the stuff I am currently experiencing so it's nice having someone to guide you through it. I press play on my iPod and start to sing the song I am performing at regionals tomorrow. I'm done about two minutes later, "So how was I? I want your honest opinion."
"That was amazing babe, honestly I could not find fault with anything apart from one little thing" she says.
"Ok what was it?" I ask.
"You kept smiling at me and then you winked at me and I don't think I like that" she states.
"You don't like it when I smile or wink at you?" I laugh.
"Well I do normally but I'd rather that wasn't part of the performance because the last thing I need is to compete with some idiot who thinks you have the hots for them. If you start smiling and winking at randoms in the audience I don't think it's appropriate" she tells me pretending to be pissed.
"Ok I promise not to smile or wink at any seat fillers" I smile and kiss her cheek.
"Good" she says smiling. "Now as your former mentor I suggest we do some calming exercises now so you're calm for the big performance tomorrow" she tells me while wiggling her eyebrows.
"Is that so?" I smile.
The thing is Brittany and I met at this summer camp thing last July where ten high school students aged between 14-18 were chosen from a long list of applicants to spend a month learning about music, dance and acting. There were two experienced staff members who ran the activity however each student was also paired with a mentor (aged 19-23) who had some experience in performing and luckily my mentor was Brittany. The mentors would guide the 'students' through different things throughout the week and every Sunday for the four weeks each student competed against each other in an activity i.e. Dance competition, singing challenge or acting out scenarios.
Brittany and I began to like each other as more than friends during our time together so we agreed on having a bit of a summer romance but it would need to end as soon as camp was over so that's what happened. However three or four months later we literally ran into one another in the park and became friends again and before we knew it we started dating and that was 3 months ago.
"It is so, so as your mentor I think you need a massage to relax before tomorrow" she tells me smiling.
"Actually you are definitely right, I do need to be relaxed" I say while lying face down on the couch and Brittany straddles my butt and begins to massage my back and shoulders.
Ok the nerves are kicking in now, we've drew third position to perform so we'll all waiting backstage until the second school performs. I'm literally crapping myself here because the audience is packed and I've never sung on my own to a full audience before. Also I still can't stop thinking about Brittany and how she's not here so I'm a little distracted so I'm worried that'll affect my performance too.
"Now Santana have you done all your vocal warmups because that is very important for a solo?" Rachel arrogantly asks.
"I swear Berry if you say one more word to me, I will slap your face so hard you'll look like you're permanently blushing for a month" I spit angrily.
"Excuse me!" I hear Mr Schue say. "I don't want to hear you speaking to anyone like that. Why would you speak to Rachel like that?" he asks.
"Because she is trying to give me lessons on how to sing when it's none of her business. I was chosen to the do the solo so she should butt out" I say.
"I'm only trying to tell her how to be a better performer Mr Schue because our fate lies in her hands" Rachel smugly says.
"No it doesn't, a third of the performance may be solely my responsibility but the other two numbers with the duet and the group performance are everyone else's responsibility too so this isn't all riding on me" I say.
"Santana is right Rachel, this is a team effort tonight so let's try and get along and win this thing ok?" he says and I nod. Rachel huffs before agreeing. She is so annoying sometimes, I don't get why she is treated better than everyone else.
"Can you go away now Rachel, I don't want to hear your loud breathing in my ear" I state. Mr Schue left moments ago but Berry seems to be still here.
"Do you know something Santana, you're a bitch" she says glaring.
"Takes one to know one" I respond.
"I am not a bitch, I'll tell Mr Schue" she tells me and I have to laugh. Firstly what is she, like two years old and secondly, she just called me a bitch first.
"Rachel just go away" I tell her.
"No wonder you don't have any friends if you keep telling people to go away" she says. I'm just about to respond when I hear someone talk.
"That's funny Rachel because as I recall, Santana, Puck and I have all been best friends since Kindergarten" Mercedes states clearly.
"Apart from you two, she doesn't have any other friends because she constantly pushes people away" Rachel says.
"Come on Rachel, leave Santana alone" Puck says trying to resolve the situation. "Why don't you just go back to your friends?"
"I will, quite gladly in fact" she says before stomping off.
"I can't stand that bitch, what is her problem?" I ask my two best friends.
"She's just jealous you got the solo over her" Mercedes says. "When we all voted between you, nearly everyone picked you over her and she's not happy."
"I just don't need her annoying me tonight, it's bad enough Britt isn't here so I don't need my mood worsened anymore" I say and Mercedes smiles brightly. "What's with the weird face?" I ask her.
"It's just really cute the way your eyes light up and sparkle when you talk about Brittany" she tells me and I swear I start blushing. "It's also really cute the way you call her Britt."
"Ok don't embarrass me" I say smiling.
"We can't help it, it's just too cute" Mercedes says. "Speaking of Brittany, when can we meet her?"
"How about now" I hear from behind me before I'm lifted off the ground and spun around in Brittany's arms.
"What are you doing here?" I ask while wrapping my arms around her neck and hugging her tightly.
"I'm here to watch my girlfriend perform obviously" she tells me before placing me down on the ground.
"Really" my eyes lighting up because I'm so happy Brittany is here.
"Yes really, now are you going to introduce me" she kisses me quickly before turning to my friends.
"Yeah sorry" I say. "Ok this is my best friends Mercedes and Puck" I point to them both.
"Hey, it's nice to meet you, I'm Brittany obviously" she smiles before shaking their hands.
"Nice to meet you too, Santana talks about you constantly" Mercedes replies.
"Does she now?" Brittany smirks at me.
"Not constantly, just sometimes" I say nonchalantly.
"Whatever you say babe" she smiles. After a second I notice Brittany nudge me gently in the ribs.
"What?" I ask. She doesn't verbally respond; she just nods her head in Puck's direction. As soon as I look at him I quickly stand in between Brittany and Puck so I'm blocking his view. His head shoots straight up when I stand in front of him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"What do you mean?" he asks confused.
"Stare at my girlfriend again and I'll knock you out, I've threatened to rip that Mohawk out of your head before and I'm keeping that promise" I tell him angrily.
"I wasn't staring at her" he defensively says.
"Tell that to your eyes resting on her chest" I say. "And furthermore…"
"Ok everyone we're on stage in two minutes so are we all ready?" Mr Schue asks and the others start to congregate together.
"Ok I better go and let you all get ready" Brittany says while kissing me on the cheek. "Good luck babe, you'll blow the judges away…in a good way of course."
"Thanks" I smile.
Brittany's POV
I left Santana to make my way to my seat in the audience when I heard someone call from behind me.
"Hey what are you doing here?" Quinn asks smiling.
"Em…" crap what do I say because she thinks I'm doing that dancing thing tonight. "I came to see you and Mike perform" I reply. It's not technically a lie because if I was able to come tonight I would be watching my step family perform as well as my girlfriend but the main reason to come was to see Santana.
"Oh right, cool" she says with a smile.
"Shouldn't you join the others?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm just going" she replies. "Your mom and step-dad are in the audience as well as my mom and your dad, I think there's seat next to one of them, anyways see you later" she says before heading over to the other group.
"Bye" I say before leaving.