I do not own any part of Glee, nor any of the music mentioned.
Santana sat at the back of the choir room and pretended not to be interested in the argument raging between the three divas of Glee, Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes. The sounds of argument could probably be heard down the corridors of McKinley High. Mr Shue peered around the door and scowled when he saw half the room nose to nose in anger. Matt, Mike, Brittany, Artie and Tina were sat in an awkward silence but Santana was amused to see both Puck and Finn trying to come to Rachel's defence and Quinn was butting in too. The choir room fell into a brief hush when Mr Shue coughed, but the argument began again in a moment.
"Evita is a seminal musical, the perfect choice for sectionals!" demanded Rachel.
"So you can get the lead...again." muttered Quinn, while Mercedes yelled back,
"Rachel I am sick to death of your damn musical medleys, we have proved we can rock the house, we need soul."
"We need something soothing." Put in Puck.
"Just listen to Sinatra, just because you discovered you can do cheesy swing numbers." snapped Kurt.
"Can we calm down." cried an exasperated Finn.
"Says the leading man." grumbled Kurt.
Rachel turned to respond but Mr Shue interrupted.
"That is quite enough! Take your seats."
The group reluctantly returned to their chairs. Mr Shue sighed and rubbed his hands together in contemplation (something Santana had come to realise was an ominous sign that he was planning another lame assignment). He tore a sheet of paper into twelve strips and handed them out amongst the group.
"You are all caught up in your own little world. You need to learn to respect each other's skill. I want you all to write your strongest music style, what you love to sing or would love to have a chance to sing."
The room was quiet as everyone put pen to paper. Santana thought for a moment, recalling the Blondie track she had been singing to in the shower that morning and wrote 'Classic Rock'. Mr Shue went to the cupboard and came back with his top hat. He handed it to Artie.
"Put your music in the hat."
The kids obeyed, each folding their notes in half before placing them into the hat. Mr Shue then placed the hat on the piano.
"I am now going to give you a chance to step outside your comfort zone and into each other's shoes. Pick a music style from the hat, don't share it and come Friday we are going to have a concert. You are all to perform a song from your new music style."
Rachael went first and actually groaned when she read her assignment. When it came to Santana's turn she recognised the carefully drawn capitals on her note at once, Brittany! But she wasn't sure she could forgive her friend on her music choice. She looked sideways at her best friend who was frowning at her own project. In fact the only person in the room that looked happy about his music choice was Artie. Now how exactly was badass Santana expected to sing a Christmas Song in the middle of April without looking a fool?
That night Brittany texted her own predicament, she had picked rap music and was horrified by the prospect of learning all the words and saying them so fast. Santana did her best to calm her and offered a couple of suggestion. A grateful Brittany's final text read *Thanks San. I love you xxx*. Santana typed *Love you too * in her phone but after looking at the message for a moment deleted it rather than send it. Santana was getting less and less sure about using the "L" word with Brittany. She was very aware their relationship had changed but was not willing to openly admit how much. Instead she channelled her energy into making her friend happy. So Santana returned to her embarrassing music project with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Santana knew Brittany's favourite Christmas Song was "Santa Claus is coming to town", but after Mr Shue's assignment to rewrite the words of a popular song, Santana still felt a cold sweat whenever she heard the tune. Santana was just grateful Brittany's ode "Santana is coming to Town", never left Glee club. She finished a short list of Christmas Songs, making sure none of the possibilities mentioned Santa in any way, but after 20 minute she was too tired to think straight. Santana went to bed with her head swimming in jolly tunes and sugar coated lyrics.
Friday came quicker then Santana would have liked and now she was listening to Rachel belting out "Firestarter" by The Prodigy courtesy of Tina. Santana was suitably impressed, there was really nothing that girl couldn't sing. The Latino was also nervous as she was next up. Mr Shue had got them to perform in alphabetical order by first name (thanks Brittany). It had been quite a mixed bag.
Artie had got Mercedes' Soul music and started them off with a very romantic version of "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher" which he sang to Tina.
Brittany then followed with Matt's music choice Rap and performed the theme tune to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She did forget some of the words but she dum-de-dum-ed along until she found herself again.
Finn's version of "Bad" was simply bad, especially the dance moves. The guy just couldn't moonwalk and Mike got into trouble for naming an artist rather than a style.
Kurt got Santana's Classic Rock and did a credible version of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by the Darkness, enjoying a style of music that suited his soprano voice.
Matt got Puck's Swing and performed a very smooth version of "Ac-cent-tu-ate The Positive".
Mike had picked Rachel's choice, show tunes, and sang a so-so version of "Starlight Express". Santana wondered why he hadn't picked a song that would let him dance more.
Mercedes sang a Country song, "Crazy", thanks to Finn. She put Patsy Kline to shame with a fantastic performance.
Puck did a painful version of "Iron, Lion, Zion". He obviously wasn't sure whether he should put on a Jamaican accent or not – who knew Artie liked Reggae.
Quinn channelled her all her "funky" into "I Will Survive." for Kurt's choice, Disco.
Now Rachel was almost finished belting out a startling performance of Firestarter and then it would be Santana's turn.
When Rachel gave her final bow Santana stepped forward reluctantly. She hoped she'd made the right choice. Brad began the piano introduction and Santana took a deep breath and began to sing.
"I'm dreaming of a White Christmas…"
Every one turned to Brittany who confirmed it was her choice. Santana did not like the smirk that appeared on Quinn and Puck's faces but she felt confident she had made the right choice; it was only Brittany's third favourite Christmas song but Santana quite simply refused to sing "Frosty the Snowman" in public. The club applauded when she was done and Brittany gave her a standing ovation which was sweet.
Tina came last and sang Quinn's choice a Lullaby – "Hush Little Baby…"
