Chapter 5

After Karofsky's dramatic exit, the rest of the lesson had passed smoothly, the students more than a litte impressed with how Santana had dealt with the boy. They listened without interruption as she explained what topics they would be studying and even Quinn admitted later to Brittany, begrudgingly, that the class might not be quite as bad as she had thought.

Azimio on the other hand, had spent the rest of the lesson in grim silence at the back, flipping idly through his textbook and looking out of the window whenever Santana spoke. But since no one had any desire to speak to him anyway, his attempts at blatant rudeness went mostly unnoticed.

After handing them all a reading list of helpful material for the course, Santana had also mentioned a possible trip coming up in December at which a ripple of interest had passed through the glee kids at the front. She thought it might be fun to take the students to the Allenn County Museum to look at the History of America exhibit they had there this winter. It probably wouldnt be a partciaulry good exhibit, but the museum was right there in Lima and it would be a good visual aid for when they started learning about the civil war. Plus, the kids seemed eager at the prospect of a day out of normal lessons, so she decided to go ahead and run it past Figgins the next time she saw him.

Checking her watch, she decided to let the kids go five minutes early. They had covered everything they needed to and Santana had some homework sheets to quickly check over before her next class. She stood up and clapped her hands together to get their attention.

"Ok good lesson everyone, let's call it a day shall we?"

She looked at Quinn, Puck and Brittany as they got up to leave.

"Well done today guys...I think you'll fit in really well in this class"

Rachel, who had presumably been waiting for a good introduction, jumped in to assure them she felt the same.

"I would like to second that Ms. Lopez" She said smiling graciously around the group "Even though I wasn't perhaps overjoyed to find out we would be learning together, I have decided that actually I was a little too hasty in my estimation and the new additions to the class, although not all agreeable," she stopped to look pointedly at Azimio as he left the room without a word "will only add a more diverse set of opinions and beliefs during debate, opening us up to new ideas and eventually, making us all better learners"

She ended with a firm nod and a tight smile, lips pressed together in barely contained excitment, looking around at her friends and misreading their silence as quiet awe.

"Ok, well, that's great Rach" said Kurt with a smirk, taking her hand and leading her towards the door "Now let's go to science"

She turned as Kurt tried to push her out into the hallway,

"Thanks Ms. Lopez, another great lesson!"

Santana laughed at the girl who had twisted out of Kurt's grip and was leaning through his arms to look back into the classroom,

"Bye Rachel"

With a firm shove he managed to get her out of the doorway, both of them laughing, before twisting his head briefly with a cheerful "See you in Glee" to the others and pulling the door shut behind him. Blaine who had been chatting with Quinn, noticed they had gone and, throwing a friendly "see you later" over his shoulder, grabbed his bag and went to catch up with his boyfriend.
He was closely followed by the others who filed out of the classroom together, turning to say polite goodbyes to Santana and then disappearing into the hallway, eager to discuss how Karofsky had looked like he was about to cry, and how hot Santana was. Just before the door closed behind their excited chatter, Quinn popped her head back into the room with a puzzled look.

"Uh, Britt?...You coming?"

Brittany stood next to her table, packing away her things deliberately slowly and looked up at Quinn.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec"

She flicked her eyes over to Santana who was cleaning the board and pretending not to listen to their conversation.

"I just wanted to check one of my answers quick, from the quiz"

Quinn looked between Brittany and the teacher who stood preoccupied, with her back to them and raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Uh..ok?" She jerked her thumb behind her "Want me to wait?"

Brittany shook her head, smiling sweetly at her best friend

"No, it's fine. I'll meet you in History"

With one last questioning look, Quinn left, walking quickly to History with the others, intending to save the seat next to her for Brittany. She was impatient to find out why Brittany was acting so weirdly, she couldn't really care about that stupid quiz, and she also needed to ask her what she was planning on wearing to the winter formal. As best friends, they would really need to co-ordinate and Quinn already had her eye on a strapless black cocktail dress she had seen at the mall.

Back in the classroom, Santana turned from the board and smiled as though she had just noticed the cheerleader. She looked at her expectantly.

"Brittany, what can I do for you?"

The younger girl met her gaze shyly and Santana suddenly thought, surprised that she hadn't really noticed before, how remarkably attractive the girl was. At first glance Santana had taken her to be the archetypal high school cheerleader, a pretty, generic blonde with a great figure, but otherwise fairly ordinairy. But now, as she really looked at her, it seemed almost laughable that anyone would describe the girl as simply "pretty".

Brittany had the kind of face Disney princesses were based on, kind, innocent and perfectly symmetrical.

Her eyes were an unusual shape, cat like, and so vividly blue that Santana almost wondered if she was wearing contacts. Her hair, hairsprayed tightly into a high ponytail, was a warm natural blonde, still gently highlighted from long days under the sun last summer, attending mandatory Cheerios practices during the holidays. Along with her eyes and hair, the girl had pale, creamy skin which all together gave her a distinctly european look, and Santana wondered absent mindedly whether her family origins were maybe in Germany, or Sweden perhaps.

But it was her mouth that Santana thought was probably one of her best features. She had neat, straight white teeth and, although her lips weren't particularly full or wide, she had the most ridiculously beautiful smile. It lit up her whole face, and the way she smiled right now, with the mid morning sun dancing through the window behind her, framing her golden hair like a halo, lit a memory inside Santana's mind like a match.

She suddenly remembered being a young child, maybe 7 or 8, sitting uncomfortably in her smartest dress at a family wedding, and looking up at the stained glass windows of the St. Augustine church. An angel sat gazing down at her, with long yellow hair framing her beautifully ethereal face and Santana had stared back, until her abuela had rapped her sharply on the knee and hissed at her to "pay attention". But all throughout the service Santana had continued to let her eyes wander, fascinated by the blissful expression on the angel's face. Even at such a young age, she had known that it wasn't right to look at girls that way, that it wasn't normal, but something about the angel made her feel so peaceful inside that she didn't think she could tear her eyes away even if she had wanted to.

And now, 19 years later, staring at Brittany, she had felt something similiar. A serenity slowly creeping over her that was broken suddenly as she saw the cheerleader look at her questioningly, and Santana realised she hadn't heard a word Brittany had said. She blinked, forcing herself to focus on what the girl was saying and found herself hoping that she hadn't been staring too obviously.

"...back from the dry cleaners yesterday"

Dry cleaners? What was she talking about? Santana frowned in confusion as Brittany stepped towards her, one arm held out.

"I'm pretty sure there are no coffee stains on it"

Santana looked down, seeing her Jil Sander jacket in Brittany's hands and understanding at once. She had had so many other things to think about on monday that she had half forgotten lending Brittany the jacket but she now remembered, how she had yanked it off the back of her chair and forced the girl to take it. She had felt so guilty for covering the girl in coffee that she hadn't even cared that the jacket of her favourite suit might end up permanently stained, which now, examining the inside, she realised wasn't an issue anyway. It looked good as new, neatly folded and pressed, and Santana took it from the cheerleader with a smile, laying it on the desk beside her.

"You got it drycleaned?"

Brittany nodded, hoping she hadn't made a mistake, maybe it was meant to be handwashed? She should have checked the label.

"You didn't need to do that" said Santana, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. She smiled up at the girl, in case Brittany mistook her gratitude for irritation and added softly "But thanks, It was really sweet of you"

Brittany blushed, relieved that she hadn't done anything wrong. She was aware that she was taking credit for something that been purely her mother's doing but with the way Santana was smiling at her now, she had never felt less guilty.

"You're welcome"

Brittany zipped up her bag and lifted it onto her shoulder, a happy blush still staining her cheeks as she walked to the door.

"Uh, Ms. Lopez?"

"Yeah?"

"I really enjoyed the lesson today...you're a really great teacher"

Santana tilted her head and smiled once again at the girl, a little embarrassed at the sincerety behind the compliment.

"Well I'm glad you liked it"

Brittany nodded to confirm that she really did and then opened the door, twisting round briefly to say "See you monday" before stepping out of the classrom and walking quickly down the hall, a few minutes late for History.
...

Later that day, as Santana sat at her desk, silently writing up lesson plans, she heard a low buzz coming from her handbag. Distractedly she reached in and pulled out her blackberry, freezing when she saw the name flashing on the screen. Crap. She had completley forgotten to sort this out on monday. She closed her eyes, bringing the phone up to her ear with a weary sigh and pressed down hesitantly on the green button.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Santana? It's Taylor"

Well yeah, thought Santana irritatedly

"Hey"

"How are you? I called monday but you didn't pick up, and then I called tuesday but your phone was off"

"Yeah sorry, I've been super busy" She struggled for an excuse "I just started this new job and -"

"Oh how's that going by the way?" Taylor interrupted

"It's going well, kind of hectic, the first week and everything, but I like it"

"That's great...so, are you busy tonight?"

Santana grimaced, this is what she had been waiting for

"Um, actually yeah, sorry Tay but I'm kinda beat" she rested her forehead in her free hand, already sick of the conversation "Do you mind if I give it a miss?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line

"...no, it's fine. Maybe some other time?"

Santana smiled into the phone, thankful that Taylor wasn't going to make this difficult.

"Sure"

"Ok, have a good weekend. I'll call you next week"

Oh I'm sure you will, thought Santana hanging up.

She didnt mean to be so harsh, but there just was something about the woman that drove her insane. From the moment they had been introduced last year, they had shared a love/hate relationship, the love part being focused mainly on Taylor's side. They had met through mutual friends, and after hooking up a few times after drunken nights out, they had fallen into a kind of pattern. Neither of them were seeing anyone, so it made sense that when one of them didn't feel like spending the night alone that they would meet up, have great sex and then forget about it in the morning. Only Taylor seemed to have forgotten that last part, and her calls had recently become increasingly frequent.

It's not that Santana didn't find the other woman attractive, she definitely did. Taylor was tall and tan, with california style good looks and long wavy blonde hair. But that was it, there was nothing else about her that Santana particularly liked, and spending time with her had quickly become a chore.

Santana had tried to phase her out, she knew that the woman wanted a relationship with her and cutting Taylor out of her life seemed to be the only way she could make it clear that she wasn't interested. She had ignored the phonecalls and the emails, she had avoided the bars she knew Taylor liked to hang out at, and after awhile the other woman had seemed to get the message. But then Santana had ruined the whole thing.

A few months before she took the job at McKinley,she had had an interview at the mayor's office. It was mid summer and he needed a chief strategist to oversee his re-election campaign for the vote in November. Santana was just coming to the end of a temporary cover job at a high school in Delphos and had been looking for something new when she heard about it. Ordinarily she would never have even bothered applying, knowing that she didn't have enough experience, but she had a friend, Mark, who already worked with the mayor as a financial advisor and he had recommended her for the job.

And surprisingly, after sending her CV, she had received an email saying he was interested in seeing her and would the next day be convenient? She had rung Mark up to tell him straight away, thanking him for helping her out and they had agreed to meet for dinner when she had finished with the mayor.

She had arrived at the interview, excited and well prepared, wearing a beautiful black shift dress by Burberry with her hair swept up in a sleek ponytail. As she sat waiting outside the office, she could hear the mayor talking loudly on the phone, his gruff voice carrying out of the door left slightly ajar.

"-no, no I'm busy this afternoon...I'm interviewing again, still haven't found anyone for the job...no, I shouldn't think so...well they were all men, and that was my problem last time. The men already support me...it's the minority groups I need to get on board"

Santana had frowned, a horrible feeling of dread settling in her chest as leant forward to listen carefully

"...well actually, I think I've got it sorted...yep, I'm expecting her for an interview in about 10 minutes...no, no, even better...you want me to tell you?...you won't guess...she's a spic"

She froze, her mouth had dropped open. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had been about to march into his office and punch him in the face when she'd heard his booming voice blare out again.

"...that's not even the best part...apparently she's a dyke as well"

He had laughed loudly as bile rose in Santana's throat, his words slamming into her with so much force she could barely breathe. Her anger had been extinguished in a second, replaced with a crushing humiliation that threatened to cripple her if she hadn't left straight away.

"...we got ourselves a 3 in 1"

Reaching out a hand to steady herself, she had swallowed back the tears that painfully pricked her eyes and pushed herself firmly out of the chair. Without a backwards glance she'd marched out of the city hall and into town square plaza, walking blindly until she reached her car and threw herself in. There had been so many emotions coursing through her body, threatening to overcome her, that she had shut her eyes tightly, leaning back against the headrest and taking deep, rythmic breaths.

How had he known? Had Mark told him? She thought it seemed unlikely, but she couldn't think of any other way of him finding out. Obviously her parents knew, and her close friends, but it was never something she shouted about. She didn't like telling people her personal business and growing up, her family had always made her feel like it was something embarrassing, something to be kept a secret.

And he'd called her a 'spic'? She pulled a face in disgust. Racist prick.

She had sat in the car until it got dark outside, replaying what had happened in her head and trying to figure out what she should have done. She knew she should have confronted him, but the shock had disarmed her and her instinct had been to run.

Her phone had buzzed a few times and she had stabbed the 'ignore' button roughly, knowing it would be Mark wondering where she was. She hadn't felt like talking to anyone right then, especially not him. She had buried her phone at the bottom of her bag and exited the car park quickly, anxious to put as much distance between herself and the mayor as possible.

On her drive home she had stopped at a gas station, picking up a large bottle of vodka and a pack of Marlborough reds, glaring at the service attendant when he looked her over appreciatively. She had gotten back in the car and started driving again, only to find herself heading for Taylor's apartment rather than her own. She had known that it was a stupid idea, that it was cruel to keep leading the woman on and then dropping her when she got sick of it. But right then she needed something, to distract her from the humiliation that ached in her chest and she knew that going home and drinking herself into unconsciousness wouldn't help.

She had turned up at Taylor's door , vodka in hand, with no explanation and no apology.

"Can I come in?"

Taylor had nodded and stood aside to let her past, not even thinking to question why this was the first time she had heard from the latina in months. Putting the vodka down on the table, Santana had turned towards her and pushed her roughly up against the wall, pressing their mouths together and frantically pulling off Taylor's shirt. Her own clothes had followed just as quickly and they'd had sex right there on the hallway floor, fast and desperate, Santana looking almost pained as she reached her orgasm.

Grabbing her things she had left without a word, slamming the car door and driving back home, angry at herself and also, inexplicably, with Taylor.

As she expected she got a call from her the next week, asking if she wanted to meet up. Santana had declined, pretending she already had plans, but had instead spent the day at home, scouring the internet for teaching jobs. She had come across the temporary position at McKinley and had applied straight away, getting an interview 3 weeks later and then finally, two weeks after that, a job offer.

And now here she was, still trying to escape Taylor when it suited her and then demanding her attention again when she felt like it.

A knock on her door brought her back to her classroom and she looked up to see Will standing in the doorway with his coat slung over his shoulder. She glanced at the clock and noticed with surprise that school had ended 10 minutes ago, she hadn't even heard the last bell.

"Hey you, happy hour down at the firehouse, everyone's going...you in?"

She sighed in relief, pushing her papers firmly to the side and picking up her things

"Yes" she said enthusiastically "I am so in"

She walked over to the door and turned off the light, strolling out into the hallway and turning when Will didn't immediately follow.

"Come on Schuester...let's go get drunk"

...

I feel like my chapters are getting crazy long. And it is once again 3.30am and I am still up writing. It's taking over my life slightly.

But anyway, again, thank you so much for reviewing, it means a lot :)

I hope you're enjoying the story so far, I have a feeling it's going to be fairly long so hopefully you'll stick with it.

Santana has kind of turned into Bette Porter in my head so I'm going to try and make her more Santana-ish in the next chapter.

There's more Brittana coming soon don't worry, I just think it would be crazy if I went to fast with that, cause obviously Santana is a teacher and I think it would take awhile for her to see Brittany as anything other than a student.

But anyway, thaaannkss, and G'night x