Author's Note: I know that I said I would update next week but I started writing and I couldn't stop so here's the next chapter! Also, thank you so much for all of the followers on this story! I hope that you like this next chapter!
Brittany struggles to get the last corner of the sheets down on the cot and she has to stand up on her tippy toes in order to secure it. As she reaches up with her right hand, her yellow shirt comes up a few inches, exposing her perfectly shaped hip and adorable back dimple. You stare at the stunning blonde, watching how she moves. You watch how her sculpted calves flex as she stand on the tips of her toes. How her blonde hair rustles in small ringlets that land on the crook of her neck and her hair coils up at the ends slightly at her mid-back. How her arms elongate beautifully in an exquisite dance. You can't see her face because she is turned around but you suspect that she is frustrated and is squinting her eyes in irritation. You don't move, you can't. You just watch. You feel like you're body is cemented to Quinn's bed, constricting you to move in any was so you just sit there and stare. You don't even feel as though you are breathing. Your chest tightens and you begin to feel uncomfortable but you still don't move. You still watch Brittany.
"Santana?"
"Hmm?" You hum, shaking out of your quandary. "Sorry what?" Brittany turns to face you for a moment and her eyes capture your attention as she stares into you before turning back around and attempting to secure the corner once more.
Rachel's brows furrow as if she is discerning your weirdness. She studies you briefly before returning her own thoughts to her question. "What do you want to sign up for?"
You haven't thought about what you would actually do at camp and you momentarily scold yourself because you hate kids. They're snotty little rugrats who don't know what the word "no" means and who spend their days taking turns annoying everyone around them. All you thought about for this summer was escaping Brittany. You lean back on the bed in frustration but hit your head on the wall and it burns for a moment so you reach your hand up to your head to rub your bruise. Nothing is going your way. Your plan failed miserably. A plan called "don't think about Brittany" will only make you think of her. Stupid, you think to yourself. How could you be such an idiot? Your plan was also an obvious dud because the tall blonde is standing right in front of you. You dig your thumbnail into the pad of your pointer finger, not because you are punishing yourself for feeling for Brittany but to see if you are dreaming. It feels like you are dreaming, but to your disappointment, your not. You escape your gaze from the inside of your head staring at your thoughts, to the three girls looking at you strangely from across the room and you immediately sit up.
"Are you okay?" Quinn asks, her eyebrows raised while she reads you skeptically, staring at your hand comforting your wound on your forehead. You remove your hand from your head without hesitation before looking next to Quinn to find Brittany looking at you with the same questioning expression.
"Music!" You immediately change the subject causing the three girls to look more confused.
"You want to do music?" Rachel asks with an "oh please" look on her face. You hadn't given much thought to this before and you guess that this was pretty obvious to Rachel, Quinn and, Brittany but you decide to just go with it. Rachel comes to sit next to you and takes your hands in hers' but you pull away and scootch further away from her. "Santana, you can't do music."
You look at the small Jewish girl beside you, your eyes squinted. She can see the Lima Heights reflecting in your eyes causing her body to shift slightly away from you. "And why not?" Your tone is fiery and with this, Quinn bites her lip to control a laugh. She knows what you're capable of and you bet that she wants you to use your wicked talent on Rupaul.
"Santana, you can't do music because I'm doing music." Rachel's tone is firm but you know that by showing her a little Lima Heights hospitality, that nothing is ever really confirmed.
You stand up to face the petite brunette. "Listen here nose," You step closer causing Rachel to step back. "My Abuela was a championship cage fighter and I'm pretty sure that I was too in my past life. Now we can do this my way and you can leave here without a screwed up face that looks like it just fell into a wood chipper or you can open up your beak one more time and meet thunder and lighting." You lift your fists. "I don't know about you, but I think that you might not want to be caught up in this storm," You shrug conceitedly," It's your choice." Rachel's gaze breaks yours in a dramatic humph and she stomps out the door shooting you an angry scowl. You walk over next to Quinn, pleased with yourself, as you pick at your nails.
Quinn exults a small laugh. "Santana…" her thoughts trail off as she shakes her head and you watch her curiously but your eyes are still squinted from going off at Rachel. "That was pretty mean."
"Are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure that if you had the chance to teach her a little lesson that you would be early to class." You stop tinkering with your nails to meet your gaze with Quinn's who rolls her eyes.
She continues to shake her head before looking over at Brittany who doesn't seem as stunned at your insults as you thought she would be. You feel a smile start to bud onto your features. "Come on we should go." Brittany nods and you both watch as Quinn takes the lead, you and Brittany following close behind.
You take a deep breath before looking up to the blonde girl next to you, only to find that she was staring at you first. She shyly looks away but you continue to gaze at her. Her hair flips back and forth as she walks causing her sugary smell to flood the area. You breathe it in, longing for more. Brittany looks up at you again and you lock eyes. She smiles at you and starts to laugh. To your surprise, so do you. The confrontation isn't at all awkward. It's confortable.
"Have you been to Lakeview before?" Brittany asks from beside you. She's walking really, really close close to you. You only noticed this because you felt her hand brush against yours as her arm dwindled back and forth as she walked, causing your stomach to flutter with butterflies, but you don't move and neither does she. Instead you push your hand out a centimeter so that you can feel her touch again and she doesn't seem to notice but it makes you smile.
"Mhmm," You nod. A smile approaches your features as your hands touch again. "Yeah, I went here from sixth grade to ninth."
"Good, I know to stick with you cause you know your way around." She giggles lightly and brushes her hand faster than before and you wonder if that meant that she realized what she was doing and how it was making you feel. You look up to smile at Brittany and she does the same but a hand drags you away. You watch as Brittany's silhouette gets smaller and you want to murder the owner of the hand that caused you to depart from Brittany.
"Santana walk! You're dragging you're feet!" Quinn pulls you into the woods and you know exactly where she's taking you. You know that she's taking you to the area designated for music, to the familiar wooden chairs in the flat dirt ground and the small stage.
"What the hell Quinn?" Quinn releases your wrist and you stop her from walking any further.
"You'll see." Quinn continues to walk into the woods to the music ground. You begin to feel aggravated at your friends' voiclessness but you follow, rolling your eyes back and slouching in disappointment. You want to go back and walk with Brittany but you know that you shouldn't say so to Quinn. As you walk closer to the music ground, a guitar strum catches your attention and you can smell cherry chapstick fuming the area. You understand why Quinn brought you here and your pulse quickens because you have to put on an act. It shouldn't be too hard for you though because you've been acting straight for eighteen years. You should win an Oscar for your performances! Taking in a deep breath and getting into your head exactly what you want to do, you crack your neck from side to side before walking forward.
With each strum, your ears ring. You know exactly what to do. You find Sam standing on the stage, playing an acoustic guitar and Finn occupying one of the chairs, Quinn awkwardly trying to take a seat next to him. Quinn is staring at Finn the way that you stare at Brittany and your heart breaks a little at the thought of her, but right now is all about Sam.
You march up to the stage and apply a pressured hit to Sam's guitar strings, stopping anymore sound to transmit from the instrument. Sam's lips part in confusion as he watches your smooth, caramel hand move along each fret of the guitar making a sexy, whimpering sound. His knees start to buckle so he shakes them in an effort to stop himself from falling. You can hear his breathing start to quicken as you move your hand further down the six strings of his instrument before meeting with his hand. He immediately flinches back and removes his guitar strap that was draped around his shoulder, setting down the instrument to his side.
"Where do I sign up?" You ask, staring Sam in the eyes before your gaze meets his lips and you look up to meet his eyes again.
"Umm, umm. R-right here." Sam turns around, tripping over his feet but regains his balance. He heads to a chair behind him where a clipboard rests. Picking up the clipboard, his hand shakes and he drops it. "Shit," he curses under his breath. He picks up the clipboard and turns around quickly towards you and hands it to you.
"A pencil?" You ask, now in an annoyed tone.
"Right, right." His tone is panicky and you can tell that he is trying way too hard. He leans back to obtain the dull number two pencil on the chair before handing it to you.
You smile at him before reaching for the pencil, letting your fingers linger on his. You take the pencil from his hold and look down to the clipboard to sign your name on the single sheet of loose-leaf paper. You notice that there are only two spaces open, one already obtained by Sam. You're shoulders drop a little bit in sorrow but you don't let your face show it. Now that Brittany's here you want to spend time with her, not be locked up in a headache inducing jam session with Lips McGee and his country-boy six string, but you shrug and decide that you need to stick through the torturous days to come.
"Ok, well we're gonna go," A husky voice states from the audience. Quinn and Finn witnessed the whole performance and this is the part where they leave in a standing ovation. You smirk to yourself at a job well done. "Good meeting you Sam! I'll see you around?" Finn asks.
"Yup!" Sam replies with a boyish smile. Quinn waves to Sam before exiting the area with Finn, giving you a wink before completely leaving. It's just you and Sam. "So…" Sam's voice trails off. "Do you want to sit next to each other at the bond fire tonight?" He is seriously pathetic. He wants you. No, want is an understatement. He's desperate for your attention. You have him right where you want him yet you feel a ping of guilt strike your heart. You know that you're using him and you think that he deserves a girl as nice as him. He really isn't that bad and you think that he would be a really good friend. You think for a moment that you could ask him to be your beard but you quickly shudder off the thought because you're not ready to come out to anyone, especially a boy who you just met.
You pick up your gaze from the ground, where you just noticed it was. You didn't notice that you were rubbing your heels in the dirt either until you stopped. You look Sam in the eyes with a light smile. You hope that it comes of believable, because in reality, behind your pretty smile, are tears. "Sure." It hurts but you pretend like you don't feel it.
Sam takes you in for a hug but you awkwardly move so that you only allow him a side hug. He still has his charming smile though and walks with you to the main field just outside the dining hall with his arm around your shoulder. You want to push it off but think that'd it be good for Quinn, and anyone else who you wouldn't want finding out that you're a lesbian, that you have a new boy toy.
The campers have arrived. Some of them are down at the lake where Quinn is lifeguarding, but most are playing or talking amongst themselves on the field. The field is a widespread layout of lush green grass. You pinpoint an area that the campers call "the love rock" and you reminisce about your first kiss there with a boy named Cody in the sixth grade. You remember leading him back there. It was all a game to you and you wanted the attention, but it was still your first kiss, and to you it was special. It's behind a large granite rock, where pink flowers grow. It's pretty secluded and you find yourself questioning if some people are back there at this moment but you decide to not find out. There is a huge sand pit a few yards to the right of the rock where some kids are playing in. Some kids started a game of capture the flag, some are playing tag, and some are playing a game that your pretty sure they just made up. You see Brittany playing with them and a smile immediately sprouts onto your features.
"No Tina! You hit me with your magic spell!" Brittany lies on the ground, pretending to die, pointing her attention towards a small Asian girl.
"Don't worry Princess! I'll save you!" A cute, dark-skinned girl comes to Brittany's side. Her hair is in two puffs, one on each side of your head and you giggle to yourself as the young girl waves her hand over Brittany who then begins to move under the little girl's influence.
"Mercedes, you saved me! How can I ever repay you?" Brittany sits up; brushing off her shorts but is still in character as she pleads before the young girl.
"Princess, you must help me as we both get revenge on the evil witch Tina!" The Asian girl begins to run away, only for the black girl to chase after her.
Brittany stands up from where she was kneeling and catches your gaze. She looks over to Sam, who you completely forgot was next to you. "Queen Santana!" Brittany runs towards you and without thinking, you pull away from the blonde boy, causing his arm to fall from around you and to shrink to his side. Brittany takes your hand in hers' and you feel sparks rocket. The electricity pulses from your hand before running down your arm and leaving you with a warm feeling in your chest. "Queen Santana, we mustn't let the evil witch get away!"
"Never!" You charge towards the small Asian girl, Brittany's hand in yours. Although your fingers aren't intertwined like you would want them to be, you're palms are against each other and you love the feeling of her touch against your own.
"Princess, who have you brought forward?" Mercedes asks, staring at you questioningly.
"I have here, the beautiful Queen Santana of Lima. She will help us defeat Tina!"
Your heart skips a beat at Brittany calling you beautiful. Maybe she didn't notice that she complemented you or maybe she intended to but either way, it made your stomach flutter and your legs to wobble.
"Come, we must not loose any time!" Mercedes takes the lead, you and Brittany scouting out where Tina could have gone. Brittany is still holding your hand and you can't help but smile like an idiot. You loved everything about Brittany before, but now seeing her around kids, makes you love her little quirks even more.
"There she is!" Brittany releases your hand and runs towards Tina. You and Mercedes follow.
"Princess! I thought that you were dead!" Tina shrieks. You, Brittany, and Mercedes corner the small girl. "I surrender!" The three of you exchange high fives and you can't remember the last time that you felt this happy. Brittany makes you feel like a little kid again. Looking over to the beautiful cheerleader, she is smiling too. Her eyes gleam with innocent playfulness and fun and you find yourself looking up at her with admiring eyes. You quickly snap out of your daze and head towards the music area with Sam for your first official councilor job. You purposefully walk with your own two hands clasped so Sam can't try anything else. You're in control.
"Do you sing?" Sam asks as he lifts his guitar back up from where he set it and slings the strap over his shoulder.
"Mhmm. I was in chorus in middle school if that counts." Sam tilts his head from side to side at your reply modestly. You really don't sing. You sing in the shower, where your only audience is pressurized water and tiles, but you're actually pretty good. You spend most of your days listening to music to zone out your feelings anyway so this should be in the bag. "Do you sing?" You mentally slap yourself for asking that and for being so nice to him. You don't want to lead him on, you just want people to think that you two are together.
"Yeah, I sing all the time to my little brother and sister." Sam laughs from behind you while looking up to the clouds, picturing his siblings. "Here," You flinch at something touching your arm, "you should probably learn the song for today." You pivot your head slightly to find some sheet music waiting for your hand to take it. You take it and skim over the title of the song: Walking On Sunshine. You laugh to yourself and you notice Sam smiling behind you. "It's okay, I got it."
Before you know it fifteen kids are sitting in front of you and Sam. Most of them are pretty well behaved and are talking amongst themselves except two boys in the back. One of them wears a t-shirt with a football number on it and the other is annoyingly preppy, those kids that appear gay but are actually just douche bags. He's wearing khaki shorts, a tiffany blue polo, Elete socks, and Sperris. You roll your eyes because you know this preppy, douche type all too well. Not to say that all guys who where this are jerks, but you definitely haven't met one yet that's less annoying than Rachel. The two boys are throwing pebbles from the ground at two girls in front of them. You walk closer, letting them feel your presence and they stop their tormenting.
You come to Sam's side, to direct the activity with him. "So during all of this activity, we highly encourage you to get up and dance. Do we have any dancer's here?" Sam's voice is cheery and he holds a wide smile. One small Asian boy raises his hand and he looks like he might fall because he's bouncing out of his seat so much. You can tell that he's excited for this. A small brunette boy next to him frowns a little because he has a broken leg and he can't dance. But you remind yourself to sit next to him, to sing with him.
"Does everyone know the song Walking on Sunshine?" Everyone raises their hands and you can see two hands quivering in the back. The two annoying boys are cracking up, making fun of the song. "Hey, Preppy and Jock Face" The two boys stop their snickering and everyone faces towards them." Is something funny?" The preppy boy immediately shakes his head but the other one in the football shirt, still holds a smirk. "Alright." You turn back towards Sam. "Hit it!" He starts to strum the song and immediately the young boy; over ecstatic to dance takes you're hand and leads you into a fast paced foxtrot. He's actually really good. Others have gotten up to dance too and everyone around you starts to sing the song. Sam wanted to dance, so everyone started clapping to the beat and he put his guitar down.
"What's your name?" You ask as the boy spins you around.
"Mike, Mike Chang." The boy looks up to you, revealing all his teeth in a wide grin. He's not singing but he's dancing like a professional. He takes your hand and leads you two onto the stage where he spins you around and dips you. You exult a joyous laugh before you lead him down to the boy with the broken leg.
You and Mike sit on either side of him, moving his crutches out of the way. He has a really good voice and his rhythm is spot on. "What happened to your leg?" You ask out of curiosity.
The young boy gulps. "I was in a car accident."
"Oh." You stop your clapping but the young boy is still clapping and still has a smile.
"Everyone was okay though. I'm pretty lucky." You smile and continue to clap along to the beat.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Artie." Artie taps his other foot on the dirt and belts out the song. You think to yourself why these kids are so talented because you are really impressed.
"GAAAaaay!" A boy's voice blurts from the back. No one stops their motions except you. You stand up from where you are sitting, leaving Mike and Artie to sing on their own. You know exactly who said it. You immediately march over to the brunette boy wearing the football shirt. He's laughing at a small boy in front of him who is dancing with Sam. He's wearing a barrette and a rhinestoned t-shirt and you instantaneously feel bad for him.
"What did you just say?" You ask, your tone malicious.
"Umm. Umm. N-nothing." The boy's face now turns down, resting his gaze on the pebbles beneath his feet.
"Come on." The boy doesn't move. "Come on!" He leans his head back in aggravation but gets up and follows you. He knows he's in trouble, and you don't plan on cutting him any slack. "You got this?" You ask Sam who looks to be enjoying himself. He gives you two thumbs up and you walk next to the boy to the main office, behind the dining hall.
"What's your name?" You ask to the boy next to you. He's not as short as most of the other boys here, he's actually kind of tall.
The little boy stares down at the trail as you walk. "David." His voice sounds irritated.
"Do you know why I'm taking you to the front office?"
"Because I called a faggot gay."
"Hey! Don't you ever, ever say that word again! Do you understand me? You're here because you used that word, gay, in a negative connotation that can hurt someone. What grade are you in?" You ask, now completely hating this boy.
"Eight."
"Good, then you're old enough to understand that what you say can really hurt someone, and I advise you to think about that the next time you want to bully somebody."
You and David approach the main office and you hold open the door for him, so he walks ahead of you into the small room. There are cabinets everywhere holding paperwork and files. At the desk directly in front of you and David, sits the director of the camp. "Mrs. Shuster?" You ask.
The small woman looks up from her puzzle at you. "What's the problem?"
You're body immediately coils at her high pitched, annoying voice. "David here, called a boy gay in a negative way and—"
"You can't use that kind of language here." The woman places a puzzle piece in the corner of the puzzle.
"Excuse me? It's not a bad word. I just think he should be punished because him using it like that, can hurt someone."
"Santana, please don't use that word again, and neither do you Mr. Karofsky and you will both be let off the hook. You can leave now." David scurries out the door but you stay.
"Sorry, Miss. I don't think I understand." You want to punch the shit out of this woman.
"I don't want anyone using the word 'gay'," She puts up her fingers in quotation marks" Here because it's inappropriate. It can make kids feel uncomfortable, or worse it can make them have these urges."
"It's not a choice m'am!" You didn't mean to yell but the woman jumps at your tone.
"If you leave now, you won't be fired, and I highly advise that you do."
You furrow your brows in disbelief but you don't say anything more. You walk away weakly from the office and out the door only to see a small figure sitting on the dock, a few feet from the door, dangling his legs off the side, and holding his head in his hands. There's a barrette lying beside him. You walk to sit next to the small boy.
"Thank you," He says. You give him a comforting hug and you two sit in that position for many moments before he breaks the silence. "So what's her name?" You are taken aback by the question and the small boy can sense this by the way that your hold on his body tightens a little. Your breathing deepens.
"Brittany." The boy squeezes you tightly.
"I'm Kurt." He says, breaking the hug and meeting your eyes.
You take his hand in a friendly shake. "Santana."
Author's Note: To answer a question that a lot of you probably have, yes Artie can walk!(: Next chapter will be out by next week, probably... maybe not if I keep writing again like I did with this chapter. Anyways, I hope that you liked this chapter and the Kurt, Santana friendship!