"Hey, you're Santana Lopez" he looked overly helpful, the math club type of guy.
As if I didn't know my own name. He was tall, blonde and green eyed. Behind him stood two other girls. One asian and the other was coloured.
"I am" I said as I kept walking with them just behind me.
"We saw how Quinn treated you in class the other day.. Pretty messed up" the asian girl said and stood beside me now "you can sit with us at lunch.. If you want" she said again.
I considered it to be honest. These people were nerds, it was obvious. I still had no choice, it was either sit with them or hide in the school yard with my lunchbox on my knees. Pathetic. I looked out the window and that was what made me sure about my choice. All I could see was thick fog, you could barely see the sky. It was like being in a cage.
At lunch, we sat at one of those round tables. I didn't spot the cheerleader clique at all today so I was kind of relieved. The people I was with, honestly, I didn't know their names but it felt so damn awkward. I didn't fit in. However, I tried to be nice although I felt uncomfortable. I tried to be social and speak now and then. They asked me about where I come from and I answered them with short answers. I can't lie though, they were nice people. No one else here approached me and tried to befriend me for the whole week I was here. I know it's not a lot but people were nothing but ignorant and rude.
"So how do you like it here?" the dark girl asked.
"It's okay, I guess"
"You sound insecure about your answer" she said again and laughed.
"I am" I admitted "I haven't really experienced the best of New York just yet" I sarcastically said and half smiled.
"We can be your friends" the asian girl said.
"I didn't really ask for any friends" I said.
"Oh.."
"It doesn't mean I couldn't use some friends" I said again when I noticed what I said moments earlier sounded a bit rude.
"Oh, okay," she said and her face lightened "you need to hang with the right people to like New York" she said and her two friends agreed.
"Well well, what do we have here" I heard and turned around.
It was her. The cheerleader who's name I most recently learned, Quinn. Her friend was with her.
"What do you want now?" I asked.
"I see you got yourself new friends" she said in a wondering tone with a crooked smile on her face.
"Yes I have, does it bother you?"
"Don't get stuck up, beanhead" her friend said now, the taller blonde cheerleader.
I studied her face apprehensively. I didn't understand what their problem was, still, I ignored them now. I could feel them still standing behind me. I just didn't bother to look back anymore. They were acting like five year olds. One minute after they noticed I wouldn't give them one more second of my attention, they walked away and I found them on the other side of the room. I looked at my new friends now, waited for them to say something because they had been quiet this whole time.
"Are those girls always like that?" I asked to break the annoying silence.
"Yeah, kind of. They've always been on everyone's back. They act like they're everything. Especially Quinn" the dark girl said.
"What's the other one like?"
"Just like Quinn, the only difference is that she doesn't get the chance to say much because Quinn is like the boss of all those cheerleader girls"
"Right. What's her name?" I curiously asked.
"I just told you, her name is Quinn. Quinn Fabray"
"No, I mean the other girl"
"Oh," she laughed "her name is Brittany Pierce"
"Brittany," I sighed "typical" I said.
"What?"
"Nothing, that's just the most common bitch name" I said.
They all just burst into laughter like I told the best joke ever. It made me let out a little smile too, I couldn't really help myself.
I walked into the girls room with the hope to get some privacy. I didn't though. I heard that someone was crying in one of the bathroom stalls and I knew it was that Quinn girls voice that was bullying some girl in there. It made it more obvious that it was her because her friend Brittany stood right outside the stall.
"What are you staring at?" she asked.
"What's happening in there?" I wondered.
"It's none of your business, get out"
"It's a public bathroom, you can't tell me to get out" I said and pushed aside her to open the door.
I saw the asian girl being assulted by Quinn. She was being racist again, just like she was with me. She threw the asian girls beanie in the toilet and flushed. I looked at her and pushed Quinn away.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, irritated.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? This is not okay" I blurted out.
I took the asian girl by the arm and walked her out of the bathroom stall. I let her stand by the sinks as I stood face to face with Quinn. I've had enough with her. If I was going to be here for a while, this had to be fixed. I'm done playing nice with her and her friend.
"You listen to what I say carefully now," she pressed "you're going to get the fuck out of this bathroom and leave your thin eyed, yellow friend here" she commanded.
"You need to stop talking like that" I said and walked one step closer to her.
She snorted and took a step closer as well. Her friend, Brittany, stood right behind her.
"Santana, it's okay. Let's just get out.. We don't want to get into trouble" the girl I helped said.
"Listen to your friend" Brittany laughed.
Quinn just stood there and waited for me to actually leave but I didn't. I didn't move a bit. I stared at her until she came up with something good to say so I wouldn't feel the need to kick her ass.
"What are you waiting for, scum?"
"Watch it" I warned her.
"Or what, you dirty little fuck?" she said "you can't do shit. You're nothing. Now do as I say, like you're used to doing, and leave us"
Every single word that flowed from her lips made me angrier by every second that passed. My patience was starting to run out and my temper was flaring. Rage boiled through my whole body. I barely had a chance to think of my actions. The only thought I had running through my mind was getting her to shut her mouth. I raised my hand back and threw it forward as hard as I possibly could, whipping it across her face. The crack of our skin contacting echoed on the bathroom walls. Small vibrations of discreet pain started spreading in my palm and continued to my finger tips. The red mark on her cheek matched the colour of her cheerleading outfit. She stared at me, flabbergasted with wide eyes, so was Brittany. Quinn's hand slowly made it to her red cheek. I should've felt some kind of regret. But I didn't, not at all. Not even a single organ in my body could produce guilt for what I did. A trimphuant grin spread across my face as I watched her and Brittany leave the bathroom without even saying a word about my actions. I had won.
"Come on, let's go," I said and looked at her "what's your name by the way?"
"Tina," she said and didn't move just yet "that was, brave. No one has ever done that. No one dares to stand up to Quinn and Brittany"
"I don't really care about them, Tina. They can't hurt me" I said as we now walked out to the hallway. I could notice people outside the bathroom were staring at us even though I didn't really look at them. I could feel their glares.
"I just hope you don't get into trouble for that, she's really vengeful" Tina said.
During the whole day, I couldn't see Quinn and Brittany. Not until biology class when they just walked pass me without giving me any kind of rude comment or anything like that. They pretended I didn't exist, they didn't say anything to any of my new friends or me but I could hear them pick on some of the others in class. The less cool people. I found it pretty weird that they just stopped bugging me after I slapped her once. I was happy for it though.
On my way to the lockers, I took my time without rushing. My mom, as always, would be late anyway. I watched people pass me without even looking at me and it finally started feeling just a little bit better. I wasn't fully comfortable just yet but I felt better, I really did.
I opened my green locker and out of it fell a big pile of mud right on my feet. All my books, notes - everything was covered in dirty mud. I didn't even have to think. That's why they were so quiet all the time, that's why they left me alone. They were planning how to torture me next. I was so angry and embarrassed I couldn't even consider revange, not now. I noticed people gathering around me - some asked how I was doing, others helped and most of them lost interest and kept walking to wherever they were headed. Finally, the two people I loathed more than anything right now showed up behind me.
"Does it feel familiar?"
I looked at her proud face with so much rage inside.
"Get out of my face" I said and tried to find the janitor anywhere so he could help me clean this up.
"Aren't you farmers," she laughed "you and your family?"
"They grow beans" Brittany taunted and grinned.
"Yeah, wow," I grumbled "nice comebacks"
I closed the locker and left it. I just wanted to leave, I was too angry to even look for the janitor anymore. I knew these girls were a bit racist or just plain rude, but this, it was too much. I had never seen this type of bullying or even experienced it - not even making someone go through it myself. I didn't understand any of it and it just bugged me now more than ever before that they treated me this way.
I walked out of the school with all eyes staring at me and the two cheerleaders leaving comments just two steps behind me wherever I went. With my books pressed to my chest like some kind of shield for I don't know what myself, I spotted my mother in the parking lot. I just wished they would stop following me, I didn't want them to humiliate me in front of my mom. I knew her and she would with no hesitation at all step out of the car and come over here and ask what we were doing.
"Could you guys just leave me alone? Just for once?" I asked before taking one step closer to the car. My mom hadn't seen me yet.
"You need to learn who you're messing with," Quinn said and took one step closer to me "take that shit in your locker as a warning." she said and they turned their backs and left.