For the vast majority of my awkward middle school years, I was seen as the little nerd who was off in her own world, which was pretty understandable if you ask me. I could see why it would seem strange for a thirteen-year-old to be more interested in reading non-fiction books about space and time than talking about boys or whatever else girls were supposed to be interested in at that age. That being said, it still did not excuse the fact that I was treated like a social outcast only because I didn't fit the norm.
I still remember the giggling girls who would make snide remarks behind my back or the snickering boys who would joke about how they'd be more interested in me if I'd only get my head out of the clouds. Thankfully, their comments never really got to me. I'd simply brush it off and go on about my day as if nothing had happened.
What I didn't know at the time was that someone else was watching these encounters transpire, and the way they saw the other kids treating me did not sit well with them at all. One day, they had finally heard enough and decided to do something about it.
At that time, Quinn Fabray was the most popular girl at school. It was pretty unanimously decided that you either wanted to be her or be with her. She had absolutely no reason to look in my direction, and yet she still managed to do so anyways. In fact, she even went as far as to venture completely out of her way to find me in the library, a place she would never be caught dead in under normal circumstances.
"Hey, your name's Brittany, right?" she asked as if we hadn't been assigned to the same classes since we were eight.
Despite the unusual request for name verification, I gently closed the book I was reading and answered, "Yep, that's me."
"Hi, I'm Quinn," she announced as her hand shot out for me to shake. "I don't think we've ever been formally introduced."
Staring suspiciously at the hand before me, I reasoned, "Well, there's not really a need for introductions when you already know of one another."
"True, but I still wanted to do it."
"Why?"
"Because I want to be your friend," she responded as if it was completely normal to associate herself with people outside her social circle, which was most certainly not the case.
I'll never forget the skeptical look I gave her as I admitted, "I don't think I'm really following. Why would you want to be my friend?"
Giving me her sincerest grin, she explained, "Because I think there's a lot more to you than everyone else in the lame school gives you credit for. Plus, I can't stand having to listen to all those idiots talk about you as if there is something wrong with you being smart. It's really freaking stupid, and I want to find a way to change it."
And that was how I became friends with Quinn Fabray.
Although we still belonged to different cliques, we managed to hang out on the weekends and talk between classes. Over time, everyone began to notice our budding friendship and started seeing me in a new light, causing the distasteful comments to all but cease.
Eventually, I would also come to find myself on the outskirts of the 'cool' crowd after joining the high school cheerleading squad, but even then, I still refused to give up on my research. I was far too driven to let anything get in my way.
In those days, I felt unstoppable.
The following Thursday was my day off, and after busting my tail all week at work, I felt like I deserved to splurge a little on a not-so-healthy breakfast.
Placing an order at my favorite diner, I loaded Layla in the car and took off. It didn't take long for me to run in and grab the food, so we ended up making it back in no time. Once I had rolled up the window that Lay had been sticking her head out of, I grabbed the to-go container of food and exited the vehicle, allowing the dog to hop out before shutting the door behind her.
"I don't know about you, Layla Bug, but I think I'm going to have to crash on the couch as soon as I finish eating all this. I'm exhausted," I confessed as I walked up to the front door and shoved the key into the deadbolt, only to find that the door was already unlocked. "What the heck? I could have sworn I locked this thing."
Pulling the key back out, I slowly turned the handle and peaked inside. Everything still seemed to be the same way I left it, which only caused my uneasiness to grow. Creeping inside, I began looking around, but nothing unusual caught my eye. Summing it up to me simply forgetting to secure the lock, I closed the door only to reveal someone standing behind where it once was.
"Boo!"
I don't think I had ever scrambled backwards so fast in my life.
"Damn it, Quinn! What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled as I clutched a hand to my chest, gripping tightly onto the material of my shirt. "You know I have heart problems!"
The smile on her face abruptly dropped after realizing what she had done. "Oh, shit, sorry! My bad. I just thought it would be funny to catch you off guard for once," she quickly apologized before asking, "Are you okay?"
"Well, other than you successfully scaring the crap out of me, yes. What the heck are you doing here, anyways?"
"Oh, I was out on my morning jog and decided to drop by," Quinn informed with a smile before remembering that there was another reason for her visit. Shooting me a pointed look, she added, "You also haven't been returning my calls. Again."
Her unexpected answer made my brow furrow as I inquired, "And that gave you permission to break into my house? You're lucky I didn't drop my breakfast!"
"Well, to be fair, I didn't break in. I used the spare key," the other blonde defended as she held up the item in question.
"Oh yeah, because that is so different," I replied with an exaggerated eye-roll and snatched it from her hand.
"Um, I'm sorry, but maybe you should have thought about that before you told me where it was hidden."
Placing the food and key on the coffee table, I groaned, "Seriously, Q? The only reason I even told you was so you could take care of Layla while I was out of town that one time."
"Details," she nonchalantly bushed of with a few flicks of her wrist as she walked over to sit on my couch. "Anyways, you can only catch a voicemail for so long before you finally take matters into your own hands. Just saying. "
"Okay, so what do you want to talk about?"
Giving her shoulders a slight shrug, she confessed, "Nothing in particular. I honestly just want to sit here and catch up with my best friend. We haven't really talked in a while, and I kind of miss you."
Her response made me feel a little guilty. To be honest, we had barely spoken to one another since San and I started dating. Between work and hanging out with San, I really hadn't possessed the time or energy to do much of anything else. Taking a seat next to the blonde, I gave her an apologetic look. "I know, Quinn. I'm sorry. I promise I'm going to do my best to not let us go this long again without talking."
"Okay, but I hope you know I'm going to hold you to that," the woman joked, letting me know that everything was alright between us.
"Yeah, I guessed that," I chuckled. "So, how have you been?"
"Good. What about you? Anything new?"
"Not really, but I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Santana invited Layla and I over for dinner this past Saturday. We finally managed to introduce the pups."
"Oo, things must be getting serious," the woman teased with laugh, which only lead to me wanting to clarify the situation.
"Well, actually, we're sort of girlfriends now, so yeah, they kind of are."
"What? Since when?" Quinn suddenly shrieked, causing me to flinch a little.
"Um, Saturday night after dinner."
"And you are just now telling me?" she rebuked with a tense expression.
"It's not that I did it intentionally. Work has just been kicking my butt this week, and when I wasn't there, I was at home trying to rest up for the next day."
Her face slowly began to soften as I gave my explanation, hinting that she understood where I was coming from. Dropping the issue, she inquired, "So, does this mean you two will be spending Thanksgiving together?"
"No, our families plan to be celebrating at the same time this year, so we agreed that it would be best to celebrate separately this time around and hopefully spend Christmas together."
"Yeah, that's understandable. Speaking of which, it's also getting to be that time of the year again. Have you called to schedule an appointment yet?"
Already knowing what she was referring to, I replied, "Yeah, I called a couple of weeks ago. They have me down for December nineteenth."
"Does Santana know yet?"
"No."
Narrowing her eyes slightly, she asked, "Are you planning on telling her?"
"Yeah, but not until after my checkup," I reluctantly answered.
"Brittany Susan Peirce, you better be lying to me," Quinn warned with a threatening glare.
"No, I'm not," I immediately refuted as I held my ground.
"She'd want to know."
"I know, and that's why I can't say anything yet. If I tell her, she'll want to be there with me, and I can't put her through that. Not yet," I explained sadly before regretfully adding, "I promised her that I was okay."
I watched as Quinn visibly ground her teeth at my response. "Brittany, why in the world did you do that? You know just as well as I do that that is not completely true."
"Yes it is! I'm as healthy as an ox," I argued, though I wasn't quite sure who I was trying to convince more; me or Quinn.
Letting out a long sigh, Quinn tried to reason, "Sure, physically, but come on, Britt. We both know this time of year is still hard for you."
"Shut up."
"I just-"
"I said shut up," I snapped, not allowing her to explain.
Letting her shoulders to slump in defeat, she begged, "Please tell me you're at least sleeping." When an answer never came, she brought a hand up to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. "Brittany-"
"Leave it," I growled out, cutting her off once more.
Realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere with me, she rolled her eyes and decided to forgo pressing the issue further. "Fine, it's your life, but please take care of yourself, B. You're the closest thing I've ever had to a sister," she pled, her voice wavering towards the end. Quickly trying to change topics, she added, "Anyways, I probably need to get going. Puck's been home alone all morning, so there's no telling what kind of state the house'll be in by the time I get there. You're still coming over to watch the game with us in a couple of weeks, right?"
Grateful for our conversation's redirection, I informed, "Of course. You know I never miss it."
"Good because I've already invited Santana, and I really need another Buckeye to help even out the smack talk."
"I know, right? I just found out she was a U-M fan last weekend. And here I was thinking she was damn near perfect," I joked with the other blonde to help lighten the mood.
"Yeah, well we all have our flaws. Anyways, I really do need to get going. I better talk to you soon," she jokingly threatened as she stood to leave.
Pushing myself up from the couch, I replied, "Yes, ma'am. Hope you find the house still in one piece."
"Doubtful, but here's for hoping," she chuckled as she started making her way towards the front door, calling out over her shoulder, "See ya, B."
"Wait, Q," I called out just as she opened the front door. Once she was looking back at me, I asked, "We're still okay, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, after our disagreement and stuff."
The woman instantly released her grip on the door handle and walked over to wrap me up in a tight embrace, "Of course, Britt. I just worry about you sometimes."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry. Just please reconsider telling her. She'd really want to know."
"I'll think about it."
"That's all I could hope for," she said, releasing her hold. Allowing a warm smile to overcome her face, she gave my shoulder a shove and admitted, "I still can't believe my blind date plan actually worked."
"Okay, no, not this again. You're gone. Bye," I sputtered as I began pushing her towards the door, slamming it shut once she was outside. Looking down, I saw Layla sitting a few feet away with an unimpressed look on her face. "What? It's not my fault she keeps bringing it up. Anyways, let's get you some breakfast while I reheat my food and find a new hiding spot for the spare key."
That was enough to change the dog's tune. As soon as she heard the prospect of getting food, she completely forgot about me forcing Quinn out of the house and dashed over to the kitchen to go wait by her food bowl.
Works every time.
It wasn't until the early evening that I received a text from Santana letting me know that she was on her way over from work. About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" I shouted out from my spot on the couch. After hearing the door open and close, I looked over my shoulder to my girlfriend putting down her things and greeted, "Hey, Stranger. How was your day?"
"Good. How about yours?" she asked, leaning down to give me a quick peck before removing her jacket.
"Same. The only thing that really happened was Quinn randomly dropping by. I swear that girl is about a step away from creeper status, by the way," I replied as I watched her walk around the couch and slide down onto my lap.
Shuffling a bit to get comfortable, she wrapped an arm around my shoulder and inquired, "How so?
"Well, I went out to get breakfast from the Sunny Side Diner and came back to find her standing in my living room."
"What? Why?" she questioned with a furrowed brow.
"Because she said that she missed me, which I completely understand, but if I've learned one thing from today, it is to not tell Quinn where I keep the spare key. Thankfully, I now have it in a place she'll never find it."
"Well, that's good. It's not in an obvious place like under the Welcome mat, right?"
I could almost feel the color drain from my face. "How did you know that? Are you psychic?"
"What? No, Britt. That's just one of the most common places people hide their spare key."
"Well, that's just great. Now I have to find a new hiding spot," I grumbled before remembering another part of my earlier conversation with Quinn. "Oh, and she also mentioned inviting you to watch the big game in a few weeks."
"Yep, she sure did. I can't wait."
"Yeah, I bet you're going to love watching my boys kick your team's ass," I teased with a cheeky smirk.
"Oh, yeah? You wanna bet on that?"
Without even having to think about it, I answered, "Definitely!"
"Okay, fine. The loser has to kiss the winner no matter how mad they are about their team losing."
That statement instantly made my eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. "What? That's not even fair. It's, like, a win-win for both of us."
"Yeah, and your problem is?" she teased with a sly grin.
"Hm, you have a point there, but I think we should also have some other kind of bet where there is a definitive loser."
After taking a moment to think it over, her eyes suddenly lit up with the idea of a prospective bet. "Alright, I got it!" she exclaimed. As soon as she described her proposal, I couldn't help but get excited. This was definitely going to be interesting. Once I had agreed to her plan, she also added, "Okay, and whoever loses gets to wear the opposing team's colors during the game," Santana announced with a devilish glint in her eyes.
Never to be one to back down from a challenge, I quickly nodded my head and replied, "You are so on, Babe."
It was game day for all of us Ohio State and University of Michigan fans, and with a spark of excitement in the air, Santana and I headed over to the Puckerman-Fabray household to watch the game. Once we got there, we parked the car and and made our way up the drive to ring the doorbell.
The wooden barrier finally cracked open after a few seconds of waiting to reveal a smiling Quinn, who was completely decked out in scarlet and gray. "Hey, guys. I'm glad you could come," Quinn greeted as she pulled the brunette beside me into a tight embrace. Releasing San, she turned to give me a hug, too, but then suddenly jerked back and growled, "Brittany, what in the absolute hell are you wearing?"
Glancing down at the University of Michigan hoodie Santana had given me to wear, I grumbled, "I lost a bet."
"A bet? What kind of bet?" she queried with a skeptical glare.
Of course, that was the moment Santana decided to speak up, saying, "We had a bet to see who could go the longest without kissing the other, and we can obviously see who lost."
Quinn instantly snapped her gaze back at me with a scowl. "Brittany!"
"What? I couldn't help it. It was a trap!" I defended.
"Yeah? How so?" the other blonde challenged.
I hastily pointed at Santana, explaining, "She bought me flowers, and I kissed her without thinking about it because I thought she was just being sweet. Little did I know that she was actually trying to butter me up so she could win our bet."
"Britt, no I wasn't. That was just another strange coincidence," Santana blatantly lied as she tried to place her hand on the small of my back, but I stepped away before she could even touch me.
"Just like those stupid shorts, San? I know you better than that. I'm the one who called you out for belonging to the Dark Side, remember?" I stated in an accusing tone.
Giving a slight shrug, she smugly admitted, "Guilty as charged."
"I hate you," I muttered under my breath just loud enough for her to hear.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire," Santana singsonged as she reached over to poke me in the side a couple of times.
Fighting the urge to smile, I pushed her hands away and begrudgingly admitted, "Fine, you're right. I'm mad at you, but you're still so hot."
"Okay, you two seriously need to stop," Quinn groaned from the doorway, reminding us that we were not alone.
"You can blame yourself for that one, Cupid," Santana shot back with a smirk as she wrapped her arms around me and reached up on her tip-toes to press a quick peck to my cheek, clearly trying to antagonize the situation.
Ignoring her comment, Quinn looked back at me with a disappointed expression. "Britt, I thought you were going to help me cheer for our team."
"I am, Quinn. See," I assured as I lifted up the hoodie to reveal an OSU shirt. "You know I'm going to root for our boys no matter what kind of lame clothing I have to wear."
The other blonde was clearly not impressed, rolling her eyes as she turned to leave us standing on the porch. Following her lead, we each made our way into the den, where Puck was already watching the pregame show.
"Hey, Puckie! " I called out to gain his attention. Tearing his eyes away from the screen, he glanced over in our direction and smiled.
"Well if it isn't our new favorite couple," Puck teased as he made his way over to wrap us both up in a bear hug.
"Not today, they're not!" Quinn objected from the couch, causing her boyfriend to laugh.
Releasing his hold, he assured, "She's just mad because you're not showing off your team's colors. Anyways, are you ready to get your ass handed to you?"
"Oh, whatever, Puck. You're so full of crap," I remarked with a complacent grin.
"Hey, don't forget we lead on overall wins."
Laughing at his poor attempt at smack talk, I retorted, "And you don't forget that OSU still remains undefeated while U of M has lost three of their last four games."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time we ruined an undefeated season for OSU. Plus, I'd say we're due for another win, just like how OSU is due for a loss."
"Dream on, Puckster. It ain't gonna happen."
"Yeah, we'll see about that," the man playfully quipped as he motioned for us to take a seat.
Refusing to let me sit next to her, I was forced all the way to the other side of the couch opposite Quinn, who was still upset about my 'choice' of clothing. Over the next half hour, we made idle chit-chat while frequently checking the television to see how close it was to kick off, only pausing the conversation when we noticed our teams lining up for the opening punt.
The first quarter of the game was pretty neck and neck with U of M edging ahead just to have OSU come behind them and tie up the score. Michigan was unfortunately the first one to score just inside the second quarter, causing Quinn and I to release a loud groan while the two Wolverine fans cheered and exchanged high-fives.
By the time the pair had settled down, the Michigan punter was already running forward to kick the ball. We watched intently as the player made the punt, sending the football soaring once again over to the other end of the field. OSU's Dontre Wilson was the one to make the catch at about the one yard line. Running forward, he ended up getting to about the fifteen before he was inevitably stopped.
That's when it all went downhill.
Suddenly, we noticed both teams' players pushing and shoving one another. Some even started throwing punches. Before we knew it, a full on brawl had broken out.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" I exasperatedly questioned as I pressed my face into my hands, leaning my elbows down into the tops of my thighs to help support my weight.
Bringing my head up slightly to look just over the tips of my fingers, I glared at the screen as I watched players trying to either instigate the fight or hold back teammates while the refs started throwing bright yellow penalty flags in the air. Even the coaches were getting involved as they stormed over to shove their players back towards their respective sidelines. Once everything had somewhat settled, one of the officials came over the speaker system to eject a Michigan player and two Ohio State players from the game.
There was a tense moment of silence that followed the call, mostly due to our extreme disappointment with the situation. The first one to speak was of course Puck, who tried to break the tension by joking, "Boy, that escalated quickly."
Ignoring the reference, I continued to watch on with my chin resting in the palm of my hands and my jaw clenched in frustration. Santana must have noticed my vexation with the situation at some point because she abruptly reached over to comfortingly rub my back, causing me to jolt slightly before realizing it was just her.
"Sorry, I just really hate violence," I quietly admitted, which caused her to send me an understanding look in return.
"I know, B. It's okay."
Pushing myself back into an upright position, I placed a hand on top of her leg to help keep my balance as I leaned over to press a grateful kiss to the side of her head and allowed a small smile to pull at my lips. Feeling her fingers lace with mine, I gave her temple one more quick peck, whispering a quiet thank you into her ear before returning my attention to the television screen.
We remained like that for most of the rest of the game, which ended up going down to the wire as Michigan brought themselves one point behind us with thirty-two seconds left on the clock. The score was forty-two to forty-one, and tensions where high as we watched the Michigan field goal kicker step away from the field, showing that the Wolverines were about to attempt the two-point conversion that could win them the game.
Everyone waited with bated breath as Michigan's quarterback, Devin Gardner, took his stance behind the offensive line. Snapping the ball, he reared back and threw the it to one of his teammates. Just as the receiver was about to catch it, however, a member of the opposing team darted out in front of him to intercept the ball.
"Yes! YES!" Quinn and I screamed as we jumped to our feet in excitement while the other two remained completely silent. Ohio State was now almost guaranteed to win. Holding our breaths, we watched as the Buckeyes gained possession of the ball after a brief onside kick. Lining up for the final play, Braxton Miller motioned for the center to hike the ball and immediately took a knee, bringing an official end to the game.
"Oh my gosh, we just freaking won!" I cheered as I ripped the Michigan hoodie off and threw it to the ground, finally being free of the bet. Turning to Quinn, I excitedly threw my hands up in the air as she quickly wrapped her arms around my torso and unsteadily picked me up before roughly setting me back down on the ground. We continued carrying on in celebration for another minute or two before I realized that I still had some unfinished business to attend to.
Looking back at San, I saw her just sitting there on the couch with a silly grin on her face. She knew what was coming.
"Well, it looks like it's time for the second part of our bet," I informed as I eagerly stepped in front of her, crouching down slightly with my hands on my knees so that I was at eye-level with her.
"Oh gosh, not another one!" Quinn teased from somewhere behind me.
Glancing back at her, I asked, "Quinn, how long have you known us? I'm competitive. She's competitive. This should not be a surprise to you."
"Whatever. What is the prize for winning the bet anyways? Loser does the winner's laundry for a month or something?"
"Nope, even better," I replied as I turned back to face Santana with a cheesy grin as I allow her to pull me forward into a heated kiss.
Author's Note:
Hello, everyone. Thank you so very much for sticking with me through this chapter.
I have always been a huge football fan, so I felt that I just had to somehow tie OSU and Michigan's rivalry into the story, especially with this year's college football season just now kicking off. Originally, the game was not going to be as detailed, but after reading about last year's events, I decided to make it based off that game and actually sat down to watch it so I could accurately depict what transpired.
That being said, I would like to mention that I personally enjoyed writing this chapter, but I can completely understand why anyone else might not have particularly liked it, especially if you have no prior knowledge of American football.
Regardless, I had fun with this one, and I really hope you did, too, on some level.
Anyways, thank you again, and I hope to see you all next time!
P.S.: I would also like to mention that I have gone back to each of the old chapters and rechecked them for grammar, punctuation, and continuity errors. If you had previously noticed any of these mistakes, I am sorry for somehow missing them during the other 3,000 times I have edited these chapters. I'm not quite sure what happened, but yeah... Hopefully most of those mistakes have now been fixed. ;)