Santana had been avoiding asking Lucy over for dinner, but she knew she had to do it. It was Wednesday, and she couldn't keep pushing it. She wanted to give her friend some time to think it over and prepare. Santana and Lucy were under the bleachers, eating their lunch.
"Are you okay?" Lucy asked. Santana had been kind of silent the whole meal, which made it kind of awkward because the latina was usually who talked the most.
"What?" Santana asked, startled. She hadn't been paying attention for the past few minutes.
"I asked if you're okay. You've been kinda silent the whole lunch." Lucy said, and nervously accommodated her glasses. She was afraid Santana had realised she didn't want her as a friend and was about to tell her just that.
"Sorry, I guess I kinda fucked up." Santana explained.
Lucy just grew more nervous with that statement. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"Rachel was ranting the other day about something and then she said something about her boyfriend coming over for dinner on friday, and since I couldn't get out of it I asked if I could invite you. I'm sorry, you can totally say no." Santana rambled. Lucy stayed silent. "Please say something."
"That was all?" Lucy asked, relieved.
"What do you mean that was all? I have been breaking out in hives for the past few days because of this." Santana complained.
"Sorry, it's just that you were making it seem like it was a terrible thing, but it's actually just dinner." Lucy said. Dinner with Santana's family didn't seem so bad after thinking Santana hated her.
"You don't get it. My father is the worst, and Rachel is annoying as hell, not to mention the fact that she bullies you every day. And Shelby is actually not so bad, but still."
"So you don't want me to go to this dinner?" Lucy asked, confused.
"It's not that. I just want you to be sure about it, I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable position." Santana explained.
"You're not. I'll go, should I bring something with me?"
"Don't worry about it." Santana said.
Santana was putting away her books from her last class before going to the locker room to change for soccer practice, when Rachel appeared. Santana immediately sighed, she knew this conversation was going to leave her in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
"Santana, I'm sure you're aware that my relationship with the football quarterback-" Rachel started to talk.
"Rachel, please get to the point, I've got practice and I'm sure you've got your singing stuff, so please get to the point." Santana sighed.
"I was getting to the point Santana. You can't invite that friend of yours on friday." Rachel huffed.
"Too late, I already did." Santana deadpanned.
"Well, uninvite her."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because, Finn will be over and I don't want him to have a bad impression of my family." Rachel explained.
"What does that even mean?" Santana asked, confused.
"Lucy is a loser. I can't let her be in my house and around my boyfriend."
"I still don't get what this is about. Look Rachel, I already invited her and she's coming. So you better be nice, or I'll make sure you are the one getting one of those drinks thrown to your face everyday."
Rachel snickered. "You made so many enemies in your first week of school, nobody is going to do anything for you. And if my boyfriend sees you throw something at me, he'll have the whole football team throw you ten times the amount of slushie. I'm sure even your team will be in for it."
"And who said I would do it at school? We live in the same house, remember? How would you feel waking up everyday with a cold drink to your face? Having to walk here everyday with purple stains on your face because of the slushie? Rachel, I would recommend you to be nice to Lucy on Friday, it's not much I'm askin' for. I can assure you, you don't want to make an enemy of me." Santana threatened and simply walked away.
On Friday afternoon Santana noticed Shelby cleaning and cooking like crazy while her father was at work and Rachel was tidying up her already spotless room and putting on some insane amount of makeup. Santana felt bad that Shelby was doing everything on her own, so she decided to offer some help.
"Do you need some help?" Santana asked her stepmother who was peeling potatoes and preparing chicken at the same time.
"Oh, yes please. You're a lifesaver Santana." Shelby thanked her and handed over the potato peeler.
While Shelby seemed to struggle with peeling the potatoes, Santana did it with ease. She was used to cooking, since she used to do it with her mother and for herself back in New York.
"Do you want me to cut them up too?" Santana asked.
"Oh, you're already done! Yes, please, into cubes." The older woman said, surprised.
"Sure." Santana muttered.
Santana got to work and tried to calm her nerves. She was worried the night would go in the worst way possible, and she might lose her only friend in Lima.
"Are you okay honey?" Shelby asked her.
"Yeah, I guess I'm just a little nervous." Santana answered.
"Don't worry sweetie, everything will be great."
"Sure." Santana sighed. It's not like she could tell Shelby why she was worried. It seemed like somehow, Shelby was not aware of her daughter's behaviour at school. It made sense, since Shelby was only at school for glee club.
"Well, tell me about your new friend Santana." Shelby said, trying to make conversation with her step daughter.
"Well, I don't actually know that much about her, since I met her like a week ago. But she's been very nice to me."
Lucy was at home, she had been avoiding telling her parents about going over to Santana's for dinner, but she had to at least inform her mother that she would be absent for dinner. Lucy went into the kitchen where her mother was serving herself the first glass of wine of the day, even though it was only four in the afternoon.
"Mom?" Lucy asked, to call her attention.
"Yes, dear." Judy responded, not looking up.
"I'm going over to a friend's house for dinner today, is that okay?" Lucy asked shyly.
"A friend?" Judy asked, surprised. "What friend is this?" Judy had never heard Lucy talk about having friends before, so she was surprised by the mention of one.
"Her name's Santana." Lucy said, muttering.
"I can't hear you Lucy, speak up." Her mother said sternly. It was one of the many things her parents always repeated to her.
"Her name is Santana." Lucy said, this time exaggerating the pronunciation of the words.
"Santana." Judy said under her breath with a frown, she had never heard of this girl. "What's her last name? I have never heard of this girl before." She said, finishing her glass of wine.
Lucy was stunned for a moment, she didn't know Santana's last name. She couldn't assume it was the same as her father's, but she didn't know that one either. "You don't know her because she just moved here, she's from New York." Lucy explained, hoping her mother wouldn't have any more questions and would simply let her go.
"Santana, that sounds, um, ethnic." Judy commented, serving herself another glass. "Does her family have money?" Judy asked, curious.
"Why does it matter? Can I go to dinner or not?" Lucy asked, irritated.
"Do not give me attitude, young lady. Now, answer my question." Judy scolded her.
"Yes." Lucy muttered under her breath.
"Well, then, you can go." Judy said. "You can't show up empty handed, I'll give you something to take."
Lucy was irritated, all her parents cared about was money and social status. If Lucy had said that her friend didn't come from money, her mother would have refused in an instant. Lucy turned to leave quickly.
"And wear that pretty dress I bought you last time!" Judy said as Lucy was leaving.
The doorbell rang and Santana quickly made her way to the door, but Rachel was already running down the stairs.
"It's for me Santana!" She screamed while hurrying up.
"No it's not. That's not your boyfriend." Santana said, now calmly walking towards the door.
Rachel got there first and opened the door with a big smile on her face. As soon as she saw who was at the door, her smile dropped. "It's you." She said, closing the door, disappointed.
"Told ya." Santana chuckled as she reopened the door to greet her friend. "Hey, Luce." Santana greeted.
"H-hey San. Didn't she know I was coming?" Lucy asked.
"She knew, she's just rude. She thought you were her precious boyfriend." Santana explained. "I bet he'll show up in an hour, wearing jeans and a shirt, and a blazer if he's trying to be really fancy." Santana joked.
Lucy let out a shy laugh. "He'll probably also have an ugly tie, and some battered up flowers or something." Lucy joked back. When Santana threw her head back laughing, she felt the proudest she'd ever been. "Speaking of which, my mom made me bring this wine."
"You shouldn't have." Santana said. "I'll go take this to Shelby, wanna come with?" Santana asked. "She's nice, I promise." She reassured after seeing some hesitation on her friend's face.
"Sure."
Santana led her to the kitchen where Shelby was still cooking, this time it was the dessert. The latina coughed to let her stepmother know she was in the room. Shelby looked up, startled.
"Shelby, this is my friend Lucy." Santana introduced.
"Hi, nice to meet you. T-thank you for having me over." Lucy said politely.
"It's very nice to meet the friend Santana has been talking about." Shelby said, making both teenagers blush. "What's that you have there Santana?" Shelby asked.
"Oh, it's a gift from my parents." Lucy explained.
"Oh, you shouldn't have, dear. But thank you. I'll go put this in some ice for your father, Santana." Shelby said, leaving the room.
The girls were left with an uncomfortable silence for a moment. "S-so, what are we having for dinner?" Lucy asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Well, Shelby and I made some chicken with potatoes, and she's making something for dessert." Santana explained playfully.
"Wow, you cooked?"
"Yeah, just for you." Santana said with a smirk. When Lucy blushed she decided to add, "and by cooking I mean that I peeled the potatoes and seasoned the chicken when she wasn't looking."
"Well, I'm flattered." Lucy played along.
They were slowly getting over the awkwardness of the getting-to-know-you face of their new friendship. Santana led Lucy to the living room so they could sit and talk while not being around her family. They had been talking for a while when they heard a car pull up.
"Well, that must be Finn." Lucy said.
"Oh no, that's my father. I'm pretty sure Finn wouldn't drive up with that confidence." Santana pointed out.
"Confidence? In the way he parks his car?" Lucy asked, confused.
"Yes, that's a thing." Santana said matter-of-factly.
"You didn't even see it, you just heard it."
"Well, I'm very observant, or in this case a very good listener."
Just as Santana had said, her father walked through the front door, not Finn. Santana sighed, she had been having fun up until now. She knew her father was going to make this evening unbearable. She was certain Carlos was already in a bad mood because Finn, the guest of honour, was not there yet. At least that meant some points for Santana for bringing someone who showed up on time.