Brittany knows, fundamentally, that everything has changed. It's the first week of classes her first year at Rutgers University, and she is excited. She's also nervous, because she wants this to be different than high school. She doesn't want to be made to play some popularity game and win at the expense of watching other people—people who don't deserve to feel like losers—lose. This is a new place, and she doesn't need to bring any of the bad things from home with her.

While exploring the college green yesterday, she saw a flyer for a campus involvement fair and figured she'd go, because...well, mostly because she doesn't have anything else to do. That and her new roommate, whom she still isn't totally sure about, is currently in the room doing vocal exercises, and Brittany feels weird just sitting there. So, she finds herself walking towards the rows of tables and students with cautious optimism. In high school, student involvement defined you. Cheerleaders and jocks were on top, Glee Club and AV nerds at the bottom, with everyone else just sort of filling in the middle. She thinks she would have liked Glee Club, but her sister, who was a senior when she was a freshman, strictly forbade it and forced Brittany onto the cheerleading squad with her. Once you were in, well, that was kind of it. What was it that coach always said? Blood in. Blood out.

Less-than-fond memories of her fellow cheerleaders' behavior cause apprehension to swell in her chest when she sees a group of girls in cheerleading uniforms at a table. She watches them for a few minutes and notices that two of them are laughing with some guys in the Foreign Language Club, while another is high-fiving a very effeminate-looking boy at a booth called LGBTA. She's not sure what that stands for, but he's wearing an amazing sweater. He notices her looking at him and beckons her over.

"Hello! My name is Kurt. I'm a sophomore and secretary of the LGBTA. What's your name?"

"Hi, um, Brittany. Nice to meet you. What does LGBTA mean?"

"Nice to meet you too, Brittany! It stands for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders, and Allies. Do you fit anywhere in there?"

Brittany nods. She supposes she's bisexual, though she feels as though that label implies gender has anything to do with her attraction to others, which she's pretty sure it doesn't. She just likes people—certain people, anyway.

Kurt takes her nod as a "yes" and continues. "Great! Well, wherever you fall, you're welcome to come to our meetings! They're held on Thursdays at 8 PM in room 201 in the University Union. Here's a flyer. It's a great way to meet new friends or, you know, new significant others." He winks at her. Brittany takes the paper and thanks him. She reckons she might like him and hopes that she sees him again, although she's not sure if she'll be going to this club. For one, her major has a lot of evening rehearsals, and for another, he mentioned meeting significant others, which is the opposite of anything she wants right now.

She still has a hard time not thinking about her last and only relationship. She met him freshman year of high school, and he seemed nice enough. He wasn't shy and awkward like a lot of the other boys, and he joined the football team right around the same time she joined the Cheerios. At the insistence of her mother, of all people, she finally agreed to go out with him. On the surface, Brittany and Tommy made perfect sense, but Brittany didn't think so. She'd had a crush on this girl in her math class, but when she told her sister, her sister said her parents wouldn't ever approve, and plus, "Doesn't that Tommy boy like you?"

And so it began. She can't remember ever feeling happy or enthusiastic about her relationship. Sometimes, he was nice to her, and those times weren't too bad, as long as she could pretend they were friends. But then he'd do something to mess it up. Her first kiss with him was at a party where he was drunk. She wasn't drinking; the alcohol made her throat burn, and she was sure her parents would find out. He forced her to kiss him in front of all of his friends, who had been making fun of him because they hadn't even kissed yet. When she told him she didn't think it was a good idea, he looked so angry that she gave in and did it. For the rest of the night, she smiled and stayed sort of near him, but when she got home, she cried. She wasn't totally sure why; she didn't even think it was that big of a deal, but she'd been hearing songs and stories about first kisses her whole life, and she was pretty sure it shouldn't have made her feel the way that kiss had: exposed and wrong.

To this day, she knows the only reason she stayed with him was because every time she'd start to pull away, he'd come to her house, and her mom and dad would talk about how amazing he was and how they'd get married. If she brought up to her mother that maybe she didn't want to be with him, her mother would say that he was the best she'd ever do, that she'd be stupid to leave him, and that any such ideas should be wholeheartedly dismissed. Brittany had felt wholeheartedly dismissed. A few times, he drank too much and would get rough with her, slapping and pushing her. She was pretty sure that wasn't okay, but when she told her mom, her mom said he'd grow out of it and that boys will be boys.

Brittany is snapped out of her musings when she suddenly realizes she's already at her dorm. After entering the building, she makes her way to her room, passively noticing the brightly-colored door decorations and billboards advertising clubs and meetings. She's relieved to hear (or, rather, not hear) that her roommate is done singing. She spots Rachel lying on her bed when she enters the room.

"Hi Brittany! How were classes?"

"Okay. Nothing new yet, so…boring, I guess?"

Rachel looks as though she isn't really listening. Brittany's kind of used to that. "That's nice. Listen, I wanted to let you know that my first in a series of auditions is on Friday, and since I am a freshman, I wasn't able to get a practice room in order to do my vocal exercises, so I will need to practice extensively in the room on Thursday night. Is there somewhere else you can go? Do you have any friends?"

Although Brittany's tempted to respond, "Do you have any friends?", she bites her tongue. Instead, she just mumbles that she'll be out of the room and starts getting ready to go to the gym.

After working out for a few hours, she feels a little more optimistic. She knows she should be happy; she's away from her family, high school, Tommy, pretty much everything that made her miserable. Even Rachel isn't that bad to be around. When she gets back to the room, she finds that Rachel is gone—to the library, according to her color-coded, very detailed schedule she made sure Brittany had a copy of. Heading to her dresser to grab pajamas, her eyes fall on the flyer: "LGBTA Meeting! Every Thursday at 8 PM!" Well, she'll have to be out of the room anyways, so maybe she'll go after all. Nothing needs to come of it; she can just use the opportunity to make new friends. That Kurt boy will certainly be there, and he seemed really nice.


Thursday rolls around quickly. All of her classes have started to pick up, except her dance classes. Although she's not one to brag, and she'd never say this out loud, she gets the feeling that she might be the most advanced student in her year. It's probably a blessing that her dance classes aren't going to kill her, because her other classes might. She's already pretty sure she'll need a tutor for History. After dance class ends at 3 PM, she goes back to the room to shower and get dressed in tight skinny jeans, a white flowy top, and wedge sandals. Pulling her hair into a high ponytail, she grabs her backpack and heads to the library.

She manages to finish most of her homework by the time she has to leave the library, make a quick stop at her room to drop off her things, and head to the LGBTA meeting. The room is filled with couches, chairs, and a fair amount of people. Finding a chair in a corner off to the side that seems like a good place, she quietly sits down. A few moments later, she spots Kurt but isn't sure if he remembers her, so she doesn't approach him. Luckily, he soon comes bounding over. "Brittany, I'm so glad you showed up! I didn't know if you were going to. Let me know if you need anything!" She smiles, and just as quickly, he's gone. Feeling comforted by the fact that she at least knows someone here, she sits back and people-watches while waiting for the meeting to start.

About two minutes before 8 PM, a blonde girl with light pink highlights walks in dragging another girl. This girl is a few inches shorter than Brittany, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. Brittany guesses she must be Latina of some kind but has no idea what. What she does know is that she's stunningly beautiful. She feels momentarily upset by the fact that she seems very close with the blonde girl, probably her girlfriend, but catches and internally scolds herself. She's not here for that. She doesn't even want to be in a relationship, maybe ever again. How do you trust someone with so much of yourself? But she's so, so pretty. The girl catches her eye and smiles this sort of crooked smile, and Brittany can't help but blush and look away, though not before smiling back.

Once the meeting starts, she tries to keep her focus on the four people talking at the front of the room. However, she finds her eyes periodically drifting to the brunette, and occasionally, the brunette is glancing back at her. When this happens, her heart speeds up, and she feels herself blushing slightly, much to her own dismay. She really, really doesn't want anything beyond friendship with anyone. Maybe they can be friends? Trying her best to pay attention to the meeting, she notes that most of it is information about what they do as an organization, what kind of events they hold, how they take informal trips to the nearest gay bar for dancing, that kind of thing. Finally, they decide to do introductions.

"I'll start. I'm Kurt, very gay, very single." Everyone laughs a little. "Like I've told most of you, I'm the secretary. Also, I'm in the Musical Theater program. Oh, and you don't have to tell us your sexuality or anything like that. Whatever you're comfortable sharing!" Brittany smiles at him. He seems so nice, and she randomly notices that he has wonderful skin. People start introducing themselves, and Brittany finds herself excited to get to the Latina and learn her name.

A boy who hasn't really spoken to anyone yet is now introducing himself. "Hi, I'm Blaine. I'm gay. I'm also a first year in the Musical Theater program...and I'm single and trying not to be nervous." People chuckle. She briefly wonders if Blaine and Kurt know her roommate Rachel.

Next, a fabulous-looking black girl introduces herself. "Hey everybody! I'm Mercedes. I'm straight. I'm a sophomore Music major, and this fine specimen next to me is my man, so back off, boys and girls." The Latina high-fives her over the top of a blond boy's head. So they're friends too, Brittany muses. She must not be a freshman.

"I'm Sam, and I'm hers." The blond boy nudges Mercedes, and Brittany decides they might be the cutest couple ever. "I'm a sophomore in the Film program, and I'm always available if anybody needs to talk or anything." Brittany thinks that he seems really genuine and hopes she can become friends with these people.

Finally, it's the dark-haired beauty's turn. "I'm Santana. Music. Sophomore. I know most of you. Single. And oh yeah…lesbian." The first thing Brittany notices is that Santana likes to pretend she doesn't want to be here. The second thing she notices is her own excitement over the fact that Santana (which might be the most beautiful name she's ever heard) is a lesbian and single. The final thing she notices is the way she says "lesbian": forcefully, as if trying to prove it, and directly towards another brunette girl who rolls her eyes. Brittany doesn't really understand what's going on between the two, but she's pretty sure that whatever it is has been going on for a while.

"Hi, I'm Quinn. Sophomore English major. I don't like labels. I'm here, because I had to drag my roommate in. Something about being 'done with all you queens.'" With this, she nudges Santana in the ribs. Brittany decides that she might like this girl too. She doesn't like labels either.

People continue to introduce themselves. When they reach the girl that rolled her eyes at Santana, her introduction further solidifies Brittany's feeling that she probably doesn't like her. "I'm Anna. Junior. Fashion Design major. I'm an actual lesbian so, you know, no penis. And I'm single. For now." A few people shift awkwardly, but most just look at the next person, waiting for his introduction. Brittany glances at Santana, who has crossed her arms and is shaking her head back and forth while an angry scowl twists her lips. Next to her, Quinn's glaring at this Anna girl. Brittany is sure now that she doesn't like her.

A few more people introduce themselves, and Brittany finds herself getting nervous to do so. Talking in front of lots of people has never been a strong suit of hers. It's just one more thing on a list of things that make her nervous, and when she gets nervous, she doesn't always say the right things. "H-Hi. I'm Brittany. Um…a freshman. Dancer." (She hears Mercedes say something like, "Yeah she is. Girl, look at those legs!" and blushes.) "I am…bisexual? I guess? I don't like labels. I just like people. And ducks." That's when she cuts herself off, because now is when she starts with the anxiety-driven lack of control over what comes out of her mouth. Thankfully, people laugh, and they move on with their introductions. She chances a quick peek at Santana, who is looking at her and smiling. Such a pretty smile. Brittany smiles back, then refocuses herself on the rest of the introductions. Once they're all done, Kurt announces that some of them are going to meet up at a late-night coffee shop after the meeting if anyone is interested.

Standing up, Brittany straightens her shirt and looks down to see where she put her bag. When she looks back up, much to her surprise, Santana is standing right in front of her.