Chapter 1
"One last trip and that should be everything." Whitney Pierce says as she heaves her daughter's aqua and yellow polka dot suitcase on the bed on the right side of the small dorm room with a loud huff.
"It's just my crate of notebooks left so I've got it. Back in a few." says Brittany as she heads out into the hallway towards the stairs. She dashes down the flight of stairs, her long blonde hair floating behind her, and out the back door of Perkins Hall, her new residence hall at Ohio University in Athens, and skips to the car in the parking lot. She pops the trunk of her mom's yellow SUV, grabs the aforementioned crate, slams the trunk closed and heads back to the back door.
She climbs the stairs to the second floor for what feels like the thousandth time that day. When she pauses on the second floor landing to take a breath, motion in her peripheral vision to the right draws her attention as if by magnetic force. She turns her head just as a girl with black hair piled into a messy bun in the open room is straightening up after making her bed on the bottom bunk. The girl turns her head towards Brittany and they lock eyes, Brittany's ocean blues meeting dark chocolate. Brittany gave her a soft smile and the girl returned the smile just as soft and in that fleeting moment the whole world around them froze, neither having any clue that that was the moment that shifted the entire trajectory of both of their lives.
Brittany's attention is caught as hears her name being called from two doors down the hall on the left, she pulls her gaze away from the stranger and she whips her head around just as her mom pops her head out of her room.
"Ah! There you are, Honey Bee! I thought you got lost again!" Whitney laughs and disappears back into Brittany's room shouting back, "Hurry up, Your papa is getting grumpy!"
"On my way, Pa!" laughs Brittany back down the hall as she glances back to that first room to the right and sees that the girl was no longer there. Shrugging, Brittany walks back down the hall to her room and slides the crate under her new bed as she mumbles under her breath with a tiny giggle to herself, "I'm sure keeping that chair warm has been really hard work."
Brittany straightens up sighing, "Well, that's everything." Her chin starts to tremble as she fights the tears threatening to drop. "Do you really have to leave right away?" Brittany asks her parents.
"Sweetie, you know we have to pick up Sydney from camp and we have a long drive." Whitney says regarding her little sister and her field hockey camp in Worthington as Brittany nods, "You're going to be amazing, Brittany. Remember you have your first meeting with the specialist tomorrow to get you all set up."
"Yeah, I remember. I- I- I'm just nervous. You know I don't do like changes." Brittany frowns as she picks up her stuffed dolphin, Bubbles, and hugs him to her chest.
Her papa gets up and give Brittany a tight hug and says, "We know, sweet Honey Bee, we know, but you've got this, our beautiful genius." Padraig Pierce laughs, tickling her sides. "You are going to blow their minds."
"I don't like violence." Brittany deadpans.
Whitney joins in on their hug smiling, "Good." She says, squeezing tight. "Ok, now we really have to go and get your sister before she thinks we forgot about her again. Unpack, baby, and make your room all pretty and then send us pictures, ok? Oh, and tell us all about your new roomie once she gets here, too!"
"I will, Mom. Can you call me when you get home with Syd so she can tell me all about camp, please?" asks Brittany as the trio starts walking out the door towards the stairs.
"Of course, Honey Bee. Like we could stop her." giggles her papa, as they head down the stairs and out to the parking lot in the back of the building. They pause at Whitney's SUV for one more group hug. "We love you so much, Bee Bee. Be brave."
"I love you, too, Mommy and Papa. Ok, ok, no cries." says Brittany, wiping her eyes of the tears that had already fallen. "Give Sydie lots of huggies for me."
"We will, lovey. Time to go, Paddy." Whitney says with a giggle as she rounds the vehicle to get in the driver's seat and Padraig gets in the passenger seat. She starts the car and rolls down Paddy's window. "Bye, Honey Bee!" They both shout as Brittany steps back and they pull away. "You're smarter than everyone here!"
Brittany stands along the side of the parking lot with Bubbles held tight in her arms, trying her hardest not to cry as she watches her parents disappear around the corner. "Pull yourself together, Brittany Susan Pierce. You are nineteen years old. You can do this." Brittany says to herself firmly as she juts her chin out and pulls her shoulders back. She nods to herself and pivots around and marches back inside and up to her new room for the next nine months wondering when her new roommate would get here.
oooOOOooo
It was the Thursday the thirtieth of August before Labor Day of 2012 and Brittany was going to be starting her first freshman classes on Tuesday after the holiday. She knew she was being ambitious aiming for a double major especially after having to repeat her senior year of high school, but with the new information about herself she learned this past year, she felt more confident in her academic abilities now than she had during the whole rest of her schooling. She just hopes that the name-calling that plagued her all the way to graduation doesn't follow her from Virginia.
Brittany stands in the middle of the room in her lavender Taylor Swift Speak Now World Tour T-shirt from when she attended in the Netherlands four days after her eighteenth birthday last year, her bright orange and pink cheetah print shorts, and Birkenstocks and puts her hands on her hips. She looks around her side of the room, eyeing the two suitcases on her bed along with the trash bag that contained her bedding, then the stack of boxes in front of her built-in wardrobe, and then the box of school supplies and her lime green and magenta striped laptop bag on her desk. She tosses her long light blonde hair up into a high pony and decides to start with her desk seeing as she was here for school and wanting that to be her first priority.
After about ten minutes, or it could have been an hour, Brittany was never good at judging the passage of time, her new supplies were meticulously organized in her desk drawers and her pink laptop covered in vintage Lisa Frank stickers was ready for her first assignment on her desk alongside her frog lamp with the orange shade and her blue heart pen cup. She was sitting back admiring her handiwork when she heard a commotion right outside her door. Before she had time to get up from the chair the door flew open and a short brunette in a white sleeveless blouse, light blue skirt, and white flats barges in all a tizzy dragging a pink suitcase behind her.
"Daddy! I can't believe you let me get here so late! Barbra would have never allowed this. I should have been here the second they opened the dormitory this morning." The girl firmly states to the well dressed man walking in quickly with another pink suitcase behind him who Brittany assumes is her father. "You know how long it is going to take me to arrange my belongings to my satisfaction."
Brittany stares at the girl in awe as the man says, "Princess, we went over this. You know we didn't expect to wake up to a flat tire and you know that neither your Papa or I are good with cars. Burt got to us as fast as he could considering he had to help his own sons load up both their cars this morning."
"Are you a princess?" Brittany asks quietly from were she was sitting at her desk, chin perched on her folded arms on the back of the chair.
Both of the newcomers turn towards Brittany, noticing her for the first time. The girl squeals loudly clasping her hands in front of her chest. "Oh my goodness! You are Brittany S. Pierce, from Worthington! My name is Rachel Barbra Berry, future Tony winner. I'm from Marysville, Ohio and I am a National Show Choir Champion. I know all of your vital information and most importantly, that you are allergic to peanuts." The girl exclaims all in one breath as she rushes toward Brittany. "I've never resided with another female before and I am immensely excited that we are going to be the best of friends! May I hug you, new bestie?"
Brittany blinks a few times and shakes herself out the shock of meeting her new roommate and laughs lightly, "You are loud and you talk funny, Rachel Barbra Berry, but yes, you can give me a hug. Thank you for asking first."
Rachel gives her a quick hug and then introduces her father. "Brittany, allow me to introduce you to my Daddy, Dr. LeRoy Berry and my Papa, Hiram Berry is parking the car and will be up presently."
"You have two dads? I've never met anyone with two dads." the blonde states with a quizzical look as she tilts her head.
Rachel puffs her chest out proudly, "Yes, I have two gay dads. I hope you are not homophobic."
"I'm definitely not hobophobic. I always give Patches my extra sandwich from lunch even though he barks at my mom." says Brittany with glowing confidence.
Rachel pauses for a moment with a slack jaw and then says, "Oh, ok then." The brunette started walking towards the door and says, "I'll let you resume unpacking while Daddy, Papa and I retrieve the rest of my belongings from the car."
As they leave the room, Brittany put on her purple cat-ear noise-cancelling headphones, plays her favorite dance playlist on her iPod and decides to start unpacking her suitcases into her built-in dresser drawers and wardrobe arranging her brightly colored clothes in rainbow order. She then moves on to make her bed while Rachel and her dads are bringing in her things, Rachel talking loudly and non-stop, about what Brittany has no idea. She puts on her extra soft lavender sheets then her comforter that is white with lilacs of all shades of purple and folds her fluffy white blanket with the rainbow satin ruffled edging at the foot of her bed. She tops off her bed with the two decorative pillows she crocheted over the summer, one a rainbow and the other a yellow smiley face, and places Bubbles front and center in the place of honor.
The song Long Live playing from her phone grabs her attention from admiring her pretty bed and she answers it quickly when she sees that it is her mom calling. "Hi Mom! Did you and Papa have a good drive? Did Syd win her scrimmage game? Does she know if she is going to be captain yet? Does she like her coach? Was Madison mean to her again today?" Brittany interrogates her mother, all in one breath.
"Hi, Honey. Yes, we had a good drive. Let me hand the phone to Syd so she can answer all of your questions and tell you everything else." Whitney chuckles at her eldest daughter and hands the phone to her youngest.
"Busy! I miss you so much already! Guess what! Guess what!" Sydney exclaims.
"I miss you, too, Mermaid! Ummm, you scored twenty goals and they want you for the National Team at thirteen years old." Brittany ponders, tapping her chin even though her sister can't see her.
"So close! I made captain and Madison didn't even make the team!" Her sister squeals so loudly that Brittany had to move her phone away from her ear.
'I knew you would kick ass! Have Mommy record your first game and send it to me. Ok, Sydie? Brittany says, beaming with pride.
"Duh!" Sydney laughs, "Oh, Mom says I have to get ready for dinner. Love ya, Busy."
"Oh, ok. Love you, too, Mermaid. Talk to you later!" Brittany says to her sister and ends the call, with a giggle.
She then excitedly starts hanging her wall decorations. After a while she has hung up over her desk a calendar of her large tabby cat Lord Tubbington and a bulletin board full of pictures of her family and cat, her Raider's cheer friends in their blue and gold, and dance competitions and recitals going back to age 2. Over her bed she puts up a poster of the 2012 US Women's Gymnastics team, a Britney Spears poster, and a Taylor Swift poster.
She steps back to admire her handiwork and notices that Rachel and her dads are still bringing in her things (It looks like a whole lot of pink, so far) so she decides to go check out the bathroom. She finds it down the hall and around the corner. At first it looks like a typical public bathroom, clean but nothing spectacular. There are a few toilet stalls and sinks under a large mirror but then she notices a room off to the side and finds the showers. Or more aptly described as a small tiled room with four shower heads around the room and a few flimsy shower curtains hung up between them. "Oh lovely, this is going to be interesting." She says sarcastically to herself.
"Oh, it definitely will be." She hears from a raspy musical voice from behind her.
Brittany whips around and leaning against the shower room doorway is the girl from the first room down the hall. She takes her all in now that she doesn't have her parents waiting on her. She is a few inches shorter than Brittany with a gorgeous sun-kissed caramel complexion. She has her arms crossed over her ample breasts that are covered by a black tank top. Her eyes travel down past the very short red cheer shorts to her long legs then to her black Converse sneakers. Brittany quickly realizes she is leering and snaps her gaze up to the girl's face and sees that she is wearing a mischievous smirk and a laugh in her dark brown eyes.
Brittany flashes her a big grin and says, "Hi, I'm Brittany S. Pierce. I'm from Leesburg, Virginia near D.C. No, wait, No, I'm not. I'm from Worthington, Ohio close to Columbus." She shakes her head at herself. "What's your name?" She asks, rocking from one foot to the other.
"Santana Lopez from Lima Heights Adjacent, that's in Lima, Ohio." The girl states, jutting her chin in the air. "Are you from Virginia or Ohio, Blondie?" Santana questions, raising her eyebrows.
"Well, I guess I'm not really sure anymore. We moved from Leesburg to Worthington two days after graduation so we've only lived there for two months. It's not really home yet and I guess it won't be anyway since I live here now. I don't even have a bedroom there. Hum, maybe I need to find a home that moves with me. Now, that would be magical." The blonde wonders, starting to ramble and staring off into her own world, smiling softly, eyes twinkling.
Tan fingers with black polish snap in front of her eyes bringing her back to Earth. "Mmm." Brittany looks back at Santana, dreamily.
"You ok there, Brittany?" The Latina asks her with a concerned look in her eyes. "You look like you went some where."
"I'm good. It happens." She shrugs it off. "What time is our meeting with our RA again?" She asks as she starts to walk back down the hallway towards her room.
Santana catches up with Brittany. "I think it's at 8," she says pulling out her phone to check the time, "so we have a few hours. Want to order a pizza with my roommate slash best friend?"
"That sounds awesome! My roommate is - um - a lot." Brittany says cheerfully while looping her arm through Santana's as they go together to Santana's room.
Santana unlocks her door to room 201 and announces as they walk in, "Hey, Tubbers! I made a friend!"
"Who are you and where is Santana Lopez because Santana Lopez absolutely does not make friends." Questions a pretty girl with shoulder length honey blonde hair and bright green eyes and a porcelain doll-like complexion wearing a prim yellow sundress who was sitting at her desk organizing her supplies.
"Screw you, Fabgay." Santana scoffs. "Brittany Pierce meet Quinn Fabray. Quinn and I go all the way back to kindergarten and I still hate her." She says to Brittany and then turns to Quinn, "Brittany's from Worthington by way of Leesburg, Virginia but she's kind of houseless now. She's in room 206 across the hall and down two." Brittany looks at her curiously as Santana tells Quinn they are going to order a pizza before the floor meeting with their Resident Advisor.
"What's our address, Q? Here, Britt, plop a squat." She says as she sits down on the bottom bunk and pats the spot next to her while she pulls out her phone to look up pizza places in the area.
Brittany inwardly smiles at the nickname as she slips out of her Birks and sits down next to Santana pulling her long legs up with her and crossing them and looks around the two friends' room. Santana's bed is covered in a black covered down duvet with red satin sheets and there are a few red and purple throw pillows. She can see a well loved grey stuffed animal peaking out from behind one of the pillows and she smiles to herself. Her gaze then turns over to the desk next to the bunk beds. She sees a laptop so covered in stickers that she can't even tell what color it is underneath. There's a slim red lamp with a black shade and a purple pen cup. There are also two pictures of the best friends in a red double frame, one side looks like possibly their kindergarten graduation and the other was from their high school graduation. On the wall above the desk is a bulletin board full of pictures of Santana, Quinn and a bunch of cheerleaders in red uniforms and a calendar of Caribbean beaches. Next to her desk is a beautiful guitar on its stand. Quinn's desk was on the other side of the room where she had a tall white lamp and a laptop with a flowered cover. Above her desk she has a framed collage of the two girls at various ages. Brittany can clearly see how different the two girls were by their room but she can tell they really care about each other.
"Britt. Hey Brittany." Santana sings, nudges her side.
Brittany turns to her smiling sweetly. "You two really love each other."
"What? No we don't!" Both Santana and Quinn proclaim loudly as Brittany giggles knowingly. "Mmhmm." Santana rolls her eyes with the tiniest smile. "Anyway…what toppings do you want?"
"Just cheese and pepperoni, please." She tells the Latina. "Perfect, us too." She plugs in their order on her phone. "Ok, done. Thirty minutes." She gets up and sets her phone down on her desk and pick up a box of string lights from her chair. "Will you help me put these lights up above my bed while you tell us who Brittany is?"
"Sure!" Brittany says while she helps Santana unwind the lights. "Well, I'm Brittany Susan Pierce and I'm a freshman and I'm nineteen."
"San's a baby, she just turned eighteen on Monday." Quinn tells her with a laugh and Santana flips her off behind her back. "I turned eighteen on February first." She says straightening her shoulders proudly as she starts organizing to two girls DVD's into their small tv stand at the far side of the room.
Brittany lets out a chuckle, "I was supposed to graduate last year from Loudoun County High School but I didn't do so great the first try on my senior year. Second try was a breeze." Brittany says with a big grin, "It was cool, though. I just got to be head cheerleader and Senior Class President again." Santana hands Brittany the tape so she can attach her end of the lights to the underside of Quinn's bunk.
"Quinn and I were co-heads of our cheerleading team, too. Made McKinley High National champs all four years, baby!" Santana boasts, puffing her chest out accidentally dropping her end of the lights.
"No way!" Brittany exclaims, "My team didn't compete which was good because I was too busy with dance competitions anyway. I've been dancing since I was two. I competed in gymnastics until we moved from Houston, where I was born, to Leesburg at the end of eighth grade and started cheering in high school." She informs the girls, proudly. "I have a little sister named Sydney. My parents let me pick her middle name so six year old me gave her the name Ariel because she has red hair and big blue eyes just like The Little Mermaid." Brittany giggles, "She's in eighth grade now and she hates it but I still think it's adorable."
"I feel her pain," Santana groans, "my big sister Sofia got to pick my middle name, too, but she wasn't nearly as nice as you were. Her middle name is Angelica and her angelic self decided that Diabla was acceptable in her two year old mind for her sweet baby sister." She says rolling her eyes and continues attaching the string of lights along the underside of the bed with Brittany's help.
"Ha! You are anything but sweet, Satan! I happen to think Sofie picked the perfect middle name for you. That girl is brilliant and she knew exactly who you would become even at two years old." Quinn laughs loudly at Santana. "I'm just glad my sister was not allowed anywhere near my names, not that I even use my first name."
"Vete al carajo, Lucy. I'm awesome." Santana laughs and Brittany chuckles, knowing exactly what Santana told Quinn to do. "Anyway, Sofie goes here, too." She informs Brittany. "She's a junior majoring in Midwifery. She just moved into an apartment with three other girls so we all can crash there if we ever want a break from the dorm. Or if we want real food, mi abuelita taught her her secret recipes and she refuses to teach me."
"As long as there are no peanuts, I'm in. I'm highly allergic. Like I have to carry an Epi-pen with me everywhere allergic." She tells them, holding up her left wrist showing off her silver medical alert bracelet.
"Oh shit!" Santana panics and jumps off the bed. She runs to her plastic set of drawers and pulls out a jar of peanut butter and disappears out of the room leaving the two blondes to stare at the empty doorway in her wake.
"I have never seen her show any concern for anyone else's wellbeing except for her sister in all the years I've known her." Quinn says softly, slowly turning towards Brittany, utterly bemused by her best friend's behavior. Brittany gives her little half smile shrugging her shoulders as Santana comes running back into their room, grabs her wallet out of her backpack hanging on the back of the door and dashes back out. When she comes back, she is walking slower this time carrying their pizza.
"Pizza time!" Santana says, quite out of breath and sitting back down on her bed with the pizza box in her lap.
Quinn gets some paper plates and napkins and hands them to Brittany. "What do you want to drink, Britt?" She asks the other blonde.
Brittany asks her, "Do you have Dr. Pepper?"
"Of course." She says and grabs one for her from the mini-fridge as well as one for Santana and herself and then sits down on the bed with them. Santana hands her a plate with two slices as Quinn gives her her drink as she asks Santana, "What did you do with the peanut butter, San?"
"Oh, um, I threw it away in the dumpster out back." She answers quietly with a barely noticeable blush on her tan cheeks. She quickly clears her throat and changes the subject. "So, what are you majoring in, Britt?" Questions the Latina as she has already finished her first slice. "I'm double majoring in Music Therapy and Psychology."
"Double majoring also, and Psychology to boot, along with Applied Mathematics. I bet we will have so many Psych classes together." Brittany says with a huge smile that lights up her whole face clasping her hands together under her chin. "What about you, Quinn?"
"Just one major for me, Social Work. Santana's mami is an amazing social worker in Lima and she really inspired me." She says, fondly. "She's been more of a mom to me than mine ever was."
"Judy is trying a little more now that she divorced your scumbag of a dad, though. She still sucks ass, but like a tiny bit less now." Santana says as the three girls finish off the pizza.
"Yeah, like a smidgen less." Quinn grins glancing at the clock on her desk, "It's almost time for our floor meeting. Clean up, ladies, and let's head down to the study lounge and meet the losers we have to live with." She says getting up from the bed and straightening her dress.
"Yes, Mom." Santana says sarcastically with a huge eye-roll and then reaches for Brittany's trash. "Here, I'll take that for you." She says quietly to Brittany with a smile as Quinn just stares at her best friend in shock. Santana throws their trash away and notices Quinn still staring at her. "What, bitch?"
Quinn shakes her head and says, "Nothing." then asks the two girls, "Ready?"
"Yep! Let's go!" Brittany exclaims. She is really excited for her first official meeting as a college student and to meet her new floor mates. She puts her shoes back on and bounces to the door. When the two roommates weren't fast enough for her she whines, "Come on!"
Quinn giggles at the other blonde, "Coming, Britt."
"Wanky." Santana says while looping her arm with Brittany's and Quinn scoffs at her, exasperated.
oooOOOooo
The trio make their way down the hall to the study lounge and find a seat amongst the array of firm brown couches and small tables with four chairs each. They stake their claim to a couch on the far side of the room with Brittany sitting between the two best friends. Brittany lets her eyes roam around the large room. There really isn't much to it, blank white cinderblock walls with two big windows facing the inner courtyard and dark brown carpet. Brittany slips her feet out of her shoes and pulls one knee up to her chest and tucks her other leg under her. She's never been able to sit with both feet on the floor like her Granny says a lady should sit, just like she sees Quinn is sitting to her right, with her back straight and hands clasped in her lap and all. Brittany looks over to her left to Santana and smiles as she sees that she is sitting similarly to her with her legs all askew slouching back into the couch.
"Alright everyone, sit your asses down somewhere." Says a tall girl with very long curly brown hair wearing a green OU T-shirt and black shorts. The few stragglers manage to find a seat on the floor as she introduces herself. "I'm Jenna McDougal and I am your Resident Advisor, or RA, for the year. I'm a junior majoring in Art History and I'm from Cleveland. I'm in room 205 so if you ever need me you know where to find me. Unless there is a blue scrunchie on the door knob, then leave me the hell alone and find another RA to annoy because that means my girlfriend is in there with me and trust me, you don't want to interrupt her." The room laughs as she then goes over the dorm rules, mail process, safety restrictions, and fire drill procedures.
"I bet she's going to make us do stupid 'Getting to know you' games." Santana says quietly leaning towards Brittany making her smile.
"Oh hell no!" Jenna yells, eyeing Santana letting her know she heard her, "I don't give a fuck if any of you ever talk to each other. In fact, that would make my job so easy. I am not a camp counselor and there will be no Kumbaya-ing on my watch. I put your names on all of your doors, that's the most togetherness as I will inflict. Just no physical fights and keep the shouting matches to a minimum. I really hate paperwork." She groans. "I am nobodies mother, either, so keep the common areas clean or you all will have to deal with the roaches that follow. Ok, I'm done. Do whatever you want now." Jenna chuckles as she leaves the room.
"Oh, I like her." Quinn stares in awe at Jenna as she leaves and Santana and Brittany nod in agreement.
"That was so hot." Brittany and Santana breathe out simultaneously causing them to turn to each other with curious looks. Brittany lifts her eye brows and twinkles her eyes in a questioning look to Santana and she responds in a similar fashion confirming her silent question. Both girls burst out laughing as Quinn just rolls her eyes at them, understanding what they just discovered about each other.
"You've been replaced, Quinn. I have a new blonde best friend, now." Santana proclaims to Quinn as she grabs Brittany's hands and pulls her up from the couch.
"Not a chance. I'm claiming her, Satan, before you can corrupt her." Quinn says protectively while she takes Brittany by the arm moving her out of Santana's reach.
"Stop the violence." Brittany deadpans. "You can both have me."
Santana's eyes darken towards Brittany. "I mean… just wanky." She whispers.
Brittany and Quinn both laugh at her and Brittany slings her arm around Santana's shoulder. "Come on, let me show you two my room and you can meet my roommate." She says excitedly, guiding the two girls down the hall towards her room.
They pause half way down the hall in front of room 206 to allow Brittany to unlock the door and then the trio is assaulted by a shock of pink and ruffles from the left side of the room. "Oh. It looks like Barbie threw up on Rachel's side." Brittany sighs while the two girls behind her try to hold back their snickers. "Well, this is my side." She proclaims, flourishing her arms to the right.
"I like it, Brittany. It's very rainbow, like you." Santana says with a big dimpled smile and a wink, walking towards her desk to look at her pictures on the bulletin board. "Aye dios mio, eres flexible!" (Oh my God, you're flexible!) The Latina exclaims with her hand to her chest, regarding a picture of Brittany from her last dance competition in a very extended needle pose.
"Sí, soy hipermóvil." (Yes, I'm hypermobile.) Brittany shrugs. "This is my cat Lord Tubbington when he was in a gang," pointing to the tabby wearing a leather jacket and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "and here he was protesting moving to Virginia. Mom and Papa had to lie to my sister about what his sign means." She says with a sigh.
"I think that is the fattest cat I've ever seen." Quinn giggles, looking over Santana's shoulder.
"He's on Atkins." Brittany deadpans. She turns to her bed and picks up her dolphin. "This is Bubbles." She cheerfully introduces him, quite confusing both Santana and Quinn by her quick change of expression. "My papa gave him to me after my very first dance class when I was two because I was scared to meet new people."
"That's so sweet. He sounds like a great dad, Britt." The Latina says with a soft smile.
"Yeah, he really is." The blonde says fondly, hugging Bubble to her chest, closing her eyes for a moment. She quickly looks up at the two, "Did you know that dolphins are gay sharks?" She says seriously.
Santana and Quinn look at each other, then to Brittany, who nods, then back to each other contemplating and then just shrug.
A second later the door opens and Rachel come in and promptly introduces herself to the two girls, who are quite taken aback by her forwardness and volume. Brittany then introduces her new friends to her. "Rachel, this is Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray both from Lima, Ohio." She gestures to each girl respectfully. "They are in room 201 and are freshmen, too."
"Oh that's so wonderful! I am always so overjoyed to meet new people to hear me sing." Rachel exclaims. "Brittany! Did you see all the Playbill posters I put up to adorn our room? These are all of the musicals I have seen on Broadway and there are so many more I want to see. My ambition is to move to New York win a Tony in a musical by 25, that's why I am double majoring in Theater Performance and Voice. What are you three's favorite Broadway musicals?" The brunette says all in one breath with her eyes traveling between the girls, expectantly.
"I haven't seen any." Brittany says nonchalantly. "I've been to New York a ton but for dance competitions and gymnastics meets. Broadway shows were never a priority when I was there to receive awards." She shrugs and looks over at Quinn and Santana for their responses to Rachel's question.
"Yeah, Q and I were too busy leading our team to four National Cheer Competition victories to bother with anything on Broadway." Santana says with a smirk.
"We are also too busy spending our dads' money on 5th Ave. any time we are in the city to bother with shows." Quinn says haughtily, crossing her arms over her chest. "But, whatever. I'm sure sing lovely." She says remembering the manners her mother drilled into her and then turns to the other blonde, changing the subject. "Britt, do you want to go watch a movie with San and me in our room?"
"Yeah, sure! Let me change real quick into pajamas and I'll be down to your room in few minutes." Brittany says to the two girls as they leave for their room. She grabs her blue duck print pajama shorts and an old LCHS cheer practice cropped tank top and changes quickly, not caring that Rachel is still in the room. After all her years in dance, gymnastics, and cheer, she is definitely not shy about her very fit body. She grabs her blanket from her bed, wraps it around her shoulders and stuffs her feet into her fluffy unicorn slippers. "See ya later, Rach!" She yells back to the brunette over her shoulder while grabbing her keys and runs out of the door and down to her new friends' room.
She knocks on their door and Quinn quickly opens it inviting her in. "Hey, want another Dr. Pepper?" She asks as Santana is patting the spot next to her on her bed encouraging her to set down.
"Yes, please." Brittany says as she notices they have both changed, also, Quinn into a light blue and white flowered short-sleeved set and Santana into purple and black plaid shorts and a tight black Alanis Morissette T-shirt. "Nice shirt." The blonde tells the Latina with a grin and she settles onto the bed next to her putting her blanket over her lap and taking the soda from Quinn, who then sits down on the other side of Santana.
"Thanks!" Santana exclaims cheerfully. "I hope you don't mind that I already picked the movie," She says as she presses play on the remote, "it's just one of my comfort movies."
"It's cool, San. I really don't care what we watch." Brittany grins at her as the opening scene of Ever After plays on the TV.
"Oh God, really, Santana? Ever After? You are such a sap." Quinn teases Santana and playfully nudges her with her shoulder.
"Shuddup." Santana mumbles as she brings her knees up to her chest, putting her chin on her knees and Brittany just chuckles softly while she gives the Latina a few comforting strokes on her ankle.
About thirty minutes into the movie, Quinn gets up whispering, "Bathroom" and leaves the room to return a few minutes later. Instead of taking her place back on Santana's bed, she climbs up to her bunk. A few seconds later Brittany sees a corner of a yellow comforter with white daisies spill over the side of Quinn bed above her.
A little while later, Brittany sighs at the scene of Danielle and Henry at the prince's ruins. "This is my comfort movie, too." she whispers and lays her head on Santana shoulder, pulling her blanket over to cover Santana's legs, too. The Latina then lays her head onto Brittany's, sighing softly.
Once the movie ends, the two girls are yawning, barely able to keep their eyes open. It has been a really big day for them and they are physically and emotionally exhausted.
"That was the perfect choice, Santana. I really needed that today." Brittany whispers to Santana, trying to stifle a yawn. "I'm going to go to bed now but I'll see you tomorrow, kay?" She says giving her a tight hug before getting up.
"Mmkay, Britt, Night Night." Santana mumbles as she crawls under her duvet.
Brittany picks up her blanket and walks over to the door, pausing before she turns off the light to look back at Santana. She has pulled out the stuffed animal the she had had hidden earlier and Brittany can see that is it a gray thread-bare bunny and Santana has it tucked tightly under her chin. Brittany just smiles at the sleeping Latina as she turns off the light and leaves the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Back at her own room, she slowly opens her door to a dark room except for a small pink nightlight by Rachel's bed where the girl is sleeping already. She gently closes the door and makes her way to her bed and climbs under her covers, hugging Bubbles tightly. Brittany falls asleep shortly after with a small smile on her lips, thinking that this school year might actually be ok for once.