A/N: This story was inspired by this deleted scene post/115541903930/hall-and-totes-wedding-seating-planning-a as well as a dream that I had after the series finale. This is mostly canon, with some of my own interpretation for certain events on the show, but don't expect to see scenes or dialogue from the show rewritten here. There is mentions of specific events on the show to move the story along, as it covers many years of time. It has some fluff, some smut, is definitely cheesy at points, and has no real plot development since that was mostly done on the show.
This is my first ever attempt at writing anything like this, fanfiction or otherwise, so feedback is greatly appreciated! I would love to know what I am doing right, what I am doing wrong, or if I should just not even bother writing anymore. I want everyone to know that this story is COMPLETE, but I will be posting a chapter every few days or so if my schedule allows. I am currently working on the companion piece from Brittany's POV, so I really would like comments/reviews/helpful criticism to know things to work on for that story.
Part 1- Freshman Year 2008-2009
Chapter 1
Santana was nervous. It was 2 weeks before the start of her freshman year and she stood in the gym of William McKinley High School and watched as the girls around her were doing light warm-ups and stretches. Most of them were already wearing Cheerios uniforms, although there were more than a handful of girls like her in cheer shorts and tight tops. She already felt like she didn't fit in among the throng of red and white uniforms and perfect hair-dos, and she debated whether she should change her dark hair from its messy bun into a ponytail like the others were sporting.
Santana just had to make the main squad this year. It wasn't common for Coach Sue Sylvester to put freshmen on her top squad, but Santana was determined to be different. She needed to be different. Starting high school meant she could break from the mediocre popularity she had gained in middle school.
Santana had this feeling deep inside of her that she needed to be accepted by her classmates. She always felt a little different, although she wasn't sure why. She didn't really feel close with the girls she hung out with in middle school. Mostly because she was afraid to let them get too close to her. She felt kind of awkward around most girls, and she didn't really feel the way other girls did when they were around boys.
Santana didn't like feeling uncomfortable, and it caused her to develop a bitchy attitude. She protected herself by building walls around herself and by throwing out insults. She found that her attitude earned her respect, which made her more popular. When she became more popular, she felt better about herself. That was why she was going to be one of the most popular girls at McKinley and no one was going to stop her. First, she just needed to nail this cheerleading try-out.
The overwhelming number of girls there was just a little intimidating. Plus, she had missed the cheerleading camp earlier in the summer for the vacation her parents insisted they had to go on for "quality family time" before Santana started becoming "too grown up" to want to hang out with them anymore. Little did they know that she had stopped wanting to hang around her parents sometime in middle school. Things were just too different in her life now, and she didn't feel comfortable around her parents much, particularly when they wanted to know what was going on in her life.
Something caught Santana's attention from the corner of her eye. She turned to see a blonde girl towards the corner of the gym doing some spins and turns, her loose hair flying around her as she danced. Santana's breath caught and her heart started to pound.
She had finally started getting used to the little fluttering in her chest that she got when she saw some pretty girls and was learning to ignore it. But she had never felt anything like this before. She definitely couldn't ignore the way her heart tried to beat its way over to the dancing girl, or the way her body warmed up as if she had stepped outside into the summer heat. She finally realized she was holding her breath and let it out in a shaky exhale.
"Nervous?"
Santana whipped around at the voice, her heart beating hard for a different reason now, as she came to face a different blonde girl. This one had her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail like the Cheerios did, but didn't wear the uniform. Santana noticed that the girl wore a small cross necklace as well as a more modest, though still tight, pair of shorts and top. She seemed to also have an amused smirk on her face.
"Excuse me?" Santana asked. She hoped that her face looked calm and that the girl hadn't noticed how affected she was by the dancer in the corner.
"I noticed you were staring at that girl. She is pretty good, so I was just wondering if she made you nervous about maybe not making the team," the girl replied.
She sounded sweet, like she was trying to be Santana's friend. Santana knew that girls like this were the ones to watch out for. They were usually the ones that acted like your best friend, but were the first to stab you in the back to climb their way to the top. She knew immediately that she needed to become allies with her, but first she needed to make sure the girl didn't think she was anything other than the image she wanted to project.
"Oh, I'm not nervous. She's pretty good, but I know I am going to make the main squad. All those girls think they're hot shit because they've already got their uniforms, but that's because they don't know that I am going to be taking somebody's spot this year."
Santana couldn't bring herself to say she was better than the dancer for some reason. She just hoped she looked as confident as her words. She spent the summer trying to perfect the confident look she hoped would help her step up the social ladder. She knew it made her look like a bitch, but she kind of liked that. The girl seemed to look impressed, at least.
"I'm Quinn Fabray," the girl said with a small smile.
"Santana Lopez," she offered back. "I take it you're a freshman, too?"
"Yeah, and like you I know I am going to make the main squad. We should stick together so we can make sure those other girls know we will be at the top of the pyramid soon."
Santana triumphed internally. If she could team up with a girl like Quinn, then she knew she would have an easier time becoming popular at McKinley. She gave a smile back to Quinn.
"Totally."
All of a sudden, the gym doors flew open and a tall woman wearing a red and white tracksuit with short blonde hair hurried in. She held a megaphone in one hand and a clipboard in the other. The girls in uniform snapped to attention quickly.
"Listen up ladies!" the woman yelled through the megaphone. "If anybody doesn't know who I am, you should leave immediately. But since I like to make an entrance, I will introduce myself anyway. I am National Championship Cheerleading Coach Sue Sylvester! I may or may not also be an international spy, but you didn't hear that from me."
Santana looked around. She was a little alarmed by the megaphone and the abruptness of the coach. She saw that a lot of the other girls appeared to be intimidated by the woman, except for Quinn. Quinn seemed to be just as calm as she was when she was introducing herself to Santana. Santana tried to mimic Quinn's unaffected demeanor as Sue continued yelling.
"After warm-ups, you will be divided up into two groups to learn a routine. After you complete that group routine, you will then be split into smaller groups based on your capabilities so I can get a more individual look at your skills. Once that is finished, I will make my cuts and post the rosters for the main squad and the alternate squad. And as you older girls know, just because you were on the squad last year doesn't mean that you will make it again this year. So impress me!"
Time went by quickly and Santana soon found herself with a large group of girls learning the routine the coach had created. She wasn't worried about this part. She was the top cheerleader on her middle school squad, and learning choreography quickly was her strength. She had the routine down after the first run through, and she took the opportunity to look around her to see how everyone else was doing.
She saw a number of girls slowly picking up the steps, but a few were clearly struggling. She noticed that Quinn already had it down. She found herself looking for the dancer again for some reason, but couldn't find her. Before she knew it, Sue was finished evaluating the larger group performances and split them up into groups of five to learn a whole new routine.
Santana was pleased to see that she was put in a group with 2 of the best current Cheerios that she could see from the large group routine. Quinn also happened to be in her group. She was also surprised to find herself glad that their last group member was the dancing blonde girl. She wanted to know the girl, and she didn't really know why. She found herself smiling at the dancer, who smiled back, making Santana's heart flutter again.
They didn't even have time to introduce themselves, however, before they had to launch into learning their routine. Santana was dismayed that she didn't have the chance to learn the dancer's name. She just felt like she wanted to become best friends with her, and she had never felt like this about anyone before.
All of the girls in her group picked up the steps after the first run through and were totally in sync. Coach Sue scrutinized them for a minute.
"Jones, Adler, glad to see you guys haven't decided to slack this summer," she said to the two uniformed girls. She then turned to the other three girls and studied them. "You three, front and center."
Quinn, Santana, and the dancer moved forward to stand in front of Sue. Quinn stood directly in front of the coach, with Santana and the other girl side by side, slightly behind Quinn. Santana was nervous to be pulled out of the group for closer evaluation. She glanced at the dancer girl next to her and saw that she was clearly nervous. She wanted to comfort her in some way, but didn't know how, especially with Coach Sylvester paying close attention to them at the moment.
"I haven't seen you three before. You all freshmen?" Sue asked.
"Yes, coach," Quinn quickly replied.
"Yes," Santana confirmed. The dancing girl just nodded, looking down at her feet before looking back up at the coach.
"Names?" Sue asked.
"Quinn Fabray, coach." Again, Quinn was first to reply.
Kiss ass, Santana thought.
"I'm Santana Lopez." Santana turned her head to look at the other blonde girl, waiting to hear her speak.
"Brittany Pierce," the girl nervously answered. Santana thought that the girl definitely looked like a Brittany. And she wanted to hug her to make her feel more comfortable. Brittany was moving her foot around in circles, toe on the ground, as she clasped her hands in front of her. She was definitely intimidated by Sue, who just stood there and studied them for another minute with a curious look on her face.
"Well, ladies, I have to say that for freshmen I am impressed." Sue looked directly at Quinn before speaking again. "You may go far under my tutelage."
Sue turned away and moved onto the next group, leaving the girls behind to breathe relieved sighs and grin at each other. The two current Cheerios just glared at them, but the younger girls couldn't be bothered by it.
"I knew we would do well." Quinn smiled at Santana and Brittany, pleased at receiving the attention from the coach.
The rest of the try-outs moved quickly from there, and before she knew it the rosters had been posted. She hung back a little and watched as other girls went up. Some girls left with satisfied smiles, others were jumping up and down. A few girls left disappointed, and a couple of uniformed girls left angry and crying.
As she finally made her way to the lists, she felt more nervous. All of a sudden she felt a presence beside her and turned to see Brittany. For some reason the girl's presence helped soothe her nerves somewhat. They looked at the list for the main squad first. Santana located first her own name, and below that was Brittany's. They had both made the main squad. The girls turned to each other and grinned, and Santana's excitement over making the squad paled in comparison to the feeling she got when Brittany grinned at her.
"Looks like we're the only freshmen who made the main squad." Again, Santana turned, startled, to find Quinn Fabray.
That girl is just too sneaky for her own good, she thought.
"I still can't believe I made it," Brittany gushed. "I was just hoping for the alternate squad."
"Well I knew I was going to make it, and we were all fierce out there. Those other Cheerios better watch out, because we are going to take over this squad!" Santana got a few dirty looks from some of the Cheerios, but she didn't care. She was on a high right now, and she wanted to keep riding it.
"I agree that we were fierce together. We should have a sleepover at my house this weekend so we can get to know each other better, since we are going to be spending the next four years ruling this place." Quinn got nods from Brittany and Santana before flouncing off to the locker room.
"She seems nice," Brittany said. Santana turned her attention back to the girl who had captivated her since the beginning of the try-out. She took in the girl's sparkling blue eyes and light dusting of freckles, and she got serious fluttering in her chest when Brittany smiled at her again. She pushed it out of her mind and realized she was kind of staring. She tried to put on her confident face as she formed a reply.
"She's alright, but I think she is convinced she is going to be the head bitch in charge here. She's going to have to fight me for it."
"Why'd you agree to do a sleepover if you don't like her?" Brittany's brow furrowed a little in confusion.
"Well, I didn't say I didn't like her. I just don't really trust her. I think I would be better off to keep her close to make sure she doesn't try to stab me in the back or something, you know?"
"No, not really." Brittany did look kind of confused by Santana's statement. Santana could tell that the girl had a pretty innocent outlook on life.
"Nevermind. We should all stick together though, especially since we are the only freshmen on the main squad." She was a little nervous saying this. She knew she wanted to get to know Brittany more, and she really wanted to be her friend. She hoped Brittany agreed.
"Yeah, I mean I think it would be really nice. I didn't really have a lot of friends at my old school." Santana was surprised. Brittany seemed like a really nice girl. How could anyone not like her? She wanted nothing more at that moment than to wipe the sad look off of the blonde's face.
"I think we will be best friends, Brit." Santana was rewarded with a huge grin and she couldn't help but grin back.
"Really?" Brittany had an adorably hopeful look on her face, like she almost couldn't believe Santana was even talking to her, much less offering to be her friend.
Santana nodded, and Brittany threw her arms around Santana and hugged her tight. She brought her arms up around the blonde and hugged her back lightly, feeling a little dizzy at the contact as she laughed a little at Brittany's enthusiasm.
All too soon, Brittany pulled back and said she had to go home. Santana was a little confused because she thought she said something about a cat forgetting his keys, but she must have heard wrong. Santana departed the gym feeling as if she was floating. Everything seemed to be going right and the year was just starting.