fic: through the bars of a rhyme, 2/8
title: through the bars of a rhyme (2/8)
fandom: glee
pairing: santana lopez/brittany pierce
rating: T
summary: She was tall, lean, and blonde and Santana barely caught a glimpse of her as she bounced down the steps, but it was enough. AU.
A/N: This chapter's a little slow, but it will pick up in the next part!
part I
can't do the talk
Santana tapped her pencil idly against the rough exterior of her art notebook, silently going over the notes to her next Glee solo. Outside, the bad weather persisted. Sheets of rain cascaded down the dirty windows and Santana titled her head to watch the water streak away. At the front of the class, the teacher droned on.
Art class sucked.
She didn’t know anyone in the tiny ten-person group, it was the second class of the day which meant her caffeine buzz had worn off and she wasn’t in a people mood, and the teacher usually dressed like a three year-old with a penchant for Transformers who’d been unleashed on the finger paint. So Santana spent the class staring out of the window at the football field or half-heartedly carving a pipe out of a rather unimaginative piece of wood. It was nice and dark, though, and quiet. Sometimes she took a nap.
They’d been working for about twenty minutes when the classroom door opened. This was unexpected, as the classroom was on the far end of the east wing, otherwise known as the ‘Geek Wing’. Needless to say, not many McKinley students wandered down there in the middle of a period without reason.
When Santana glanced up, her heart stuttered a little. She kept her hands firm and flat on her desk because reaching up to cover her stupid fluttering heart was a low she would not sink to. She frowned at the feeling, though, and one word rang clear through her head.
Figures.
-
Trying to get the slushie out of her hoodie proved to be useless. The red dye in the ice turned the comfortable purple a nasty brown color, even after she had scrubbed at it for what felt like hours. Brittany stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying to stave off the familiar urge to cry.
She’d moved schools. This was supposed to stop.
She tossed the last of the paper towels into the bin and gave up. She’d been mildly lucky- the ice hadn’t reached much of her hair- but her t-shirt was a goner. She could feel the material sticky against her stomach and it made her uncomfortable and angry but mostly upset. She sighed and zipped the hoodie halfway up, trying to recover even a little of her dignity.
Swinging her book bag back over her shoulder, she tugged her schedule out of her back pocket. The counselor had given her directions to each of her classes this morning, which she had dutifully scribbled down. Three ducks and then a squirrel- the drawing on her paper an exceptionally bushy tail- and then room number 30rainbow and she’d be there.
It wasn’t as easy as it had seemed- maybe she’d left out a squirrel in there somewhere- but she finally managed to stumble down an empty hallway and find the right door. Deep breath, hand on the knob, that uncomfortable swirl of anticipation low in her belly, and then the classroom spread like an opportunity out before her. She kept her head down, ignoring the stares, and shuffled over to the teacher.
“Well, hello.” His eyes scanned her note before he handed it back to her, smiling warmly. “I’m Mr. Reynolds and I’m afraid we don’t have enough class time left for you to get started on a project, so feel free to relax over there until the bell rings.” He pointed toward the back of the class.
There, near the windows, almost in the corner, sat the same beautiful dark-haired girl Brittany had seen in the parking lot that morning. Her face brought back the ice cold humiliation and Brittany flinched, involuntarily, before forcing her feet to move in that direction.
She slid into the seat without a word, trying to avoid everyone’s gaze. The girl to her left was the same girl from the soccer field, the one with the pretty voice and pretty eyes, and she was eyeing Brittany but trying to act like she wasn’t. Brittany stared down at her hands, folded neatly on her desk.
She wondered if she had locked her bathroom cabinet before leaving that morning. She was fairly sure that Lord Tubbington had been huffing her nail polish.
Finally, tired of pretending like she couldn’t feel the brunette’s eyes on the side of her face, she turned her head, catching the girl off guard. Her eyes widened and she glanced away quickly, but not before Brittany smiled sweetly at her. She thought it was kind of cute, all the staring, and the blush that bloomed on the girl’s face when she was caught made it ten times better.
Brittany turned her gaze back to her hands, the smile still in place. Her day was definitely looking up.
Next to her, Santana frowned. A familiar sickly sweet smell had reached her nose and she crinkled her nose In distaste. Trying to be subtle, she leaned just a centimeter to her right and sniffed, hoping her senses were mistaken. No such luck. She sighed. That was definitely the sweet smell of cherry slushie and it was originating from the blonde girl sitting to her right. She sat back in her seat and inspected the now obviously stained hoodie. The girl’s hair was light pink at the fringe and Santana was willing to bet that her t-shirt was colored the same.
She bit her lip, hesitating, and then finally reached out before instantly snatching her hand back. She debated for another minute and then, impulsively, reached out and tapped the girl on the shoulder.
Brittany tensed up immediately at the fingers on her back, an instinctive reaction, but then remembered the girl to her left and relaxed. When the brunette next to her didn’t say anything, Brittany lifted her gaze to meet intense brown eyes staring back. She suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say, basic greetings failing her, and just barely managed to hold the gaze, her stomach suddenly near her toes.
“I have a clean shirt in my gym bag.” Were the words that came out of Santana’s mouth and they surprised her. The girl mirrored the feeling, her eyes widening. The bell rang, signaling the end of class, but neither girl made a move to leave.
“That would-.“ The new girl bit her lip, cutting herself off when she noticed that Santana was already reaching for her bag. “Thank you.” Brittany took the shirt carefully, and a sweet, bright smile lit up her face at this show of kindness.
Santana, momentarily awestruck, stumbled to find words.
“You’re welcome.”
Then, she stood up abruptly, shouldered her Cheerios bag and ran away. She had just reached the classroom door when it hit her that she had just given this new girl a Cheerios t-shirt and Coach Sylvester was probably going to lobotomize her at practice that afternoon.
She frowned, but it didn’t last for very long.
-
“We could roofie her chamomile tea.”
This was just another in a long line of outrageous suggestions Quinn was offering as a means of outing Rachel from Finn’s life. Santana rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, Quinn, because that makes perfect sense. How is roofie-ing her going to keep her away from Finn?” Quinn frowned and set her tray down on the lunch table.
“I don’t see you coming up with any stellar plans.” She grumbled. Santana took a seat next to her. She considered telling Quinn to talk to Finn about it (and how stupid was it that their names rhymed? It was a daily nuisance), but immediately dismissed the thought when she remembered who Finn Hudson actually was. Tina and Kurt took a seat across from them and a light bulb flickered in Santana’s mind.
“Let’s distract her with something else. Puck’s always good for a tumble.”
“True as that may be, he’s currently infatuated with Lauren here.” Kurt tilted his head toward Lauren, who took a seat next to Tina. “I take it we’re discussing Quinn’s various plans to erase Rachel from Finn’s line of sight?” Kurt lifted an eyebrow and Santana nodded once.
“I’m sure Lauren won’t mind taking one for the team.” Mercedes said, choosing her seat next to Quinn.
“That’s never going to work.” Quinn interrupted them. “She’s learned her lesson with Puck. She couldn’t possibly fall for that man whore again.”
“Hey!” Lauren said, indignant, but the table shrugged their general agreement. Kurt piped up with another suggestion, but Santana was temporarily deaf, her eyes locked on a familiar blonde hesitating in the cafeteria doors. She watched as the girl scanned the room, ostensibly looking for a seat, before biting nervously at her lip. Santana bent forward a little, almost ready to call out to her, before realizing that she didn’t even know the girl’s name. The impulse died in her throat and the blonde turned away from the door, giving up.
Santana sat back, disappointed, and swiftly realized that the entire lunch table was staring at her.
“S?” Quinn looked concerned, one eyebrow crooked incredulously. Santana glanced down at her salad, then lifted a forkful of greens into her mouth and began chewing. She raised her eyebrows at the rest of the table, silently and innocently asking what they were looking at. Slowly, they resumed their conversation, Quinn quickly directing it back to Rachel Berry.
She couldn’t help but glance back up at the double doors. She was sad that the blonde girl felt so out of place, and disappointed that she hadn’t been able to welcome her to McKinley properly. Somewhere in those few seconds of staring across the room, she decided she’d find the blonde girl, soon, and make her feel at home.
-
It was like nothing had changed, except everything had.
New school, new house, new nicknames, new ways of making Brittany feel like she was missing something. She had thought things were going to get better, but so far they were infinitely worse. Someone had thrown a slushie in her face before school even started. She couldn't understand how that had happened and no one had cared. It was an ice cold beverage and so not meant to be in her face.
Then again, maybe not infinitely worse. There was that pretty girl with the dark hair who kept staring at her. It had made Brittany nervous at first, before she realized the girl was just as nervous.
Brittany tightened her hold on her book bag straps as she walked down the mostly empty hallway. Her second meeting with the school counselor had been long and confusing and left her just as confused as she had been earlier.
She was sort of tired of being the butt of jokes and insults, but she hadn’t ever known it to be any other way. She was Brittany and when she said what she was thinking people usually laughed at her or openly stared. Her parents let her be, her little sister was thoroughly amused by her, and the world kept spinning.
Somewhere along the line, though, she had learned to keep those thoughts to herself. It had been too late to change her old classmates’ opinions, though, and she faded into the background, disappearing into her unwillingness to be made fun of. This was a fresh start. No one knew her here. She was tired of being called stupid.
Somehow, though, they knew. She hadn’t even said a single word! And they had slushied her.
It didn’t seem fair.
She pushed through the front doors, nimbly stepping over the ridge on the ground, and out into the warm Lima afternoon. The parking lot was emptying out and she took a seat on the curb to wait for her mom. Her fingers found the soft grey t-shirt she was wearing and she glanced down at the Cheerios logo emblazoned on the front. It was a nickname for the cheerleaders at McKinley, which made sense because a cheerleader had given her the shirt. That cheerleader was proving to be the only good thing about her first day.
Brittany wrapped her arms around herself and looked back up at the parking lot.
-
The sun was sinking below the clouds when Santana left the locker room, her gym bag slung over one shoulder, Coach Sylvester's words still literally ringing in her ears. She was bone tired and hungry and it took an effort to keep her head held high as she walked out into the hallway.
She sort of hoped that Sam would come over later because she really wanted to just lay down with someone right then and try to recover some of her self-esteem. She knew the feeling would fade by dinnertime but right then she just wanted someone to hold onto to.
The front double doors quietly clicked shut after her. She was the last one out of the place, again, save maybe Shue and Rachel, who was probably still singing her little heart out in the choir room. That was how she liked it, though. Seeing the school empty, quiet, only her footsteps making noise- it made her feel like she had some sort of control over this place. She was wrapped up in those thoughts and walking swiftly down the breezeway to her car when she spotted someone on the curb, head in hands. Her feet stumbled over themselves for a second before she caught herself, her eyes widening.
The girl was blonde and tall and she was wearing a faded McKinley Cheerleading t-shirt and Santana couldn't believe she was running her for the third time that day. She hesitated but finally forced sound out of her mouth.
"Hey, what are you doing?" The words came a little harsher than she intended; but, when the blonde girl turned around Santana was smiling kindly at her.
"I think my cat hid my mom's keys again." The girl said, and she looked thoroughly upset at the idea. Santana frowned.
"You mean you've been sitting here since school got out?" The girl shook her head and turned back to face the parking lot.
"No, I had a meeting with Bambi earlier."
"Bambi?" Santana's eyebrows went up.
"The tiny woman with the big eyes? She said I have to join clubs."
"Oh, Ms. Pillsbury." Santana realized. She set her bag down on the cement and took a seat next to the girl on the curb. They sat quietly for a moment, staring out at the almost empty parking lot.
"I'm Santana, by the way." She turned her head and the blonde girl mirrored the motion. Their eyes met and the girl smiled a tiny little smile.
"Brittany." Santana offered her hand and the girl looked at it dubiously for a moment before her eyes brightened and she reached out to grab out. They shook hands and a smile bloomed on Santana's face without warning. She could feel it straight to her toes.
Just then, a car rumbled into the parking, crushing gravel under its tires. The two girls looked over and Brittany stood up almost instantly.
"That's my mom." She was grinning, and she looked back down at Santana and then toward her mom. The car rolled to a stop in front of them and Brittany put one hand on the handle before turning back to Santana. "I'll see you in art tomorrow." She promised, flashing Santana a sweet smile. Santana nodded and stood up off the curb.
"Yeah, see you later." She answered. She stood there watching the car drive down the rows and out of the parking lot, the sun setting at her back. Eventually, she realized how creepy she was being and swiftly turned and aimed toward her car.
When she finally sat down in her Mustang, she wondered at the warm feeling glowing in her chest, at the weird giddiness in her stomach.
She thought about Brittany's honest grin and smiled to herself.
fandom: glee
pairing: santana lopez/brittany pierce
rating: T
summary: She was tall, lean, and blonde and Santana barely caught a glimpse of her as she bounced down the steps, but it was enough. AU.
A/N: This chapter's a little slow, but it will pick up in the next part!
part I
can't do the talk
Santana tapped her pencil idly against the rough exterior of her art notebook, silently going over the notes to her next Glee solo. Outside, the bad weather persisted. Sheets of rain cascaded down the dirty windows and Santana titled her head to watch the water streak away. At the front of the class, the teacher droned on.
Art class sucked.
She didn’t know anyone in the tiny ten-person group, it was the second class of the day which meant her caffeine buzz had worn off and she wasn’t in a people mood, and the teacher usually dressed like a three year-old with a penchant for Transformers who’d been unleashed on the finger paint. So Santana spent the class staring out of the window at the football field or half-heartedly carving a pipe out of a rather unimaginative piece of wood. It was nice and dark, though, and quiet. Sometimes she took a nap.
They’d been working for about twenty minutes when the classroom door opened. This was unexpected, as the classroom was on the far end of the east wing, otherwise known as the ‘Geek Wing’. Needless to say, not many McKinley students wandered down there in the middle of a period without reason.
When Santana glanced up, her heart stuttered a little. She kept her hands firm and flat on her desk because reaching up to cover her stupid fluttering heart was a low she would not sink to. She frowned at the feeling, though, and one word rang clear through her head.
Figures.
-
Trying to get the slushie out of her hoodie proved to be useless. The red dye in the ice turned the comfortable purple a nasty brown color, even after she had scrubbed at it for what felt like hours. Brittany stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying to stave off the familiar urge to cry.
She’d moved schools. This was supposed to stop.
She tossed the last of the paper towels into the bin and gave up. She’d been mildly lucky- the ice hadn’t reached much of her hair- but her t-shirt was a goner. She could feel the material sticky against her stomach and it made her uncomfortable and angry but mostly upset. She sighed and zipped the hoodie halfway up, trying to recover even a little of her dignity.
Swinging her book bag back over her shoulder, she tugged her schedule out of her back pocket. The counselor had given her directions to each of her classes this morning, which she had dutifully scribbled down. Three ducks and then a squirrel- the drawing on her paper an exceptionally bushy tail- and then room number 30rainbow and she’d be there.
It wasn’t as easy as it had seemed- maybe she’d left out a squirrel in there somewhere- but she finally managed to stumble down an empty hallway and find the right door. Deep breath, hand on the knob, that uncomfortable swirl of anticipation low in her belly, and then the classroom spread like an opportunity out before her. She kept her head down, ignoring the stares, and shuffled over to the teacher.
“Well, hello.” His eyes scanned her note before he handed it back to her, smiling warmly. “I’m Mr. Reynolds and I’m afraid we don’t have enough class time left for you to get started on a project, so feel free to relax over there until the bell rings.” He pointed toward the back of the class.
There, near the windows, almost in the corner, sat the same beautiful dark-haired girl Brittany had seen in the parking lot that morning. Her face brought back the ice cold humiliation and Brittany flinched, involuntarily, before forcing her feet to move in that direction.
She slid into the seat without a word, trying to avoid everyone’s gaze. The girl to her left was the same girl from the soccer field, the one with the pretty voice and pretty eyes, and she was eyeing Brittany but trying to act like she wasn’t. Brittany stared down at her hands, folded neatly on her desk.
She wondered if she had locked her bathroom cabinet before leaving that morning. She was fairly sure that Lord Tubbington had been huffing her nail polish.
Finally, tired of pretending like she couldn’t feel the brunette’s eyes on the side of her face, she turned her head, catching the girl off guard. Her eyes widened and she glanced away quickly, but not before Brittany smiled sweetly at her. She thought it was kind of cute, all the staring, and the blush that bloomed on the girl’s face when she was caught made it ten times better.
Brittany turned her gaze back to her hands, the smile still in place. Her day was definitely looking up.
Next to her, Santana frowned. A familiar sickly sweet smell had reached her nose and she crinkled her nose In distaste. Trying to be subtle, she leaned just a centimeter to her right and sniffed, hoping her senses were mistaken. No such luck. She sighed. That was definitely the sweet smell of cherry slushie and it was originating from the blonde girl sitting to her right. She sat back in her seat and inspected the now obviously stained hoodie. The girl’s hair was light pink at the fringe and Santana was willing to bet that her t-shirt was colored the same.
She bit her lip, hesitating, and then finally reached out before instantly snatching her hand back. She debated for another minute and then, impulsively, reached out and tapped the girl on the shoulder.
Brittany tensed up immediately at the fingers on her back, an instinctive reaction, but then remembered the girl to her left and relaxed. When the brunette next to her didn’t say anything, Brittany lifted her gaze to meet intense brown eyes staring back. She suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say, basic greetings failing her, and just barely managed to hold the gaze, her stomach suddenly near her toes.
“I have a clean shirt in my gym bag.” Were the words that came out of Santana’s mouth and they surprised her. The girl mirrored the feeling, her eyes widening. The bell rang, signaling the end of class, but neither girl made a move to leave.
“That would-.“ The new girl bit her lip, cutting herself off when she noticed that Santana was already reaching for her bag. “Thank you.” Brittany took the shirt carefully, and a sweet, bright smile lit up her face at this show of kindness.
Santana, momentarily awestruck, stumbled to find words.
“You’re welcome.”
Then, she stood up abruptly, shouldered her Cheerios bag and ran away. She had just reached the classroom door when it hit her that she had just given this new girl a Cheerios t-shirt and Coach Sylvester was probably going to lobotomize her at practice that afternoon.
She frowned, but it didn’t last for very long.
-
“We could roofie her chamomile tea.”
This was just another in a long line of outrageous suggestions Quinn was offering as a means of outing Rachel from Finn’s life. Santana rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, Quinn, because that makes perfect sense. How is roofie-ing her going to keep her away from Finn?” Quinn frowned and set her tray down on the lunch table.
“I don’t see you coming up with any stellar plans.” She grumbled. Santana took a seat next to her. She considered telling Quinn to talk to Finn about it (and how stupid was it that their names rhymed? It was a daily nuisance), but immediately dismissed the thought when she remembered who Finn Hudson actually was. Tina and Kurt took a seat across from them and a light bulb flickered in Santana’s mind.
“Let’s distract her with something else. Puck’s always good for a tumble.”
“True as that may be, he’s currently infatuated with Lauren here.” Kurt tilted his head toward Lauren, who took a seat next to Tina. “I take it we’re discussing Quinn’s various plans to erase Rachel from Finn’s line of sight?” Kurt lifted an eyebrow and Santana nodded once.
“I’m sure Lauren won’t mind taking one for the team.” Mercedes said, choosing her seat next to Quinn.
“That’s never going to work.” Quinn interrupted them. “She’s learned her lesson with Puck. She couldn’t possibly fall for that man whore again.”
“Hey!” Lauren said, indignant, but the table shrugged their general agreement. Kurt piped up with another suggestion, but Santana was temporarily deaf, her eyes locked on a familiar blonde hesitating in the cafeteria doors. She watched as the girl scanned the room, ostensibly looking for a seat, before biting nervously at her lip. Santana bent forward a little, almost ready to call out to her, before realizing that she didn’t even know the girl’s name. The impulse died in her throat and the blonde turned away from the door, giving up.
Santana sat back, disappointed, and swiftly realized that the entire lunch table was staring at her.
“S?” Quinn looked concerned, one eyebrow crooked incredulously. Santana glanced down at her salad, then lifted a forkful of greens into her mouth and began chewing. She raised her eyebrows at the rest of the table, silently and innocently asking what they were looking at. Slowly, they resumed their conversation, Quinn quickly directing it back to Rachel Berry.
She couldn’t help but glance back up at the double doors. She was sad that the blonde girl felt so out of place, and disappointed that she hadn’t been able to welcome her to McKinley properly. Somewhere in those few seconds of staring across the room, she decided she’d find the blonde girl, soon, and make her feel at home.
-
It was like nothing had changed, except everything had.
New school, new house, new nicknames, new ways of making Brittany feel like she was missing something. She had thought things were going to get better, but so far they were infinitely worse. Someone had thrown a slushie in her face before school even started. She couldn't understand how that had happened and no one had cared. It was an ice cold beverage and so not meant to be in her face.
Then again, maybe not infinitely worse. There was that pretty girl with the dark hair who kept staring at her. It had made Brittany nervous at first, before she realized the girl was just as nervous.
Brittany tightened her hold on her book bag straps as she walked down the mostly empty hallway. Her second meeting with the school counselor had been long and confusing and left her just as confused as she had been earlier.
She was sort of tired of being the butt of jokes and insults, but she hadn’t ever known it to be any other way. She was Brittany and when she said what she was thinking people usually laughed at her or openly stared. Her parents let her be, her little sister was thoroughly amused by her, and the world kept spinning.
Somewhere along the line, though, she had learned to keep those thoughts to herself. It had been too late to change her old classmates’ opinions, though, and she faded into the background, disappearing into her unwillingness to be made fun of. This was a fresh start. No one knew her here. She was tired of being called stupid.
Somehow, though, they knew. She hadn’t even said a single word! And they had slushied her.
It didn’t seem fair.
She pushed through the front doors, nimbly stepping over the ridge on the ground, and out into the warm Lima afternoon. The parking lot was emptying out and she took a seat on the curb to wait for her mom. Her fingers found the soft grey t-shirt she was wearing and she glanced down at the Cheerios logo emblazoned on the front. It was a nickname for the cheerleaders at McKinley, which made sense because a cheerleader had given her the shirt. That cheerleader was proving to be the only good thing about her first day.
Brittany wrapped her arms around herself and looked back up at the parking lot.
-
The sun was sinking below the clouds when Santana left the locker room, her gym bag slung over one shoulder, Coach Sylvester's words still literally ringing in her ears. She was bone tired and hungry and it took an effort to keep her head held high as she walked out into the hallway.
She sort of hoped that Sam would come over later because she really wanted to just lay down with someone right then and try to recover some of her self-esteem. She knew the feeling would fade by dinnertime but right then she just wanted someone to hold onto to.
The front double doors quietly clicked shut after her. She was the last one out of the place, again, save maybe Shue and Rachel, who was probably still singing her little heart out in the choir room. That was how she liked it, though. Seeing the school empty, quiet, only her footsteps making noise- it made her feel like she had some sort of control over this place. She was wrapped up in those thoughts and walking swiftly down the breezeway to her car when she spotted someone on the curb, head in hands. Her feet stumbled over themselves for a second before she caught herself, her eyes widening.
The girl was blonde and tall and she was wearing a faded McKinley Cheerleading t-shirt and Santana couldn't believe she was running her for the third time that day. She hesitated but finally forced sound out of her mouth.
"Hey, what are you doing?" The words came a little harsher than she intended; but, when the blonde girl turned around Santana was smiling kindly at her.
"I think my cat hid my mom's keys again." The girl said, and she looked thoroughly upset at the idea. Santana frowned.
"You mean you've been sitting here since school got out?" The girl shook her head and turned back to face the parking lot.
"No, I had a meeting with Bambi earlier."
"Bambi?" Santana's eyebrows went up.
"The tiny woman with the big eyes? She said I have to join clubs."
"Oh, Ms. Pillsbury." Santana realized. She set her bag down on the cement and took a seat next to the girl on the curb. They sat quietly for a moment, staring out at the almost empty parking lot.
"I'm Santana, by the way." She turned her head and the blonde girl mirrored the motion. Their eyes met and the girl smiled a tiny little smile.
"Brittany." Santana offered her hand and the girl looked at it dubiously for a moment before her eyes brightened and she reached out to grab out. They shook hands and a smile bloomed on Santana's face without warning. She could feel it straight to her toes.
Just then, a car rumbled into the parking, crushing gravel under its tires. The two girls looked over and Brittany stood up almost instantly.
"That's my mom." She was grinning, and she looked back down at Santana and then toward her mom. The car rolled to a stop in front of them and Brittany put one hand on the handle before turning back to Santana. "I'll see you in art tomorrow." She promised, flashing Santana a sweet smile. Santana nodded and stood up off the curb.
"Yeah, see you later." She answered. She stood there watching the car drive down the rows and out of the parking lot, the sun setting at her back. Eventually, she realized how creepy she was being and swiftly turned and aimed toward her car.
When she finally sat down in her Mustang, she wondered at the warm feeling glowing in her chest, at the weird giddiness in her stomach.
She thought about Brittany's honest grin and smiled to herself.