Well hello there! Welcome to The Worth of Reputation. This is a spin-off/sequel to my previous Puckleberry story Stranger Things Had Happened, only this time it's Santana and Brittany's turn to be in the spotlight. ABOUT TIME! You just can't ignore Santana for too long or else she gets pissed and exacts revenge on your ass. For anyone interested, the main Santana scenes that tie into this story are in chapters 3, 5, 7, and 9. Huh...all odd numbers. Weird.

This story essentially replaces the Season 2 timeline. Pretend it's the first day of school like in episode 1 of this season.

Anywhoo, so this is what happened...:

Rachel was dating Finn and she thought everything was finally going great, but then she started hanging out with Puck because he was the only one that kind of wanted to talk to her and things got sort of weird and Finn got jealous. But then Santana found out and told Puck that she owned Finn's v-card and Puck got pissed so he told Rachel. Then Rachel told off Finn and broke up with him, but started "pretend" dating Puck to make Finn jealous. Then Puck kind of fell in love with Rachel anyway and got drunk and admitted to her dad's on accident (whoops). But it's okay because Rachel realized she was into Puck too and they started dating "for real" last summer...

and that's what you missed ON GLEE (Stranger Things Had Happened)!

Santana Lopez smirked to herself as she swayed down the hallways of McKinley High. The smell of fear invaded her senses as the mass of new Freshmen parted like the Red-fucking-Sea. Some of them stared in awe, loudly whispering about the girl passing by them without so much as a hint of acknowledgment. Who was SHE? What grade was she? Did they have a chance? The girls, in their ridiculous first-day-of-high-school outfits, looked on enviously and wondered how that girl made popularity look so effortless. There was no simple answer Santana could give, even if she had any inclination to do so. Her master concoction of reputation, sex appeal, and attitude had won her the popularity and power she now held. Nothing but hard work and an inherited knack for business would suffice.

With summer now gone, her Cheerios uniform replaced the tank tops and shorts she'd existed in all break. The uniform was like a second skin. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but its feel brought with it an air of superiority; people knew who she was with a single glimpse of the McKinley red and white. As she rounded a corner another Cheerio stepped in line with her and matched her gate with ease. Brittany's blonde ponytail bounced as she excitedly rambled on about the pet rabbit in her science class.

"…and it's gray and fluffy and I named him Pig."

"Pig? You named a rabbit Pig?"

"It's cute" Santana rolled her eyes but smiled. So are you she thought to herself. Knowing she couldn't say it aloud, she reached out her pinky for Brittany to wrap around her own. "How are your classes so far?" Brittany asked, genuinely interested.

"Boring. I hate all of them because you aren't with me." Brittany half smiled, agreeing. "What am I supposed to do without my B fix everyday?"

"They have, like, stuff for that. My mom makes me take the chewable kind. They taste like gummy bears. Once I ate an entire jar because I thought they were regular gummy bears and my pee turned neon yellow. But don't worry, you can't die from it. My mom called my doctor to make sure."

Santana made no effort to correct her best friend as they headed towards Brittany's history class. Santana tried to walk Brittany to as many of her classes as possible, that way she wouldn't get confused or lost. As they made their way down C hall the inevitable happened. A Freshman boy with Beiber hair and a gray and black checkered jacket stepped into the middle of the hallway about ten paces in front of them. His cocky grin screamed I used to be the shit in middle school. Too bad for him, popularity didn't transfer.

"Hey girls."

"Move Cretin" Santana ordered, not missing a step. Her loud cheer voice carried the length of the hallway, catching people's attention. She noticed a few of last year's Freshman snicker to themselves. They knew and that made her smile even more maliciously. The boy didn't move, so overly confident was he. Time to change that…

"Cmon. Why don't you let me get to know you a little better. Both of you. I'm really good at listening."

Santana sighed. Did little boys really have to test her so early in the day? It wasn't even lunch yet. "Yeah…no. Check back when your balls finally drop." The boy's face reddened as Brittany and Santana let their pinkies loose, parted around him, and then re-joined on the other side. He muttered something about Santana being a bitch as they continued down the hall. For some perverse reason, Santana found this to be the most flattering thing he'd said to her yet. Spinning on her heels she blew him an ironic kiss and agreed.

"That's right, kid. I'm the true HBIC in this place and don't forget it. You're lucky I'm in a good mood or else I would destroy you. It's really that easy." Santana walked backwards a few steps, winked, and spun back around to link with Brittany again.

"You are so mean" Brittany giggled.

Santana cocked an eyebrow. "I'd say I'm off to a good start."

The rest of her classes weren't too bad. Santana had at least one kinda friend in each of them. Quinn was in 2, Puck and Finn were in 1, and Manhands was in 2 as well. Manhands wasn't exactly a friend, but at least she provided enough entertainment to get Santana through Chemistry and Pre Cal. That morning Santana had passed her previous record for scotch tape balls flicked and stuck in Rachel's hair. Previously, she'd managed 13. Now the record was 21. A vast improvement.

The most awesomely awkward class was English with Finn and Puck, of course. The boys sat on opposite sides of the room and continuously glared at each other. The drama concerning the Puck/Rachel/Finn triangle had come to a head mid summer and Santana could proudly say she started it. She was the one to tell Puck that Rachel hadn't taken Finn's v-card. That title belonged to herself. As she'd known would happen, Puck blurted it out to Rachel in some asinine fit of jealousy. As a result, the Hobbit broke up with Finn, her own heart breaking in the process. What Santana hadn't expected was for Rachel to give in to Puck's affection. She could have sworn Rachel would dismiss his smooth lines as a trap. To Santana's dismay, not only did Puck's words work, but they seemed to be genuine. She'd distanced herself from the football player the rest of the summer. That afternoon, though, walking in and seeing the drama buzzing in the air, Santana had to take a side. She chose Puck because even though they hadn't spoken, she knew the importance of allegiances. She plopped down next to him, not saying a word about how out of place it was for her to be there.

"So, Lopez…long time" Puck half whispered, leaning back and linking his fingers behind his head. Santana watched him cockily flex is biceps and groaned. Why had she ever let him crawl on top of her?

"Not my fault you've been getting busy with The Stubby One."

"Lay off her" he warned gruffly, still very defensive about dating Rachel Berry.

"Yeah, yeah. You know, I wouldn't put up with this shit from anyone else. Hooking up with Stubbles and disappearing…"

"So…"

"So."

"How's Britt?"

"Fine." Santana eyed the mohawked boy suspiciously. "Why?"

"Just wondering, seeing how you saw…a lot of her this summer."

Santana pursed her lips and sent an elbow into Puck's ribs, causing him to cry out under his breath. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know."

"Illuminate me."

"Well, you've been hooking up with her, right?"

"FUCK YOU, PUCKERMAN!" Santana bellowed, garnering everyone's attention. Their English teacher, Mr. Howard, sighed.

"Puckerman. Lopez. Do I have to ban you two from sitting together? Again?"

"Nah. Sorry Mr. H."

"That was your warning. If it happens again…. Just don't. So if we can all cease extraneous discussions, I'd like to continue."

Santana huffed in her seat and studiously ignored Puck.

"Hey" he hissed. Santana angled her body away from him. "Hey" he hissed again and poked her in the back. Santana whipped around and glared. "Lemme borrow a piece of paper?"

She didn't even bother giving him a hard time. Puck never brought anything to class except himself, but even that wasn't a constant. Santana dug into her backpack and fished out a new notebook which she slid over to him. A pen came shooting over next without needing a prompt. A few seconds later a piece of paper from her notebook bounced off her chest and landed in front of her. Determined not to let him one up her, she chucked it back when Mr. Howard turned around to write down a list of authors on the board. Puck threw it back even harder.

"It's a note, dumbass." Reluctantly she opened it. Inside was as single question in Puck's blocky handwriting.

Your not mad at me anymore?

Now I am she wrote back, correcting his grammar with an apostrophe and an e.

Nah. Just irritated.

Whatever.

How come ur not still for real pissed?

It wasn't worth the effort.

So you're cool with us? Me and Rach?

She glanced over at her friend and detected a hint of strain in his face. Maybe the silent treatment she'd given him for the summer had really bothered him. The radio silence had been mostly for herself, though; admitting that the Hobbit had trumped her was too much to handle.

Don't push your luck. I don't forgive and forget. I just ignore and adjust I guess.

Cool. So, Britt?

What about her?

I heard you weren't hooking up with your usual dudes this summer. Only her.

Fuck off.

Chicks and Gentledudes, denial. It's not just a river in Egypt!

That is sooo 4th grade.

Doesn't mean it isn't true.

Puck smirked to himself and pulled his phone from his pocket. Without needing to look he jammed out a text and sent it. He grinned smugly to himself before his eyebrows slowly furrowed. Snatching the paper back from Santana, he scribbled out a new note.

Hey…didn't I make you cry in 4th grade or something?

Santana sneered at him and angrily replied, ripping the paper. Yeah. You did. You cut off a chunk of my hair because you said you needed it for the tail to your raccoon skin cap. I fucking hate you for that, btw.

Whatever. It grew back fast.

No it did not you idiot. When the stylist tried to even it out, she had to give me a bob. My mom made me get extensions that weekend for a pageant I was in.

I forgot that you were in kiddie contests. Did you win?

Of course I did. I was an adorable child.

Oh. So what happened to you then?

"Jerk" Santana hissed under her breath, a smile fighting to make itself known. Puck grinned back and went back to texting.

PE was the only class Brittany ever did well in. She never understood the complexities of Spanish or why her history teachers always said the Cold War was so cold since it happened in Mexico or whatever. Books never meant that much. Sports, though, Brittany could get into. She understood movement, very complex movement. She also knew timing. It was why she could dance so well and picked up choreography quickly. It was also why she was responsible for a lot of the routines for the Cheerios.

Even though everyone thought it, Brittany wasn't a stupid girl. She just understood things that a lot of people didn't get. She could see the lack of connection they had with their movements. She saw it everywhere, at school, at the mall, sometimes even in Glee. That girl's steps were too quick. That boy leaned too much to his right. She saw their imperfections clear as day and it baffled her that no one else ever noticed. The same skills could been seen in Rachel. Rachel knew someone was going to go flat or sharp before they did. She could hear them reaching the pinnacle of their chest voice and knew that they would crack when they hit the next note because they didn't know. She was good. So was Brittany.

The first day of school, however, was about listening to the same rules she'd learned in elementary school. PE was about team work, not winning, so bullying kids for doing poorly was not allowed. The most important part was simply trying. Blah blah blah…. Her head was already somewhere else. Brittany was sitting along with the rest of her class in the endzone of the football field, but all she could notice was that the grass on her end was a lot more intact than on the other side. She tried to think back to the last time she'd cheered for the football team. Santana had looked really hot that night because they'd gone to the mall the day before and picked up a whole bunch of new eyeshadows and a new set of eyelashes. Santana was wearing them that game and kept making sexy eyes at Brittany all night to show them off. Then they'd gone to Santana's house and had sex because, really, who could resist Santana Lopez when she looked that hot?

That wasn't the point though. Was it? What had she been trying to think about? Santana…cheer…football…grass! So they hadn't really been cheering all that much, considering the football team was horrible. The other team had made a majority of their touchdowns in the first quarter and then slacked off for the rest of the game. Most of the other schools did that too. The first half had been spent looking to the right the entire time, which cramped up Brittany's neck. Santana had massaged it during half-time, before they got to perform, but the same thing had happened during the second half, only to the left. That meant the Titans' endzone was to the left during the first half and that was the endzone the PE class was sitting in. It made sense…

From behind someone's phone buzzed, distracting Brittany entirely. She turned around bluntly as Rachel Berry pulled her phone out of her bag and read the screen. "Is it Puck?" Brittany asked a little too loudly, garnering a few glares.

"Shh!" Rachel hissed

Brittany scooted back so she was next to Rachel and hugged her knees to her chest. Rachel wasn't so bad. She was really bossy all the time and most people hated her for it. Santana was really bossy too, though, so Brittany was used to it. Sometimes she wished Santana wasn't so mean to Rachel all the time, but then Rachel usually did something really rude and Brittany changed her mind. People didn't stay sympathetic with Rachel Berry for very long. As she watched Rachel try to secretly read her cell phone Brittany snorted. "You're really bad at breaking the rules."

"Excuse me?"

"Duh! When you text in class you have to put your backpack or whatever in your lap and just leave the zipper open."

"Isn't that just as obvious?"

"No. When I get asked about it I tell them I'm just feeding my lizard."

"Do…do you really have a lizard in your backpack?"

"Sometimes, but only when she's on her best behavior" Brittany answered cheerfully. She dipped her head far back and looked at the cloudless sky. It made her a little sad. What good was a bright blue sky if there were no clouds to decorate it? Rachel wearily watched Brittany. How anyone could be so pleasant, yet so out there was something she asked herself every time Brittany spoke. When Rachel's phone buzzed again Brittany tipped her head to the right and watched as Rachel pulled her bag into her lap and slipped her hands inside. Much better.

It was such a nice day, did they have to spend it in school? Even though they were outside, the football field still felt like school: miserably boring. Brittany closed her eyes and leaned back on her hands. At least it kind of felt like tanning, only with clothes. Rachel interrupted Brittany's daydreaming with a tap on the shoulder.

"Santana says hi."

Upon hearing Santana's name Brittany perked back up. "How do you know that?"

"She's in class with Noah right now."

"Who?"

"Noah."

"Who's Noah?"

Rachel sighed. "Puck is."

"Puck is what?"

"Noah."

"Rachel…" Brittany sighed, putting a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder sympathetically, "sometimes you just don't make sense. I thought I should let you know."

"Puck's real name is Noah, Brittany."

"Puck isn't his real name?"

"No."

Brittany gazed at Rachel with a wounded face. "I just always thought his mom was super mean, naming a kid 'Puck'…I feel like I've been lied to."

"…yeah…anyway, Santana says hi."

"Lemme see!"

Rachel flipped her phone around so Brittany could read the text. "Um, tell her hi back and that I miss her."

"Didn't you just see her?"

"So what?" Rachel shook her head slightly, but typed out the cutesie message. After learning about Santana and Brittany's secret lives that summer, Rachel had taken a closer look at how the two interacted. It actually was pretty cute. And so honest. She didn't think she'd ever seen Santana so earnestly interested in someone. There didn't seem to be any second agenda, either. They just loved being around each other. If only Santana wasn't so concerned with her image.

"NO! Wait!" Rachel jumped as Brittany lunged at her. "Let me do it." Without waiting for permission Brittany slipped the entire backpack from Rachel's lap. Thus began a text conversation lasting the entire period.

Hey. Britt here. Santana reading the phone or Puck?

(Five minutes later) Me. Puck made me fight him for it. Sup?

Hello and I miss you

Aww miss you too Bee. What class u in?

PE Yay!

I think you're the only kid that likes PE lol

Dunno why. Soooo much fun

I wish I was there with you

Me too

Santana propped her head in her hand and smiled. She knew Brittany was smiling too. Slowly an idea came to her.

What kind of phone does Berry have?

iPhone, y?

Imma send you something. Just accept

Kay

A few seconds later Rachel's phone buzzed and an incoming call box appeared. Brittany obediently accepted and was met with Santana's smirking face. A video call! Brittany gasped in surprise causing Santana to quickly bring her index finger to her pursed lips. Beaming, Brittany bounced once in excitement which made Santana smile. The Latina stuck out her tongue and squinted her eyes at Brittany, making the blonde giggle just like she knew she would. Wondering what was so funny, Rachel leaned over to see what was happening.

It needn't really be said that Rachel disapproved of the use of electronic devices in such a manner during school hours. The need, yes need, for the two girls to be together was just as disconcerting. Even then, they were just looking at each other. Nothing was being said because both girls were in class, but just the reassurance of a video stream was enough for them. The look on Santana's face as she silently watched Brittany smile back…it was so overwhelming. It was a look of want, seduction, admiration, joy…dare she say love? The look was everything, and from a pair of chocolate brown eyes that knew too much for her own good.

Santana spotted Rachel creeping in on their eye fuck fest and drew back with a gasp. What could she say? Seeing the Hobbit when Brittany was turning her on was startling.

"LOPEZ? What are you doing?"

Rachel and Brittany watched in horror as Santana's eyes, calm as they were, widened just enough to let out a hint of distress. Suddenly there was a lot of static noise, muffled sounds, and then darkness. They could hear a very muffled conversation from somewhere in Santana's classroom. A deeper, male voice grumbled and a higher, Santana voice mumbled back.

"Shit" Brittany moaned.

Suddenly there was a stream of light and the screen shown with red cloth and tanned skin.

"Where'd she put the phone?" Rachel whispered.

With a quick glare Brittany snatched the phone to her chest and shut it down.

"Nowhere" was her definitive answer.

Santana soooo loves Brittany. It's ridonkulous. And you KNOW she is totally going to invest in iPhones for her and Brittany so they can have hot video chat sex on the go. But seriously, where DID she put that phone? You're just going to have to wait and see I guess... I see London, I see France...