A New Beginning

“J.Lo!” Coach Sylvester barked during practice. “In my office! NOW!”

My heart started to race as I weaved my way through the group of cheerleaders, feeling all their eyes on me. I wanted to believe that I was going to be rewarded for something, but the logical part of me knew that I was probably going to be chastised. Maybe Coach Sylvester had finally figured out that I was actually quite a shitty dancer and I didn’t have a single idea as to what I was doing.

When I stepped into the office, Coach Sylvester was sitting behind her desk, scribbling in a notebook furiously. She only looked up when I shut the door a little too loudly.

“J.Lo, sit down,” she started, closing the book, keeping her place with the pen.

Hesitantly, I plopped my butt down in the chair and kept my mouth shut, waiting for her to start the lecture.

“J.Lo, I had my doubts when I let you join the squad, as I’m sure you know.” I didn’t. “After all, the only credibility I had from you was that you were related to Santana.”

Here it comes, I whispered in my head. I was going to be cut from the squad, tossed out on my butt. Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of the plan anymore, considering that was pretty much abandoned. I didn’t hate Santana, I didn’t want to knock her down a peg. It wasn’t like Puck and I had to hold on to it so that we could spend time with one another, since we were going out now. This would be a closure of some sort, an excuse for me to bow down from my (kind of) popularity and disappear into the masses.

“But you’ve shocked me.”

…What?

“You are a gifted dancer. Sometimes, I even feel like you might be up to Santana’s standards. Which is why,” Coach Sylvester walked around her desk, leaning against the front as she watched my face carefully while saying, “I’m promoting you to co-captain.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, shock sucking all the air out of my lungs at once.

“I know, it’s unconventional, but since I’m the one and only coach, I can do whatever the hell I want. So, how about it?”

Co-captain?! It was more than I ever could have hoped for when I started this journey of knocking out Santana. But since that wasn’t important anymore…should I take the position?

Of course I should! I genuinely liked being a Cheerio most of the time, even though it was almost like I was the odd man out a lot. “I’d love to,” I responded.

“Great. Now get your ass back to practice before I change my mind.”

I hopped out of the seat and hurried back to practice, almost feeling like I was floating on air.

* * *

After practice, I changed within five minutes and high-tailed it to the boys’ locker room. It seemed like Puck was taking positively forever, and I actually debated going in there to get him.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, he finally emerged, his Mohawk still wet from his shower. “Guess what?!” I exclaimed, not even waiting for him to see me.

He looked taken off-guard for a second before he regained his composure. “What?”

I made myself take a deep breath before I spoke, knowing that I was going to word-vomit all over the place. It turned out to be useless, anyway, because I did just that, speaking so rapid-fire that even I didn’t understand what I said.

There was a long silence after I finished before Puck finally sighed and said, “…What?”

Taking another gulp of air, I made myself speak slowly. “Coach Sylvester is so impressed with me that I just got promoted to co-captain! And I’m only a sophomore!”

“Wow,” Puck congratulated. “That’s great!” He pulled me close to him, his arm draped across my shoulders. “Isn’t it kind of weird that she promoted you in the middle of the season, though?”

“It’s totally weird,” I agreed, “But she said that she was the coach, so she could do whatever the hell she wanted to.”

“Fair enough.” It was quiet before Puck spoke up again. “God, this would have been perfect for the plan.”

“I know. I already thought of that. Too bad it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“No,” he agreed. “It doesn’t.”

* * *

I stood outside Santana’s closed door, figuring that I should be the one to inform her that we were now on unequal footing. Part of me didn’t really want to tell her, since I was kind of scared to how she’d react. She had been a cheerleader for so much longer than I had. She had to work hard to get to where she was. I was just put on a pedestal from the get-go because I was related to her.

“I know you’re standing out there,” Santana called out, her voice biting. “Your weight is making the floorboards creak.”

“Oops,” I muttered as I opened her door. “I was just working up the courage to talk to you.”

“If you’re going to tell me that you’re the new co-captain, I already know.”

My eyebrows drew together in confusion. “How did you-?”

“Because I was the one who told her she should go through it.”

The shocked silence settled between us as the truth seeped through my body. “What? Why would you do that?”

“Because you deserve it.” She shrugged, sitting back down on her bed.

I kept staring at her, waiting for an elaboration.

“And, okay, I need your help with something.”

Bingo. “And what would that be?” Because even though she had an ulterior motive, I didn’t care. She could have told me that she murdered someone and wanted the weapon hidden, and I would have complied without batting an eyelash.

Santana didn’t answer right away, instead debating in her head which words to use. “I need your backup with something.”

Immediately, the atmosphere in the room changed. Before, it just felt uncomfortable, but now it was very serious. “Backup with what?”

She bit her lip as she crossed her arms over her chest, clearly uncomfortable. “You know how Brittany and I fool around a lot?”

“Yeah?”

“Look, I’m not even going to do this. I’m just going to tell you point-blank.” She hesitated for a second as she gathered some courage. “I’m a lesbian.”

“Okay,” I replied, completely unfazed. All it did was confirm what I had thought weeks ago. “What do you need my help with?”

“Brittany told me that I should tell my parents. I just…I need you to be there for me when I tell them. Just in case it ends badly.”

“You got it,” I grinned. “And Santana, I’m glad you told me.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She gave me a small smile. “Thanks for being cool with it.”

As I left the room, I felt a surge of happiness. Everything was clearing itself up, and I knew that there was absolutely no more hostility between Santana and me.