This Cheerleader's Trouble (And she's all mine) | Santana Lopez

9

A/N: Who's here?

Trigger warning for bullying and mental health talk!

Santana might not be our favorite handler of coming to terms with the idea she might be a lesbian, so please keep that in mind! Not all seas sail smoothly.

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As the end of the week rolled around, Sue had perfected making enough tension between herself and Mr. Schuester to waste an entire week of practice to prepare for Sectional.

Madison ran a hand through her hair and watched Quinn stand uncomfortably between Rachel and Finn on stage. She pushed her hair over her shoulders and allowed it to cascade past the back of the auditorium chair she was sitting in. Her attention tried to focus on Rachel's fast-talking, but when she thought she felt something touch her, she adjusted in her seat and crossed her legs to try and feel more comfortable sitting close to the other students.

"We would just like to say that although we find ourselves on opposite sides, we hope you enjoy our number, and we look forward to seeing yours as well!"

Again, Madison rolled her shoulders. She felt something touching her again and tried to ignore it, knowing that most of the time, it was just in her head. Her eyes flickered across the stage as she tensed and played with her sleeves until her nail snuck underneath and scratched lightly.

"Get on with it!" Sue yelled through cupped hands. "Enough with the jibber-jabber! Sing something!"

"Sue, you can't talk to kids like that." Mr. Schuester frowned and spared a quick look in the woman's direction before offering Rachel a reassuring smile.

Madison's eyes slowly closed as she focused on her breathing. Something was tickling her neck, and she wasn't entirely sure it was in her head. Still, she had touched back there four times to check and felt nothing. It would have been embarrassing to run out now and try to sort through the itchy feeling of something moving around on her skin.

Her fingers were laced with Kurt's seconds later against her will. She figured he had noticed her scratching and was trying to prevent another bloody sleeve from her naughty habits. It wasn't something she could avoid, not after the car accident. She recalled doing it when she was younger, but her mother always knew how to fix things.

Now, Paige was gone, and even years later, Madison had no idea how to control her compulsions. The scratching not being the worst of her anxiety-threaded habits.

"Alright, that's it!" Sue yelled, rising from her seat in the crowd before Rachel could finish the first note. "She had her chance. Everybody up. We're leaving!"

Madison took her hand from Kurt's and went to stand up from her chair. She yelped in surprise when a tug of her hair brought her falling back down to confirm her thoughts — Someone had been touching her.