The Girl Next Door (Brittana Fanfic)

Chapter 23

"WHAT IS THIS HORROR?" Sue Sylvester spits through the giant microphone, holding it so tightly that her knuckles turn white. "YOU ALL MAKE STEPHEN HAWKING LOOK LIKE AN OLYMPIC GYMNAST!" She roars while Brittany cringes under each vicious flick of the coach's sharp tongue. Brittany takes her time tying her shoelaces, looping each knot with error yet on purpose while she watches the now-exhausted-and-pretty-pissed-off Cheerios complain about their fatigue on the field. Brittany shivers, sitting alone on the frosty bleachers, wearing nothing but the symbolic red and white uniform that covers only half her body. She must have been crazy to have agreed to this. Maybe she was hypnotised by Sue Sylvester's toe-crippling tone when she had said yes. Or maybe it was just the sheer determination to get better which influenced her decision. Yet, as Brittany witnesses a bunch of hunched up cheerleaders vibrate cheerlessly across the grass in an attempt to warm up, she concludes that each and every one of them must have been put under Sue Sylvester's spell, because any other explanation would have been illogical.

"I can't feel my fingers!" A girl with red, curly hair and a face painted with freckles complains. Brittany watches fearfully from a distance as the coach widens her eyes with confined rage and slowly lifts the microphone to her lips once again while the rest of the group gasps aloud. The petite redhead can only swallow with the most difficulty from fear.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY CHEERIOS!" Sue blasts through the microphone as the whole squad, including Brittany on the bleachers, flinch under her demand.

"B-but what did I do?" The redhead shrieks while the rest of the group turn to gawk at her. Brittany bites her nails and taps her foot nervously, unsure whether to run away now or stay and witness the outcome of the ginger-haired girl's fate.

"When I was a kid, my mother forced us to eat soap if we ever complained about something we should have appreciated," The coach begins to explain, walking back and forth in a military fashion in front of her dancers. "Now, if I was principal here, I would have that rule made mandatory and have you eat a block of grimy used shower soap each day for a week," she smiles as the rest of the girls all grimace in disgust. "But I'm not principal, which, in my opinion, is absolutely preposterous. So the next best thing I can do is have you off my Cheerios because guess what, Ginger Spice? You complained and I don't have room for complaining unless it's Will Schuester complaining about the fact that I parked my car horizontally in his space this morning," Sue shrugs. "And if you complain, that means you don't fully appreciate your position on the squad and you no longer deserve to take that trophy home when we win Nationals next month."

"I d-do appreciate it, coach!" The girl cries out. "It's just that it's really c-cold out here today," she sniffles.

"If anyone else is cold, put up your hand," Sue orders and waits while the other girls anxiously look around amongst themselves, watching if anyone dares to raise their hand although their teeth rattle together from the obvious chill. Content with proving her point, Sue turns to the girl and brings the microphone to her mouth. "Scoot!"

The poor girl nearly jumps out of her uniform all together and when she realises that she has just been kicked off the squad, her eyes glass over, her bottom lip begins to quiver and a small whimper escapes her mouth. Not giving any sympathy, the coach sends her on her way and soon she's running across the field in a flood of tears with her face hidden in her hands.

"Uhm... coach?" Another girl with dark brown hair and who appears to have had one too many spray tans asks. "How can we compete for Nationals now that we don't have enough members on the squad?"

"Good question, Snooki," Sue pops her lips, executing a smug grin before turning to face Brittany who appears more dazed and confused than a deer in the headlights could ever be.