A/N: Written for hiatus_glee on LJ, #3 - Snow Day.
"All Lima area schools will be closed tomorrow, February 8, 2010 in preparation for the big snowstorm that's headed our way. Don't leave your houses unless you have to, folks. Experts predict that this will be the worst blizzard to hit the area since the deadly storm of 2002. The 2002 record-setting storm claimed the lives of-" I slammed off my radio, having heard quite enough for the night. I was asleep before I even turned over.
"Hello?" I didn't even have to wait for the lyrics to kick in to know it was Tina. She'd chosen the ringer for herself, Mr. Brightside by the Killers. The song was strangely appropriate after the sticky situation we'd found themselves in a few months back and the eventual makeup session we'd shared.
"Hey, sleepy head," she giggled softly. "Since we don't have school today, I'm going to take you on a date."
"That's really cute, Tee," I smiled despite myself. "But me and snow don't get along. I'm staying home today." I shuddered, picturing my un-plowed driveway, the mounds of impassable snow drifts and lots of ice. My mind flashed back to when I'd just turned ten and there had been a huge blizzard. We didn't have time to shovel and salt the driveway, so my father had carried me over to the van, figuring that doctor's appointments somehow outweighed my dignity. Besides, snow always reminded me of the accident... I swallowed hard and shook my head defiantly.
Tina was actually laughing at me. "Did you look outside yet?"
"No," I said, low. "You woke me up."
"So go look!" She was actually hyper and I knew why. She'd loved snow ever since her parents had moved here from Florida when she was in eighth grade. It was like she was born to be in cold, miserable weather.
I decided to humor her and shoved on my glasses. I sat up a little in bed and crept up towards the window next to me. I pushed back the curtain and gasped. The sky was steel gray and wind was whipping through the trees, but the ground was completely bare. The grass and bushes were just as shriveled and forlorn as they'd been for months, but somehow they'd escaped a new coat of white snow. "What in the world?"
"They were wrong," Tina's laugh was magical in my ear. "I don't know why, but we're going to enjoy it. I've got my mom's car for the day and we're going to paint the city red."
Even though I could hear the excitement in her voice, I was hesitant. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"OK, so we'll use yellow or blue," she laughed again, referring to each of our favorite colors, respectfully.
"It's not that, Tee." but I was smiling again. What was it about her that just made me want to smile? "And why are you so hyper? It's only 9 in the morning."
"I might have had too much coffee," I could almost hear her smile. "But what's bothering you?"
"I -um, I haven't really been in a regular car since the accident." We took my dad's van everywhere. It was just easier.
"Wh-what? I-I-I, oh god, Artie." She choked, her bad-habit stutter suddenly back in full force. She was quiet for a long minute. "When my aunt was sick, I saw her do it a few times. It didn't look that hard."
My stomach was shaking and I glanced at the wheelchair next to the bed. Her aunt hadn't exactly been paralyzed... I caught myself before I threw that in Tina's face. "Yeah, I did it in therapy. It's not that hard."
"OK," she said brightly. "You'll be ready an hour?"
"Sure," I chuckled slightly.
"Yay!" If only my nerves could calm as quickly as hers. "I'll honk for you."
"Great." I hung up the phone and hurried to get ready.
She was right on time, honking the horn with a bit too much energy. I gulped down the rest of my sweet and light coffee and rolled to the front door. I grabbed my coat and held it up out the front door at her with a big smile. She nodded; she was wearing a thick wool hat, scarf and gloves. I took my time dressing myself for the outdoors. I was never one for the cold. Finally, I had no choice but to roll myself down our wide wooden ramp to the driveway. Thank god there was no black ice. Tina got out of the car and opened the passenger side door awkwardly. I shivered from the cold and quickly shifted myself from one chair to another. No big deal. Tina gratefully stowed my wheelchair in the trunk for me. It was all almost too easy. "Where are we going?" I asked my girlfriend as she climbed in the driver's seat.
"You'll see," she smiled, glancing at me before putting the car in reverse.
"Are you still on a coffee high? I'm still waking up,"
She giggled, carefully checking her rear view mirror while she backed out of the driveway. "I'm just a little bit excited."
"Oh no," I shook my head. "We're not going to Dave and Buster's are we?"
She chuckled. "Maybe."
"It's 10 AM on a weekday. They're probably not even open."
"Oh, they're open all right. I checked their website. They're having a special No-Snow Day today."
Even I chuckled at the bad pun. "I'm no good at any of the games."
"Lies!" She threw me a look. "Don't forget the last time we went... You got like 3000 tickets on that one game."
"Dumb luck," I smirked.
"I'll pay for a round of Guitar Hero, if you want."
My eyes narrowed, not sure if this was a trick or not. I didn't really care. "You're on."
She did a great hand pump and exclaimed, "Yes! I've pretty much got you captive anyway."
I chuckled. "True."
I smiled at the sight of the empty highway as we cruised towards the mall. It seemed as though everyone had taken the weather man's advice and stayed home. I didn't really blame them; Tina's tiny car was practically shaking in the wind. I gripped the car door till my knuckles turned white.
The car was too quiet, so I turned on the radio to the hits station. The DJ was blabbering about the lack of snow. I tried another station. They were playing the new Coldplay song and I settled back in the seat. I glanced at Tina, who was smiling mischievously to herself. "What?" Tina asked suddenly.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this..." I said softly.
"Why?" She chuckled. "This could be fun."
"I suppose so." I smiled for her sake.
We pulled into the nearly empty parking lot almost half an hour later. Tina pulled up next to the disabled spot and a very familiar black SUV. "Hey, isn't that-"
"Never mind that," Tina smiled almost too sweetly. She backed out of the car and pulled out my chair. Once I was settled, she pushed me up to the door.
The inside of the arcade looked dark and deserted, but Tina just pulled open the door and pushed me in. I'd assumed she would go to the vending machines to refill our D&B cards, but she went the other way, off to the bar and the party rooms. I caught a glimpse of some very familiar faces sitting just past the glass windows of the first room. "What the--?" I looked up at Tina, who was smiling widely. She opened the door to the party room.
"Surprise!" The whole room yelled as I entered. Tina pushed me over to the empty space at the head of the table. Finn and Puck lifted up a huge cake with 17 candles on it. Someone, probably Tina, had written 'Happy Birthday Artie' and decorated it with a guitar and music notes. The room burst out into the best version Happy Birthday I'd ever heard. I looked around the room and the familiar faces from glee club smiled back at me. Even Mr. Schue and Emma were there, leaning against the back windows of the small room. By the time they finished the song, I was smiling so hard that I almost forgot to blow out the candles. As I did, I made a special wish...
"But my birthday was last week," I chuckled, glancing up at Tina, the best friend anyone could wish for.
She slapped me hard on the shoulder. "Way to be appreciative. I never could have surprised you on your birthday." She rolled her eyes because my mom pretty much had that day to herself.
"True," I chuckled, pushing up my glasses. Tina cut into the cake and started passing huge slices around the room.
"We all chipped in and got you something," Rachel stepped up and handed me a small box. I pulled it open to reveal a Dave & Buster's gift card for $50.
"Sweet," my smile betrayed me.
"Hey, Wheels, I hear you're pretty good at hitting the bonus spot with your balls," Puck said. Only he could make a carnival game sound dirty. "Let's see what you've got."
"Yeah," Tina smiled as I rolled out of the room next to her, "and after that, Guitar Hero. On me of course."