Tina stood at the window and stared outside at the falling specks of snow. The snow was falling lightly, but the outdoor landscape was already beginning its transition to total white. Tina shook her head at the irony of it: the forecasted storm of the century beginning the day after school had let out for holiday break. After all, what good was snow if it couldn't bring some unexpected days off from school as well?
Letting the curtain fall back into place, Tina turned away from the view trying to figure out what to do. Yes, there was the big project for her World Studies class that was due after vacation that she could be working on, but she had to honestly admit she wasn't in the mood to start it. And flipping through the channels earlier had brought the realization that there was nothing good on TV to occupy her time either. She collapsed on the nearby couch with a sigh. Earlier in the week, she had made plans to go to the movies with Mercedes, but an unexpected bug had brought an end to that plan. A quick text from Mercedes that morning had reported she was stuck in bed, feeling feverish and coughing up a lung.
Tina picked up a magazine from the nearby coffee table and began absent-mindingly flipping through it. It was one of her father's Newsweek magazines. Yes, it was a definite sign she was bored. With her father away on a business trip and her mother working on paperwork of some kind in the office down the hall, the house was quiet…too quiet. Tina thought of grabbing her iPod, but it was upstairs in her room and although the distance wasn't far, she realized she was feeling too lazy to walk up and get it. As she flipped through the pages of the magazine looking to see if there were any articles halfway interesting, she began humming the melody to the latest song they had been rehearsing in Glee with Mr. Shue—an odd mash-up no one had initially thought would work well-together, but somehow actually did.
"This is the day…" she sung lightly to herself, "see it sparkle and shine…"
She began to think of Glee. Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Puck, Kurt, Mercedes, Artie—they were an odd mix of personalities themselves, but somehow they all worked well together too. When she had first signed up for New Directions, Tina never imagined she'd actually call some of the football players friends, let alone several of the Cheerios, but some five months into Glee, they actually were. Yes, Puck was notorious for pretending not to know her (or more accurately: to hate her) outside of practice, but she knew it was primarily an act: a way to save face in front of his other friends. If no one else was around, even he'd give her a nod sometimes as they passed in the hallway.
In fact, it really was too bad that Glee didn't have rehearsals over the holidays. Yes, she had groaned with the rest of them when Rachel, the ever-constant perfectionist, had asked Mr. Shue if they shouldn't schedule a few rehearsals to keep up their skills, but now she wished that he had agreed. Seeing everyone each afternoon seemed normal. It was actually strange to sit at home and realize she wouldn't see everyone again for two whole weeks. Although Mr. Shue was probably right—they did deserve a break after all the long hours they'd been putting in—Tina wished the break could be more exciting. So far, the start to this vacation was seeming relatively depressing.
After finding nothing particularly interesting in the magazine other than an article about a Broadway revival of Spring Awakening, Tina tossed it aside. She was just about to get up and head into the kitchen in search of something to eat, when her phone buzzed. Flipping it open, she was surprised to see a text from Artie.
Hey T—Getting buried by this snow yet?
Tina smiled. It felt good to be remembered by Artie, especially after everything that happened in the past. She still often wondered what would have happened if she hadn't confided in him the truth about her stutter. Although she told herself continuing the lie would have been a bad thing, she also highly regretted how the truth had brought such an immediate end to what had seemed like the beginning of a promising relationship. He had stayed her friend, but there were many days when she wished she could just take back what she had revealed. After all, she knew, deep in her heart, she still really liked Artie.
No, I'm just buried by boredom.
She typed in her response and hit the send button. Tina stared at the screen, waiting a moment to see if there would be any immediate reply. She was rewarded by another vibrating buzz. Reading Artie's message made her heart rate accelerate just slightly:
You can always come over to my house and hang out if you want.
Come to Artie's?? Although she did know where he lived, Tina had never been inside his home, so this request was a first. She considered the feasibility of visiting. With the snow falling, would her mom be willing to drive her?
There was only one way to find out, so she headed down the hall towards her parents' office. "Mom," she called, sticking her head in the doorway, "Anyway you can give me a lift to Artie's?"
Mrs. Cohen-Chang looked up from the papers that were spread in front of her. "Artie? Is that one of your friends from chorus?"
Tina nodded. "Umm…he asked if I wanted help going over the new song Mr. Shue is having us learn," she hurriedly added. She knew her mom always liked the idea of Tina putting in music practice time. Although instrumental music (specifically the piano) had always been Mrs. Cohen-Chang's preference for her daughter's focus, when Tina had taken up choral class (her mom's name for Glee), she had accepted it as a second-best option.
"Well," her mom began as she surveyed the papers on the desk, "I do have to run a few of these over to my boss in a bit. I suppose I can drop you off on my way. Go get your warm jacket and make sure you pull out a hat and scarf. It's cold outside."
Tina turned and headed back towards the front hall, rolling her eyes slightly at her mom as soon as she was out of her mom's sight. Of course, it was cold. It was snowing! She headed up to her room to grab her jacket, reopening her phone on the way so to let Artie know her decision. She bit her lip slightly, trying to decide how to phrase things, and ultimately decided just to keep it simple.
Ok. Mom will bring me over in a few.
