Author's Note: My other story, Nine on the Line, lacks one or two chapters until it's finished, but the idea for this one has been floating around my head for awhile now. I couldn't wait to start posting. Enjoy!
Mr. Schuester's assignment was simple: Make a speech in Spanish about something you really enjoy. Artie Abrams could have talked about any number of things that brought him joy: Glee, jazz band, guitar, even Spanish class itself. He liked taking Spanish with Mr. Schuester because he'd started New Directions, the club that had changed Artie's life.
But not wanting to be predictable, Artie chose a different topic for his speech
"I hate public speaking," Tina complained, pushing Artie to Spanish class while he carried their books in his lap. Their presentations were due today and she was a nervous wreck. "Remember how I told you that public speaking was my whole reason for faking the stutter? Well, I'm sorry, but I think I feel a relapse coming on."
Artie was glad that they could talk openly about Tina's stuttering charade now without huge fights. (But if Artie was really honest with himself, it still bothered him a little.) Artie couldn't relate to Tina's severe shyness any more than she could relate to the confines of his wheelchair. After a long and difficult internal struggle, he finally decided to let it go. It wasn't worth ruining a friendship.
"Tee, you worry too much," Artie said, twisting in his chair to look up at her with his usual reassuring smirk. "But not everyone gets to present today. You can put it off another day, you know..."
Tina licked her lips. "I dunno," she sighed. "I might be better off getting it over with. Why is it that I can sing a solo in front of the whole school but I can't do this?"
They were interrupted by Jacob Ben Israel, who met them at the door, pushing a large TV and VCR on a cart. "You said you needed this now, right?" He looked harassed and annoyed, but as the newly-elected president of the AV Club, delivering televisions was part of the job.
"Got my tape right here," Artie patted the VHS tape sitting in his lap. Tina leaned around his chair, her jaw dropping as she noticed the tape for the first time and realized what it was for.
"Visual aids!" she exclaimed, wistfully. "Why didn't I think of that?" Tina smacked Artie's shoulder in annoyance. "Why didn't you share your idea?" Maybe Mr. Schuester would just let me tape the thing and stay home sick, she thought, still looking for a way out of this.
"You'll see why I need it in a second," Artie promised. "I'm volunteering to go first. And ow, by the way." He rubbed his shoulder.
"Volunteering to go first," Tina muttered under her breath. "I don't believe you."
Mr. Schuester, hearing them as they entered the classroom behind Jacob and the TV, was all smiles. "I'd be delighted to have you go first, Artie."
"Suck up," Tina leaned over and whispered, before giving Artie's chair a hard push towards the blackboard. She turned and sulked, all the way to her desk. It was the Missouri Compromise in sixth grade all over again. He's going to use up my topic and talk about Glee club. He's probably got a tape of us at Sectionals to talk about.
Artie set the break on his wheelchair and took a few deep breaths, looking anxiously at the class. It didn't escape Tina's attention that Artie, who had no fear of public speaking, actually looked nervous today. She took note of the way he fidgeted with his gloves while waiting for Jacob to start the tape. A rare moment, but her usually brave and outgoing friend was definitely apprehensive about something.
"Me gusta... esquí." Artie tried not to feel ridiculous saying this from his wheelchair. He avoided looking any of his classmates in the eye, focusing on a spot on the wall instead. But he did briefly glimpse Mr. Schuester at his desk, leaning forward with interest.
As Artie spoke, his eight-year-old self came on the screen. He was on vacation with his family in Colorado, during one of the many holiday ski trips they'd taken. Eight-year-old Artie was fearless. He jumped from side to side on his skiis, traveling at top speed down a steep slope. Artie sprayed his sister with snow as he stopped, and she yelled at him to watch where he was going. "Watch this, are you getting this on tape, Dad?!" He gathered up speed, approached a small hill, and picked up his knees so that he was momentarily airborne before he landed flawlessly on his feet. Artie then skiied up to the camera, grinning like a Chesire cat and there could be no question that this was the young Artie Abrams. This was Artie before his paralysis, something no one in McKinley High School had ever seen.
"Mi hermana se trata de saltar, pero fracasa," Artie commented, as Amy Abrams then took a giant spill in the snow after a failed attempt at copying her younger brother. Only a few of his classmates laughed, a sure sign that the rest hadn't understood his Spanish.
"Eso bueno, Artie!" Mr. Schuester stood up and applauded when Artie finished giving his speech. Artie ducked his head shyly in appreciation and wheeled himself back to his desk. Tina's jaw was practically scraping the floor.
"Who's next?"
Artie's classmates slumped in their seats, not wanting to follow an obviously outstanding presentation. Rachel Berry was the only exception. She stood up confidently and made her way to the front of the class, dragging a rolling cart full of glittery posters. As she set them up, Artie watched Tina read them, mouthing the words, "New Directions." The largest poster boasted a picture of the club at Sectionals, surrounded by gold stars.
Tina turned a delicate shade of green.
"I have one day!" she complained to Artie, Mercedes, and Kurt at lunch. "One day to come up with a whole new speech because Rachel stole my topic. I should have known better than to write a speech about New Directions. But did I think of that? Oh, no, of course not..."
"Talk about your fashion sense," Kurt suggested, trying to be helpful. "I, for one, think its refreshing to see someone who isn't afraid to express her individually through her wardrobe. Although, if I were you, I'd go a little bit easier on the fishnets."
"Hey, I like her fishnet gloves," Artie piped up, smiling across the table at Tina. "I wouldn't change a thing."
"Let's not have any fashion advice from the suspenders-and-belt-wearer," Kurt admonished him.
Tina would have hurried to defend Artie's unimaginative yet adorable outfits, but there was one problem. She was still annoyed with him. It annoyed her that Artie never thought to pass on his idea for using a video in the speech to cut down on the amount of talking. This treachery was even worse than Rachel's A+ presentation about New Directions.
"Isn't there anything else you like to do?" Mercedes wondered aloud. "That's the topic, right? Any other hobbies? Shopping, sports, art..." Tina shook her head at each suggestion. "Damn girl. Well, I'd advise you to get more hobbies. In the meantime, nobody would know if you were lying, right?"
"I'm not sure I'm a good enough actress," Tina said, weakly.
"You fooled us all into thinking you stuttered for five years," said Kurt, innocently. When he caught sight of Artie's dark look, however, he blushed. "Oh, honestly, I thought you said you were over that..."
"I am," said Artie, a little too quickly. "Really I am."
"Speaking of speeches," said Mercedes, who wasn't in the same class as Artie, Kurt, Rachel, and Tina. "What's this I hear about your speech on skiing? I heard you showed a video and everything."
"Who... who told you that?" Artie glanced at Kurt, who shook his head in reply.
"Brittany mentioned it while we were in the lunch line," said Mercedes. "She said you had a video of yourself skiing with your family when you were a little kid. Is it really true?"
"It's not that unbelievable," Tina jumped to his defense. "Artie wasn't always in a wheelchair."
"Not about that," Mercedes shot Tina a rather withering look for being so touchy. Enough already, she thought. Just declare your love for the boy and be done with it. "I mean, about... about the accident. Is it true, Artie, that a skiing accident put you in the wheelchair?"
"WHAT?!" Tina burst out laughing. "Oh, that's rich! Is that what they're saying?"
Before Artie could reply, however, Noah Puckerman stopped by their table. Four pairs of eyes quickly trained themselves on Puck, all four faces astonished to see their friend from glee club standing within 100 feet from them outside of the choir room. Puck kept quiet about his participation in the club, although if directly asked about it, he'd say something like, "Yeah, I'm in glee club. What's it to you, punk?"
"H-hi Puck," Kurt stammered. "Nice hat."
"Yo, Abrams," he said, ignoring Kurt completely. Three of the four sets of eyes now trained themselves on Artie, who swallowed in fear. Puck had reached the point where he no longer sought Artie for patriotic wedgies or port-a-potty turnovers. But until now, there had never come a point where Artie had been called anything other than 'Wheels' or 'Wheelchair Kid.'
"So, I heard that snow skiing did that to you?" he asked, simply.
Tina thought she saw Artie glance her way before his answer. "Yeah," he replied. "It did."
