Tina sat on Mercedes' bed quietly, listening to the loud black girl ramble on about how she felt like she could never sit next to Kurt because of his crazy fashion sense or something to that effect. She had been listening to this talk for days, and she really didn't care for it any more, but she kept to herself.
Mercedes stopped for a moment in her long speech to her friend, and looked over, notice the small gothic girl looking sadder then usual. She knew it wasn't her place to butt it, but she couldn't help but wonder what got the girl so down. Just the other day she was so happy because Artie had asked her out, and now she was Debby Downer. Mercedes' had assumed that the date went badly when Tina came to school in a somber mood and Artie refused to talk to her, but more then anything she wanted to know what happened, specifically.
"Tina," Mercedes spoke in a sickenly sweet voice, practically telling her to spill her guts about the date before she even asked, "How was your date with Artie?" It came out in a mocking manner, as if the loud girl were making fun of her tinier, sadder friend.
Mercedes smile disappeared when she saw tears form in her recently acquired friend's eyes. She knew that something went wrong on the date, and that it would probably be hard for Tina to talk about, even to her best friend, but if she was going to cry, then Artie must have really done her wrong.
A sniff escaped the Asian girl and she let a tear fall before opening her mouth to speak.
"I told him the truth about my stutter, and he practically told me he hated me!" She threw herself down on the bed, burying herself under the furry, brightly colored pillows, leaving the bigger, black girl to look at her, confused.
"The truth about your stutter?" Tina had forgotten that she hadn't told anyone else, and she knew now that she had to. Gasping in some air, she was able to tell her friend the story of how it came about, and why she kept it for so many years. She waited uneasily for her friend as she finished it, hoping that she would not be left friendless and alone.
Mercedes nodded her head softly as the girl cried and spoke, telling her why she did it and why she kept it. The girl sobbed as she spoke, so afraid that by telling her she would lose her friend. But Mercedes just nodded softly and smiled as she finished.
The bigger girl lifted herself from the bed and turned to face the other, before leaning down and hugging her. Tina smiled, hugging her back, and continued to cry. When she had settled down, Mercedes pulled away and looked down at her.
"You're really upset over this aren't you?" Tina looked up and nodded, feeling a little dumb for crying and getting so upset.
"Well you know what I think?" Mercedes sat back down, crossing her legs and looking towards the other girl. "I think Artie put way too much emphasis on your stutter. I mean you two have a lot of other things in common, and it's not like you become friends with him or were attracted to him because of his stutter, right?" Again Tina nodded her head.
"Well then why the hell is he making such a big deal about your stutter? You are more then that, and he knows it. I mean… Is he only attracted to girl with disabilities, cause is so, that boy needs some psychological help."
Tina bit her lip and looked down, thinking about Mercedes reasoning. It made a lot of sense, she thought. He had brought up her stutter around her a lot, even though they had bonded over other things like glee and there classes. She knew a lot about him, things that a lot of other people didn't know, and she knew it was the same for him.
Did he really only like me for my stutter?
Tina walked into glee the next Monday with a set goal in mind. Mercedes had told her to figure out why Artie really left her in the middle of their date. She had planned it all out, everything she was going to say and how she was going to say it and Kurt and Mercedes had decided what she was going to wear. Her hair was pinned up, and her outfit was outrageous yet gorgeous.
Artie was already there when she made her way into the choir room, and she strode over to the seat next to him, crossing her legs sassily like she had seen Kurt do so many times before. She stared at the boy until he finally looked over, annoyed. "What do you want?" His voice was harsh, and she almost felt like stopping the whole plan, and running out of the room, but she remained steadfast, and kept eye contact.
"Why did you really leave the date?" She managed to say the words with out hiccupping or stuttering, but it was still evident that she was nervous as hell. If her small hands were clasped tightly over one knee, they would be shaking.
His eyes widened as she asked the question, finding her new, strangely confident demeanor a little threatening. He struggled to find the words that he wanted to say, and by the time he opened his mouth, she had already begun to start speaking again.
"Is it because you're only attracted to girls with handicaps? Is that the only reason you asked me out, Artie?" She felt like a bitch, asking all these questions and forcing her voice to sound cool and confident. Really she just wanted to hug him and ask him to take her back, but she was too far gone. With a thumb up from Mercedes, she continued.
"I like you, Artie, and I feel like we know each other really well. I miss hanging out with you and I miss us being us, but if you only hung out with me because of my stutter, then I don't think we can be friends… I am and was not my stutter, Artie." And with that, she left. She knew that the plan was for her to stay and listen to his response, to understand his reasoning behind it, but she couldn't stay there without breaking down.
She walked softly over the Kurt and Mercedes, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder, and smiling softly before shutting her eyes in anticipation for another glee meeting that she would sleep through.