AN: Hello Everyone! :)

Welcome to the official first chapter! :)

Thank you to my beta umbrella0326 for helping me with this! Luv you! :)

Thank you to Dawofmorning for reviewing! :)

Guys, this is Dave's first day at McKinley high! Let's see how it goes...

Artie was fun to write. :)

Please review. Please be kind. If you have questions let me know.

OK- I don't want to give too much away...

With that... Let go to school!

Chapter 1

When they emerged from her modest house, Dave squinted at the sunlight. He wished he could use his left hand to shield his eyes from the morning brightness like he used to. Instead, he had to make sure he was wheeling down the slightly declined walkway.

And behind him, quite predictably, he heard the clicking shoes of his aunt June. Wordlessly, they approached her car. Dave went over to the passenger side and opened the door. At least he was able to do that. With upper body strength that he wished he had when he was amble and a jock, he easily lifted his body and useless legs into the seat.

Suddenly, the chair was almost violently unlocked, pulled back and folded up. He could hear her heavy breathing as she pushed the chair and lifted up the trunk. June let moans and groans escape as she hefted the chair into the trunk, which messed up her hair a little bit. She slammed the trunk and took a surprising amount of time to make sure her hair was all right.

Dave peered into the windshield's mirror, watching her do this. A small compact mirror was in one of her hands, while the other worked a comb furiously through her hair over and over.

Meanwhile, Dave simply watched her. There wasn't anything else to do. With a little sigh, he glared at the backpack in his lap. He knew it would soon be filled with textbooks and homework assignments and class projects and any thing else high school-related. He shut his eyes for a long moment.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GOING BACK TO SCHOOL, Dave thought. He opened his eyes and June was STILL fixing her hair!

"Can we go please?" Dave yelled. He stared at her in the mirror and she came to a total stop, staring at him. Then, she slammed her compact shut and tucked her purse over her collarbone. June practically marched to the driver's side door and got in.

"Can't you wait a minute?" June muttered, starting the car.

"No! Not when I'm going to a place I REALLY don't want to go any-!"

"Shut up, Dave."

"The hell I will! Why in the good goddamn-!"

"Don't swear."

Dave shook with rage. "You have no idea how much I want to…"

"To what, Dave?" She asked as she pulled out onto the street.

"Never mind."

They drove in complete silence towards Dave's first day at McKinley High School.

.

It was actually a short drive. Dave had nothing to do except stew in anger, so he kept track of the number of city blocks it took to reach the school. Five. Just five blocks. She turned into the school's grounds and parked close to the gymnasium.

With a heavy sigh, she said, "I'll get your chair." Then, she opened the door, left, and slammed it shut.

I'LL GET YOUR CHAIR, Dave sarcastically thought to himself. And as usual, he heard her moans and groans of effort, along with a few curse words as he felt the trunk slam shut. He just stared ahead, not even bothering to look at the school.

Suddenly, his door opened and she positioned the chair. This was his last chance to escape doing what she wanted. But nothing came to his mind. Reluctantly, he hoisted himself into the chair and shut his own door shut. When she positioned herself behind Dave to push him, he slapped her hands away.

"I can do it." He acidly said. "I don't want people here thinking I'm an invalid and that I need…"

But he stopped talking. He realized he was talking to no one because his aunt June had already begun walking ahead of him. Dave Karofsky shook his big head and started rolling towards the school. At least the school looked decently sized. Chances of handicapped accessibility seemed…good. He quickly found the entrance ramp and they even had a handicapped door opener.

An eyebrow raised on his head. He seemed…more chipper.

That was until he got to the inner doors – the handicapped door was broken. June, who was already inside, pursed her lips and opened the door for Dave. He sardonically smiled up at her as he rolled by.

"I'm gonna be late for work." She muttered and increased her speed. Dave actually had to wheel harder just to keep up.

It looked like a standard high school. A trophy case was to the left, with the gymnasium beyond it. The hallways were littered with students, opening and closing lockers, chatting, heads bowed on electronic devices, and teachers wiping chalkboards. As he rolled past them, he watched people staring at him. But when he scowled at them, they quickly looked away. Dave sighed.

After a few turns down some halls, they finally reached the school's office. June abruptly turned around.

"This is where I leave you." She announced. And with that, she began to walk past him. But a silent panic struck Dave and he tried to say something. June stopped, looked down at him, and let a little sigh release. "You'll be fine, Dave. They'll tell you where to go."

Then, she left. All too quickly, the sound of her clicking heels was drowned by early morning student activity. He sat there, looking at his hands. He was probably in the way, since he stopped just inside the office door. But Dave didn't care.

"Um, excuse me?"

Dave looked up and nearly rolled his eyes. WHY DOES EVERY SCHOOL SECRETARY LOOK THE SAME?, Dave thought.

"Welcome to McKinley High School, Mr. Karofsky!" the energetic, brunette secretary said. Dave said nothing. "Here is your class schedule. We signed you up for basic classes. No AP classes or anything." She walked around and stooped down to his level. His eyebrows furrowed. "Now, do you need any special-?"

"I'm fine." Dave curtly said, taking the schedule from her hands. "I'm fine."

She stood up, staring down at him with a puzzled expression on her face. "Now, I could…e-escort you to your first class. From there you could ask any teacher for directions-"

"Doesn't this school have a school map?"

Her lips pursed together. "No, we don't." With that, she turned and walked behind the desk, staring down at her work. "Have a nice day."

She didn't looked back up. He didn't either. Instead, he just wheeled towards the exit before coming to an abrupt halt.

"I…" Dave began. The secretary looked up at him, her hazel eyes matching his. "I don't know where," he glanced at his schedule, "first period American Government is."

Her face brightened. "Well, I'll just take you there!"

Dave half-smiled and left.

After that, Dave's day was consumed with phrases like, 'where's this class?' or 'where's the science hall?' or 'excuse me' or 'where's the ramp?' or 'excuse me!'. Once in a while, he said 'EXCUSE MEEE!' But that didn't happen too often. Often enough, though, for Dave.

Lunch was an adventure. Eyes poured over his arms pushing his wheels, the black and aluminum chair, the people getting out of his way, and the staring. Always the staring. Rude as can be, the staring grated his skull and forced his teeth to grind. And when his mean eyes stared at THEM, eyes sometimes went down or to the right. Sometimes, they'd look back up momentarily and then right back to their disgusting lunch.

Dave grabbed a tray and set it on his lap. As expected, lunch ladies with good intentions tried to make his life "easier", but instead, he verbally growled at them and they went away. He ate alone. Dave violently shoved a chair out of his way with his chair and he wheeled up to the table. His lasagna and green beans stared up at him and he didn't want to look back up.

He didn't want the stares.

He didn't want the PITIFUL stares.

He didn't want the offers for help.

He didn't want his chair.

So, he ate in silence, barely eating his food despite the moaning from his belly. Long, lonely, lazy minutes drained and he finally pushed his food away. Bravely, he finally looked up and at the cafeteria.

No one was looking at him as he craned his head. A soft sigh of relief blew from his mouth. But then, there WAS someone looking at him from afar. Dave looked at him too. He wore that God-awful red Letterman coat and nerdy glasses. Beyond that, the kid looked like an ordinary jock. They just continued to look at each other. But Dave noticed he didn't feel any hostility looking at this amble boy.

Finally, the jock nodded to him and returned to the rest of his hockey friends or jock friends or whatever they were. Dave then turned to his self-imposed isolation.

The afternoon was basically the same. More classes, more stares, some homework, students trying to do the right thing by moving desks (which Dave wouldn't admit WAS helpful), more stares, more boring lectures, and…more stares.

In other words, it was one of the worst days of David Karofsky's life. It rivaled the night of that accident.

Dave shook his head and couldn't wait for the final bell. He deftly texted his aunt to be there to pick him up from school. The teacher was droning on and on and on. He wasn't sure, but he thought the teacher was going on about civil rights or something. And then, he wanted to crawl into a hole and die when the teacher mentioned the Americans with Disabilities Act.

GEE, I WONDER WHY THE FUCKER MENTIONED THAT! Dave thought.

Finally, finally, the bell rung. This awful school day was over.

If Dave thought the halls were crowded in the early morning or at lunchtime, they were nothing compared to the end of the school day. He never noticed this before. But now, confined to a chair, it took on a new series of challenges.

As he wheeled down the hall, he often had to change his speed or even weave a little. Students who were laughing and smiling with their friends over stupid stuff, would see him coming and the smiles would vanish from their faces. Instead, they'd quietly get out of the way, like a tyrant approaching them.

Dave cruelly smiled to himself. After all, getting through tough times sometimes requires dark humor.

He was nearing the gymnasium and the trophy case. The exit was beyond that. And of course, a sociology textbook had to fall out of his bookbag. Wheeling to a halt, he reached down to pick it up only to have it absentmindedly kicked! Growling, he started to wheel forward to get it when it was abruptly picked up. Dave came to a stop and looked up at him. His jaw dropped.

There, standing with the textbook, was that jock from the lunchroom. A goofy smile was on his face, his brown eyes shining behind those nerdy glasses.

"I figured," the jock said, "that you might need this." He handed the book over to Dave. And when he did, Dave grabbed the book and looked up again. The boy looked at him with a kindness that wasn't what Dave expected. Instead, he saw an open generosity that threw Dave off.

"Thank you." Dave muttered. He tucked the book into his bag. And when he looked up, the boy just stood there, a half-smile now on his face. Suddenly, he extended a hand.

"I'm Artie."

"Dave."

They awkwardly shook hands. Dave could feel that his hand was rough, probably from playing sports. But it felt warm. Familiar.

Finally, they released each other's hands.

"If you'd," Artie began, shoving his hands into his letterman jacket, "like to join-"

"No. Thanks for the book." And then, Dave began wheeling towards the exit. "Now, kindly FUCK OFF!"

He wheeled past the stunned jock. Artie, with a shocked expression on his face, watched him roll down the hall, and awkwardly out the door.

"Well, hello to you too."

.

AN: Well that was... Awkward! Yikes! Poor Artie. Dave was being a jerk. Anyway I'll to update as much as I can. Have a Nice Day!-ILOVESMESOMEGLEEX3