A/N: Enjoy!
Artie saw the new girl, propped in her wheelchair, staring through the open door to the dance studio, where the Ballet Club was having a rehearsal. He rolled up next to her and gently put a hand on Skyler's elbow. "Hi there," he said.
Skyler started a little, and then turned her chair to face Artie. "Hello," she typed.
"What are you doing?" Artie asked. He felt a little embarrassed about asking, but he also felt a certain kinship with Skyler that eased his mind; surely they had enough in common to overcome any sort of mental hurdle he'd set up.
She gave him a smile and looked towards her communication device. "I like to watch dancers," she typed. "They're poetry in motion."
"So… you weren't watching them because you're envious?" Artie asked, and flushed.
Skyler gave him an understanding smile. "Sometimes I watch them because I'm envious. But I've really come to terms with the fact that my body will never do those sorts of things, and I focus on what I can do."
Artie looked in at the Ballet Club members doing their plies and battements, and turned back to Skyler. "Are you going to lunch?" he asked.
"I don't eat by mouth," Skyler typed, and for the first time Artie noticed a thin little tube that ran up out of the collar of her lavender shirt and over her shoulder, disappearing over the back of her wheelchair. He could see little bubbles going down the tube, down towards her stomach. "But I would be pleased to accompany you to the lunch room to continue this conversation."
She put her wheelchair into motion, and Artie gripped his push-rims, and the two of them rolled down the hall.
In the cafeteria Artie scouted about for an open table, and led the way. He pushed chairs out of the way to make room for two wheelchairs, and turned to Skyler. "I'm going to get in the lunch line," he said. "I'll be right back."
"Sure thing," Skyler typed.
She had been sitting alone for a little while when Brittany came up, carrying her lunch tray. "I still think you're a doll," the cheerleader said. "But I like dolls."
Brittany chose a chair next to Skyler's and sat down. She opened her milk carton and stuck a straw into it. "I think you're a pretty doll," Brittany said. "Some dolls aren't so pretty. Like that doll in that movie."
Although that had to be the vaguest conversation starter Skyler had ever heard, she ran with it. "I think you mean Chucky," she typed. "And if you think I'm nicer than Chucky, I'm not sure if that's a compliment."
"Well, do you murder people with knives?" Brittany asked, innocently taking a drink of milk.
"Not lately," Skyler typed.
Brittany looked over at her in horror.
Skyler gave her a grin, and typed, "Just kidding."
Artie returned with his lunch tray, and Mercedes and Tina were following him. "I told them they could sit with us," Artie said, putting his tray on the table.
"We had a rough trig class," Tina said, sitting down and slinging her bag to the floor.
"Ms. Ellison just got dumped again," Mercedes added. "I swear, when her life is terrible, so is ours."
"We should just fix her up with someone nice," Artie said. "There's this guy who works with my dad who's single."
"Oh, are you talking about Brett?" Tina asked, sounding a little skeptical.
"What's wrong with Brett?" Artie asked, spearing some green beans with his plastic fork.
"He plays the accordion and he lives with his mother," Tina said.
"So – he's musically talented and he's frequently available for dates," Artie said.
Mercedes laughed. "You've got a good way of looking at things, Artie."
"Brett's a cute guy," Artie said. "And still single."
"Oh, yeah, who's going to let that perfect specimen of manliness get away?" Tina asked.
"Give me his number," Mercedes said. "I'll see if we can't hook him up with Ms. Ellison. She seems like the type who'd go for a musician."
"Just leave out the part about the accordion," Artie said. "For now. Until they get to know each other."
"I don't know what an accordion is," Brittany said, looking down the little spout into her milk carton.
"Mama's got a squeezebox, she wears on her chest" blared out of Skyler's computer.
Artie laughed into his green beans. "Exactly," he said.
"Classic Who," Tina agreed.
"Who?" Brittany wanted to know.
Rachel stormed into the teachers' break room and stomped over to where Mr. Schuester sat eating his peanut butter sandwich and reading a dated issue of People. "Mr. Schuester, we need to talk."
"Rachel," Mr. Schuester said, a little surprised. "What are you doing in here?"
"I realize that as an educator you need a place to relax and eat your… somewhat healthy looking lunch," Rachel said, "but I think that your duty as an educator must obviously outweigh your stomach's paltry desires."
"Is there something I can help you with?" Mr. Schuester asked, closing the magazine.
"Skyler," Rachel said, pulling out a chair across from him and sitting down.
Mr. Schuester sighed and squared his shoulders. "I thought you were okay with Skyler's presence in the glee club," he said, bracing for the inevitable attack.
"Oh, I am," Rachel said.
"Then can I get back to eating my sandwich?"
"Mr. Schuester, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're desperate for glee club members. And while I realize that the presence of more bodies is appealing…"
"Rachel, I don't mean to be rude, but could you get to the point so that I could finish my sandwich?" Mr. Schuester said pointedly.
"Do you know who her mother is? Or her sister?" Rachel asked.
"Skyler's mother is a nurse. You might see her here occasionally," Mr. Schuester said. "She'll be here to help Skyler with her machinery. And as far as I know, her sister's a student at Langford High."
"Her sister, Mr. Schuester, is Elizabeth Howard."
"Usually Skyler refers to her as Liz," Mr. Schuester said, still mystified.
"Mr. Shu! Elizabeth Howard is the captain of the Langford Lovelies – the best all-female glee club in Ohio. And her mother is their coach! Well, along with Rand Philippe, who is a total other story."
"Rachel," Mr. Schuester said.
"Do you think it's just a coincidence that Skyler showed up here? This song that she's getting us to sing – this random, no-words song with no potential for placement at sectionals – it's obviously a ploy to push the Langford Lovelies up into first place! Skyler's obviously come here from Langford to throw us off balance!"
"Rachel," Mr. Schuester said, "Skyler Howard is here because she wanted to be here. The fact that her sister is Liz Howard has nothing to do with it."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because up until two weeks ago, Skyler was homeschooled," Mr. Schuester said.
That threw Rachel for a moment. "What? Why would anyone choose to be here?"
"Professor Howard must have said some nice things about New Directions," Mr. Schuester said. "Is that so hard to believe?"
"A little," Rachel said, still trying to figure out all of the complexities of this problem.
The bell rang, signaling the end of Mr. Schuester's lunch period – and Rachel's – and the teacher stood up, crumpling his sandwich wrapper. "Get used to it, Rachel," he said. "Sometimes people see the best in us when we don't think it exists."