Quinn corners Artie the next day at school. He and Tina have been absent the last two days. Their absence in and of itself is noticeable. Tina never misses school, and Artie has his doctors appointments in Columbus on the weekend. He never misses school without warning people first, unless something is really wrong.
Its Puck who tells Quinn where she can find Artie. She's not sure if this is a good thing, or a bad one. Puck and Artie don't have any classes together except Glee. Quinn is convinced her baby daddy knows Wheel's schedule for only nefarious reasons. He doesn't have a great track record. She knows that the Cheerios sometimes track girls who they plan to slushy, but it never occurred to her to memorize schedules.
Quinn finds Artie outside his civics. He has a scowl on his face. She isn't really surprised; Artie complains to his fellow Muppet babies on a regular basis about Mr. Benedict. He's one of Sue's cronies, and has spent the past few months ordering pizza and booking hotel rooms for the Cheerio's various trips. Artie was incensed last week that the teacher couldn't locate the Gulf of Mexico on a map, to explain the location of the BP disaster to Brittany.
"Where's Tina?" She asks him.
Artie whirls in his chair. "Jesus, Woman!" He exclaims. "You're a ninja."
Quinn smiles. She hasn't gone back to squeaky tennis shoes or heels since her baby was born. Instead, she prefers soft slippers that barely make a noise when she walks. "You weren't paying attention," she accuses.
Artie shrugs, "True enough."
Quinn glances up at the clock. She has three minutes to get across the school. She needs to make this quick. "Where is Tina?" She asks, trying to sound more gentle than bitchy.
Apparently, she doesn't succeed, because Artie's face falls. "Sick," he says.
"Tina doesn't get sick," Quinn says. Its true. She's never know the Goth girl to get anything worse than a cold. She doesn't even have the seasonal allergies that tortured Quinn all through her childhood.
Artie looks at Quinn blankly. "Of course she gets sick," he says. "And, she's home sick, today." He looked like he didn't want to be pushed any further.
Quinn checks the clock. She has to run if she's going to be on time for Pre Calc. If she arrives late, Mrs. Fibonacci will make Quinn work problems on the board. Quinn hates explaining the math she's stumbling through. "Fine," Quinn says, and hurries away to her math class.
Quinn finds Artie in the choir room. He's sitting alone, fiddling with guitar. Maybe he's hiding from Azimo and Karofsky. The bullies attacks have intensified.
"Did Tina's parents find out about her eating disorder?" Quinn asks point blank.
"Eating disorder?" Artie looks confused. "Tina doesn't have an eating disorder. She has diabetes." Quinn stares at him. Artie realizes what he's said. "Oh, shit, she's going to kill me!" He reaches toward his neck, under the collar of his shirt, but apparently finds nothing there. "Oh, shit!" He repeats, almost reflexively. He is clearly rattled.
Quinn reaches out, and grabs his wrist. She remembers getting tested for the condition during her pregnancy with Beth. She was glad she had been okay. As much as pregnancy had sucked, the prospect of complications would have been completely unbearable.
"Is there anything I can do?" Quinn asks, racking her brain for something, anything she can offer. There isn't much.
Artie shrugs. "I don't know. I'm going there after school. Tina and I are gonna watch movies. Her choice, which means I'll probably end up spending the night with George Clooney and Brad Pitt." He rolls his eyes. "She loves the Oceans movies." He is not going to admit to Quinn Fabray that he has a man crush on Matt Damon, and has the entire series memorized.
Quinn makes up her mind. "I'll drive you," she offers.
Artie looks uncomfortable. "Its fine, my dad is supposed to pick me up after Glee. And, I'll just roll over. I live really close anyway."
Quinn admires his self reliance, but insists. "I'll drive you. There's no reason for you dad to come pick you up." She keeps bothering Artie, until he surrenders.
As they drive to the local drug store, Quinn gets him to admit that he wasn't looking forward to riding with his dad. They would have to pick up his younger siblings, and it would be at least four o'clock before he could get over to the Cohen-Chang house.
He stares in wonderment when she buys a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. Mercedes' dad had explained the alcohol trick to Quinn after she was released from the hospital with Beth. The alcohol breaks up the stick quickly, and then it washes away with water. Quinn finds a little bit of ribbon in the back of her car, the remnant of a long ago scrap booking project her mother had started, back when her mother loved her.
She ties the ribbon in place, and follows Artie's directions to an two story house in a nice neighborhood. Its only a few blocks from where her parents, well, now her mother, lives. Quinn is nervous as she follows Artie up to the front door. She marvels as he pops a wheelie over the low step.