Chapter 11

Artie

Artie hated looking at Tina now. She snapped his heart in two and to make matters worse, Mike, who Artie had always thought was his friend, had taken her. He always looked down when he saw them together, holding hands, being disgustingly happy. The worst part was that Mike had full use of his legs. He should have seen it coming when Tina asked him to sing Dream a Little Dream of Me last year and picked Mike as her partner.

The rest of the club agreed that he just needed a little help getting over Tina, and they were all more than happy to help. But, the fact of the matter was, most of them were happy in their own relationships. Finn had Quinn, Mercedes had Gavin, Sam had Kurt... Everywhere he looked were people in love. It sickened him a little.

So, one dreary Monday he found himself in the auditorium, looking out into it. He had always liked parking his chair on the stage and just daydreaming about dancing up on that stage. Even though he knew it couldn't happen, he was free to dream.

The sound of footsteps was heard, and suddenly they stopped. Artie looked over to the left to see Alice standing there.

"Hi, Alice," he said, sounding more gloomy than he had wanted.

"Um, it's my turn to cheer you up," she explained, walking closer. "Mercedes told me I'd probably find you in here. Then Brittany said something about your wheelchair having rockets and we all just stared at her... but that's not the point."

Artie smiled. Of course Britt would be going on about his chair having rockets; it was a huge fantasy of hers to blast off into space on Artie's wheelchair.

"Do you wanna just talk?" Alice asked of his silence. "I'm not great with advice but I'm a good listener. Being completely silent for a few weeks kinda does that to you."

"There's not much to talk about," Artie replied. "You all know the story. Tina likes Mike now."

Alice suddenly looked uncomfortable, but maybe that was because she was racist or something.

"Do you wanna come over?" she asked, changing the subject. "My little sister has Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy and every house we visit is wheelchair accessible so you can't make any excuses."

Artie gaped at her. "Your sister has Hypotonic CP? Doesn't that mean she can't move...?"

"At all," Alice replied sadly, wheeling him off the stage. "But I still love her no matter what. She doesn't know I do, but still. She's my whole world."

"That's really sweet," Artie said conversationally. "I'm glad I still have some use of my arms. It must be really hard for her."

"I wouldn't know," Alice said airily as she pushed Artie out the door of the auditorium and into the hall. "We tried speech therapy but she still can't say anything. She makes noises and sometimes it sounds like words but that's as far as we got."

"How old is she?"

"She's almost eight," Alice answered. "My mom is in her fifties and Maria was kind of a mistake. But she's our angel, really. She can move enough that she reaches out and holds my hand."

"That's sweet," Artie said. "So you really get it?"

"Get what? Being handicapped? Of course I get it. She's my whole world, it's like I can read her mind."

They were now in the parking lot, next to a red Ford Fusion.

"I got a custom ordered one, with removable back seats for when my sister comes down," Alice explained as she unlocked the doors. "She was here not that long ago and I haven't bothered putting the seats back."

Atrie peered in. It was a lot like the back of his dad's car, where Artie sat every day. She helped him in and his chair fit comfortably in the back while she clamoured in the front and started the car.

"This must have cost a fortune," Artie said in awe.

"My family comes before me," she replied simply.

"Is that why you're fake dating Karofsky to stop the jocks from throwing us a slushie? Because the Glee club is like a family?"

"Precisely."


"His mom pays me a hundred bucks an hour. So, if I get dinner and a movie, it's an easy three hundred bucks three or four times a month. Not a bad deal, when you think about it. I don't even have to look at him in school, as long as I let him order me food and take me to watch a movie."

"Dave Karofsky, being a gentleman? I've never heard of such a thing."

Alice shrugged. The pair were in her room, listening to her favourite album, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Alice was sitting cross legged on the floor, and Artie was backed up against the wall in his chair. She had a giant fish tank along one wall, and the brightly coloured fish kept poking their heads out every now and then. All in all, the Holley household was peaceful.

"He actually likes some of you guys," she said. "He thinks if you weren't in the wheelchair you'd probably be one of the more popular kids."

"Right," he scoffed. "And Suzy Pepper is HBIC."

"Suzy Pepper is not head bitch in charge," Alice laughed. "She's just super weird. That was a horrible comparison. You definitely should have said, 'and Kurt and Sam aren't banging right now,' because you know they totally are."

"Actually there's football practice today," Artie said. "Sam will be there. I heard him and Matt talking about the new coach. Apparently she's worse than Ms. Sylvester."

Alice groaned. She had been invited onto the Cheerios by Sue, but after about two weeks she quit because she was more invisible there than in Glee.

"How is that even possible? Coach Sylvester told me that no one quits the Cheerios unless they die, get kicked off, get pregnant or have ever had a crush on Mr. Schuester. I told her I had a crush on Schue. Then she let me quit. Actually, she told me to get out of her office before I dripped mayonnaise and elves fell out of my hair on to her desk."

Artie laughed. Sue's long standing grudge with Mr. Schue just got funnier every day. He would never admit, but he looked forward to her snide comments in the hallways.

"Alice how come you don't talk in Glee?" he asked suddenly.

"I don't like talking," she said, suddenly very interested in the fish. "Not in front of a lot of people though. One on one is fine, so is singing. I'm just... a really awkward person."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am, Artie. You don't get it. I often say things that make people feel uncomfortable, like they're supposed to feel sympathy for me and I hate that. I can't help it."

"I don't notice it."

Alice stared at him. "You're the only one."


Artie felt confused after his day with Alice. She was being nicer to him than anyone ever had. She understood how hard it was for him to be in a wheelchair. What he didn't understand was why she subjected herself to silence, and why she put up with Karofsky three nights a month just so the rest of the club wouldn't get slushied. Obviously she was too good a person to be ignored so much.

When he got home, he couldn't think of a good enough reason to be smiling so wide. His mother noticed.

Abigail Abrams was a short, pretty woman, with a full figure and rosy cheeks. Her hair was blond; nothing like Artie or her other two children, Ava and Alexa. Her husband, Alfred, was where the kids had gotten her hair.

"Hey, sweetie," she said, bending down to kiss her sons cheek. "Why the big smile?"

"I got to sing a lot in Glee today," he lied with a convincing smile. "We were doing a lot of stuff in my wheelhouse. It was nice for a change."

"Like what?" his mother asked as she stirred the pot of mashed potatoes.

"We did Empire State of Mind, and then Sam decided he wanted to do a solo so he did Billionaire and us guys kinda helped with the rapping part because he's not very good. Then everyone wanted an encore performance of Superstition and me and Gavin were more than happy to do so."

"I'm so happy you're making friends, honey," Abigail said earnestly. "Oh, supper's ready in five minutes."

Artie nodded and wheeled away into the bathroom. As he was washing his hands, a thought occurred to him.

What if I used Alice to get over Tina?


A/N: So the premiere owned me. BUT I WAS SO RIGHT ABOUT SAM'S CHEEKS. He is so hot. I can't even get over it. And his voice is amazing omg. And who else couldn't stop laughing when Finn tried out for the Cheerios! And when Becky goes, "this is embarrassing" I nearly DIED. Okay, rant over. Bottom line: Season two is gonna be freaking amazing. So sorry this took a while, I was kind of gleeking out all day long. I printed out all the cast pictures and put them on my wall LOL. Oh, and when I say use Alice in the story, I don't mean he's going to use her as an item, I mean he thinks he kinda likes her now so he kinda wants to go out kinda thing. We'll see!