Chapter 33: Frenemies, Part Three

ARTIE

For Artie, the weekend consisted of a lot of resting (there wasn't much he could do proficiently, with only one fully-functioning limb) and speech writing.

Against his wishes, Artie's mother had gone ahead and made him an appointment with his pediatrician to get his right side (Sebastian had been right when telling him to keep an eye on his hip, though Artie would never let him know that) checked out on Saturday morning, just to be safe. Thankfully, he was in the clear and just advised to take it easy for the next few days, however, he would be sporting some new nasty color-changing bruises for the foreseeable future.

Laying on the couch all weekend was not how Artie had planned on spending his last weekend as an eighteen-year-old, but he was surrounded by some pretty great people who knew how to make it fun. Kitty had come over on Saturday afternoon to keep him company and to give him ideas for his speech that wouldn't fail to win Sue Sylvester over. On Sunday, Sebastian had rallied the Glee Club guys to all come over and entertain Artie with a Halo marathon and pizza night. It was sweet that they'd all come over to celebrate Artie's birthday a day early, but Artie just couldn't shake the lingering feeling that someone was missing.

Tina.

She was one of the guys by now, and she could hold her own in this crowd of hormone-crazed teenage boys. With years of practice, she'd gotten pretty good at Halo herself, and she could probably beat the newbies, like Jake or Ryder, pretty easily. Artie knew that they were fighting right now, but she was still his best friend, and she should be here celebrating with him. He missed her.

That's exactly what he told her on Monday morning when he saw her in the hallway ahead of their speech competition that afternoon.

"Artie, wait, I'm really sorry," Tina said, turning away from her locker to follow him when she heard the tell-tale sound of his wheels going by.

Artie spun his chair around to face her, and it was hard for him to hold a grudge when he saw her guilt-ridden face.

"It was an accident. I would never…" She couldn't even finish the words to the sentence. "You're still one of my best friends, Artie. I know you know that."

Artie nodded. "Ditto," was his simple reply. "You're a good friend, T, just sometimes you let your grandiosity get the best of you. Regardless, Sebastian threw me a birthday party last night and invited the guys, and… I missed having you there."

Artie watched as Tina's face visibly changed at the mention of the gathering she hadn't been invited to, due to the fact that she and Artie were in the middle of a silly fight. It really appeared to put everything in perspective for her.

"I'm looking forward to putting this all behind us," Artie said, placing his hands back on his wheels in preparation to roll away. "But until then, good luck. May the best person win."

Speechless, Tina nodded, and Artie continued down the hallway towards his first class.

…

"Welcome, idiots, to the McKinley High Valedictorian Speech-Off," Sue Sylvester said to her "blue-ribbon panel of judges", made up of herself, Coach Beiste, Mr. Schue, and Figgins. "Your job today is to decide which one of these speeches is slightly less awful."

Artie and Tina entered the auditorium from opposite wings of the stage, both dressed in McKinley High's school colors: Tina in a simple red dress, and Artie in a crisp red polo. Though they had all but made up in the hallway earlier, the expressions on their faces still showed just how badly both parties wanted to win this.

"Mr. Abrams, you're up first."

Artie could hear Betty's voice in his head as he wheeled over to center stage, locking his brakes before reaching up to lower the mic stand to his height.

"Be confident when you present your speech. Sit up straight. You've got this."

Artie's mouth was dry and his hands were cold and sweaty as he folded them in his lap. Sebastian had served as his makeshift audience all weekend while he practiced, and, as his harshest critic, he was able to give him some good advice. Artie knew this speech by heart. He knew that he didn't have any reason to be nervous.

With a deep breath, he began.

"Friends, family, faculty, and fellow graduates, my name is Artie Abrams, and I am honored to stand- well, sit- before you today as your Class of 2013 Valedictorian."

Artie just couldn't resist poking a little bit of fun at himself. For the most part, he'd written this speech to be one hundred percent serious, however, he couldn't help but give in to his self-deprecating side a little bit, here and there.

"Many people say that today is the day that we start our journeys. I disagree. The journey began a long time ago. Today just happens to be the day where the path we have been traveling on splits into one hundred unique roads. Up until now, we have been a team, walking- and rolling- as one. We have done it all, and we have done it together. Most of it, anyway." Artie took a deep breath as he prepared to get a little bit more vulnerable in his speech.

"You see, I was in a car accident at eight years old which left me with a spinal cord injury that paralyzed me from the waist down."

Artie swallowed nervously. He almost never talked about himself this openly, and never imagined sharing this story with his entire graduating class, if that's what it came down to. Yet, here he was.

"I had to miss an entire year of school and start over with all new kids. You all. I knew that everyone at school just knew me as the kid in the wheelchair, and I accepted it. It was isolating. I was an outsider from day one. So I turned to music," Artie shared. "My dad was the one that suggested that I learn to play guitar. It was something that I could master with my hands, and I was hooked from the start. At some point in middle school, I'd discovered that my voice wasn't half bad either, and began learning The Beatles' entire discography in my bedroom. My childhood was pretty lonely, but one day in seventh grade, however, everything changed. I finally met somebody who was able to look past the wheelchair and see the skinny, nerdy boy in it for who he really was." Artie let out a laugh at his own expense again. "I didn't know then that that first true friendship would be one of the most meaningful of my life."

Pausing, Artie glanced over his shoulder, to flash Tina a tight-lipped smile. She returned the gesture, obviously working very hard to fight back tears. She had always been the overly emotional one.

"And though that was the first friendship I cherished, it wasn't the last. Freshman year, word spread around school that the cool, young Spanish teacher was taking over the Glee Club. And I didn't know it at the time, but auditioning for the New Directions would be the best decision I would ever make. The choir room is where anybody- no matter your race, social status, sexuality, or ability- can come and be welcomed. Glee Club… it's about the love of the music and the love of each other."

If Sue Sylvester was going to ban him from breaking out into song during his speech, he supposed that it was only fair that he used this opportunity to emphasize the impact that Glee Club has had on him over the last four years.

"The thing is, in the whole wide world, you will never meet a more accepting, open, honest, amazing man as Mr. Will Schuester. He connects with each of his students individually and cares for all of us as if we are his own kids. He made sure everyone in this school knew what it was like to see the world from this chair, and helped me to see all that I could be even though I was in it. Mr. Schue provided us with a safe space where we could be celebrated for being ourselves. I can't ever repay him for all that he's done for me, so I can only hope that these words convey my gratitude."

Artie wasn't sure, but he thought that he could almost see Mr. Schue's eyes watering from his spot in the front row.

"Before joining Glee Club, nobody knew me as anything more than the kid in the wheelchair. And after a while, I started to believe that that was all I was going to be. But Mr. Schue and the friends I've made because of Glee Club changed that for me. I know that I'm more than just my disability. I'm a member of a National Championship-winning show choir team. I'm a brother to three, a friend to all, and, now, the Valedictorian of my graduating class."

Artie took another deep breath.

"High school… I'm not going to say it was easy, because it wasn't. But what I've learned is that if you surround yourself with the right people who will pull you out of dumpsters and clean the remnants of a slushie facial off of you before class, then you've already won. Today, we leave the familiar halls of McKinley High to follow our own unique paths and embark on bigger and better things. But, my hope is that all of you have found something as meaningful and life-changing here as the Glee Club has been for me. That no matter where you end up in the world, you'll think back on your time at McKinley as the good old days. I know I will. Class of 2013, we did it. Thank you."

The ending sounded a little premature, when said at the beginning of March and not on graduation day in June, but the effect was the same.

"Thank you, Stumbles," Sue said from her spot in the audience as Artie unlocked his brakes and rolled back a few paces to free up the microphone. "And now, allow me to present absolutely no one's favorite New Direction, Tina Cohen-Chang."

Tina glanced again at Artie before approaching the mic stand. She held her speech on a notecard in her shaking hands, and Artie gave her a reassuring thumbs-up.

"My fellow graduates," Tina began as the spotlight shone down on her. "I feel like I was a different person when I first arrived at McKinley High School four years ago. I was a goth chick who was so intent on pushing others away that I pretended to have a stutter, which I now understand wasn't even that convincing. I wasn't even good at stuttering."

Artie had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling at that, for it was true. Looking back on all of those years, it was hard for Artie to associate Tina-now with Tina-of-the-past. She had come out of her shell and never looked back.

"But then, something in my life changed," Tina continued. "Someone, actually."

Tina began to get a little choked up at this point, glancing down at her notecard for a minute before giving her head a small shake and putting her hand back down, appearing to abandon the original plans for her speech on the spot.

"In fact… that someone changed me. And that person's name is Artie Abrams."

Tina looked over her shoulder at where Artie was sitting. Artie knitted his eyebrows together with both concern and confusion. What are you doing? He mouthed to her, afraid of what was going to come out of her mouth next.

"Artie has taught me how to not only be myself, but he's an inspiration to high school students everywhere," Tina said confidently into the microphone. Artie could see Sue Sylvester's bored facial expression switch instantly to one of utter despair.

"I was friends with Artie for almost three years before I came clean to him about my fake stutter. Understandably, he was upset with me at first, not only for keeping him in the dark about that secret for so long, but for faking something that I really shouldn't have. I remember him saying that he thought that we had something really special in common, and he was right. But that common ground wasn't a disability," Tina continued. "It was heart."

Oh my gosh… Artie thought to himself as he realized what it was she was doing. She's throwing the competition!

"In my entire life, I've never met somebody who is as driven, level-headed, and loyal as he is. He's been there to celebrate with me at my highs, and he's the first to offer his shoulder to cry on when I'm upset. And though we fight like an old married couple nowadays, he is still my very best friend and I have no idea where I'd be without him by my side. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't always prioritized our friendship over the other things going on in my life, but I'm not about to make that mistake again. That is why I am withdrawing myself from consideration and asking that Artie be named Valedictorian."

"God, this can't be happening," Sue Sylvester muttered from her spot in the front row as she began massaging her temples.

"Is it a bridge too far to call Artie Abrams an American hero? I think not," Tina said. The tips of Artie's ears began to turn red as he sat there with his hands folded in his lap while Tina continued to speak of him so highly. It was so unlike her, to be so effortlessly spewing compliments directed towards anyone but herself.

"If there is anything that Artie has taught me throughout our friendship, it is to not let anything stop you from achieving your dreams," Tina declared. "He's faced more adversity than anybody else I know, but he's never let it get to him. In the fall, he'll be off to one of the most prestigious film schools in the country, and leading the way to success for the rest of us. And as he strains to push his wheelchair up that ramp, the ghosts of fallen heroes follow close behind. Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi. Artie Abrams holds high the torch of dignity."

Her comparisons, while a little far-fetched, were flattering all the same.

But she wasn't done yet.

"So, respected judges, I beseech you. Vote for Artie Abrams. Teammate, sometime lover, patriot, friend. Thank you."

…

SEBASTIAN

"I think I'm gonna puke," Sebastian said under his breath as he paced in the boys' locker room after baseball tryouts that day. The physical evaluations were done, and now they were only waiting for Coach Barnes to return from his office with the team roster.

"Hey," Spencer said, in his reassuring voice that always seemed to instantly calm Sebastian's nerves as he laced their fingers together. "You were great. And if Barnes doesn't take you, he's an idiot."

Sebastian wasn't so sure that "great" would be the word he'd use to describe his performance today on the field, but it definitely could have been worse. He wished he could have practiced a little bit more this weekend, but with his self-proclaimed coach and catch buddy (Artie) out of commission for the weekend, due to the actions of one Tina Cohen-Chang, he was out of luck.

Lucky for Sebastian's current nerves, however, Coach Barnes returned to the locker room just then, his clipboard in hand. Sebastian began holding his breath as the coach read off the names of who made the varsity team. Just as Sebastian began to give up hope of hearing his name, Coach Barnes reached the end of the list.

"… Spencer Porter, and Sebastian Smythe. If you did make the team, congratulations, and if you didn't, better luck next year," Coach said before giving the assembled group of boys a curt nod and retreating back to his office.

Sebastian let out the air he'd been holding and breathed a sigh of relief as he embraced Spencer in celebration.

"Hey, we did it!" Sebastian cheered, hugging Spencer and briefly pecking his lips as they pulled apart, clearly not caring who was around to witness their PDA. Seb had come a long way in the few months since the Sadie Hawkins dance and didn't really care so much anymore about people seeing the two boys in love.

"Slushies to celebrate?" Spencer asked, a gleam in his eye as he suggested McKinley students' favorite sweet treat.

"You guys are getting slushies? I'm down," Ryder interrupted, perking his head up as soon as he'd heard them making plans. He'd ended up trying out for (and getting a spot on) the baseball team as well. Clearly, he didn't care if he was third-wheeling.

Though he much rather would have preferred the outing alone with his boyfriend, and not with Ryder tagging along, Sebastian couldn't possibly decline the offer.

The boys locked up their bags in their lockers before setting out down the street to the nearest convenience store. Sebastian opted for orange, having steered clear of the cherry flavor since the time Kitty got him right in the face during his first week of school.

It was unseasonably warm for early March in Ohio, and the weather was perfect as they sipped on their drinks while the sun began to set.

"I didn't even know that you played ball, Seb," Ryder said as the trio sat on the curb outside to enjoy their Big Quench drinks.

Sebastian shrugged. "I don't," he said truthfully. "Not until today, technically. Spencer and Artie have been teaching me everything about the sport over the last few months."

"He's a quick learner," Spencer added, throwing his arm around Sebastian's shoulders.

"I never would've pegged Artie as someone who knows anything about baseball," Ryder said absentmindedly as he took a sip of his cold drink.

Sebastian knew that Ryder probably hadn't meant what he said in a condescending way, or hadn't realized that was how it sounded, so Sebastian convinced himself to let the comment slide. In reality, on the inside, he just wanted to retaliate with his own snarky comment like, "Why? Because he's in a chair?". Sebastian couldn't hold Ryder to too much of a fault though, because before he lived with Artie and got to know him better, he himself would have thought the same thing. At first glance, the only things that Artie seems like he'd have extensive knowledge of are white rappers and Star Wars.

Instead of saying that though, Sebastian just resorted to another shrug. "He used to play as a kid, and he's extremely observant. His dad works as a hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians, too. It makes sense why he'd have some good pointers."

Ryder, like Artie, could never seem to sense when the right time to stop talking was, so he'd happily blabbed on about one thing or another for the better part of an hour, leaving Sebastian and Spencer no choice but to chime in every now and then with a "mmhmm" or a "yep". Once the sun had slid behind a patch of trees and it had begun to grow dark, the boys decided that it was time to head home.

"Hey," Spencer said softly enough that it was out of Ryder's earshot, as he reached for Sebastian's arm. "My parents are out for the night. They took Peyton to see my grandparents in Columbus. Want to come over and celebrate a little more… Alone?"

Spencer raised his eyebrows and Sebastian mimicked his suggestive facial expression, catching his drift.

"Sure, but if you're implying what I think you're implying, I'm going to head home first and shower," Sebastian replied. "You don't want me when I'm all gross."

"I'd have you any way," Spencer said back in a lame attempt to be seductive that caused Sebastian to roll his eyes as he climbed into the driver's seat of his Range Rover.

"I'll see you in, like, an hour," Sebastian said, rolling down the window as he started the car's ignition.

"Fine," Spencer gave in, leaning through the opened window to kiss Sebastian once more. "See you then."

Spencer left to drive Ryder home as Sebastian headed in the other direction towards his own house. When he pulled in the driveway, he noticed Artie's car already parked off to the side, meaning that he'd beat Sebastian home.

"I'm home!" Sebastian called as he tossed his keys in the basket. The good thing about having five (sometimes six) people crammed into this medium-sized house is that there was always someone home.

Thanks to the presence of cars in the driveway, Sebastian knew that he wasn't home alone, but when nobody answered immediately, he decided to go off in search of them. Knowing that Nancy would have a cow if he tracked his baseball cleats through the house, Seb kicked off his shoes at the door before heading down the hall towards Artie's room. His door was closed, but in typical Sebastian fashion, he threw it open without warning.

From where he sat completing his homework at his desk, Artie startled upon Sebastian's entrance, heaving an audible gasp.

"I made the team!" Sebastian announced happily, met with a smile from Artie.

"I knew you would!" Artie said. "That's great, Sebastian, I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks," Sebastian replied, taking a seat on the edge of Artie's bed, despite the dirt stains on his white baseball pants from sliding from base to base. "How'd your thing go? Your speech. Am I step-brother to McKinley High's 2013 Valedictorian?"

Artie nodded, but he didn't seem as thrilled as Sebastian was expecting him to be.

"Man, Artie, that's awesome! Congrats, dude," Sebastian said, leaning over to clap Artie on the shoulder. "I thought you'd be happier about this though. What's with your face?"

"Tina pulled herself out of the competition," Artie admitted. "She made her speech about why I should be Valedictorian. I got it by default."

"Oh," Sebastian said, surprised at the gesture that was so very unlike the Tina Cohen-Chang he knew. "Well, still. You got it! That's exciting."

Artie shrugged. "I don't feel like I won it. I think she still felt bad about pushing me out of my chair. She felt like she owed something to me. But I don't see it that way. I wanted to win fair and square."

"Well, what did the judges say?" Sebastian wondered.

"They all had no choice but to vote for me. And Principal Sylvester called it a 'treacly, stomach-turning waste of everyone's time'," Artie recounted the events of this afternoon. "I don't know, I just don't feel like I deserve the title anymore. I am tied for the highest GPA, and my opponent for the speech competition that was supposed to decide who got the spot threw the game in favor of me."

"Well, to me, you're still Valedictorian," Sebastian said, standing up and heading towards the door to leave. "Do you want to do anything to celebrate? I'm supposed to be heading over to Spencer's in a little while, but I can postpone if you want me to."

Artie shook his head. "Kitty's taking me out for a birthday dinner. Well, I'm taking her out, technically, since I'm driving, but she's paying. Anyways, no, I'm good. Thanks though. Have fun with Spencer."

"Oh, I will," Sebastian replied, wiggling his eyebrows in Artie's direction. "So much fun."

"Gross." Artie grimaced at the mental picture that Sebastian had left him with. "I didn't need to know that."

Sebastian giggled to himself as he shut the door to Artie's room behind him and retreated upstairs to go freshen up for the exciting night he had ahead of him.