As the class of 2013 filed into the audience, Artie instead took center stage, along with Tina, Blaine, and the rest of the top ten graduating seniors. The other nine took seats on either side, with Artie stopping in the center of the stage, next to a microphone placed at his height.
Kitty knew she wasn't going to be able to handle the sight of him in the cap and gown. Sure enough, she'd started crying as soon as he appeared. He mouthed stop that as he spotted her in the crowd, sitting with his family. Amy was right there with her, though, dabbing her eyes with a tissue and passing one over to Kitty.
Artie took a deep breath to compose himself, before starting, catching Kitty's eye briefly again and giving her a smile. Beside Kitty, Amy grabbed the younger girl's hand and gave it a tight squeeze.
"So, before I do this speech thing," Artie began, taking a moment to look from the crowd to Tina. "I'd just like to point out that my best friend, Tina Cohen-Chang, here on my right, scored only four points lower than me on a single test that determined which one of us gave this speech today. In my mind, it should be both of us. We're co-Valedictorians, even if the school won't recognize it. And T, I know this is probably the first speech you actually ever wanted to give, so I'll do my best to do it justice..."
Beside him, Tina smiled graciously. He met her eyes, returning the gesture, as his grin stretched from ear to ear. It was pretty apparent that these two always had and always would share some kind of special bond, having spent many years together as fellow outcasts. Kitty was still working on tolerating that fact. She'd put aside her differences with Tina for today, though.
"Listen, it should have occurred to me to talk about this person anyway," Artie went on, his voice shaky. "but it wasn't until... "
Kitty knew right away what was wrong with Artie's voice, because she suddenly realized what Artie was going to speak about. He had to stop and swallow hard. Tears were streaming down Tina's face already, and he'd noticed her, out of the corner of his eye. Kitty tried not to cry, so that he could look at her instead.
"... Sorry, it wasn't until we got the news last month, that he'd tragically passed away at nineteen, which, by the way, is my exact age, that I realized why I needed to talk about Finn Hudson of the Class of 2012. I didn't really need to add that last part, because chances are, if you went to this school, you already know him. Most knew him as the Quarterback. Number five on the field. But number one, when it came to integrity, tenacity, and looking out for the little guy. I was that little guy, more times than I care to admit. Finn Hudson is probably the only guy who'd ever humor a kid in a wheelchair who wanted to be on the football team. He tried to make me team manager, although that didn't work out either. Ultimately, he did help me become an athlete again. He wasn't about to shoot down anyone's dream, though, no matter how impossible. And he made damn sure that Rachel Berry never stopped believing in herself, which I believe is the reason we all saw her make it to Broadway this year."
Artie almost faltered again at this point, maybe just because he wasn't sure he could even say 'damn' in his speech, but he already had, so he kept going.
"Finn almost gave up on his own dream once, or rather, he couldn't find a suitable one right away. The army wasn't exactly a dream for him, I'm told, more like a back-up plan that didn't work out. Finn came back to town for a short stint of working for his stepfather's auto repair shop. It was a low point for him, but coming back here, to McKinley, and assisting with our arts programs led him to rediscover his passion and to begin the pursuit of a new dream. Finn Hudson was going to become a teacher. He still couldn't dance, no, but he was going to encourage others who were once afraid to dance outside of their rooms, to just go for it. He was going to make sure that football players, who once only sang in showers, made it to a real stage somehow. He was going to..."
It seemed that Artie had spotted more crying faces in the crowd, especially those in glee club. He had to stop again, to compose himself, as tears streamed down his face now. He pulled off his black fingerless glove, moved his glasses, and wiped his face once more, before replacing his frames and the glove. Kitty knew how much Artie despised public crying, and yet, it was only fitting to show the emotion behind his words today.
"It's so very hard to talk about what he would have done, because now he'll never do it. I'll go back to talking about what he did, though, and what he did during his short life has made all the difference. For me personally, I'm convinced he saved my life, at least two times. He also restored my faith in people, definitely more than twice, because Finn was the kind of guy who cared more about building up the entire team than glorifying himself."
"We always teased him, about not being a very coordinated dancer, but honestly, right now, all I want is to see one more classic Finn dance. I want a conversation with him. I want him to come and find me, the next time I find myself stranded and friendless and trapped, and I want him to push me across a football field."
Artie dropped his eyes to his lap for a moment. Then, he cast a brief glance upwards, before going on.
"Guys, I'm sorry, if I've brought the mood down a little on what's actually a really great day for all of us, for the class of 2013. I just wanted you all to understand something that Finn knew very well. And that is that your life's really only meaningful, if you mean something to someone else. For many of us, Finn Hudson meant everything. I couldn't get up here today without telling you that. And now I think I'm out of time, so I'll just conclude with this. Class of 2013, make your lives count for something meaningful and don't forget to look out for the little guy. And I don't know if I'm supposed to do this now, or at the end of the ceremony, but it seems a fitting way to end this, so..."
Artie threw his hat up in the air. Beside him and in the audience, the rest of the senior class joined in, just like in the movies. He grinned, adding, "Sorry if that was too soon, I just wanted it to be like the movies. PEACE!"
It seemed that was much too soon, seeing as they hadn't even crossed the stage yet. It took a moment for everyone to collect their hats, in the audience and onstage, before they could get started. Sue proceeded to shoot Artie a dirty look as she collected his for him and thrust it back at him. Kitty and Amy couldn't contain their laugher in the audience.
Once the graduates were ready, it was time to call them all to the stage, starting with the top ten.
"Valedictorian Arthur Henry Abrams," Sue announced, actually sort of smiling and making eye contact with Artie as she handed him his diploma.
"Salutatorian Christina Elise Cohen-Chang." In the crowd, Mike Chang and Rachel Berry each held up two signs that, together, read "Queen T" "4-Ever!"
Tina accepted her diploma and moved to the side to stand by Artie, looking down, then leaning down for a quick hug. Next, they were joined by "Blaine Devon Anderson," while Sue looked annoyed by the fact that the top three students in this graduating class were in the glee club.
There was one surprise name called, right after Mohamed Habib Omar. Sue took a moment's hesistation before calling out: "Brittany Susan Pierce!"
As a second year senior, Brittany had only needed one semester's worth of credits to graduate, meaning she'd actually been able to finish in December but without a ceremony. Though Brittany might have decided to stick around and finish out the year with the class anyway, there'd been a slight change in her plans. As Santana helped her quickly throw on the gown, her baby bump was mostly obscured. No one, it seemed, was privvy to the information about who the father was, but at any rate, she wasn't without a support system. Brittany added her hat, hugged Santana, and hurried to the stage, amid cheers.
Sue seemed to put aside the fact that she'd initially been furious about not having Brittany for the Cheerios' trip to Nationals. As Brittany crossed the stage now, she embraced her, just as she had done earlier, when Becky Jackson had come across the stage.
As the class of 2013 gathered onstage, Sue commended the class on a job well done, at which point, they moved their hat tassels to the opposite side and then tossed the hats, for the second time.
As they did so, Sam started in with "Now I've had the time of my life..." as he moved towards Tina, who apparently planned to sing Quinn's part. Someone in the sound booth had even cued up the backing track. But Sue was frantically dropping the curtain on them, as she cried, "Not today, glee club!"
And that was it.
Kitty and Amy grabbed their things and hurried outside, where they'd meet Artie in the hall, to take pictures. When they got there, Mr. Schuester was already taking pictures of the four seniors. Tina perched on the arm of Artie's chair and wrapped her arms around him in one shot. In another, Artie good-naturedly let Sam pick him up and step in front of the chair, as the four took another posed picture. After Sam put Artie back down, Mr. Schue took one more of just Artie and Tina. Finally, his wife grabbed the camera and took several with him and the four seniors.
"My longest running members," he said to Tina and Artie, as Tina immediately began crying, and Mr. Schue hugged her, then Artie, then Sam, and then Blaine. "We're really going to miss you guys. I'm having a hard time envisioning the stage without you there next year. But, thankfully, there will still be a glee club. We couldn't have done it without the four of you."
"There's an eighth grader in a wheelchair who supposedly sounds just like Michael Bublé," Artie said, then grinned. "Kidding, I made that up. But good luck finding our replacements."
"Not possible," Mr. Schuester said, looking at the four of them. "You're all one of a kind."
"Mr. Schue, please come to Artie's house for the graduation pool party," Tina insisted. "Please? I can't say good-bye to you yet, and besides, it'll be a sweet reminder of the time we all went to the pool and helped you propose to Ms. Pillsbury."
"We'll definitely stop by," Mrs. Schuester told them.
Artie's family did pictures next. Kitty took one of Artie with his parents and older sister. And the she took some of just Artie and Amy, most of which turned out to be goofy photos. Finally, Amy grabbed the camera and got one of Artie with Kitty in his lap, one leg kicked out, showing off the sexy silver heels she'd worn for the occasion, to compliment the periwinkle blue dress she was wearing.
"Hey, Dad?" Artie said. "We need to get back to the house before anyone beats us there. We need a couple bags of ice for the cooler, though, so Kitty and I will stop by and get some on the way."
"Sounds good, Sport," he said, with a nod. "Mom, Amy, and I will go on home to be there when everyone arrives. And I'll fire up the grill."
With that, his family hurried on out, leaving Artie and Kitty behind.
Now that pictures were done, Artie was eager to pull off the graduation gown and hat. Piling those things in his lap, he grabbed his wheels and said, "Let's go."
"Slow down," Kitty nagged him. "These heels were not made for running." As Artie paused, he gestured to his lap. "Not that slow."
"One last time?" he asked, looking around as the hallway was still full of people. "Last chance for me to wheel you down these halls..." Kitty might've cried again if he hadn't started singing. "Last dance, last chance, for love. Yes, it's my last chance, for romance, tonight..."
"Abrams, get out of here, or I'll push you out myself," Sue Sylvester barked, startling them both. "As you pointed out during your speech, you are nineteen and far too old to still be here! Off you go!"
Artie forgot about wheeling Kitty out one last time as off he went, indeed. Kitty took off the impractical heels and ran after him. They were both laughing and out of breath when they reached Artie's car.
"So, Artie," Kitty said, climbing in quickly as he took extra time, as always, to transfer in and disassemble his chair. "What are your parents getting you for graduation? Blaine says he just asked for money because he doesn't really need a new car for New York, although they offered to help pay for one. How about you. Money? New wheels?"
There was a pause and a laugh. "Well, you guessed it?" he said. "Sort of."
"Seriously?" Kitty asked. "Aww, but I like your car. I mean, she's sort of old, but she's trust-worthy. And you're like Blaine, you don't need a new car, unless you're not going to Brooklyn afterall..."
"Not a car," Artie interrupted her, laughing lightly as he passed one wheel and then the other over his shoulder, into the empty backseat. "Wheels," he said, pointedly.
Kitty stared at him, as he put the car in reverse. "Wait," she said, processing what he'd just said. "Artie, that's so lame, are you kidding me? A new wheelchair for graduation?"
"You know, you all really ought to consider the origins of the word lame," Artie joked, but he wasn't actually bothered, as he backed out of his space. "And yeah. I haven't had a new one since freshman year, but I've grown a lot since then, so it's time anyway. I asked them if we could splurge on something a bit smaller and sportier, something insurance probably won't cover..."
"And that's actually what you wanted for graduation?" Kitty asked, incredulously.
"Yeah!" Artie exclaimed, with a laugh, as he drove out of the parking lot. "Look, you spent probably, I don't know, a lot of money on those sexy silver shoes, right? Well, this is my version of shoes. I want a sexy chair, not a grandpa chair."
"Seems fitting that you'd retire the old chair right along with those grandpa shoes of yours, too," said Kitty.
She'd gradually been tweaking Artie's style, to the point that all the outfits he'd worn during the last week of school, after Nationals, had been stuff she'd picked for him on their shopping trip.
"It's amazing how many months of my life I could get back if I just had a chair that didn't dismantle into five different parts," he mused. "This time, I'm ditching armrests, handles, the whole nine yards."
"Can I come help you choose?" Kitty asked, a bit timidly. "I mean, if that's, I don't know, allowed?"
"Sure it is," he assured her, grinning as he glanced at her. "You're a really good shopper. I'd love your opinion. Here..." He passed his phone her way. "Check out my Pinterest board."
Pinterest? Why was Kitty not surprised. With a grin, she navigated to the app and resisted the urge to sneak a peek and find out what other kind of topics Artie "pinned" on the regular. She did as she'd been told, though, and pulled up his board all about wheelchairs.
"These chairs all look really small," Kitty observed, scrolling through the pictures. None of them had handles or armrests, she noticed. And none of them were red. She supposed he was tired of red.
"That's the idea," Artie explained, as he pulled into the conveince store parking lot. "So that you take up a little less space. Hey, here's some cash for the ice..."
He pulled out a few dollars and she went in to buy two bags. When she came back, he was scrolling through the pictures on his Pinterest board now. He clicked on one as she climbed into the car and set the ice by her feet.
"That's the one I think I like," he said, holding on his phone.
Kitty gaped at the price tag as she took his phone to study the picture. "Wow, that's almost two-thousand dollars," she said. "Just. Wow."
"I know," Artie said, with a shrug, as he backed out to leave. "Insurance sucks. They won't cover anything that doesn't look like it belongs in the hospital."
"That's..." Kitty paused. "I'm trying to come up with another negative adjective that isn't potentially offensive, and it's hard..."
Artie just laughed. She continued scrolling and making comments on the different "sexy wheels," which was literally the title of Artie's board, and finally stopped scrolling when they'd arrived at his house. There were several cars that had beaten them to the house already, filling up the driveway, so that Artie was forced to park on the curb.
"I lost count of how many people I invited," Artie said, blushing slightly. "I hope my parents don't kill me after this."