"It's a weird thing to be excited about, I know," Artie was saying, as he drove with Kitty as his passenger.
"Artie, weird things excite you all the time," Kitty said, as several examples came to mind. "All-night Halo marathons with Sam, playing those complicated board games with my dad and brothers that take hours, the fact that they're making a show called Drunk History..."
"Which premiers in July," Artie reminded her, cheerfully.
He was in an especially good mood today, since today was the day they picked up his new chair that, after much careful consideration, he'd ordered online. It had been delivered to a local medical supply store, where Artie would be picking it up today and taking it for a little test run, to make the final decision about where this would be the chair for the next several years. Kitty was rather honored to accompany him for this important apppointment.
"This is the place," Artie said, parking at the small store front, which was about a block away from the hospital. As he went to grab the pieces of his chair from the back, Kitty thought she noticed him pause, just briefly, before going about his usual routine. She wouldn't have pegged Artie to be sentimental about things, but then again, he constantly surprised her.
She followed him into the small store, where pretty much every customer lurking around the place was grandparent age. Maybe even great-grandparent age. The store clerk actually perked up when he saw them, as though this was the most exciting thing that was going to happen today.
"You must be Artie," he said. "We spoke on the phone. Your chair's in the back, I'll go get it. Just a moment, please."
Artie drummed his fingers on his armrest absently, as Kitty examined the nearest shelf of hearing aid batteries curiously.
After a few minutes, the clerk returned, pushing an impossibly small-looking, solid black wheelchair. It was exactly what Artie said he wanted — no handles, no armrests, and definitely no red. Artie shared that his first chair had been blue, his second had been the red one he had now, and this time around, he figured he'd forgo a color for something neutral and decidedly more adult. He'd still gone with blinking lights on the casters, though.
"She's pretty light, too," the clerk, evidently someone who liked to assign feminine genders to inanimate objects, commented. "Only a little over ten pounds. I'm guessing that one you're sitting in is much heavier."
"Much," Artie said, patting the armrests that Kitty knew he was sick of. Sometimes he even ditched them altogether. "This will be a nice change of pace."
And with that, he wheeled himself forward, set the break, and moved not to the other chair, but to the floor. Kitty wasn't sure what he was doing, at first, but then she realized he was trying to see how hard it would be for him to get from floor to the new chair. She didn't know if it was hard or not, but Artie didn't make it look very difficult. As he arranged his feet, he looked up at Kitty, expectantly.
"You look..." Kitty tried to find the right words. "Lower, I guess? Is that a good thing? You don't sit up as high, but on the other hand, you actually look bigger because the chair's small."
"That's the goal," Artie said, giving his new wheels a spin. "Makes me wish I had this at Nationals." He wheeled himself around the store, entertaining several elderly people who'd caught onto what he was there for and were grinning at him.
"Hey, Kitty, would you wheel my other one out?" he asked. As Kitty went to grab the handles, though, he shook his head. "No, I mean, sit in it."
Kitty let out a little laugh, then realized he was being serious. So, she sat, rather gingerly, still feeling weird about what she was doing. She took a hold of the wheels and rolled forward. As for Artie, since he'd already paid for his new chair, all that was left to do was to sign a receipt for the clerk and leave. He did so, holding the door open as Kitty slowly pushed herself out behind him, in his old wheels.
"The skate park I like to visit is within rolling distance," he informed her, and Kitty couldn't tell if he'd been planning it all along or if he'd just thought of it. "Wanna take these chairs for a real ride?"
"Uh, yes?" Kitty said, apprehensively. "When you say within rolling distance, what does that mean to you?"
Artie laughed. "Two blocks?"
"I can probably manage two blocks," she said, laughing too.
Artie kept slowing himself down for her. On occasion, he'd try something while waited on her, like seeing if the new chair could hop down a curb pretty easily. Kitty admired how cute he was, playing around on his new wheels like a kid who'd just gotten a new bike. Was that an acceptable comparison? She thought she'd better not say that out loud.
"You okay?" Artie asked, looking amused as they finished their second block. He had to stop because she'd gotten so far behind.
Kitty, who considered herself to be pretty in-shape, given the rigorous workouts she had to do for Cheerios, just laughed again. "How do you do this all day?"
Artie laughed again, too. "I don't know," he said. "I don't really think about it anymore. C'mon, it's just a little bit further..."
Kitty had heard him talk about the skate park a few times. He'd gone there for senior skip day, she knew, passing on going to the water park with everyone else. She, being a lowly sophomore, had been stuck in class that day. She wasn't prepared for what she saw. There were more teens and young adults in wheelchairs than she even knew existed. And Artie seemed to know all of them.
"'Sup, Mickey?" he called, to a guy in a helmet and a chair.
Helmets! Kitty had a momentary panic, when she thought Artie might be trying to do this without protective equipment. But Artie was, indeed, a master planner. He somehow produced two from his backpack and passed one to Kitty, as she just shook her head in amazement.
"Is that a backpack or a clown car?" she wanted to know. As she fastened the helmet, she looked down the ramp doubtfully. "I'd better not, Artie. I can't risk hurting myself before try-outs."
"Try-outs?" Artie repeated, as he put on his own helmet. "For what? You're already on the Cheerios, right? You have to try out again?"
"For captain," Kitty clarified, realizing she hadn't told him yet. Everything had been kind of focused on Artie, what with graduation and his big college decision, and she hadn't had a chance to say anything. "Coach Roz and Sue — I cant decide which of them is really in charge — anyway, they decided to open try-outs to juniors and seniors, for captain this year."
"They did that for you," Artie said, smiling proudly at her. "Why else would they do it, if they didn't have a junior in mind for captain?"
"I don't know," Kitty said, idly rolling herself back and forth. "We'll see. I just want to try out so I can make sure it's not gonna be Bree. I don't know if I can deal with her being captain next year."
"We'll work on your routine," Artie said. "I wanna see you beat this girl, too." He looked over the edge of the ramp and grinned. "Watch and see if you're still too scared after this."
"Artie," she said, reaching out to stop him. "Are you sure you want to break that thing? You just got it."
"Thirty-day money-back guarantee," Artie quipped. Then, without waiting for her to try and talk him out of it again, he sent himself careening down the ramp. "Woo-hoo!"
"More fun in that little chair?" she called after him, loving the way he looked like a kid again when he played around. He looked just as carefree as he had on the beach, when Sam had given him a piggy-back ride into the waves.
"Ten times more fun," he said. "And not nearly as safe. Seriously, you're gonna be fine if you come down, I promise. I'll... wheel in front of you if you forget how to stop."
Kitty laughed. Who could resist an invitation as sweet as that? She pinched her eyes shut as she let herself wheel over the edge and let out a shrill scream. Artie laughed and moved aside, when he saw that she'd remembered how to pull back on the wheels and slow herself down at the bottom.
When they'd finally gotten their fill of the skate park, and Artie'd officially declared the new chair to be a keeper, they started to wheel back towards the car. Truth be told, Kitty wasn't really up for wheeling herself back. She wanted to walk and push the chair along. But she told herself that if Artie could do this all the time, the least she could do was wheel back to the car with him.
"So, when are try-outs?" Artie asked her.
Kitty winced. "Next... week," she admitted. "And I haven't done the first thing. It's been really busy, you know, what with you graduating and all. But Sue and Roz want to choose the new captain before camp in July."
"July?" Artie shook his head. "Man, where have I been? I'm sorry. I feel like I've been sort of busy with my stuff and haven't really paid attention to what's going on with you. I won't make that mistake again."
"Again?" Kitty asked, not understanding what he meant by that. She shrugged it off, though. "Camp's in South Carolina this year. I wish you could come. We get to go to Myrtle Beach for a couple days at the end."
Artie's face lit up. "Oh, really?" he said. "I've been there! You're gonna have so much fun."
"Well, I'd have more fun with you and not on a school trip," Kitty commented, as she continued to wheel along with difficulty, trying to keep up with Artie, who was clearly still trying to remember to slow down for her.
"How long will you be gone for?" Artie wanted to know. "And... sorry, if you already told me. I'll do better."
"No, no," she said. "No, I didn't mention it. I didn't really want to talk about it. I think it's crazy, but apparently, camp's always two solid weeks. Two weeks of cheerleading. Two weeks of Coach Roz and Sue. And Bree. Sounds terrible."
"Two weeks with a bunch of cheerleaders?" Artie asked, arching an eyebrow. "I don't know, doesn't sound so bad to me... ow." He'd reacted when she'd slugged him.
"Two weeks away from you," Kitty added. "And when I get back, it'll be nearly time for you to go." She paused. "Even if it's Columbus, and not Brooklyn, you'll still be an hour away."
"I'm still in if you are," Artie said, shooting her a hopeful look.
Kitty stopped. She had to get out of his old chair to do the next thing. "Artie, of course," she said, and she stood, in order to bend down over him for a kiss. Straightening up, she added. "Hmph. No armrests for me to lean on when I kiss you. No matter. I'll find something else to do with my hands."
"Knew it was smart to leave them off," Artie said, grinning up at her.
They'd reached his car now, and they were both getting a little hungry. Kitty suggested their favorite local deli, and Artie agreed to this idea. He went about transferring and then dismantling the new chair, which was pretty simple, as he just popped off the two wheels and removed the seat cushion, piling all of it in the back.
"Should I put Big Red in the trunk?" Kitty asked, standing up and looking down at the old chair, a bit sadly. So, okay, she was a bit nostalgic.
"Guess so," Artie said. Kitty did as he said, then climbed into the passenger seat.
"What's going to happen to your old chair?" Kitty asked.
"I'm guessing my parents will donate it or sell it," Artie said, as he put the car in reverse. "Or my mom can keep it in my room and sit in it and cry when she thinks of how much she misses me."
"She won't get a chance, if you're home every weekend to see me," Kitty commented. "Which, uh, is only possible if you're choosing OSU."
"Which is what I'm leaning towards," Artie said, as he shifted into drive. "I just keep stopping myself, everytime I try to call Brooklyn and turn them down..."
"Whatever you decide, I support you."
They arrived to find the deli a little empty, since it was past lunch time. As they ordered at the counter, Kitty heard someone familiar giggling behind them.
"Oh, hey, Tina," Kitty said, as she spotted Tina in a booth with Sam and Blaine. Artie turned, too, and Tina's eyes went straight to what he was sitting in.
"I-I didn't know you were getting a new chair," Tina said, blinking several times. The expression on her face was hard to read, but at first glance, Kitty thought Tina might be a little hurt.
"Oh, uh, yeah," Artie said, doing a little spin. "Yeah, I just got it. Kitty went with me to pick it up."
"Awkward," said Sam, grinning at his little joke. Then it really was awkward, when no one else seemed as amused. "Uh, so Kitty, Artie, we just got here. Why don't you order and then join us?"