By the time Tina and Kitty finished talking on the porch, it was past midnight. They didn't just talk about Artie, although he snuck his way into a lot of their conversations about other things. But it was beginning to feel like they could have a real friendship. And a solid friendship with another girl was something Kitty couldn't honestly say she'd ever had.
Since Kitty and Tina went to bed after Hunter and her dad had already gone to sleep, they didn't meet each other until the next morning, at breakfast. Kitty usually took it upon herself to be in charge of most meals, including breakfast. She'd fixed a spread of bacon, eggs, and toast when Tina and Hunter emerged from the hallway at the same time.
"I found a girl in the bathroom," Hunter, who didn't have a shy bone in his body, was saying as Tina blushed furiously. "Don't worry, she was just brushing her teeth."
"Oh, by the way," said Kitty, as she put the huge plate of bacon on the middle of the kitchen table, next to a pitcher of orange juice. "I had a friend spend the night. Hunter, Tina. Tina, this is my brother, Hunter."
"Nice to meet you," said Tina, taking a seat at the table and pouring herself some juice.
"Likewise," said Hunter, as he turned his back to help his plate to some of the fried eggs Kitty had made. Tina took the opportunity to catch Kitty's eye and mouth oh, my god, he's so cute!
Now, Kitty really hadn't seen that one coming. Hunter was definitely not known for being the cute one, at least, not in Kitty's opinion. He always got way less attention than the twins from girls. Although, Kitty supposed, his complexion had finally cleared up and he'd started running and working out in his spare time. But, still, she hadn't anticipated that Tina was going to drool over her older brother. Gross.
"How do you like your eggs, Tina?" Hunter asked, over his shoulder, as Tina asserted that she'd take them fried as well. Now, why did Kitty suddenly think of that classic rom-com, Runaway Bride? Where Julia Roberts' character always took her eggs however the guy liked them.
"Artie just texted to ask if you and I wanted to go on a road trip today," Tina told Kitty, holding up her phone. "Sam's talked him into taking a tour of OSU today. They're leaving in an hour, if we want to go."
Kitty stopped herself from blurting out a stupidly-jealous question, why didn't he text me instead of you, when her own phone buzzed on the counter, and she realized it was a group text, and Artie had, in fact, sent her the same question.
"Sounds good," Kitty said, washing down her bacon and eggs with a sip of juice. "Oh, um, do you need to borrow something? I have quite a few OSU shirts, because my brothers went there."
"Oh, you did?" Tina turned to ask Hunter.
"Not me," he clarified, covering his mouth full of bacon. He swallowed, taking a quick drink. "We have two older brothers. They're twins. I, um, I've just been working for my dad and taking sort of a gap year..."
Hunter got embarrassed whenever he talked about this, but Kitty didn't fault him, of course. She knew what had prompted him to take the year off and be with the family. It was the same reason neither Logan nor Collin seemed to be moving forward in their lives right now, either.
"Nothing wrong with that," Tina said. "I'd probably be doing the same thing if my acceptance letter to Brown didn't come last week..."
At this, Hunter's eyes widened. He hurried to wash down another bite. "I was accepted to Brown, too," he said, a little too enthusiastically.
"Oh, really, why didn't you go?"
"Well, I actually just deferred for a year, after our—"
"Tina, we should really hurry, if we're going to be ready by the time the guys get here."
Kitty was determined to end this before Hunter could answer Tina's nosy question. She cut him off before he could finish that sentence with — after our mom died. There was no reason for Tina to know all that personal stuff. Kitty remembered how Artie once said he tried not to start conversations that ended in the other person feeling sorry for him. Well, they had that in common.
All conversation stopped, as they hurried to finish with breakfast and getting dressed. Kitty loaned Tina some clothes, they fixed their hair and makeup, and they were ready when Sam arrived to pick them up, with Artie already seated in the back seat.
"We invited Blaine but Kurt's in town," was the first thing Artie said to them, which made Kitty smile and made Tina look a little guilty, as it seemed Artie was going to make certain that the other member of their senior group wasn't being left out.
"Nice shirts," Artie said, showing them he had one on too, along with the shorts that Kitty had picked for him. "Amy got me this awhile ago."
"Artie, this might be your commute when you come to visit Kitty," Sam piped up. He caught a look from Tina, in the front seat. "Oh, right, Tina says we're not supposed to influence your decision. In that case, I won't tell you how many people in wheelchairs get mugged in the subway in New York every day."
"Thanks for keeping that to yourself," said Artie.
The hour and a half went by quickly, making for a pleasant commute. They sang songs from glee club on a CD that Artie had brought along, because he was old school and still made CDs. Plus, Sam's car was too old for fancy stuff like Bluetooth.
They hadn't scheduled a formal tour, with the exception of one for the dorms, as Artie had insisted that it would be a lot easier to go on their own tour. He claimed he knew already what he was looking for in a college. Sam pulled into an accessible parking spot in a parking garage, with Artie's handicap placard. They'd chosen the parking garage nearest to the aquatic center, which the first thing on Artie's list to see.
After a quick trunk retrieval and assembly of Artie's new chair — Sam commented on how light it was and had to try it out himself before bringing it to Artie — they were on their way.
"I'm surprised I haven't noticed the aquatic center before," Artie was saying, as he led the way. Normally, one of them might have pushed him, but the new chair didn't lend itself to that, what with its lack of handles. It actually seemed to Kitty like Artie did that for the purpose of discouraging others from pushing him, yet another reason she was proud of him.
"It's right by the College of Education," he went on. True to his nature of planning every detail, Artie seemed to have the map committed to memory. "I remember that from when we toured the campus for Amy."
The aquatic center was state-of-the-art, with an Olympic sized swimming pool and huge diving platforms. Artie nudged Sam and told him he should get into diving, because diving was cooler than syncronized swimming. At which point, Sam asked Artie what could be cooler than being surrounded by a bunch of girls in a pool, and Artie had no answer for that.
"Artie!" Kitty said, pointing excitedly. "That guy's in a wheelchair!" She might have been a tad louder than necessary, and the guy heard her, coming to a stop and smiling when he spotted them. But Kitty couldn't help it. She couldn't believe they were lucky enough to be running into someone who might have some insight on the adaptive swimming program.
The guy wasted no time before wheeling over to them. He was clad in just swim trunks and was impressively fit, from the waist upward. He carried a towel in his lap and wore water shoes, like Artie usually did. He also had on a bathing cap and googles.
"Michael Phelps on wheels," Sam commented, as the guy approached. Hearing that, he laughed appreciatively and stuck out a hand to shake Artie's.
"Friends call me Doug," he said. "Actually, most call me 'Wheels.' Nice chair."
"Thanks, it's new," Artie said, proudly. His chair was very similar to Doug's. "Uh, but I'm not new to the chair. I've been in a chair ten years. And people call me 'Wheels,' too. But my name is Artie."
Artie's word vomit tendencies became pretty bad when he met people who intimidated him. But Doug had a friendly face and seemed pretty down-to-earth, despite being so buff.
"We'll go with just being Artie and Doug, then," he said, cheerfully. "I've only been on wheels for three years, so since my first year of college. It's been a pretty major adjustment still, but the pool definitely helps with all that."
"It does," Artie agreed.
"So, Artie, let's exchange numbers and stuff," Doug went on. "If you're thinking of join adaptive swim, we'd love to have you. There are five of us, and we meet weekly, but the rest of the time, we swim on our own."
Until now, Tina, Kitty, and Sam had hung back during this conversation. But Sam obviously thought this was a good time to stake his claim. "Sam Evans," he said, moving in to shake Doug's hand. "Incoming freshman, Artie's personal trainer, if he comes, and first ever male member of the synchronized swimming team."
"Nice to meet you," said Doug, who then looked at Artie. "If you come? Still undecided?"
"I just needed to see a little of the campus first," Artie said, looking over his shoulder at his friends. "This is starting to feel like the right choice, but I still need to see the dorms. Do you live on campus?"
"I don't," he said. "I live at home still. I'm from around here, just outside Columbus. But I do know that Lawrence Tower is your best bet, in terms of accessibility, and it's just a five minute drive to the aquatic center. That's where everyone else in the club lives."
"Thank you so much!" Artie exclaimed.
Being that he was such a planner, Kitty knew that Artie had already figured out that Lawrence Tower would be the best choice for his dorm, but it didn't hurt to hear it from an expert. After he and this guy exchanged numbers, the four of them set off to check out the dorms.
"That was like a Christmas miracle," Sam was saying, as they stepped outside. "A Christmas miracle in June. We just happened to run into Michael Phelps on wheels."
"I bet he'll go to Rio," Artie said, sounding wistful as he led the way, the rest trailing along behind him.
"I'd say your chances are even better," Sam commented. "You're a lot lighter than that guy. Much better for getting yourself across a pool. And you've been swimming with just your arms longer than he has."
"True," Artie said, smiling a little. Kitty and Tina exchanged knowing glances, all too familiar with Artie's bad habit of second guessing himself. Sam was the perfect person to build him back up.
The map estimated a fourteen minute walk to Lawrence Hall from the aquatic center. Their route led them all the way around Buckeye Stadium, the parking lot, and Remembrance Park. It was past lunchtime, but they were skipping that, as they'd already agreed to meet one of the resident assistants.
As they entered the large, impressive lobby in what was one of the newer and nicer dorms, a petite girl stepped around the counter and introduced herself as Amber.
"I can show you one of the three rooms on the second floor you'd be getting," she said, leading the way to the elevator. "It's currently vacant. There are eleven floors and no rooms on the first floor. But the elevators are always maintained, and we have a 24-hour number you can call, if you have any problems at all."
The room was unique, she informed them, in that it was deliberately larger than other dorms. Artie scruntinized everything, including door frame widths, all the furnishings, the desk height, and finally, the bed. He pointed to it, asking, "Can I bring my own mattress and have that taken out?"
Amber nodded, and Artie looked satisfied. He wheeled in to check out the restroom next as Tina and Kitty hung back in the room's entryway. Sam peeked curiously over Artie's shoulder. "Definitely an upgrade from the usual communal bathrooms of college!" He addressed the next question to Amber. "Can he have a roommate?"
"Well, usually our students with disabilities do live alone," she replied, shrugging. "On account of needing the extra space for equipment, getting around. But if he wants one, I mean, I don't see why not."
"C'mon, dude, can I split your bachelor pad, if you come?" Sam said, as Artie backed his chair out of the restroom and turned to look up at him. "It'll be just like junior year, but better. I won't take up much space. Just need a bed and my guitar and that's basically it."
"Dude, of course," Artie said, with a grin and a high five. "If I come. I'm sorry, but I need a little more time to think. Promise I'll decide soon."
"He's trying to decide if he's gonna be Michael Phelps or Steven Spielberg," Sam randomly explained to Amber. "It's a pretty big deal."
Tina and Kitty, who had been keeping their mouths shut until this point, giggled at Sam's comment. As they exited, Artie gave no further indication of his choice but rather, suggested they call it a day.
"Don't you need to see anything else?" Kitty asked, as they left, to which Artie shook his head.
"Dorms and pool," he said, wheeling with his eyes set straight ahead. "That's really all I needed to see. I have no idea what I'd study here, but I figure I have a semester or two to decide." He paused. "If I come here."
"Right." Kitty fell back a pace so that she could pantomine choking him behind his back. Not that she was going to fault him for either decision, but she was just hoping he'd go ahead and make one already. Tina noticed and covered her smile.
Sam and Artie were strangely committed to the idea of grabbing a late lunch/early dinner in Dublin, rather than Columbus, so rather than try to argue with that, Kitty just went with it. But it didn't take her long to notice something...
"Are we going to my brothers' house?"
"As in, the twins?" Tina asked, much too eagerly. She twisted around in the front seat to grin back at Kitty. "Tell me, are they as cute as Hunter?"
"Yeah, your brothers' house," Artie confirmed. "I hope that's okay. They said to come as soon as we finished and they'd have food, so..."
"That's fine," Kitty said, furrowing her brow. "But why didn't you mention it before?"
Five minutes later, Kitty found out why they didn't mention it before. Collin and Logan answered the door in matching party hats, with party blowers. "Surprise!" They said, in perfect unison, as Tina proceeded to swoon.
"We can't make it for your birthday on Saturday," Collin said. "Luckily, your boyfriend told us you'd be in the area and arranged for you to come by so we could celebrate early."
"I... you didn't have to do anything for my birthday."
"Sweet sixteen," Tina said, with a nudge to Kitty and a smile. "Of course they did, it's a milestone birthday."
"Kitty, we know what you said but we didn't think you were serious," Logan said, slowly removing his party hat as Collin did the same.
Kitty shoved her hands into her eyes. She wasn't crying the sort of cry that meant she was so surprised that she was moved to tears. More like the continuation of the tears that started everytime she thought about trying to celebrate a whole year gone by.
"Excuse me, I need to..." Kitty didn't even finish that sentence as she pushed past both of them, running into the nearest bedroom, which happened to belong to them both, as the other bedrooms served various weird functions, like a gaming room. She collapsed onto the closest twin bed and muffled her face in the pillow, soaking it with her tears.