"What the hell are you wearing?" Artie stared at Tina as she entered the choir room, crossing his arms disbelievingly. "Halloween isn't for like two months."
"It's not for Halloween. It's real." Tina smiled sweetly, spinning around in her brand new, crisp uniform.
Artie was not impressed. His expression remained hard, criticizing his girlfriend's style. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"
"No," Tina's face fell as she approached the small boy. "I wanted to make a change and anyway, I like dancing."
Artie's face fell. Of course she did. He watched her during glee club and she always seemed to lose herself in the rhythm. Why did it always have to come back to the one thing he couldn't do? She said that it was OK that they couldn't dance together, that she liked him despite his limitations, but secretly, he thought she wanted more. Artie looked around the choir room, trying to process what was going on. Rachel and Mercedes just shrugged, not really sure what was going on. Quinn smiled sweetly, nodding that it was true, his girlfriend was a Cheerio now. Santana rolled her eyes at the thought of having to accept another weirdo into her cliche and Brittany just leaned against her best friend's shoulder absently.
The boys were staring. "Damn, Asian chick is looking fine in those spanks," Puck commented. He'd never even noticed Tina before.
"That's offensive." Artie gave Puck a threatening look. The punk just laughed.
"Sorry, dude. Your girl is looking fine," he shrugged, surely hoping to tap that. Artie couldn't let that happen, especially not before he ever even had his chance with her.
"I thought you liked your style," Artie looked back up at Tina, who'd seemed kind of shocked at Puck's attention.
"I do," she nodded. "I like who I am, but I wanted to try something different."
"You don't have to change who you are." Artie looked up at her hopefully. He hated to admit it, but he was kind of scared of the reaction Tina would get. There was no denying that she looked good in the uniform. She looked like she fit in now and guys were already drooling over her. Granted, it was Puck, who stared at everyone, but one look at Finn told him Puck wouldn't be the only one. Finn had been caught off guard and was currently staring wide-eyed at Tina (who, in return, was being stared at by a shocked Rachel). The Cheerios were the cool kids at McKinley. Tina might actually become popular from this little stunt and than she wouldn't need Artie. She could have her pick of any guy in school now and damn if she'd pick the little nerdy disabled kid.
Artie was angry, sad and disgusted at the change. Yeah, Artie was jealous. So what?
INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL TEAM
Freshman and Seniors vs. Sophomores and Juniors
Artie stared up at the sign up sheet, considering his options. The first practice was going to be the next day after school and it looked like anybody could play. He might not be able to dunk a basketball, but he was actually pretty good at making baskets from his chair. He played against his dad and brothers sometimes on Sunday and his team usually won. Granted it was three vs. one, but he knew he was able. As usual, his pride won out over any common sense. He couldn't pass up a chance like this.
Grasping hard onto his pen, he reached up and managed to scribble his name on the very bottom of the sign up sheet.
"Shit, what's that wheelchair kid doing here?" The big jock laughed as Artie rolled into the gym for the first basketball practice the next day.
"Shut up man, he's my friend." Finn pushed the other boy hard. "And this team is open to anybody." He whispered to Artie, "Are you gonna be OK out there?" The boy just looked at his tall friend disbelievingly and rolled his eyes. Yes, he'd be fine.
Jacob ben Israel nodded hard. "That's why I'm here. Maybe some hot girls will show up."
"This is a guy's team," a jock laughed, rolling his eyes. "But I heard we got some of the cheerios booked for the first game next week."
Perfect, Artie thought, smiling to himself. He hadn't exactly told Tina yet, but maybe she'd come to the game. He was awesome at basketball and this was his chance to prove it. Besides, playing sports made you cool, right? If Tina was destined to become popular on the Cheerios, maybe he could keep up with her.
"OK guys, let's team up and see what we've got." Puck took charge and they proceeded to break into teams and toss the ball around. Artie did pretty good, all things considered. He definitely did a better job of it than some of the nerds who thought they could be cool by playing sports.
Because Artie knew he was already cool.
Now in days, jocks were constantly catcalling at Tina as she walked with Artie through the school. She would just roll her eyes and hide behind Artie's chair, a little self conscious at all the attention. "Hey babe," a particularly nasty Senior smiled at her. "What are you doing with a freak like that? I'll be yours any day."
Tina just muttered something, but Artie was a bit more forceful. "Back off," he threatened.
"We'll see about that after school today." The jock just laughed and walked away.
"What's he talking about?" Tina asked nervously.
Artie looked over his shoulder at his girlfriend. "Nothing..." he stammered. "Never mind."
She was worried. "He's not gonna beat you up, is he?"
"No," he shook his head. "Definitely not. Don't worry about it, OK?"
"OK." She didn't look convinced. Finally, she shook her head. "Whatever. Ms. Sylvester is making me go to some intramural basketball game after school today. Don't wait for me."
Artie just shrugged and turned forward with a smile. This was really too perfect.
That afternoon, Artie rushed to the changing room almost as soon as the final bell rang. He didn't want Tina to see him; he wanted to take her by sneak attack and surprise her with his mad skills. He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it aside in favor of a worn tee shirt. He didn't bother changing his pants; he was wearing loose fitting khakis and it would take too long to change. He couldn't feel the sweat anyway. When he got back to the gym, the court was already set up and Finn, Puck and some other jocks were waiting for him. "Hey man," Finn smiled and gave Artie a high five. "We were discussing it and we think we might actually have the advantage with you on our team."
"Sure, what can I do for you?"
"When there's a clear path, we'll pass you the ball and you can roll around all the jocks." Puck explained the strategy. "They're used to looking ahead, not down. And you're pretty fast on those wheels, dude," he chuckled.
"Thanks man." Artie smiled a little, not sure if it was really a compliment. He'd take it as one.
"Go team!" Finn shouted, putting his hand into the middle of their circle. All the sophomores and juniors put their hands on top of his and let out a collective shout. Artie smiled as he felt his hand get lifted from the middle of the circle. It felt good to belong.
The Cheerios came into the gym just as the two teams were taking their places. Artie was playing offense, so he had a perfect view from the center of the court. He watched as the girls marched in, followed by their cheerleading coach. Ms. Sylvester was taking this very seriously; it looked like this was practice for the real thing in a few weeks. A lot of the new Cheerio recruits were looking around nervously, hoping to do a good job. He easily found Tina somewhere in the middle of the cheerleaders; she was one of the few girls with streaked hair. Tina looked out at the court miserably, not expecting much of anything. Once she got a glimpse of Artie, her mouth fell open in shock. Artie smiled at her and shook his head, telling her not to worry.
The whistle blew from the sidelines and the game finally started. Artie really enjoyed himself, following the ball back and forth and trying to throw off the opposing team. He might not be the most athletic person ever, but he did enjoy a good game every once in a while. A few seniors on the other team started passing the ball back and forth, obviously playing favorites and just messing around. They stayed on the other side of the court for several minutes while Artie watched the action from center court. He turned to Tina, who was doing the cheerleading routine, but her mouth was turned down and her eyes were on Artie. It didn't seem like it would cheer anybody up.
Finally, the seniors grew tired of their little game and someone finally shot the ball. It bounced off the back board and Puck caught the rebound. He easily dribbled the ball down the nearly abandoned court. He looked at Artie, who was wide open, and nodded. Artie smiled and started wheeling towards the basket. He knew in wheelchair basketball, he could carry the ball on his lap in place of dribbling, but these neanderthal jocks wouldn't understand that. They'd probably just steal the ball. Instead, Artie got within shooting range of the basket and Puck passed him the ball. Their strategy was working; no one from the other team expected them to ever pass the ball to Artie.
Artie took an easy shot and got it in. Two points!
The cheerleaders went wild at the unexpected basket. Most of the Cheerios were sophomores or juniors and they couldn't help root for their own team. Artie's eyes turned towards Tina, who smiled wearily and went into the routine wearily. She still looked worried about him. It was time to play dirty.
The next time the ball got passed to Artie, he wasn't anywhere near a basket. A sophomore had just looked for the nearest open player and went for it. Artie knew there was no way he could make it all the way to the basket, but irrationally, he went for it. He wanted to prove something. There was no reason to worry about him. He was just as good, if not better than some of these other players. He placed the basketball into his lap and started wheeling himself down the court. As expected, the jocks on the other team started ganging up on him and they weren't afraid to be rough.
A big jock slammed right into Artie, stealing the ball and knocking him completely off balance. Shocked, Artie fell out of his chair and landed hard on the ground. Suddenly, the game came to a crashing halt. The players surrounded Artie, none of them wanting to approach him. The cheerleaders stopped their routine; shocked and confused. They all stood perfectly still, waiting for some clue as to what they should do, all besides Tina. She ran over to Artie and leaned over him. "Are you OK?" She asked, out of breath from dancing and worrying about him.
Much to everyone's surprise, Artie just started laughing. "Yeah, I'm fine." He sat up roughly. He rubbed his ass wearily. "I think my butt is bruised."
"Can you even feel your butt?" Finn asked, completely confused.
Everybody laughed, revealed that Artie was alright.
Finally, Ms. Sylvester, the only adult in the room, marched over. "That was incredibly stupid," she said sternly. "I like that. It's nice to see handicappable people finally fitting in and getting hurt just like everybody else." She smiled a bit. "Don't do it again."
Artie just nodded, too scared to comment.
"As for you," Ms. Sylvester turned to Tina with glaring eyes. "You're off the team. I should have known not to let some goth punk onto my team. How is being depressed and distracted gonna cheer anybody up? You might be a good dancer, but stick to that freak show of a glee club where you belong. Get out of that uniform."
Tina hung her head in shame while the other cheerleaders and jocks slowly left the room. It was almost like there was no point to having a game anymore. When it was just the two of them, Artie struggled back into his wheelchair and looked up at Tina. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "That was pretty stupid on my part."
"No, I should have never tried out for the cheerios. I guess I just wanted to be noticed for once."
"I notice you," Artie smiled softly.
Tina just shrugged and looked down at the floor. "You're not very good at showing it."
"I guess I just wanted you to notice me," he said. "I know you were hoping for better."
"No I wasn't. I like you for who you are." Tina shrugged. "Anyway, so were you. I saw you staring at those cheerleaders."
Artie blushed. "I'm a guy, OK? But at the end of the day, I really only like you. You're the only one who really sees me... you know, past the chair."
"I don't get you. Stop putting yourself down."
Artie just shrugged. "I'm never gonna dance or be like those jocks."
"I told you, it's OK. I've still got Kurt's videos to dance for. And do you really want to be like those jocks?" She finally looked up.
Artie smiled, knowing exactly what she was thinking. Most of those jocks had no brains, no personality and no talent. He'd never trade what he had for that. Finally, he laughed, "No way."
"Good, cause I don't either," she smiled and laughed down at her uniform. "I guess I'd better change out of this ridiculous costume."
They both laughed as she wheeled him out of the gym. Neither of them would ever be popular or cool, but they were OK with that. After all, nerds need love too.