A/N: Just a short-ish filler-ish chapter. Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! Enjoy!
The lift on the bus whirred and clanked upwards. Ready for the day in his ensemble of black pants, black shirt, and red vest and tie, Artie rested his hands on his push-rims. He looked down at Skyler, who sat in her chair in the parking lot, looking over at the sun rising over the Dumpsters.
"It'd be poetic if it was prettier," she typed, glancing up at Artie with a slight grin.
"The smell of Dumpsters in the morning," Artie said.
The lift clanked to a stop and Artie unlocked his chair's wheels and rolled backwards into the bus. Susan Howard was there, waiting to help him strap his chair into the bus.
Mr. Schuester brought the lift back down. "How are you feeling today, Skyler? Are we going to be winners?"
"A philosopher might suggest that we are already winners, Mr. Shu," Skyler typed.
"But not Skyler Howard?"
"I don't think I would ever make it as a philosopher," Skyler typed. "Instead I will suffice as the group's eternal optimist."
"And?"
"And those other groups might just want to watch out. Because if we can't beat them in song, Artie and I will just run them over with our chairs," Skyler typed, and smiled up at Mr. Schuester.
"Which is a much bigger threat than it seems," Susan Howard said, sticking her head out the handicapped access door. "A friend of mine took her son's power chair to her shin, and the wound got infected, and they had to amputate her leg."
"Really?" Mr. Schuester looked up in horror.
Skyler rolled her eyes as she positioned her chair on the lift. "Mom, you left out about six steps in that story. First of all, right after she got hit with the chair, she was in a car crash. And she broke her leg."
"I still maintain the power chair did it," Susan said.
Skyler rose into the air with the assistance of the groaning, clanking lift. Rachel approached from the far side of the parking lot, coming to stand next to Mr. Schuester. Skyler raised her hands up as far as they would go and gave Rachel a smile.
"Good morning," Rachel said, startling Mr. Schuester. He jumped and his thumb slipped off the lift control box. The lift jerked to a stop. Skyler jerked in her chair.
"Good morning, Rachel!" Mr. Schuester managed to get his thumb back onto the lift control. "Sorry, Skyler!"
"It's okay," Skyler typed.
"How are you this morning?" Rachel asked, going over to stand next to the lift as Skyler rose into the air.
"Ready to kick Rand Philippe's ass!" Skyler typed, eyes widening with excitement. "Figuratively, of course, although I would give pretty much anything to have the leg control and strength to kick him literally in the ass."
"Skyler!" Susan Howard said, leaning out of the open lift door.
Skyler rolled her eyes.
"I know what you mean," Rachel said, smiling. "I can't wait to get up there onstage and show them what we're made of."
"Better stuff than the Lovelies," Skyler typed.
The lift ground to a stop and Susan Howard backed Skyler's chair off the platform.
"Better get on the bus, Rachel," Mr. Schuester advised.
Loading finished quickly and in just a few minutes, the bus was pulling out of the parking lot. Mr. Schuester passed around juice boxes and doughnuts. "I'd just like to say," he said, standing in the aisle, "that I think we've got a really great chance at going all the way today at sectionals!"
"Hear, hear!" Kurt called, raising his juice box.
"I want you guys to remember that we bring something special to the table. Or, to be a little clearer, the stage," Mr. Schuester went on. "We've got singers, dancers, lyricists, poets – true artists… we've got so much diversity, and not just the politically-correct kind so celebrate in ad campaigns."
He raised his juice box a little higher. "Our group is… well, we're blessed, gang, because we've got something no other group has."
"Is it Kurt's bow tie advice?" Puck asked from the third row.
"That," Mr. Schuester said as the group laughed, "but what we've really got is each one of you."
"And me!" Brittany added.
The bus rolled over a pothole and Mr. Schuester nearly fell. "I guess I'd better sit down," he said, still smiling. "But just know that I'm so proud of you guys, gang."
"We love you too, Mr. Shu!" Artie called from the back of the bus, raising his juice box.
"Oh, no, we're last!" Rachel cried as she looked over the scheduling sheet.
"Is that bad?" Susan Howard asked.
"That's good, Rachel," Kurt said. "That means we get to see what everyone else has to offer."
"It also means the judges are going to be tired by the time they get to us!" Rachel protested.
"So we just have to be unforgettable," Finn said.
"And we're right after the Lovelies!" Rachel griped.
"They're not doing anything impressive," Skyler typed.
"Calm down, Rachel," Mr. Schuester said. "There was a mix-up with our registration information and I had to re-send it. That's probably why we're last."
"So we're an add-on?" Rachel looked at him, horrified.
"Nothing we say is going to calm her down," Mercedes said, and rolled her eyes.
"No, we're not an add-on," Mr. Schuester said. "We're just last. Savor it, Rachel – it means we have all the more time to practice, so we can really wow them. Now, who's up first?"
"Um, Newtown High School," Mike Chang said, reading from the schedule. "With their James Taylor retrospective. Accompanied by the Newtown Chamber Orchestra."
"Let's get our seats," Mr. Schuester said. "Wouldn't want to miss an orchestral version of 'Mexico.'"
He strode off towards the women handing out programs at the auditorium doors. Most of the glee club followed after him.
"He is far too calm," Rachel said, the scheduling sheet shaking in her hand.
"It's going to be all right," Finn said.
"Yeah," Skyler typed. "Anything after a strings version of James Taylor is going to seem classy as hell."
"Sky," Susan said warningly.
"You have to admit it's true, Mrs. Howard," Finn said, and with that, they filed into the auditorium.
Onstage, forty students in ill-fitting silver-sequined vests lackadaisically sang "Fire and Rain."
"You were right," Susan Howard said, patting Finn on the knee. She sat on the aisle to be close to Skyler, but even at their great distance from the stage, the James Taylor retrospective came off as trite.
"Thank God we're last," Rachel said.
"What?" Santana whispered. "You were all crazy because we're last, but then…"
"I should have seen it as a great advantage," Rachel interrupted. "Obviously. The judges are going to be wowed by us."
"If they're not wowed by the Lovelies first," Tina said.
"Oh, please. The Lovelies are going to come out and do their madrigal-style nonsense, and then we'll get up there and…"
"And give them what?" Santana demanded. "TV theme songs, a song without words, and 'Raise Your Glass'?"
"Anything's got to be better than this," Finn said, pointing with his chin to the spangled James Taylor aficionados.
Santana rolled her eyes and settled back in her seat.
"Give a big round of applause to the Newtown High School Glee Club!" a deep voice boomed over the PA. "We'll give our judges five minutes to complete their grading sheets, and then we'll welcome…" – there was a short pause – "… the Chatham Consolidated High School Choristers!"
The lights came up. Skyler raised her hands off her arm rests and her eyebrows, and without any other cues, Susan leaned over and suctioned her.
"That's impressive that you know when to do that," Finn offered a bit sheepishly.
"We're a good team," Susan said, giving Skyler a smile.
"Like the Yankees," Skyler typed.
"I love the Yankees," Finn said.
"No, I was thinking more like your glee club," Susan said. "I mean, look at all of you."
Finn did as he was told, looking down the row at the other glee club members, all the way down to Artie, who sat in the other aisle. Artie, confused by Finn's long gaze, raised his hand and waved a little confusedly.
"You can stop looking," Susan said, when it became clear that Finn would not do so on his own. "I just meant, you all have your strengths and you all have your needs, and that's why it's such a pleasure to watch you kids perform."
"I thought it was the ties," Skyler typed.