Biology was the worst. It wasn't that Artie hated the study of life; life was kind of important when he thought about it. It was more that he hated having to sit mere feet away from the girl who unknowingly had her fingers wound tightly around his heart. He was still in love with Tina; there was no way of tip-toeing (or tip-wheeling) around that.
Artie sat in the back of the class at one of those library style desks. It made for easy access and unfortunately it also made for easy access…of viewing the back of Tina's blue streaked head. All through class, Artie stared longingly at the one that got away; only diverting his gaze to stare at the clock as the second hand ever so slowly ticked his life away. He never admitted it (and probably never would), but he was a fan of dramatic irony and overused clichés. It always made for a good chuckle.
As his eyes shifted from the clock and back down to his ex-girlfriend (he still cringes at the sound of that word), two words escaped the teacher's lips. Two words that made biology that much worse.
"Partner up!"
With Tina near, it made it near impossible for Artie to concentrate on any of the lessons spewing from the teacher's mouth. Everything was usually a blur for him in that one specific class, but when the words 'Partner up' were spoken, it was as though everything had gone into slow motion. People began jumping out of their seats (he would jump if he could) and pairing up left and right. A year ago he would have rolled up next to Tina, said 'Partners?' and that would have been that.
His eyes flitted across the room as he searched for an acceptable partner.
Sam was there, but the guy already had his eyes set on a certain blond cheerleader who sat in the front row.
There was the hockey jock that cheated off of him in math class. Uh, that was a no before Artie even bothered to consider that partnership.
There was the quiet girl who sat in the back near him. People said she was crazy, but who now a days wasn't? Who cares that the rumor around the school was that she had a collection consisting of the hair of everyone on the baseball team? Right?
Artie heaved a heavy sigh, gripped his wheels reluctantly, and began to reverse. As he turned his wheelchair out from under the desk, he was surprised by a pair of unnaturally white keds standing in front of him. His breath hitched as his eyes trailed up the slender form covered in school colors before him.
"Partners?" Quinn's voice was quiet, yet strong as she stood with one hand clutching her elbow from across her body. He still found it suspicious that the head cheerleader, of all people, took some sort of interest in him, but Artie had to admit that it had its appeal.
Quinn was hot.
Enough said.
Artie nodded, smiling wide enough that it reached his eyes. Quinn had walked up to him, said 'Partners?' and that was that.
Artie and Quinn lingered behind as the others poured out of the choir room. Quinn still had her Magenta wig on and Artie still had on his fake mustache (which was still tickling his nose and lip by the way).
"So, about the biology project…" Quinn drawled as she delicately removed the pins that were holding the wig in place. Artie tried to help, but the awkwardness of the entire situation caused his hand to snap back before she noticed. "We should probably discuss it, or whatever." She racked her fingers through her wig mussed hair, shaking the tangles loose the best she could.
"I was thinking we could do something on topic." Artie adjusted his glasses, pushing it higher on the bridge of his nose. "Perhaps a rap detailing the environmental effects of the oil spill?"
Shaking her head, Quinn scoffed. "It's biology class Artie, not MTV. Please get serious."
"Oh…right." The corners of Artie's mouth twitched slightly, pulling itself into a forced half smile for her benefit. He lowered his head and took to staring at his hands. It was his go to thing when he was feeling embarrassed or nervous. "Sorry."
Quinn rolled her eyes, more at herself than at her partner. She felt horrible for letting the 'Queen Bee' side of her personality slip while Artie was doing nothing, but bounce ideas off of her. She wanted to help him, not push him away. "But, um…I do like your oil spill idea. Maybe we could do a, what are those things called? You know, the model things?" She flashed her fingers as she struggled to pick her brain for the right word.
"Dioramas?"
"Yeah, those." Quinn bit her lower lip. "What do you think?"
Artie arched a brow and scrunched his lips to the side as he juggled the idea around in his mind before nodding. "That sounds good. When do you wanna work on it?"
"Um…" She tucked a few fallen strands of hair behind her ear. "I could come over to your place after school tomorrow and we can work on it then."
His blue eyes widened at the suggestion as he took a moment to take an audible gulp. "You-you sure the library wouldn't be better?"
Quinn grinned ever so slightly. "Not if you want to avoid getting paint on all of the books. I would offer my house, but trust me. You don't want to go there right now." Her expression dropped as her lower lip lifted with repressed heartache. Artie didn't have the details on Quinn's home life, but by the look she was wearing, he knew it had to have been pretty bad and more importantly, he knew he shouldn't push. At least not yet.
"Uh, my place it is…I guess." Wringing his hands together, Artie laughed nervously.
Quinn stood up and fetched her belongings. "Tomorrow then?" She asked, sending a look over her shoulder.
Artie nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow."
A/N: Thank you to all of you wonderful people who have reviewed, favored, and/or alerted...or even took the time to read! You guys rock!