A/N: I'll likely be spacing out my updates but I still haveinspiration for this project. As a reminder, my story loosely follows Glee but changes how and when events occur.Hope you enjoy!
"This is what enlightenment looks like," Artie commented happily, as he unrolled and surveyed one of the ten posters he'd designed and had professionally printed to advertise the show. He held it up to Sam, who gave him a thumbs-up.
They'd both wolfed down their sack lunches quickly that Tuesday, in order to spend the rest of the lunch period hanging up posters to promote auditions. Printed in bold letters at the bottom, at Sam's urging, were the words: 'An Artie Abrams Production'
"It doesn't matter if he's in prison like Ghandi or trapped inside a woman's body like Chaz Bono, or stuck in a wheelchair like me," Artie went on, as Sam hung the first of their posters near the entrance to the cafeteria. "When a man finds his calling, all is right in his world."
"I'd argue that your calling is performing," Sam said, as he stepped back to survey his work. "You're awesome on stage. You did a good job last year in Rocky Horror, when you played the, uh... the guy in the wheelchair..."
"I still love performing," Artie told him. "And I'm a I'm a firm believer in color-blind, non-traditional casting. For instance, I hope to play Porgy one day."
"No idea what that is," was Sam's retort.
"But thanks to Mr Schue and the school musical, I've finally discovered my true passion – bossing everyone around." Artie concluded this thought with a big grin. "I mean directing."
"Now that you're the big brother I never had, I can definitely attest to that," Sam said, with a grin. "Two days in and I'm already not in charge of my life anymore."
"Damn straight," Artie replied, without missing a beat, as the two exchanged grins on the way down the hall. Artie was really liking having Sam Evans around. And it was a lot easier to give him rides to and from school.
"I do really miss being the big brother," Sam added, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket. "Calling Stevie and Stacey every day just isn't enough. I miss being with them. I even miss sharing a bedroom with them."
"I know, buddy," Artie said, wishing he were high enough to reach up and pat Sam on the shoulder. He settled for meeting his eyes and giving him an understanding nod instead.
"Speaking of missing people," Sam added, and Artie followed his gaze to Quinn as they passed her. There she was, in her pink-haired glory, wearing all black, complete with her exposed midriff and the tattooed image of the famed American Idol host.
Monday at lunch was the first time Sam had seen Quinn since her drastic makeover and subsequent decision to ignore them all. After he'd scraped his jaw off the floor, Artie had sat him down and gently explained that Quinn had been abducted by aliens at some point over the summer.
"I know..." Artie sympathized with him again. "I know she doesn't want anything to do with Glee, but I wonder if I could still convince her that a school musical credit would look good for Yale..."
Artie wasn't suggesting that they chase down Quinn and do that immediately, but that was how Sam interpreted his comment. He hurried after Quinn, so Artie doubled-down on pushing his wheels to hurry after Sam. However, it was a little harder as the bell rang to signal the start of lunch for the seniors, and other students began filing into the hallway from the classroom doors on all sides. He stopped to let a sea of people pass in front of him, craning his neck to see Sam approach Quinn. Artie watched as Sam unfurled a poster for her to see. Quinn narrowed her eyes and gave her head a small shake, as Artie internally crumbled in defeat. He'd intended to persuade Quinn himself, not send Sam after her.
He caught up just in time to hear her saying, with a look of disdain, "Thanks, but no thanks." Her expression did soften, though, when she saw him. "But congrats on your directorial debut, Artie."
"You don't have to be in Glee club to participate," Artie said. "We'd love to have you back in... in something..."
Quinn stiffened at that, and he was sure he'd said the wrong thing. He wished to clarify. It wasn't so much that it mattered whether Quinn was in a school club or not, but he just hoped she hadn't given up everything that once mattered to her. Including him.
"I am in something," she said, defensively. "I'm coming to God Squad with Mack this week. Look, just wanting to wear different clothes and have different friends and do different stuff... that didn't change me."
"I wish I could believe that," Artie muttered, and Quinn just narrowed her eyes in return.
"I went off to Kentucky for a few months and my friends had to come rescue me because I'd practically become a male stripper!" Sam announced, loudly enough for several passing students and a teacher to turn their heads at the word 'stripper' in alarm. "You clearly lost yourself too this summer, Quinn. Let us find you."
"Not all who wander are lost," Quinn shot back.
"But you know what is lost?" said a voice directly behind Artie, so loudly that the person seemed to be leaning over and speaking directly into his ear. "My lunch money. Mind if I borrow yours?"
Artie turned cautiously to find Shelia leaning over and sneering at him. "I already... spent it." He didn't have to lie. He had spent it.
Quinn chuckled. "He's a Junior, Shelia, he already had lunch," she said.
"The chair adds a year," Sam said, quoting what he'd evidently heard Artie say on Jacob Ben Israel's back-to-school blog. (Sam really must have missed them, if he'd resorted to watching that monstrosity.)
"Anyway, you're not stealing anyone's money today," Quinn informed her fellow Skank. "We're going off campus to Quiznos for your birthday. I'm buying."
The halls were becoming increasingly crowded as they spoke. It was then that some jock guys came out of a classroom at a run, being rowdy together on their way to lunch. Artie was an obstacle in their path, and one of them tripped over him, nearly falling all over him in the process. He instinctively grabbed his wheels to steady himself and keep from tipping over.
"Hey, watch where you park that thing!" shouted the jock, who dissolved into laughter, echoed by the crowd of other jocks.
Artie sighed. Having someone trip over him was an almost-daily occurrence. It did earn him pitying looks from Sam, Quinn, and even Shelia. Taking advantage of this brief phenomenon, Artie decided to use the moment as leverage.
"Having your star power in my musical would really help me out, Quinn," he said, giving her slight puppy-dog eyes and a pout before pivoting and wheeling away. "Think about it," he called over his shoulder.
I am unicorn, he thought, as he wheeled off. However silly it seemed, Brittany's words to him on Monday were now his new mantra.
...
Artie could hardly wait for Wednesday.
First, he had to get through Tuesday and the remainder of their duets competition. Predictably, Rachel and Kurt won and made plans to split the usual Breadstix prize as a double date with Finn and Blaine. As Santana would say, so freaking charming. Artie sort of thought he deserved some kind of honorable mention for making it so that Sugar didn't suck. But seeing as he had the musical on his mind, he couldn't say he cared much.
On Wednesday morning, he couldn't force himself to concentrate on anything at school. He was nervously anticipating the end of the day, for today was the day he started auditions.
"You didn't raise your hand and answer all the questions today, plus provide your political opinion at ever opportunity," Mack observed, as their first period government was dismissed.
Ever since he'd broken the ice by approaching her first, it had cemented their in-class-only relationship. In-class-only, they joked around and she teased him for being an insufferable know-it-all with a mile-long comment ready for any and every occasion.
"Yeah, I'm a little distracted," he said, pausing at the door to let her pass through the doorway first, because even guys in wheelchairs could be gentlemen. "My musical auditions start today, after school. I'm directing, and it's my first time holding auditions."
"Oh, yeah, Quinn was thinking of going to that."
Artie's heart skipped a beat. He held Mack's gaze as hope surged through him, because if he could get Quinn to be a part of the musical, he could get her back. He knew it. She still wanted to be a part of something special.
"Well, that would be great," Artie said, trying to downplay his enthusiasm, then adding, "And we'd love to have you audition too, Mack. And Shelia and Ronnie if they want. I don't just want this to be a Glee Club thing."
"Hmm..." Mack cocked her head to the side, like she was thinking, then said, "Hate to break it to you, Wheels, but it's probably gonna be a Glee Club thing."
"Well, even if that's true, we have a lot of talent to work with," Artie said, though out of the corner of his eye he spotted Sugar approaching him in the halls and inwardly cringed. Okay, there are notable exceptions...
As if reading his mind, Mack just smirked. "Yeah," she said. "See ya."
Sugar reached him just as Mack departed. Artie gave a rather reluctant pivot and forced a smile. "Hey, Sugar," he said. "What's up?"
"I came to tell you the answer is yes," she said.
"What... was the question?" Artie asked, mystified.
"Homecoming, silly!"
Artie blinked a few times. Then he remembered. While he'd been putting up posters for the musical, it had been hard to miss the Homecoming court campaign posters. Lauren Zizes had plastered hers all over school, with "Zize Up Your Life," her official slogan, and a rather clever manip that featured her as the sixth Spice Girl. And then there were a few posters just advertising ticket sales for the dance.
"You and me..." she said, impatiently, rolling her eyes at him. "I just figured you'd want to go to the dance with me after you spent so much time flirting with me when we practiced our song together. It's not like anyone else wants to go with you. Sorry, Asperger's."
She didn't sound like she was sorry. Artie then glanced back in the direction of Mack, who'd since disappeared in the crowd, and realized he'd been kind of curious about a date with her. But Sugar was probably right. Probably, no one else did want to go with him, and if he was going to go with someone besides Mike and Tina, he'd better take her up on the offer.
"It's fine," he said, shoving down the last shred of his pride and dignity, in favor of showing up with someone who would look nice in semi-formal wear. "Sure, Sugar, I'd love to go with you..."
But Sugar shook her head slowly at this. Catching on to his mistake, he amended that. "I mean, uh, will you... go with me? To... Homecoming?"
And then Sugar squealed and took a flying leap in his lap, which probably would have hurt if he could properly feel it. He definitely felt the sudden pressure and subsequent spasm of his lower back. This was gonna be fun.
...
"Here you go, buddy," said Coach Beiste, as she hoisted him from his chair into the center row, at his request, for it was the only way to get the best seat in the house
"Thanks, Coach," Artie said, beaming up at her after she'd set him into his new seat, then turning to Ms. Pillsbury, added, "She's like my own private Jim Henson. Next!"
He was just trying to sound directorial, because Kurt Hummel was actually going to be the first person to audition that day. (And he'd already checked the halls. Everyone waiting outside was in Glee Club. No sign of Quinn.)
"Hello, I'm Kurt Hummel," said Kurt, as he took center stage. "And I'll be auditioning for Tony, the male lead."
"That's great, Kurt," Emma said, with a bright and encouraging smile plastered on her face, and Artie wondered silently if she'd be able to be objective or if she'd be too worried about hurting anyone's feelings to make proper casting decisions. Oh, well.
"I'll be performing the seminal, and in my case, semi-autobiographical Broadway classic 'I Am the Greatest Star' from 'Funny Girl,'" Kurt announced, unabashedly proud of his choice and completely unaware of how poorly suited his choice was for the male lead of this production.
"Isn't that a Streisand song?" Coach Beiste seemed to be thinking what Artie was thinking.
"I know what you're thinking, but I got written permission from the woman herself - Ms. Rachel Berry." Kurt looked impossibly pleased with himself. "And, I'd also like to thank Cashes from my dad's tire shop, for kindly constructing my audition scaffolding."
Artie had wondered where that came from. He'd arrived ten minutes early for his auditions to discover the elaborate set, deposited on his stage with no explanation for its appearance.
"Okay, whenever you're ready," he told Kurt.
Kurt launched into his grand performance of "I am the Greatest Star." He finished to much applause from the directors, including Artie, who was going to be supportive of everyone who graced his stage with an audition, even if they weren't a good fit for the part.
"Beautiful, Beautiful," Coach Beiste said, as she wiped away tears, and Artie wondered if she would have a tough time being objective, too.
"Who do we have next?" Emma asked, as Kurt gave a pageant queen wave and headed off stage.
"Mike Chang," Artie said, looking at his roster. "The kid's never late. He runs like an expensive Swiss watch reproduced cheaply in China. Next!"
"I'm here to audition for Riff," Mike announced, breathlessly, as he came running onto the stage, as though he'd narrowly missed being late.
"Uh, Mike, you know that's not just a dancing part, right?" Emma wanted to know.
"I do, yes," Mike said, nervously wiping his palms against his pant legs. "I've been working on my singing."
Mike had brought along some members of the football team to dance back-up, and it was clear he'd been the one to choreograph and teach them all, though it was unclear how he'd pulled this off with less than two days' notice. He performed a very cool performance of 'Cool.'
"Yeah! Wow!" Artie was blown away and didn't hesitate to let Mike know. And it wasn't just the dancing that had impressed him. The singing was honestly great, too.
"Wow, Chang, you must have worked really closely with my boys there," Coach Beiste commented. "That was some really fancy footwork. I just hope you didn't waste too much of your time."
Artie shot her a quizzical look at that statement, wondering if Coach knew something about Mike that he didn't know.
"It's what I love to do," Mike said, emphatically. "It's never going to be a waste of my time."
"Good job," Coach replied. "Who's going to follow that act?"
"Looks like... Joe Hart," Artie said, surprised to see a non-Glee clubber on his audition list. At least now he'd proven Mack's prediction wrong.
Joe, as it turned out, was also interested in being Riff. But it was too bad for him that Artie had already mentally signed Mike up for that, after his awesome audition, and he wasn't sure how a Sophomore was going to change his mind. Particularly because of one thing...
"Do you think we could get him to, you know, cut those things off?" Artie whispered to his two co-directors, as Joe launched into his own version of 'Cool.'
"Why?" Ms. Pillsbury blinked innocently. "I thought you told us you were a fan of non-traditional, color-blind casting."
"That doesn't apply to hairstyles," Artie argued. "Without the distracting dreads, I was thinking he'd make a decent Bernardo."
But his assistants were both looking at him now and he knew why. He couldn't demand a drastic hairstyle change for a high school production. So he just thanked Joe at the end of his audition and let him know they'd be in touch.
Four girls were after Joe — Sugar, Tina, Rachel, and Mercedes, in that order. Sugar was awful, but he'd be finding something for her that would hopefully satisfy both she and her father. Tina was Tina – good but not a stand-out performer and also not a Senior. It just wasn't her year yet. Sorry Tina.
Rachel was perfect, of course, even though Artie wished she'd done something other than 'I Feel Pretty.' He'd specified that songs other than those from the show were welcome, because he wanted to see whatever showcased the singer's voice the best. Plus, it was hard to get Sugar's version, complete with her screeching high notes, out of his head. Despite her lackluster performance, Rachel looked proud and oblivious to Artie's bored applause at the end.
And then Mercedes followed that up with something Artie hadn't expected. She was talented, for sure, but she'd never given off leading lady vibes... until now. Clad in a fitted black dress with her hair cascading softly over her shoulders, everything about her appearance screamed star power.
Shane the Boyfriend could be seen hovering in the back of the auditorium and watching her. When Artie turned to notice him, the six-foot-something football player gestured for him to watch Mercedes, and he promptly faced the front again. Mercedes treated them to a stunning rendition of 'Spotlight,' from 'Dream Girls,' the perfect choice for her.
"Beautiful," said Mrs. Pillsbury. "Mercedes, I've never seen you like this before. Really. You're so…"
"Glamorous," Coach Beiste chimed in.
"Glamorous," Mrs. Pillsbury agreed.
"Well, I just wanted you guys to see me the way that I see myself now: as a leading lady," Mercedes told them, glancing at Shane as she said this, without an ounce of hesitation.
"Well, it was wonderful," Ms. Pillsbury said. "Beautiful."
"So good," Artie said, knowing she was waiting on his comment and intending to show her full respect for that audition. "You killed it!"
Then Santana came onstage and performed "Somewhere," and now Artie felt nervous because he had three good choices for Maria. Tina was officially out of the running for the lead, with that one. Sam followed Santana, and Artie realized he now had two good candidates for Riff – both Sam and Mike. And finally, they were down to the last one...
"Blaine Anderson."
"Hi guys," Blaine said, apprehensively taking the stage. He seemed to be looking past their table, and Artie followed his gaze to Kurt, who was hanging out in the back.
"Greetings," Artie said. "What song will you be singing today?"
"'Something's Coming,'" said Blaine, before launching into his one-man-show that solidified his place in the competition. Artie knew Blaine was talented but he hadn't counted on him being so undeniably perfect for the leading man.
"I so want to give you a standing ovation right now," Artie couldn't help but confess.
"Thank you," said a very pleased Blaine, as he gave a small bow and prepared to exit stage left.
"Wait, wait," Artie said, picking up the clipboard in front of him. "On your audition form you said you were only interested in the role of Bernardo."
"Yeah, or Officer Krupke," said Blaine. "Either one is fine."
"I'm starting cold reading auditions tomorrow," Artie told him. "Would... you mind reading for Tony?"
Artie couldn't resist asking. There was no way he was going to let Blaine downplay his own star power, even if he knew it had everything to do with not stealing an opportunity away from Kurt.
Blaine agreed to this, albeit reluctantly, looking past the table of judges, undoubtably checking for Kurt's reaction, which Artie didn't see but could envision. Sorry, Kurt, you were outdone this time.
As the first round of singing auditions wound down, Artie was painfully reminded of the fact that one person had outright rejected him and his show. Though he now had three contenders for the leading lady, Quinn's absence still stung. He'd been foolishly clinging to the notion that she cared enough about him, after all they'd been through last year, to show up.
Clearly not.