There were eighty-four days in January. Even it being senior year didn't change that. It was still long and dull.
January was typically when Artie fought snow and ice and avoided all steep inclines as much as possible. With December's disaster still fresh on his mind, he was especially vigilant.
Added to his troubles was cold and flu season. He tried to avoid it, but being that he was working with a somewhat compromised immune system, it usually found him at some point. Luckily, it found him in the midst of a blizzard. It was the perfect excuse for him to skip a few days of school and for Tina to bring him his homework while his mother brought him chicken soup, crackers, and Ginger Ale.
"Jeez, Artie, you've been out for three days, it's just a good thing attendance isn't a factor for Valedictorian," Tina commented, as she handed him a thick stack of Honors Chem work. She may have been especially focused on that because, at last check, the race between the two best friends was pretty close.
Artie propped up on his pillows and moved the empty bowl from lunch to his nightstand to make room for the homework on his TV tray. "I offered to attend class by Skype or something," he said, shrugging. "They told me that's not a thing. It should be. I could get all the instruction I need without leaving the house and exposing people to my sickness. Which I'm sure I caught at school."
Having given him what she'd come to deliver, Tina backed away until she was on the other side of the room. "Well, I don't want your germs," she explained, sitting atop his desk (since there was no chair). "Which is why I think I'll chat with you from over all the way over here. And maybe I'll wear a surgical mask next time."
"I licked that desk," Artie couldn't resist telling her. Before she could jump off, though, he added: "Kidding. You know me, I wiped it clean each time I worked on stuff over there." Sure enough, a tell-tale container of disinfectant wipes was nearby.
"Yeah, I know you, you're a total germaphobe," she said. "Which is why I'm shocked to see you're the sick one. We've been working on the choreography for Sectionals while you're gone."
"Good." Artie knew they didn't need him for that. If anything, it was better for him to be out of the way while they worked it out, and then he could add himself in later, making up some of his own moves to work with theirs.
"Now that we don't have Mike or Brittany, we really lack in that department." She paused. "Well, Jake and Kitty are alright, I guess. They both know how to dance, but they don't know how to teach like Brittany and Mike do."
"So... what else have I missed, besides homework?"
As much as Artie liked missing the heaviest snowfall of the year, he desperately wanted to know what he was missing at school. Even if January was dull, it was his last January as a high school student.
"Well, what with Friday being February 1st and Valentine's Day being right around the corner, Sugar just announced plans for the second annual Sugar Shack," Tina said, launching right into a recap of what else he'd missed. "I've invited Mike. He's gonna come, as long as he doesn't have any mandatory rehearsals or anything. He's part of the chorus for 'Swan Lake' in March."
"Maybe you altered that tattoo prematurely?" Artie suggested, smirking at her.
"No. No, I'm pretty sure it's not 'Mike Chang Forever.'"
"Well, seems like you're still pursuing him," Artie pointed out, not bothering to hide his disapproval. "Doesn't really seem like you're trying to 'Make Change Forever' either."
In Artie's opinion, Tina really needed to make up her mind about Mike. If she wasn't going to follow the guy to Chicago and wasn't counting on forever, then there was no point in trying to hold onto the past. Artie could tell by the look on Tina's face that she didn't want to discuss her relationship with Mike with him. It was in these sort of moments that Artie remembered he was still Tina's ex, even if that felt like a very long time ago. He changed the subject. "Is Sugar still requiring people to bring dates?"
"Yup." Tina rolled her eyes. "She made that very clear. Oh, yeah, and I'm supposed to give you this..." And she fished a very fancy printed invitation out of her purse and crossed the room to give it to him. "Says it right there. No single people allowed."
Artie gave her a long look, not bothering to hide his annoyance. "Y'know, you could have saved me some trouble by just being my date. I know I don't dance as well as Mike, but still. We always have a good time, don't we?"
"There's not somebody else you want to ask?" Tina said it like a question, tilting her head to the side, as she retreated back to his desk.
"As long as we're just reaching out to our exes, maybe Brittany would do me the favor," he asked, not really answering Tina's nosy question. "Or, ooooh, Sugar. Maybe Sugar doesn't have a date to her own party."
"Actually," Tina looked like she had some juicy deets to spill this time, as she sat up a bit straighter and a grin spread across her face. "She asked Ryder. Right there in the choir room in front of everyone. She sang 'Ticket to Ride' — butchered it, of course, but then she handed him his invitation personally and his was different than the rest, because she'd written: 'Be Mine?' on the back.
Artie straightened up a bit in bed. "And he said no, right? Because he's going to bring Betty... right?"
Tina shook her head slowly. "I don't talk to Ryder much, but I don't think that was, like, a long-term thing, him and Betty. I mean, she doesn't go to our school. She's older than him, too. I-I think they've already fizzled out."
"Oh." He didn't know which part frustrated him more – the fact that someone so undeserving of the Beatles covered a Beatles song or the news about Betty and Ryder.
He really liked the idea of Betty with some able-bodied guy, because it sort of gave him hope. She'd buzz him if he told her, but he'd been secretly rooting for them for that very reason. He hadn't talked to Betty since the New Year's Eve party, so he was out of the loop on her and her love life.
Tina, completely misinterpreting Artie's pause, took it in another direction entirely. "I knew it!" she exclaimed. "You do like Betty, don't you? Are you going to ask her to come as your date?"
"Well, now you know who I've been secretly pining for," was Artie's retort, but then Tina completely missed his sarcasm as she gripped the desk, her jaw dropping at this new bit of gossip. Except, of course, he was kidding, and he started to laugh at her reaction, which turned into a coughing fit. He almost felt better, but there was still the problem of the lingering couch. His chest ached from coughing so much.
Tina looked more worried than grossed out by his germs this time. "Artie, do you think you're getting pneumonia?"
He grabbed the water on his bedside table and took a long, slow swig to get things under control again. "Not yet but I will if I go out in that snow," he said. "Which is supposed to come down hard tomorrow. Yeah, I'm not going. Sorry. Can you bring me work again tomorrow? Probably Friday's too. I can't get afford to get behind. Our next test is Monday."
"Even though I should let you fail so I can be Valedictorian..." she started, as his jaw dropped in horror. But she smiled. "Yes, Artie, of course I'll bring you your work. I want a fair fight. But I also want to win. I need Valedictorian to get into Brown."
"What other schools were you accepted into?"
"None, because I didn't apply to any others."
And Artie's blank, shocked expression must have been something she was getting used to by now. Because it didn't make sense not to apply to at least all the state schools you'd have a sure shot at, what with being at the top of the class. "So... you didn't apply anywhere else? Not even Ohio State or something?"
Tina rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that look. I know what I'm doing. It's Brown or bust. If I don't get in, I'll just... I'll just... apply to be a counselor at camp again, I'm doing that anyway, and maybe see if they need someone to assist with their STEM program in the fall while I re-apply."
This was a flawed plan, and she obviously knew it, what with the way she couldn't quite look him in the eye as she explained herself. But Artie was getting a bad feeling that, if it came down to both he and Tina, part of him would want to take the fall for her. Maybe he wouldn't put forth a ton of effort on this Chem test in the class where they were currrently tied for the top grade...
Turned out, he couldn't do that. He made it back to school for Monday's test, having done all the make-up assignments for class and taken his time with the study guide they'd received. This class was more like a college-level Chem class. It wasn't taught by a coach, like his intro class freshman year. (Coach Tanaka, one of his least favorite teachers, second only to round-one of third grade's teacher.) Anyway, this class had a truly rigorous syllabus, and their teacher had a doctorate. Apparently, he only taught in the district because his kids attended school there, undoubtably training to be future Valedictorians themselves.
"What'd you get?" Tina wanted to know, as soon as they'd gotten out the door at the end of class. Artie had his test in his lap, facedown, because he wasn't one to brag.
"Ninety-seven," he said, flipping it over.
She frowned and showed him her paper. "Me too." Tina had obviously been expecting, maybe even hoping, that this would be the test he would finally tank. (And, by their definition, that was an A minus, also known as an Asian F.)
"Great minds think alike, I guess," he said, with a smile that she returned after an awkward pause. They proceeded down the hall, as it began to get a little crowded. She typically walked beside him now, instead of behind him and pushing his chair. "Thanks for bringing me all my homework all of last week. Couldn't have done it without you."
Tina bit her lip, as though rethinking her first response to that comment. "So, are you feeling better? You sound like yourself again. And hey, it's not snowing today. In fact, it's kind of warming up, little by little."
"Perfect welcome-back present for me," he said, grinning up at her. "Yup, when Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring on Saturday for Groundhog's Day, I rediscovered the will to live."
She giggled. "Well, here's to matching grades in Chem class and rediscovering the will to live. Tuesday lunch tomorrow, okay? I missed you last week."
"Tuesday lunch." The way Artie and Tina talked in the halls constantly, were often seen together, and maintained a tradition of Tuesday lunches probably made casual observers think they were still dating. But... Artie had his eyes on someone else. And, as luck would have it, she rounded the hall and approached him just as he and Tina went their separate ways.
Kitty was back in her Cheerio's uniform and letterman's jacket, this time swapping the pants out for the flared skirt that was honestly such a tease to Artie. He couldn't help it that her butt was right in his face whenever he ended up behind her, and the way that flared skirt bounced when she walked gave him those tingles that meant everything down there definitely still worked. At least it wasn't happening now, while she was just approaching him from the front.
"Hey, Kitty!" he greeted her brightly. "I'm back. Did you miss me?"
"I did, I had my shovel ready just in case you came back last week, ready to shovel those ramps if necessary." She could joke about it now, and he could actually smile in return. "Lucky for us, good old Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring, and the Cheerio skirts are out early this year."
"Don't think I didn't notice."
"Oh, I noticed you noticing," Kitty shot back, matching the flirty tone he'd just used with her own. "From clear across the hall, you noticed. Well, you're welcome. And welcome back."
Any cheerleader who randomly knew the name of the groundhog from Groundhog's Day wasn't your typical cheerleader type. Artie knew by now that Kitty only pretended to be like Bree and all the others. She wore a mask and she wore it well, but with him, sometimes she'd let her freak flag fly a little more.
"Chariot ride to class?" he asked, gesturing at his lap.
But she pursed her lips and gave a tight shake of her head, declining his offer in the middle of this very public space. Freak flag at half-mast.
"Another time then," he concluded. "See you at Glee club later. I heard you and Jake came up with our choreography. Maybe you could help me work myself in?"
They both knew perfectly well by now that Artie typically figured out on his own how to best work himself into the dances. But, any excuse to interact with Kitty was... an excuse to interact with Kitty. She smiled down at him, in a way that reminded him of the carefree way they'd interacted during the calendar photoshoot and while painting sets for the musical. "Sure."
"Great, thanks," he said, and turned to head off in the opposite direction. He was going to be late to second period, but it would be excused, as he had a weekly meeting with Ms. Pillsbury. (Or should he call her Mrs. Schuester now?)
"Wait!" Kitty's sudden outcry got his attention, and he turned to face her once more. "Uh..." she seemed uncharacteristically flustered. "Did you get the invitation for Sugar's Valentine's Day party?"
"Oh, yeah," he said. "Tina brought it by my house the other day. Sounds like... fun."
"Tina," Kitty repeated just then, and Artie couldn't tell what she was thinking. He was exceptionally bad at reading women. Tina had taught him that, then Brittany had confirmed it, and the rest was history. "Yeah, well... just making sure you knew. See you later."
"See you."
Artie was almost all the way to Ms. Pillsbury's office on the other side of the school when he realized his mistake. He paused in front of the door and smacked his own forehead. "She thinks I'm going to the party with Tina, ugh."
The door swung open, revealing Becky Jackson, who had just heard the comment that he'd meant to say only to himself. "When I do my inner monologue, I don't say it out loud, Abrams! Take your loser babble somewhere else."
"Uh, I'm taking it in there," he said, blinking rapidly. "And... you're kind of blocking the door."
Becky stepped aside to allow him entry. Ms. Pillsbury, or the new Mrs. Schue, depending on her preference, was enjoying her usual mid-morning snack of immaculately cleaned fruit and had already moved the chair in front of her desk out of the way to make room for Artie.
"I'm going to miss these chats, Artie," she said, her sweet disposition shining through as she spoke and her kind eyes displaying genuine sadness at the thought of him leaving. "Hard to believe we've been having weekly meetings ever since your freshman year."
"I'm going to miss talking with you, too," Artie said, as he worked his chair into the space and locked the breaks. "You taught me the importance of, I dunno, like... talking through my issues instead of just stuffing it down. So, thanks for that."
"You're so welcome, Artie." Her eyes welled up with tears, and he figured he'd better tone down the sentiments to avoid seeing the waterworks. "The pleasure was all mine. You taught me a lot, too. More than you know."
"So..." Artie was prepared with something other than the usual chat about school issues today. He reached around and pulled out three letters, placing them on the desk. Two of the three had actually come on the same day, and the third was one he'd had for a while now. Ms. P leaned over her desk and eyed the envelopes as he spread them out. "I thought I'd be working with just two options, at best, but I guess I have three. They all accepted me."
"I know about Brooklyn... wow, I'm so glad you finally heard back... oh, okay, and Ohio State, that makes sense. You'd get free tuition for being a student with a disability..." (Artie nodded. He knew this. That was why OSU was going to be a hard one to turn down, if he didn't go the safe route.) "You never mentioned that you applied to the Los Angeles Film School, Artie! And you got in? Isn't it..."
"The number one film school in the U.S., yeah." Artie was wringing his hands in his lap, his nervous energy unable to be contained, now that he could finally talk about it with someone.
He'd just gotten the letter from Brooklyn on Friday. He was keeping the news to himself for now, since he'd managed to get to the mail before his mother did that day. And on the same day, the letter from L.A. came, too. He wasn't ready to talk about any of it until he sorted out a few things first.
"... I just got curious about it, because I know Mercedes is enjoying being in L.A. and Puck's talking about going out there eventually. It just sounds amazing to live someplace without the harsh winters, to be honest, and I figured it was worth looking into. But there might be a few things in my way. Tuition. Living expenses."
"Not to mention, travel," Ms. Pillsbury chimed in. "Flights to and from L.A. could get pretty expensive, so you'd have to be prepared to settle and stay." And, as she said this, she must have realized how discouraging it sounded. "But Artie, if it's worth it to you..."
"I don't really know if it is anymore," he said, sighing and running his hands through his unruly hair, which badly needed a trim. "I'd like to at least visit the school. Even if I might not be serious about it. I was going to see if maybe Mercedes could help me out with a place to stay over spring break."
"Great idea," the counselor affirmed his plan with a bright smile. "Sounds like you're putting a lot of thought into your future, Artie, and with that – not to mention with having just missed a week of school while you were out sick – comes a lot of stress. Take care of yourself."
"I will..." Artie's gaze drifted from his three letters to a stack of papers on the corner of her desk. He recognized the Ohio State letterhead at the top righthand corner of the page. "What's the TOPS program?"
"Oh, that was just a very neat opportunity I was discussing with Becky just now," Ms. Pillsbury explained, as she tucked the papers back into a file folder. "It's a workforce certificate program. She could live on campus and learn job skills with a community of other intellectually disabled individuals. But..."
"She won't do it?" Artie interjected.
And Ms. P sighed. "Artie, I make it a point not to discuss other students, and I slipped up a bit, I'm afraid, by sharing too much. It's just..."
"Just... what?" Artie didn't want her to overshare, but at the same time, curiosity had gotten the best of him. Curiosity and a surge of concern for a fellow disabled student.
She sighed again. "Well, at first I thought it was a joke, but it's not. Sue is already referring to her as her new Beckretary and acting as though the girl's only purpose in life is to remain in her indentured service indefinitely!"
If Ms. Pillsbury thought she said too much before, well, it was nothing compared to what she'd just divulged. Artie thought about his sister, a resident assistant in one of the dormitories. He knew she'd talked about having residents on campus with intellectual disabilities before. They must have been TOPS students. His wheels were turning, and not the ones under his seat. Ms. Pillsbury wasn't the only one who wanted another option for Becky.
"Can I ask her about it?" Artie ventured. "I wouldn't tell her you talked to me about it or anything. I could just say I saw the papers on your desk. Maybe I can ask my sister to give Becky an informal tour of the campus."
"Well, she just turned down the formal tour I tried to arrange for her," Ms. Pillsbury said, then covered her mouth and looked quite ashamed. "Artie, I have said way too much. But if you want to try to talk to Becky about it, be my guest. She might be more persuaded by another student."
"I'm gonna do some research at lunch, and then talk to her," Artie decided. And, noticing the still-worried expression etched across his counselor's face, he added: "I'll leave you out of this. I know exactly how to play it."
"I'd appreciate that," she said, as he gathered his letters back up and returned them to the inner pocket of his backpack. "I really do strive to abide by my code of ethics in my dealings with students. Speaking of which, are we done so soon? I didn't even get to ask you what your parents think about all your options."
"Oh." Artie paused, not sure how to respond to that, since he hadn't even told his parents about the two letters he'd gotten from Brooklyn and L.A. on Friday. "Er, yeah, Mom and Dad and I have a lot to talk about."
"Well, I can provide some of my own research about L.A. and Brooklyn and both of your potential film schools – I know you did say you visited Brooklyn over the winter holidays – and we can talk more about it next week."
"Sounds good!"
As he left the counselor's office with a pass for second period, he considered what he might say to Becky, to approach the idea of a college visit. He'd been intending to research the TOPS program before he talked to her, but as he rolled by the principal's office, he spotted Becky sitting idly at the desk in front of Sue's closed door. The door to Becky's area was open, however, and he rolled himself into the doorway.
"Hey, Becky," he said. "Uh, why aren't you in class?"
"Nosy, this is my class," Becky said, rolling her eyes at him and not-so-subtly minimizing the game of Solitaire she'd been playing on the computer. "I had enough credits to graduate, so Coach made a class for me called Beckretary 101 for second period."
"Oh..." Artie kept a straight face, hiding his annoyance over the principal's manipulation of the girl as he approached her. "Well, hey, when I was in the counselor's office just now, I accidentally saw some papers you left. Are you considering the TOPS program at OSU?"
If Becky thought his first question was nosy, well, he had braced himself for some initial backlash. But instead, she softened a bit, probably surprised by his interest in her future. "Well, I don't know, it's kind of far away..."
Artie, who was himself considering schools on opposing coasts and far from the Midwest, just nodded as though he agreed with that concern. "I know, but you know, my sister goes there. She's a senior now. She visits home a lot and we hardly have time to miss her. She says the commute is okay. You just have to get used to it."
"Yeah..." Becky was twirling a strand of her hair nervously now, but to her credit, she really seemed to be listening to what he said. And then she perked up and said: "Your sister, the one who was Head Cheerio before Quinn, right? I always loved watching her when I was in junior high. She had the best toe-touch I ever saw."
Artie chuckled. "Yeah, that's Amy," he said, feeling like this might truly be a way to get through to her, by way of his sister, her hero. "And I'm positive she'd take us on a tour. I could even drive us there."
Becky shot him a suspicious glance. "Is this your way of hitting on me, Wheels?" And, when Artie was too stunned by her question to formulate an immediate response, she smirked. "I'll do your tour. On one condition."
Artie swallowed nervously. "Okay..."
"I need a date for the Sugar Shack next week," she said, winking at him. "I'll do the tour if you'll take me to Sugar's party."
Oh, boy.
"Okay, it's a date," Artie heard himself say.
