10th Grade, High School

Age: 15

October 13, 2007

Vince arrives at the school gym long before anyone else in the sophomore class. They had made the agreement at the last Senate meeting to come around nine and hopefully they could decorate the gym in three hours, allowing them all to leave by noon. With the Ashleys at the helm, he highly doubts that will happen. They'll be lucky to get out of there with enough time to relax before the dance starts is his guess.

He gives himself plenty of time to shoot his one hundred free throws in the school gym before the rest of poor suckers who will be under the Ashleys' control for the next few hours arrive. He walks into the open gym, already unlocked by the janitor for them, and steps up to the line. He aims, sinking shot after shot.

When he finishes, he is still alone so he just continues shooting. 101. 102. 103.

He is just getting ready to send 113 toward the basket when he hears some movement behind him. He lets it fly, watching it sink through the net and then bounce against the court before turning.

The four Ashleys have arrived, their arms full of large brown bags and boxes. He jogs over to help and grabs the door to hold it open.

Ashley B barges right through, her arms holding two large boxes with her chin keeping them from toppling over, and Ashley Q follows right behind her. Ashley A pulls a dolly with some extra-large boxes piled high. Ashley T is the last one in, her left hand holding a large brown bag and her right grasping two large coffee take-out containers.

"Thanks," she says to him as she passes.

He quickly grabs one of the coffee containers. "Here, let me help."

"You, like, totally could have helped me, LaSalle," Ashley B says, dropping the boxes in her hands with a loud bang against the gym floor.

"You didn't seem to need it."

She rolls her eyes.

The janitors have already placed tables and folding chairs off to the side to use as refreshment tables and the ticket table. He and Ashley T place the coffee containers and the large brown bag on the table. The Ashleys apparently stopped by one of the coffee shops downtown on their way to the school, grabbing enough bagels, muffins, and drinks for everyone. He has to admit, it's nice of them. As he helps Ashley T set up the table, the three others begin to open boxes and bags full of their decorating supplies.

"So, where is Detweiler?" Ashley A asks as she pulls out multiple containers of string lights from one of the large brown boxes. "Figured you all would be here by now."

He shrugs. Gretchen, Mikey, and Gus will probably be here momentarily. Gus likes to be early and Gretchen is always timely. Mikey follows the crowd. TJ and Spinelli on the other hand…God only knows when TJ will finally roll in. Spinelli isn't coming, calling it her birthday present to herself, and without her helping him function this early on a Saturday, they'll be lucky if TJ shows up before they're all finished.

"Not exactly presidential behavior," Ashley B says, rolling her eyes.

Ashley A grabs a clipboard. "Well, in his absence, as head of the planning committee, I will, like, totally take the lead. So, we have to get the Eiffel Tower replica built, the lights hung, and the walls decorated to look like Parisian streets. So, I think let's station one of us at every section and, like, provide instruction as everyone arrives."

The girls all nod as if they had already discussed this plan and are only saying it aloud to let Vince in on it. He just shrugs. As long as he can have his own little corner of the gym, away from the rest of them, he doesn't really care. The Ashleys will undoubtedly have high expectations for the appearance of the gym and so he picks out a corner that is so out of the way he won't get yelled at if it isn't perfect. He'll wave Mikey, Gus, and Gretchen over as they arrive and the four of them can hopefully get in and out of this decorating adventure with little issue.

As everyone begins to show up, they get to work. The list of demands the Ashleys have is long, but at least there are a good number of people that showed up to help out. He, Gretchen, Mikey, and Gus have taken a spot in the back corner, setting up fake lamp posts and taping fake building siding to the walls.

"Did the Ashleys leave any money in our class account?" Gus asks as he uses an electric screwdriver to set up another light post.

Vince shakes his head. "Barely."

In all honesty, he thinks they used a fair amount of their own – or their fathers' – money. As treasurer, he didn't see receipts for half of what they're setting up. Just the string lights and some of the paper products. Still, even with their own funding, the Ashleys blew through the little they had saved in fundraiser money and were gifted by the school budget for the event.

He hears the clicking of heels against the gym floor and turns. Ashley B stops a few feet away from them and crosses her arms. He walks over to stand beside her.

"Not up to your standards?" he asks.

"It's fine," she says shortly. Then her eyes narrow in on Mikey and she barks, "Blumberg, about five inches to the left!"

Mikey startles, but does as he's told. He moves the lamp post he just put down about five inches to the left.

Vince snorts. "Yeah, because that made a big difference."

"You just don't have an eye for design," she tells him. She looks away from the other three. "So, who are you going to the dance with?"

He frowns. "What do you mean? I'm going with my friends."

Ashley B rolls her eyes. "No, I mean, who's your date?"

Vince shakes his head in confusion. He doesn't have a girlfriend. None of his friends are really doing the whole 'date' thing, at least as far as he knows. Of course TJ and Spinelli are dating but they're all still going together as a group. Plus, the twins and Phil are going to join them at TJ's along with some other kids from the neighborhood that they know just for pictures and some pre-dance snacks.

"I'm not dating anyone."

"You don't have to be dating someone to take them to homecoming," she says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"None of my friends are going with dates. We're all going together."

She laughs and he crosses his arms, frowning.

"No, TJ and Spinelli are going together," she says, explaining it slowly, as if she is explaining it to a toddler. "The rest of you are going as a weird group of single people."

He supposes he didn't take much notice of anyone else besides his friends. Do people go to homecoming with dates? It's not like it's prom. Homecoming has always been more about football to him than it has been about the dance anyway.

"So you all have dates?" he asks.

Ashley B rolls her eyes.

"Duh. All of us Ashleys wouldn't be caught dead coming alone," she squeals. Then she starts ticking off her fingers as she continues. "Ashley A is going with Eric Williams, he's a senior. Ashley Q is going with Vance Lombardi. I'm going with -"

"Wait," he says, cutting her off. "Q is going with Vance Lombardi?"

Vance Lombardi isn't his favorite person. There isn't anything inherently bad about Vance. He isn't mean. He is a great athlete and so Vince feels an innate competition with him. The only sport they play at the same time is football, which is a good thing, because for the rest of the year Vince doesn't feel the pressure to be better than him. But knowing that Vance has a date and that it's Ashley Q makes him pause. Maybe this whole date thing is more important than he thought.

Ashley B smirks. "Jealous?"

"Hardly," he says quickly. He tries to mask his worry with indifference. "How'd she con him into going with her?"

Ashley B looks up at him affronted, eyes narrowed. She points her finger at him. "First of all, we don't ask someone, they ask us."

"Usually Vance goes to these types of things with Meghan," Vince clarifies.

Vance and Meghan Rigalli always come together, typically with a group of football players and soccer girls. During slow dances, the two of them jokingly head out on the dance floor. They always seem to be having a great time together. He just assumed that would be the case again.

"Boys are so dumb," Ashley B says lowly. She shakes her head and when she speaks again it's at a normal volume. "That would be like you going with Gretchen, looking, like, totally desperate going with your best friend."

He frowns. Are people going to think he's weird for going without a date?

"Well, it's too late now, but you should, like, totally plan ahead for next year. Sophomore year you can still get away with it but junior year…"

She makes a face and then turns on her heel, stopping once on her way to the next section to bark an order to Gus.

Vince lets his shoulders sag as Ashley B walks away. He hadn't put too much thought into homecoming. He never has in the past. It's always just been his friends going together as a group. But Ashley B is right. They aren't really going as a group in the way they always did in the past. TJ and Spinelli are going together and the four of them are tagging along like a group of third wheels.

He sighs. Besides TJ and Spinelli, all of his friends are single and it never occurred to him that he could ask someone to the dance. From the sounds of it, the Ashleys aren't all dating their dates – although they might be when the night is over. He isn't entirely sure how this all works. He knows that he is popular and well-liked, but outside of that, the social structure of the school isn't something he spends a lot of time thinking about. His focus is on his sports, his grades, and his friends. There isn't much time outside of that.

But now he wonders if maybe he has been a little naive.

"Are you okay?"

He shakes out of his thoughts and turns to see Gretchen standing beside him, Mikey and Gus a few steps behind and both looking at him with concern. He blows out a breath.

"Yeah, why would I not be?"

Gus's eyes dart across the room. "Because you went dead silent as soon as Ashley B left."

He groans and steps over to the wall, sliding down to sit. Ashley B, of all the Ashleys, is particularly good at pushing his buttons. She always knows exactly what to say to dig right into his insecurities and no matter how well he knows that, she still gets to him every time.

"It was nothing."

Mikey sighs and sits beside him. "Vince, it's never a good idea to bottle things up. We're your friends and we know the Ashleys."

"Yeah," Gus agrees. "They're all super manipulative and conniving."

Vince sighs and leans his head against the wall. "I guess I just didn't realize how weird it is not to have a date to the dance."

He doesn't look up, knowing that what he just said may affect his friends as well. None of them have dates after all. They're all part of the misfit group of singletons that Ashley B insisted was weird.

"We're all going as a group though," Gus says, the first of his friends to speak. Vince glances up at him and the boy looks confused.

"Yeah, I guess, but TJ and Spinelli are going together," Vince explains.

Vince notices Mikey and Gretchen share a look out of the corner of his eye and he doesn't dare turn to them. They're probably both thinking the same thing – poor Vince, hurt again by the fact that TJ and Spinelli are paired up and he's left in the dirt. He keeps his focus on Gus, not liking that the two can read him that well.

Gus chuckles. "Well, yeah, but TJ and Spinelli are going together in the same way they always go together to everything," he says, his voice too upbeat for Vince. "They're basically attached at the hip."

Sometimes, Gus's sweet naivety and ignorance of situations can be a blessing. At this moment, it just makes Vince's gut boil, a reminder that he didn't see this entire situation coming. Dances and dates should be synonymous with each other. He should have realized that they aren't kids anymore. This isn't the eighth grade dance. This is homecoming.

Beside him, Mikey reaches forward to pat Vince's knee. Vince finally ventures a look away from Gus and toward his other friend.

"Vince, is this upsetting to you because you genuinely wish you had asked someone, or more so because you're afraid that you're missing out on something?" Mikey asks.

"I just didn't realize that this was a thing," Vince says. "If I had, I would have asked someone."

"I really don't believe that this is as big of a deal as Ashley B made it out to seem," Mikey continues. "Homecoming isn't like prom, Vince. It's more of a large gathering of friends compared to the paired expectations of a prom with corsages and formally asking someone to the dance. This is more about friendship and enjoying the night as we begin a new journey as a class."

Vince grunts. He isn't in the mood for Mikey's mumbo jumbo feelings talk. He just wants to wallow for a few minutes.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think TJ and Spinelli have made any sort of effort in the way you're thinking they did," Gretchen says. He looks up at her and sees her neutral expression, not giving away anything about what she is feeling. "Spinelli doesn't even want to come. I basically forced her into buying a dress this weekend."

"That's just because it's her birthday," he grumbles. "Any other day of the year and she'd be fine."

As he says it, he trails off, knowing it's not entirely true. Spinelli is so hot and cold about school dances, it is hard to know exactly what she's thinking at any given time. While she's at the dance, she appears to enjoy it. She is out on the dance floor the entire time. But dragging her to the dance itself is always necessary. In seventh grade, he actually had to physically carry her part of the way down the street when she spent twenty minutes sitting on the sidewalk insisting she had changed her mind about the dance they were heading to and wanted to go home.

"Fine," he says, throwing his hands up. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Ashley B is just trying to get into my head. And she succeeded, okay?"

"Then the best thing to do is to go to the dance and have a good time regardless of what she said," Mikey says. "And we will. Together. As a group of friends wanting to spend time with each other."

Vince sighs and nods his head, not entirely convinced. "Yeah, I guess."

Before any of them can say anything else, they hear Ashley Q squeal from the other side of the gym.

"Like, oh my God, Detweiler! Can you, like, learn to read a freaking clock before we graduate. Like, please?"

The four friends all exchange a look.

"Well, looks like TJ's finally here," Gus says, glancing down at his watch. "One hour and twelve minutes late."

"That has to be a new record," Vince says. He glances over toward the doorway. TJ is standing near the table, picking through the last of the bagels with Ashley Q standing directly beside him, arms up in frustration. "Wonder what they'll make him do."

"Send him over here?" Gus guesses.

"No, they're gonna punish him," Vince says. He watches as TJ walks over to Ashley A, who points to the area they are planning on erecting the replica Eiffel Tower. "I'll go check on him."

Vince stands and pushes off from the wall, heading toward TJ across the room. TJ is sitting on the ground in front of a bunch of pieces of plastic Eiffel Tower that will have to be painstakingly put together. It looks almost like a mixture of Lincoln Logs and Legos, with pieces that fit together without tools.

"Oversleep?"

TJ looks up from putting two of the pieces together and shrugs.

"Forgot to set my alarm," he says. "I stayed up until midnight so I could wish Spin a happy birthday considering I'd be spending most of my day here."

"Until midnight, or well past midnight?"

He smirks. "You caught me."

TJ tosses some of the pieces on the ground and picks up another set. Vince sits down beside him and joins in on building the pieces.

"I was probably up until like three this morning," TJ continues. "I didn't really look at the clock, but it was still dark when I went to bed."

Vince shakes his head. "Were you talking to Spin the whole time?"

TJ puts another set of pieces together and sets them down on the ground in a pile that's forming. He just nods, but a little smile spreads across his face. Vince taps the two pieces he has in his hands against one another. He can't imagine staying up that late just talking to anyone.

Maybe that's his issue with homecoming too. Sure, he could ask a pretty girl to the dance but what is he going to talk to her about? Basketball? What do girls do for hobbies? He highly doubts most girls conduct experiments in their bedrooms like Gretchen or watch Wrestle-Mania like Spinelli. Listening to Ashley A drone on and on as they rode the sophomore homecoming float had been like nails on a chalkboard, so he can only imagine the misery he would be in taking someone even remotely similar to her to the dance itself. Maybe Meghan Rigalli would be okay. He doesn't know her very well but if Spinelli befriended her, she must be cool.

"Are you gonna help me with these pieces or am I all by myself over here?"

He looks up from the pieces of plastic at TJ's joking. He shakes out of it.

"Yeah, I just…" He pauses, remembering what Gretchen had said earlier. "Did you ask Spin to homecoming?"

TJ's eyebrows furrow and he tilts his head to the side just slightly. "What?"

"I mean, did you ask Spin to go to homecoming with you? Like formally ask her and all that junk?"

"No. I mean, I asked if she wanted us to match. She said no. That was it. I didn't think homecoming was a big to-do, but I guess to some people," he lifts his hands to gesture to the pieces of the replica Eiffel Tower they're building.

Vince nods and grabs another set of the pieces. Maybe everyone else is right and he is overreacting. It wouldn't be the first time that one of the Ashleys made him second guess himself. Regardless, like Ashley B said, it's too late now. Just something to keep in mind for next year.

"Like, LaSalle!"

The two boys look up to see Ashley Q striding toward them.

"We need someone tall so, like, get your butt over here!"

He rolls his eyes. "Do you not know the word please?"

She crosses her arms and taps her foot on the floor. "Like, now, please?"

He groans and beside him TJ shakes his head.

"You know, in three years, we will never see them again," TJ says.

"Already counting down the days?" Vince asks with a chuckle.

He rises from the floor and decides to stretch before walking over, taking as much time as he can just to make Ashley Q upset.

TJ glances around the gym. As much as he doesn't want to give the Ashleys any credit, it does look pretty spectacular. The gym has completely transformed and every little detail fits into their Night in Paris theme. The replica Eiffel Tower was a pain in the butt to construct with so many little pieces, but now that it stands regally at the entrance to the gym, he realizes it was worth it.

He won't tell the Ashleys that though.

They sent the majority of their classmates home and it is just him and the Ashleys left picking up the last of the trash. Well, in reality, it's him picking up the trash and the Ashleys watching to ensure that he doesn't mess anything up. They refuse to leave until the gym is locked behind them and the four girls are lounging in the open bleachers watching him clean.

He supposes that's fair. He was late. Really late.

He wasn't anticipating being that late. He also wasn't anticipating staying up so late, but he doesn't always make the best decisions that late at night. After the homecoming game had finished, the whole gang had walked home together. He had walked Spinelli to her door and told her that he would call her right at midnight, but as he laid in bed waiting for midnight to strike his mind got the better of him.

In fifth grade, he snuck out the window of the jack-and-jill bathroom conjoining his and Becky's rooms and onto the roof to avoid going to school one day. It had been a harrowing feat as a ten-year-old, but at fifteen he figured if he could just make it to the chimney, he could climb down. So that's what he did. He shuffled the short distance across the roof to the chimney and used the bricks to help him not kill himself on the way down.

He succeeded and at midnight, he called Spinelli and told her to look out her window. It didn't take long for her to hang up on him and disappear from her window, meeting him at her back door. They sat under the tree in her backyard, looking up at the stars, talking about nothing and everything. Luckily in October it's cold enough for her parents to have their bedroom window shut, but warm enough that cuddling in sweatshirts kept them from freezing.

They stayed out until they were both fighting sleep, not wanting to actually fall asleep and get caught by Spinelli's father when he took Scruffy out for his morning walk. He used the key under the rock in his front yard to let himself back in the house, thankful both his parents sleep like the dead, and quietly climbed the stairs.

Unfortunately, he forgot to set his alarm and so now he is stuck cleaning while everyone else is free to leave.

He walks over to the empty boxes of string lights on the floor by the back wall. He wonders if he should keep them to store the string lights in after homecoming is over. Maybe he can convince the Ashleys to hold onto them and reuse them for junior prom next year. Save them some of their budget. He picks one up and realizes it's heavy and notices that there are three boxes that are completely untouched.

Of course the Ashleys bought more than they needed, probably to ensure they had enough. The twinkling lights do look romantic.

He looks down at the box in his hand, his head spinning with a new idea.

He has been trying to think of something to do for Spinelli that would make her birthday special all week. He knows that homecoming being on her birthday isn't something that she's thrilled about and the fact that all of her friends were busy decorating all morning was a drag. The rest of the gang had promised to head over to her house on their way out, gifts in hand, but he knows her birthday still feels second-best to the dance.

He sets the three boxes of string lights to the side and continues with the trash pick up until everything is completely clean. As he wheels the trashcan back toward the janitor's closet, he sees the Ashleys beginning to pile leftover supplies on their dolly. He heads back to the three boxes of lights and picks them up.

"Hey, Ashley," he says as he approaches Ashley A. She turns around from where she is checking items off on her clipboard. "We've got some extra lights. Think I can snag a few?"

Ashley A raises an eyebrow. "For what?"

He grits his teeth. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy. But he doesn't want to tell her his plan. She doesn't need to know the plan he is concocting. It's none of her business.

"For nothing."

"Hey, Ashley A," Ashley B says. "We're gonna go bring this stuff out to my mom's car. Do you, like, need anything?"

Ashley A turns around and shakes her head. "No. I'm, like, all set. I'll deal with the rest of this and Det-whiner over here. See you tonight, girls!"

The three others wave and Ashley A waves back before turning to TJ again. She instantly drops her friendly smile and her face takes one of suspicion. She crosses her arms.

"I'm head of the planning committee. I can't just have you, like, going rogue on our design."

He makes a noise in his throat.

"It's not…I wanted to borrow them for my own personal reasons."

Her eyebrows raise and she looks intrigued.

"Enlighten me," she says. "What on earth could you possibly want with string lights?"

Maybe this isn't worth it. He can think of something else. He just thought he could take a box or two, string them up in the treehouse, and bring Spinelli up there after the dance. He has something he wants to tell her. But that isn't something he wants to tell Ashley A. He shakes his head.

"Nevermind."

"No, like, seriously. Now I'm curious," she says. She smiles cunningly. "TJ Detweiler wants romantic string lights for his own personal reasons. This totally has nothing to do with a certain tomboy that you conveniently told could skip out on today even though we as the planning committee had big plans having to do with her artistic skills."

She says the last part through her teeth. The Ashleys still hadn't forgiven him and Spinelli for skipping out on Spirit Week hallway decorating last year, claiming they lost competition because their posters were terrible without Spinelli's talent. The freshman always lose, so he knows that's not the case, but the Ashleys hold grudges. They'll probably bring it up at their fiftieth reunion one day.

He crosses his arms.

"I didn't think she needed to be here on her birthday getting bossed around by you four."

"Today is her birthday?" He nods and she uncrosses her arms to clap her hands together, leaning slightly forward. "So, like, what did you get her? I'm assuming you already gave her your gift earlier considering you were slacking on your presidential duties and showed up over an hour late."

"Why do you even care?" he asks. Why can't she just let him take the lights?

When she speaks, her tone drips with false innocence. "Just trying to figure out your fascination with my string lights."

"The class's string lights," he corrects.

"So, like, come on, Detweiler. What'd you get her?" she demands.

He shakes his head. He supposes he can answer this question.

"Colored pencils."

"That's it?" She frowns and rolls her eyes. "Wow, Cheap-weiler, don't overspend."

"Well, that's not it. Just because I'm not buying something else doesn't mean I don't have something else planned."

"So, like, what else?" She sounds innocent. Then she reaches forward and takes the string lights from his hand. "Are these string lights part of some big romantic gesture that even Spinelli can't resist?"

He blows through his lips. She played him and he walked right into it. He makes a noise in the back of his throat.

"Maybe."

"Well, I want details."

"Absolutely not."

"Details or…" She holds up one of the boxes and shrugs. "...No string lights. Your choice."

He debates it, wondering if it's worth it. He glances up at the clock on the gym wall. It's already early afternoon and he won't have long to set up his plan if this takes much longer. It won't matter if Ashley A knows in the long run. If anything, she'll probably just make fun of him for it. Spinelli and Ashley A don't interact much when at school functions, so the likelihood that she would go out of her way to ruin the surprise is slim.

He risks it.

"Fine. I was gonna use them to decorate a spot in my yard so after homecoming we could have some alone time."

Ashley A nods and tsks as she thinks on what he said, the string lights still in her arms. She pouts her lips and bobs her head to each side as if debating the plan and then turns back to him.

"So, let me get this straight," she says. "You're going to take her away from homecoming and any after-homecoming activities you and your dorky friends do post-dance, making her walk in heels, so that you can go to your house to see your yard all lit up?"

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

"What are you, like, trying to profess love or something like that?"

He swallows thickly and Ashley A's dismissal drops, her eyebrows raising and her lips creeping up. He crosses his arms, upset that she has caught on, but she just smirks.

"Omg, you are," she mutters. Then she shakes her head. "God, boys are so dumb," she says under her breath. She puts her hands on her hips and thinks for a moment.

"I totally have a better idea."

She turns around and starts walking out of the gym. When he doesn't follow, she turns around and beckons him.

"Like, come on, Detweiler. I don't have all day."

The gym is located in an addition the school added a few years back, which also houses the cafeteria and the language classrooms on the second and third floors. A large stairwell leads from the gym lobby to the second floor, where it comes out at a rotunda. At one end of the rotunda is the catwalk that connects the addition to the main school building and at the other end are the double doors leading to the cafeteria. Students typically use the rotunda for fundraising or informative booths during lunch. All this week it was used for ticket sales for the homecoming dance.

Ashley A surveys the space, looks at the lights in her hands.

"Yes, this will be much better," she says to herself before addressing TJ. "So, like, we'll decorate this, which is much better than whatever you were planning in your backyard. You both can just dip out of the gym during the last slow song and come up here. That way you're still here at the end of the dance so you can still do whatever with your dorky friends and all that, but it's private for you two."

She looks at the door that leads to the gym stairwell.

"If you're lucky, you can still hear the music if you leave this door open," she says, gesturing to the doorway. "But if not…you can bring your own. Like an iPod and speaker or something. You do, like, have a song, right?"

"A song?" he asks.

She rolls her eyes. "Well, you better pick a good song because you will after tonight."

He eyes the rotunda. This could work. He thinks about having the lights strung along the walls and nods his head. "You're right. This will work."

"Of course I'm right," she says. She slams a box in his hand. "Let's get to work. Like I said, I don't have all day."

It doesn't take too long. They use the remainder of the supplies the other Ashleys hadn't already taken – tape and string and garland – to decorate and do so mostly in silence.

"Don't tell anyone I'm helping you," Ashley A says when they're nearly finished.

He snorts. "I don't think anyone would believe me even if I did."

He finishes with his strand of lights and watches as she finishes.

"So, why are you helping me?" he asks.

She shrugs.

"Well, every girl deserves to have something special on her birthday and, as much as she tests my patience, Spinelli is technically an Ashley," she explains. "And the birthday chapter is a very important chapter of the Ashley Handbook. And maybe I'm a sap for a good romantic moment."

He chuckles as he asks, "You still have your rule book?"

"And you still wear a grungy red hat everyday so I guess some things don't change," she spits.

He raises his hands in surrender and the two of them step back, admiring the work. The rotunda looks nicer than he probably could have done on himself in his treehouse. Plus, he can do it whenever the moment feels right rather than having to wait until they head home. He was going to tell her this morning but then it just didn't feel right with them both tired and, by the end, somewhat delirious with lack of sleep. No, this will be better and if he doesn't end up using it, so be it.

He glances back to Ashley A. "Thanks."

"For what?" she asks. "I didn't do anything."

Then she turns around and walks down the stairs, leaving him alone in the rotunda. He watches as the door swings behind her. Maybe the Ashleys, like everyone else, are growing up and not so bad anymore. He turns back to the rotunda walls, admiring their work and thinking about what song to put on in the background if the final slow song of the night ends up being a dud.

Notes

I really wanted to get this out yesterday (on 10/13/22) because wouldn't that have been fun, but it wasn't quite finished. So, instead, we see what happened exactly fifteen years and one day ago in this universe.

Episodes/Movies mentioned: Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade, No Strings Attached