What's the opposite of being happy about all of your friends getting into the high school you all dreamed of since 7th grade?

Being depressed that you got waitlisted.

Well, Spinelli couldn't really say that's the opposite, or maybe she could, she wouldn't really know.

The news that all of her friends had got into Thaddeus T. Third IV High School under various programs was amazing to her, but they all got their letters of admission before she did. Sure, she submitted her application and paperwork late, but in all fairness, so did Vince, and he already had his placement in both Basketball and Culinary Arts. Little Ashley was hesitant about applying to the school in the first place, even though she had options. The rumors that the school would adopt a lame uniform policy was a major setback for her, but the gang concluded that no other high school within walking distance could offer the same programs at once, and it wouldn't hurt to work around the uniforms, as irritating as it would be for most of them, since they would be doing it together.

So, everyone had submitted their applications and were admitted when the time came. So what was the deal with hers?

"Give it some time, Spinelli," Gretchen said softly. "Maybe they were so impressed with yours, they needed to see about putting you in special classes."

"Yeah, like I'm gonna be that lucky." She muttered.


After 2 weeks of waiting for her letter, she went home and checked her mailbox. It was a letter from the school! But wait, why was it in this envelope...? Shouldn't the acceptance letters come with packages…?

She opened the letter, read it, and felt dread in the deepest pit of her stomach.

Dear Ashley Spinelli,

Thank you for applying to be a part of our Wrestling program and our Arts program here at Thaddeus T. Third IV High School. We regret to inform you that you weren't able to have placement in either program, but we were impressed with your efforts and application enough to waitlist you in the event that any spots open up. Thank you for your interest in joining the Ligers.

Sincerely,

No.

She crumpled the stupid letter and tossed it into the storm drain. Waitlisted? Waitlisted?! After she spent countless hours putting together portraits and writing essays for both programs, she was waitlisted?!

She felt like, no, she was going to punch something. She went to the tree in her backyard and really hammered into that thing. Every splinter she took to the wrist was a painful reminder that she might not even get to be with her friends in the fall, that she would have to go to some lame neighborhood school that didn't care about any of the kids, that her parents would never let her live it down. She felt like killing everything in her sight, while simultaneously breaking down and sobbing. All of the emotions bottling up inside of her were filling her head with straight-up fury and dread. She needed to get out of there. Now.

She went back inside, got her helmet and skateboard, locked up the place, and booked it, not even bothering to leave a note.

"Waitlisted. Tch, you might as well say I got rejected," She thought to herself. She skated as fast as her little legs would allow her, nearly running into several cars and signs and people on the way. Not that she cared anyway.

She had been skateboarding since 6th grade when her older brother gifted her his old skateboard before he went to college. She really missed her brothers sometimes, but unfortunately, this wasn't one of them. She didn't want to beat him to a pulp over something that had nothing to do with him.

She sat on the grass and just…

Dammit…

What does one even do in this scenario?

She's gonna be separated from her friends, she won't hear the end of it from those snotty bimbos, she'll be all alone wherever she ends up…

She sort of knew how TJ felt that summer…all alone...having no one she cared about being nearby...some high school experience...


"Spin!" An all too familiar voice called out to her.

Spinelli woke with a jolt. She looked around and took a few seconds to process her surroundings. She was outside, and it was cold as HELL! What was she doing out here?!

Oh yeah. Nevermind.

"Spinelli?!" The voice got closer, and soon she felt someone wrapping their jacket around her. She jumped and turned to see who it was.

TJ Detweiler, of course.

"Spin, what are you doing out here? It's cold out!" He asked worriedly, sitting down next to her and trying to warm her up.

"I'm fine, Teej, don't worry..." She assured him, lightly pushing him off. He made little space between them, however, because he was worried sick.

"Spin, do you know what time it is? Your parents called mine worried sick about ya!" He said, sounding worried himself.

"If they are, then why aren't they here?"

"They're outta town for the night, remember? You were supposed to go to my house after school but you flaked on us."

Oh yeah, that's right. She was supposed to go to TJ's since her parents don't want her home alone yet. And here she was by the pond, at...

"What time is it?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes a bit.

"10:30 PM." He said abruptly. "Your parents had been blowing up your house phone for an hour, apparently," He said, standing up and helping her up as well. "Have fun explaining that to them."

"Yeah, yeah..." He started to walk her back to his parent's car, but she went in a slightly opposing direction.

"Spin?" He asked, wondering what she was doing. She was just bending down to get her board and helmet. That explains how she got over here.

The car ride home was silent, apart from Mrs. Detweiler making sure Spinelli was alright and confirming that they didn't need to go to a hospital. She parked in front of Spinelli's house so she could gather pajamas for the night, and soon they were at TJ's.

"Are you sure you aren't hungry, Spinelli?" Mrs. Detweiler inquired.

"I'm fine, Ms. Ellie, I promise." She said, not really convincing enough but Mrs. Detweiler wouldn't press too much.

The two tweens headed upstairs and got ready for bed rather fast. TJ was exhausted, partially because he spent a couple of hours worrying himself and the gang about Spinelli being missing, but after finding her and telling the others, he could now sleep easy.

Or so he thought.

The usual arrangement for the duo was for one to sleep at the foot of the bed and the other to sleep at the top, but tonight, Spinelli decided to lay right beside TJ. He wasn't against it, but it was a rather big change for her. She always insisted on sleeping with their initial arrangement so things wouldn't be awkward - her words - but things were different tonight. Could it be about the school? Should he even ask? She seems distant enough for something to have happened, and what kind of friend would he be if he didn't inquire about it?

"Spin?" He said softly. He knew she wasn't asleep.

"Yeah?" She replied rather quietly, facing away from him.

"Why were you at the pond?" He questioned in a chill demeanor.

"I just needed to think."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about where-"

She interrupted in a stern, but hushed tone. His parents and sister were asleep after all. "It doesn't matter, TJ! I'm safe, aren't I?!"

"I mean, yeah-"

"Then drop it and go to bed..." The aggressiveness he was used to having tapered off to the end, silence soon filled the room once more. After about 10 minutes of quiet, he was still aware of the fact she wasn't sleeping.

"Spin, I know you're awake." He said matter-of-factly.

After a few seconds of silence. "Spiiiin."

"So what if I am...why are you?" She asked in an annoyed tone. He isn't gonna let this go, is he?

"Because you're clearly upset about something and I'm worried about you."

She sighed and sat up, causing him to sit up a bit. "Fine, Detweiler. If you really wanna know and won't shut up..." She turned to face him, revealing that she was, indeed, upset. She had such a sullen look on her face that he hadn't seen in a long time, and her disheveled hair falling in front of her face shielded her eyes just enough from him that if she had been crying, he couldn't tell right away.

"I'm gonna be all alone next year." She said in such a dead tone.

"Spin, what are you talking about?" He worriedly asked, sitting up fully. "We're all gonna be at four-"

"No, TJ." She said abruptly. "I got waitlisted. I probably won't get in."

The news hit him like a sack of bricks. Spinelli? The most talented artist in our whole class, waitlisted? How could that have happened?

"You guys are gonna be at an awesome school doing all the things you want and love...and I'm gonna get l-left behind..." Her voice broke at the last part, and she lowered her head even further. He noticed that she started shaking a bit, and swore he even saw a tear fall.

"Spin.." He moved closer and lifted her chin. "Don't say stuff like that. Everything's gonna be okay."

"H-How, Teej?" She said through her broken and quivering voice. "They only waitlisted me because they didn't wanna hurt me! I don't need their pity!"

"Look at it like this, Spin," He wiped her eyes softly. "You being waitlisted means you have a chance to still get in. It beats getting flat out rejected."

"I might as well have been..." She said in such a hopeless tone. He never saw her feel this down before, it was unlike her. But then he remembered that Spinelli is human, and every human has emotions. Who knows how long she's bottled hers up. Probably years? She's had plenty of reasons to be upset before this, but she always brushed them off. Part of being a tough girl.

He pulled her closer and hugged her and rather than resist, she hugged him back and broke down completely.

"Spinelli, you're one of the most talented people I've ever met," he said calmly, petting her raven black locks. "If that school can't see it, you're better off applying to the many others that will."

"But I-I don't w-wanna be a-alone..." She said in such a distressed and hopeless tone...

"You won't be alone, Spinelli..." He softly replied, comforting her the best he could. "We're always gonna be here for you, no matter where you end up going."

That went on for some time. When she was finally done crying, it was 12 AM. When she finally felt better, she felt extremely relieved...and extremely tired. He was tired himself, and kept holding her and lightly rocking her. Every once in a while, he lightly kissed her hair as a reassuring gesture. Sure, he had a faint blush while doing it, but this was his friend! And he had to be there for a friend. One could easily tell he inherited his nurturing and loving charm from his mother, Spinelli sure could, but who cares honestly? All he wanted to do at this moment was reassure his best friend that she will never be alone because clearly, she needed to hear it.

After Spinelli really did fall asleep, he gently laid her down and laid down himself. He covered them both and continued to hold her close...


The next morning was a bit of a blur for Spinelli. It was Saturday.

She went home without eating breakfast. Her parents got home about 15 minutes later and gave her an absolute earful for worrying them sick. They almost went home last night and got the police involved, but the only thing that stopped them was Ellie and TJ finding her by the pond after looking around for...who knows and cares how long.

Rather than explain herself, she just went to her room and laid in her bed. About 30 minutes later, her mother Flo came upstairs, looking rather melancholic.

"I just checked my email from Fourth..." She spoke softly, sitting at the foot of her daughter's bed. "Don't worry, Ashley. I'm sure that-"

"No worries, mom," Spinelli spoke, turning to face her mother. "If I don't get in, I don't get in."

"Oh, sweetie," She moved closer and hugged her daughter in a comforting way. "I bet my last good years on this Earth that you'll get into that school. You're too talented to just be tossed aside like that."

Spinelli smiled. "Last good years on Earth? Wow, mom." She chuckled and returned the hug. "Thank you for having faith..."

"I was in your shoes once...waiting to get into this incredible school with my best friend, only I got rejected and she got accepted." Her mother said, sounding a bit upset. "But rather than give up, I reapplied three times before getting accepted, doing better every time." Spinelli was shocked. First of all, you could apply to a school more than once? Plus, three more times on top of that?

"Wow, mom...you applied four times before you finally got in?" Asked Spinelli with slight surprise.

"Yep, and I ended up hating it there anyway," Flo said with a chuckle. "The point is, honey, you can try so hard for something just to end up being disappointed, but that doesn't mean you're the problem. It just means that there's something better out there, and for me, that was a school in a whole new state."

Spinelli didn't really see things that way, at least not now, but she wouldn't question her mother's judgment. She is pretty ancient by now.

Her father looked on at the uncharacteristic moment, meanwhile, and admired it. It was rare moments like this that really gave him life.


A couple more weeks went by, and another letter came.

Dear Ashley Spinelli,

Congratulations! We are pleased to offer you a spot with the upcoming class of 2005!

She didn't read the rest of the letter.

She just ran to TJ's house, in tears.

Banging on his door, she rushed past his father after he opened it, ran up to TJ, and jumped right into his arms...which was unfortunate because he was in the middle of watching cartoons and was completely unprepared to catch her.

But no amount of pain could overcome Ashley Spinelli's melancholy.