Thank you all so much for the feedback on the last chapter. I really appreciate hearing from you all.

Just to answer a few recurrent questions:

1. While there will be parallels and some of the same themes/events, this story does not take place in the same 'universe' as the one-shots that I've written. I hope that makes sense.

2. Mr. Dudikoff's age – my thoughts are that he was a student teacher/university student when he was teaching the gang at Third Street for a week in the series, making him about 21/22 if he was a junior in college. Thus, he is 25 now. I added a note at the end of the last chapter explaining this in more detail.

Now, in honor of Gretchen's birthday today (March 23rd, per the episode 'Outcast Ashley'), here is the next installment of fall of freshman year with Gretchen as narrator.

Chapter notes, as always, will be at the end.

…

9th Grade, High School

Age: 13-14

September 2006

…

Gretchen looks up from her book when TJ slams his lunch tray down on the table.

"It's barely been twenty-four hours and the Ashleys are already on my last nerve with this whole spirit week thing," he grumbles. "How is it even possible for them to be so..."

"Obnoxious?" Spinelli supplies.

"Self-absorbed?" Vince asks.

"Inconsiderate?" Gus guesses.

TJ gestures with his hand in a swirling motion. "That about covers it."

"Are they trying to turn the float pink or something?" Spinelli asks.

TJ shakes his head. "Nah. They're sticking to the red and blue, school colors and mascot theme fine. It's just that Dudikoff gave us a budget and they've already blown through it."

"Maybe Daddy's Amex will help with the cash flow," Vince says. "I wouldn't worry about it, Teej. What I would worry about is how Danny Smith doesn't seem to be able to catch the freaking ball and he's going to completely humiliate us during the homecoming game if he keeps it up."

Gretchen only knows who Danny Smith is because he is the varsity starting wide receiver and Vince has been nitpicking his technique all year. Though she has been attending the high school games with her friends for years now, she wouldn't call herself a football expert. Since elementary school, Vince and TJ would go to every home game and Spinelli often tagged along, meaning Gretchen got dragged right along with her. Over the years she picked up a few of the basics, but she spent much of the previous couple of years sitting in the bleacher row with Mikey and Gus, discussing other things, while the other three screamed at referees and actually understood the finer points of the game. Gretchen knew that when the stands booed it was bad and when the stands cheered it was good – and if she was being perfectly honest, that's about as much as she felt she needed to know.

"Hey, Gretch?"

Gretchen turns away from Vince, who has since moved on from Danny Smith and is now talking football stats with TJ, and toward Spinelli. The other girl is currently ignoring the boys to catch her attention, while Gus and Mikey watch TJ and Vince go back and forth about football stats.

"Do you have your homecoming dress yet?" Spinelli asks. Gretchen shakes her head. "My mom and I are going this weekend. Want to come?"

She chuckles a little under her breath. Spinelli and her mother have two drastically different styles and Gretchen often gets dragged in to buffer them. Like in elementary school when they went to the makeup museum or last year when they were choosing their outfits for the eighth grade semi-formal dance.

"Sure, we haven't had a girl's day in a while."

Spinelli smiles. "That's what I was thinking too."

She actually hasn't seen much of Spinelli since the school year started and even less of her one-on-one. She has English class with her and lunch like right now, but other than that their schedules are completely different. Between Spinelli's soccer and ballet practices and Gretchen's various academic club meetings, they rarely get a moment where they're both free. And the last few times she's seen Spinelli outside of school, TJ and Vince have joined them.

Speaking of TJ, his arm flopping over Spinelli's shoulder catches both of their attentions.

"What are you two smiling about?" he says, teasingly, poking a finger gently at one of Spinelli's dimples.

She swats his hand away. "Just girly stuff."

Vince snorts. "Girly stuff? You?"

Spinelli raises her fist in response. "What's it to you?" she sneers.

Gretchen cuts in. "We're discussing the homecoming dance and what we're going to wear."

"Wait, why do you need to discuss that?" Gus asks. "Is it that important?"

"Why of course!" Mikey says. "It's the first dance of our high school career. We must make a good impression."

Gretchen sees Vince look from Mikey to TJ, his eyes sparkling with an impending joke. He leaps from his seat and kneels down next to TJ's chair, almost like he's proposing.

"Oh, Teej, whatever will we wear?" he squeals, his voice high pitched and somewhat mockingly. "We have to look our best for all the boys with our hair done just right."

TJ can't help but laugh and join in, turning away from the others to take Vince's hands in his own.

"Something real girly, all pink and junk," he responds in the same high-pitched squeal that Vince just used. "We just have to out-pretty the Ashleys."

"Oh, like, totally," Vince says, mocking the Ashleys by fluttering his eyelashes and the two boys break down in laughter, so hard Vince nearly as tears in his eyes.

Gus laughs right along with them but Gretchen sees Mikey looking at Spinelli so she turns as well. The other girl has her arms crossed and is staring at the table in front of her with enough intensity to put holes through it. Gretchen sighs. Spinelli's transition from being the playground tomboy hasn't been easy and some of that is definitely due to the boys commenting every time she tries something new.

Gretchen hasn't had the same struggle. Of the two, she was always seen as the girly one so any time she adjusted her style or fixed her glasses or changed her hair, Mikey and Spinelli tended to be the only ones to comment on it.

"Well, I think you'll both look like the belles of the ball," Mikey says, as soon as TJ and Vince quiet down. The way he says it is more pointed toward Vince and TJ than it is toward the two girls, trying to get the boys to see what they're missing.

Spinelli keeps her eyes down as TJ puts his hand on her shoulder. It almost looks like Spinelli flinches.

"Come on, Spin. We're just teasing," he says, his voice low and his eyes shining with guilt.

Across the table, Vince nods as he retakes his seat.

"Yeah, we all know what you're gonna wear anyway." Vince starts ticking his fingers as he talks. "Your boots. Your jacket. Some sort of black dress. And you're gonna complain about the shoes your mom wanted you to wear the whole time."

Gretchen watches for any sudden movements. Spinelli is a little bit of a loose cannon when she feels attacked. But, rather than rip Vince's head off or have a meltdown, she just sighs.

"Yeah, well, if she didn't insist on taking my boots, we wouldn't have that problem," Spinelli mumbles. Then she looks up. "But I'll do what I want."

"That's my girl," TJ says, tugging on one of her braids.

Gretchen frowns at the shade of pink that overtakes Spinelli's cheeks. Interesting.

...

There are so many dresses at the store Gretchen and Spinelli go to, an entire section apparently cleared out to accommodate the homecoming selection. Mrs. Spinelli acts like she has just walked into her own personal heaven and quickly starts shifting through the racks, pointing out dresses she thinks would look 'stunning' or 'beautiful' on both of them.

Gretchen has no issues piling the dresses Mrs. Spinelli deems worthy into her arms. Her body type is nothing like Mrs. Spinelli's – long and gangly still, not much unlike her body had been in elementary school, with limbs that still looked too long for her person – but that doesn't stop Mrs. Spinelli from apparently understanding exactly what will look nice on Gretchen's body. She can't explain it. She has intellectual gifts. Mrs. Spinelli has the gift of style.

As is usually the case, Spinelli has a lot more difficulty in her selection. By the time Gretchen has nearly a dozen in her pile, Spinelli still has none.

"How about this one?" Gretchen asks, pulling out a plain red skater style chiffon dress not too dissimilar to the dress she had worn last year.

Spinelli turns, glances briefly, and shakes her head before turning back to the rack she's digging through. "That's not really what I'm looking for."

"It comes in black too."

She doesn't even turn. "No."

"How about some of these, Pookie?" her mother asks, coming over with an armful of fabric. She lifts a few dresses similar to what Gretchen had pulled, to which her daughter shakes her head, and a fairly pretty black one with an almost metallic shimmer. "You could even wear your boots with this one."

Her mother at least tries to hide the grimace as she says the last part.

"No, I don't want that," Spinelli forces through her teeth. Then she storms out of the section, leaving her mother and Gretchen to glance between them.

"Maybe we should just let her cool down," Mrs. Spinelli says. "Why don't you go try on yours while we wait?"

Gretchen glances back toward Spinelli, who is stomping through the racks, and nods her head. There's never any use trying to reason with her when she's like this. It's best to do exactly what Spinelli's mother suggested and let her cool off.

In the time it takes Gretchen to try on all of her dresses and pick one – a light blue one with a lace overlay and cap sleeves so she feels covered enough – Spinelli at least picks something. She hurries by as Gretchen exits the dressing room, as if she doesn't want Gretchen to see her selections.

Rather than going back out to the waiting area where Mrs. Spinelli is sitting, Gretchen makes an abrupt turn and knocks on the door to Spinelli's stall.

"Do you need any help?" she asks.

"Hold on."

Gretchen turns around and leans against the door, hanging her dress from the top of the stall door so she doesn't have to hold it. She listens to the rustling behind the door and then it stops. Spinelli is definitely in her first dress now and Gretchen waits for the door to open.

"Do you want me to get your mom?" she calls over after a minute of no response.

"No!"

"Are you okay in there?"

There's a sigh and a click of the door lock undoing. Gretchen moves a little so the door can open and she walks into the dressing room, stopping in her tracks and ends up getting hit by the stall door as it shuts.

The dress Spinelli chose to try on is pretty but definitely not what Gretchen expected. The dress is a shade of coral pink with an all-over golden shimmer, fitted to the waist and then flaring out in a circle-cut skirt. Gretchen has a suspicion that the v-neck is supposed to be more fitted and that Spinelli picked a size too large. It's completely different than anything she has ever seen Spinelli wear before.

"I look stupid, don't I?" Spinelli says, looking down at her feet. Her boots have been kicked off into a corner and she stands there in her mismatched socks.

Gretchen shakes her head, still slightly shocked by the sight of Spinelli in pink. She doesn't think she has ever seen Spinelli wear pink. Even the frilliest dresses that her mother would buy for school picture days and other formal events were never pink.

But she knows she has to say something before Spinelli tears the dress off and writes off homecoming shopping for good.

"No, it is very pretty," Gretchen says. Then she reaches forward and pulls the back, looking at the size. "You could probably use an extra-small though."

Spinelli sighs and rolls her eyes, turning around and glancing in the mirror. She uses her hands to push her chest. "This just makes me look super flat."

"Since when has that ever concerned you?" Gretchen asks. "In fact, I seem to remember you saying in fifth grade after the puberty video, and I quote, I hope I never grow breasts."

Spinelli turns to glare at her.

"I wouldn't have said breasts," she mocks, ignoring the question. "And don't bring that up ever again. I still have nightmares of Ms. Finster explaining why boobs are so great. If I had known that was coming, I never would have opened my big fat mouth."

Gretchen winces at the memory, but doesn't let it distract her like she thinks Spinelli was attempting to do. This is still odd behavior for her and she needs to figure out where it's coming from before she makes any sudden movements. She furrows her brow and eyes Spinelli, standing in front of her in a pink dress, trying to figure out what would possess her friend to do something like that.

Spinelli turns around and frowns. "What?"

"Well," Gretchen says. "I'm just trying to understand your motives."

"My motives?" Spinelli repeats, an eyebrow raised. "What are you? A detective?"

Gretchen nods. "You brought in and tried on one dress and it's pink. Then you complained about having a flat chest in the pink dress you tried on. Even you have to admit that's more than slightly abnormal."

Spinelli crosses her arms, but when she speaks her tone doesn't match the assertiveness of her actions. "Maybe I wanted to try something different?"

Gretchen thinks on that for a moment.

"Is this supposed to be a subtle way of telling us that you'd like to be called Ashley now?" she asks.

Though the Ashleys are still a powerful clique, there are other girls in the school named Ashley besides just them and Spinelli. She supposes that it wouldn't be completely out of the question for Spinelli to grow out of her aversion to her first name. Considering in most contexts besides school that's how she's referred to, Gretchen feels it is a likely hypothesis. And if it's false, perhaps it will spur Spinelli into telling the truth.

Spinelli groans and leans back, letting her head hit the dressing room wall.

"No," she insists, uncrossing her arms and glaring at her feet. "I'm just trying to...out-pretty the Ashleys." Her voice then takes on a mocking tone. "Something real girly. All pink and junk."

Gretchen waits for her to elaborate, but it doesn't come. She doesn't exactly know how to tread with this topic. She had expected a struggle in the dressing room when it came to finding Spinelli's homecoming dress, but she hadn't been prepared for Spinelli to step completely out of her comfort zone like this. A pink dress...the boys are going to be shocked.

Oh, this is starting to make more sense to her.

"Your choice of dress doesn't by any chance have anything to do with what happened at lunch the other day, does it?" she asks.

Spinelli scowls and that's all the answer Gretchen needs. She takes a step forward and moves to stand against the wall so they're side-by-side.

"You know Vince just says stuff like that because he knows it will rile you up," Gretchen says. "He has been doing it since kindergarten and I don't foresee him stopping any time soon."

Spinelli sighs and slides against the wall. She lands on the floor and curls her legs up into her chest, pressing her face to her knees. When she replies, it just sounds like muffled nonsense.

"You are going to have to remove your face from your knees if you want me to understand," Gretchen says.

Spinelli lifts her head, her cheeks ruddy. "I said that I don't care about what Vince thinks."

"Well, the others are just the same. They all know that you're a girl. You don't have to wear a pink dress to prove to Mikey, Gus, and T–"

She stops mid-name, realizing suddenly where the pink dress issue originated. She vaguely remembers TJ speaking similar words to Spinelli's mockery during that lunchtime incident a few days prior.

"Oh."

Spinelli tugs her knees closer to her chest and rests her head sideways on the caps. "Yeah."

Gretchen hadn't really given much thought to Spinelli and TJ since the middle school semi-formal dance. The summer happened and she forgot. Spinelli's love life wasn't particularly high on her list of concerns for the new semester.

"I can't believe I've sunk this low," Spinelli grumbles. "Wearing a pink dress just so TJ will realize I'm a girl."

"He knows you're a girl," Gretchen deadpans. "It's pretty obvious."

Spinelli crosses her arms. "Well, what about when he calls us the guys or how he doesn't act the same when we're by ourselves as when we're with literally anyone else? Huh?"

Gretchen steps forward and moves to sit beside Spinelli, both girls sitting against the back wall of the stall now. She looks over and waits for Spinelli to continue, but she doesn't. They sit in silence for a few moments before Gretchen sighs. They've been in here for too long. Mrs. Spinelli is bound to come in looking for them and once she does Spinelli will retreat.

"Since I'm not privy to what occurs when you and TJ are alone, it might be helpful to know before I respond," Gretchen says.

Spinelli sighs, letting her legs flop on the ground ahead of her and slamming her head into floor length mirror behind them.

"You can't tell anyone."

Gretchen raises her eyebrows. "Who would I tell? My friends in the science club don't care. I'm sure of it."

"The guys." Spinelli gives her a stern glare. "I'm serious. Because if Vince finds out, TJ finds out."

"TJ is half of this equation. He already knows what's going on," Gretchen says. Spinelli's mouth forms a thin line. "Okay, I promise. Explain."

Spinelli fiddles with the hem of the dress. The pink fabric shimmers under the fluorescent dressing room lights.

"Okay, so, um, at camp we kind of held hands a lot and that was good. I...I liked it and I think he liked it. But then we came home and nothing happened. Which, fine, whatever. That's fine. But then..." She lets out a breath. "He's been meeting me after ballet and the other day we walked home, well most of the way home, and, um, we held hands again. We haven't since but, um, like he's been texting me really flirty messages and I know TJ's a huge flirt anyway but, it's different."

"Can I see?"

Spinelli nods and stands, going to the pocket of her leather jacket to pull out her cellphone. She flips it out so Gretchen can get into the messages.

The first thing Gretchen notices is how late the texts are being sent. Gretchen has stayed awake past midnight before, working on experiments and other hobbies she doesn't have time to do during the day, but some of these messages are being sent at two or three in the morning. Entire conversations take place at dawn.

"How many texts are you allowed during a month?" Gretchen asks. Her plan allows a couple hundred a month and she never reaches the maximum.

Spinelli fiddles with her fingers. "Yeah, my dad wasn't thrilled with the bill," she mumbles. "Oops."

Gretchen shakes her head and pokes into another one of the text threads. A lot of it is back and forth banter, typical of what the two would normally say in person, but the more recent the texts, the more flirtatious they get.

She looks back up and hands the phone back.

"So, are you guys dating now?" Gretchen asks.

Spinelli shakes her head. "No. I'm not even sure he likes me."

Gretchen's eyes widen. "Are you reading the text messages he's sending? He's never called me the most beautiful girl in school."

"I know," Spinelli says, putting her face in her hands. "Part of me thinks that but then part of me thinks that I'm...just there. Like, yeah, it's fun and I like him and I respond to his flirts but he doesn't act on it at all. Maybe he's practicing with me? I don't know."

Gretchen shakes her head. "Have you asked?"

"No!" Spinelli crosses her arms. "Absolutely not. I'm not putting myself on the line to have him laugh in my face. Or get scared off. Nope. No way."

She honestly thinks that if Spinelli just brought it up to TJ, the two would start dating and the fear Spinelli has for risking their friendship would evaporate. But there is a small, selfish, part of Gretchen that knows something Spinelli hasn't realized yet, or may never at all. Gretchen knows the statistics. She knows this is something their group will not survive. Even if the two stay together through high school and end up getting married, the dynamics are already shifting. When the two of them finally get their act together, the group will change whether Spinelli and TJ notice or not, and Gretchen isn't exactly ready to brace for that reality.

So, she decides right then and there, she is not getting involved in any of her friends' love lives. They can make decisions on their own. If TJ isn't going to say anything, she isn't going to say it for him.

"Okay, well, regardless we have to find you a dress," she says. Spinelli doesn't fight the change in subject, so Gretchen continues. "Do you seriously want to wear a pink dress?"

Spinelli looks at herself in the mirror and winces. "This was dumb."

Gretchen stands up and shakes her head. "No, it wasn't dumb. I just don't think you'll be comfortable wearing a pink dress."

Spinelli nods her head and they decide to go back out to find a new dress for her in the racks. They drop the pink dress on the return rack and, seeing that Mrs. Spinelli has found an acquaintance to chat with, they sneak by her and back out onto the main floor. Gretchen wishes they could pull her in for some help. She has no idea what Spinelli is looking for and even if she did, clothing isn't exactly her forte. As much as Spinelli hates to admit it, her mother has a knack for this kind of thing.

The two girls pull a few choices each and go back into the dressing room. Most of Gretchen's are nixed on their hangers – "Gretchen, that looks like something my grandmother would wear!" – and Spinelli picks one of her own to try first. Gretchen isn't sure what surprises her more, the fact that Spinelli is trying on multiple dresses without complaint or the fact that the dresses are all fashionable and potentially even something that would be Ashley-approved.

Maybe Spinelli is more like her mother than she lets anyone know.

"What about this one?" Spinelli asks, spinning around in a dark emerald green dress that's similar in style to the pink dress she tried.

She nods her head. "I like it."

The smaller girl turns back toward the mirror. She sways the fabric around her knees.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better in this one than the pink one."

Gretchen nods and wonders if Spinelli picked it because she actually likes it or if it has anything to do with the fact that TJ's favorite color is green. She has to admit it's odd to be in the loop now. Before, when she just saw Spinelli's feelings for TJ from afar, she could ignore it most of the time. Now she looks at her friend and questions if Spinelli's cutesy twirl is just her growing up or if it has to do with TJ or if it's some combination of the two.

…

Notes

For anyone who remembers the mid-to-late 2000s, unlimited texting was not a thing most people had. Different plans offered different rates, but most had a cap on the number of text messages that could be sent during the month and if you went over you were charged with a bunch of fees. It was almost a rite of passage for a teenager in the '00s to get in trouble with their parents over sending too many text messages or using too many minutes. That was always a point of contention in my house anyway. This is what Gretchen and Spinelli are referring to about the number of text messages she and TJ are sending and why Mr. Spinelli was unhappy to see the cellphone bill, in case you're wondering.

This chapter may seem like filler, but it's really setting up for a few different storylines. Obviously, freshmen year is very TJ/Spinelli focused and will continue to be as the story progresses – as I think it's a major issue for their group. Like Gretchen said, it makes the dynamics of the group a little dicey. But I'm also really excited to delve into each of the individual character's arcs and Spinelli's is one that I'm most excited to share. I've noticed a lot of stories on this site focus on her physical appearance mirroring her mother's, making her 'mature' more quickly than others and having issues with her curves. I'm going in a slightly different direction, though it will all come back to her reputation because…that's Spinelli. I hope you enjoy her journey as much as I do.

Also, right now the other characters seem like a vessel for TJ/Spinelli – that will change. So, if you're excited to read about Vince, Gretchen, Gus, and Mikey outside of TJ and Spinelli, that's coming, I promise.

I think the only episode reference in this chapter is 'More Like Gretchen'.

There will be one more chapter in the fall of 9th grade section, narrated by Vince and Spinelli. Hopefully, I'll get that up sometime this coming week, depending on my class workload.

In the meantime, let me know how you enjoyed this chapter and what you're most interested about moving forward. I also love seeing your recommendations – perhaps we'll see Mr. E and Jared Smith show up like you suggested. You never know!