10th Grade, High School
Age: 15
October 13, 2007
…
Gretchen glances down at the watch on her wrist. The dance will soon be winding down and there will be maybe a few more songs before the final slow dance of the evening. She begins to go through her mental checklist, remembering where she dropped her various items. Her jacket and shoes are stuffed into the bleachers with Spinelli's and she left her empty plastic cup with Gus's in the third bleacher row, neither wanting to contribute to more waste when they could reuse the item through the night. They hid them in Mikey's jacket sleeve to avoid using someone else's.
Perhaps she should get one more drink before the night ends. She isn't sure of their plans after the dance. She turns to Spinelli beside her and tells her the plan.
"I'll come too," Spinelli says, and the two slip out from their group.
They head toward the bleachers for Gretchen to get her cup, Spinelli rolling her eyes as they go.
"You do realize that all of these cups will be used, one way or the other, and end up in a landfill," Spinelli says, crossing her arms as Gretchen reaches for the cup. "You keeping track of the same cup all night is not going to solve global warming. It just makes you look crazy."
"Using one cup through the night allows for a slowing of consumption of the cups bought for tonight, which may not solve the climate crisis, but is a small part that I can contribute."
Spinelli shakes her head. "Whatever you say, Gretch."
"Do you know what the plan is for the rest of the night?"
"Meghan said there's some sort of a bonfire over in the 98th Street neighborhood, but somehow I doubt Vince will have any desire to go to that since Vance will be there. Sam had mentioned the IHOP in Rogers but I don't know how we'd get there and I have zero desire to get another Happy Birthday serenade any time soon, so I veto that." Spinelli shrugs. "We'll probably all just end up at TJ's like always."
"How are you feeling after that schoolwide celebration?"
Spinelli grunts and crosses her arms. "I never want to think about it again."
"Did you figure out who told?"
She shakes her head. "No. Sam says it wasn't him, but I'm not convinced. But I don't know who else would have known…or wanted me to get that embarrassed if they did." She shakes her head again. "I would just rather forget all about it."
"Forget about what? Nothing happened," Gretchen says.
Spinelli smiles and links her arm with Gretchen's as they head to the refreshment table.
"So, tonight we'll just stay at TJ's until we get kicked out and then we'll go to my house and we can watch scary movies all night long," Spinelli says, her voice getting more excited with each word.
Gretchen had a feeling that would happen when Gus bought Spinelli a DVD that had four cult classic horror films for her birthday. He found it in a bin at the movie store in the mall and gave it to her with the promise that she would never make him watch it with her.
The two girls fill their cups at the water fountain, the punchbowl long since emptied, and stand near the refreshment table while they drink. Spinelli finishes first, crushing the plastic cup in her hand while Gretchen takes a few more smaller sips. Over Spinelli's shoulder, Gretchen sees someone approaching them and in the darkness she can barely tell who it is. However, as he gets nearer, she recognizes the face and nods her head slightly to catch Spinelli's attention. The other girl turns her head to look and when she turns back to Gretchen, she rolls her eyes and fakes a gag.
"Hey, Spinelli," Lawson says, coming to stand beside her. "Happy birthday!"
Spinelli's jaw clenches at the greeting and she crosses her arms before turning to him.
"Thanks," she grunts.
Lawson points out to the dance floor with an almost boyish smile. "You wanna dance with me?"
Gretchen frowns and looks at the inside of her cup. She hasn't seen much of Lawson since he graduated from Third Street the year ahead of them and all she can remember of him is his competitiveness with Vince and TJ. He wasn't always the brightest kid on the playground, but even he should realize that his request will only be rejected.
Spinelli shakes her head. "Eat glass, Lawson," she hisses. "You know I'm dating TJ."
"What? How shocking," Lawson says, his voice high-pitched and falsely affronted as he mockingly throws a hand over his heart as if he didn't know. Then he drops the look and crosses his own arms to mimic Spinelli. "Of course, I know that. But friends can't dance anymore?"
Spinelli and Gretchen both grimace.
"Sure, I'd dance with Vince, Mikey, or Gus," Spinelli reasons. Then she points between the two of them. "But I don't remember us ever being friends."
He shrugs. "Oh, come on. I'm on varsity soccer. You're on varsity soccer. We have a lot in common now."
Spinelli turns to Gretchen with her eyebrows raised. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head before turning back to Lawson.
"That's not how friendship works," she says, shaking her head. "So, I think I'm gonna have to pass."
Lawson wrinkles his nose at her and then turns to Gretchen. "What about you, Gretchen?"
"Oh, my God, get lost," Spinelli hisses. "Neither one of us is your friend and neither one of us would be caught dancing with you regardless."
"I wasn't talking to you, Spin-ugly," Lawson sneers, seemingly forgetting he had just asked her to dance only moments ago.
Gretchen sighs and shakes her head. "No, I don't want to."
"Oh, come on!" Lawson says. "You're not dating anyone."
"And that absolutely does not matter, you twit," Spinelli shouts. "She said no, so move on."
No, she isn't dating anyone and Spinelli is right, her no should be good enough. But, unfortunately, sometimes that is not what happens. Lawson clearly came to them for a few reasons – he knew them and thought they might be easy targets. She doesn't know why he thought that, but the evidence is there that he wasn't expecting a big fight. She thinks for a moment of what she can say to throw him off.
She grabs Spinelli's forearm before her friend lets her anger take over and turns calmly to Lawson.
"No, Lawson. I've already told Vince that I would save him a dance."
That, of course, is a lie. She has not told Vince anything like that and judging from his moves on the dance floor tonight, he may not be free for a dance even if she asked, but Vince has always told her that if she ever needed it, she could use him as an out. She never actually thought she would need to use it, but with Spinelli blowing audible breaths from her nose with her eyes glaring so hard Gretchen wonders if she can even see Lawson anymore, she has to say something quickly before her friend combusts.
It seems to work. Lawson's face drops and he frowns slightly.
"Man, what do Vince and TJ have that I don't?" he grumbles.
"Kindness. Emotional intelligence. Good looks," Spinelli spits. "Should I continue?"
Lawson glares at her. "Fuck you, Spinelli."
She lifts her middle finger in his direction and Gretchen squeezes her hand around Spinelli's forearm. Lawson is not worth Spinelli getting in trouble with one of the chaperones for inappropriate behavior. Spinelli glances up at her and begrudgingly lowers her finger, forming a fist. Lawson makes a face, walking away as Spinelli finally lowers her hand to her side.
Lawson has nearly disappeared when Vince and TJ approach. Both boys look back and forth between Lawson and the girls, their eyes narrowed.
"What was that about?" Vince asks.
"Just Lawson being an asshole," Spinelli says.
TJ shakes his head. "Typical Lawson." Then he reaches forward and takes the crunched-up plastic cup from Spinelli's hand. He entwines his fingers with hers and smiles at her as if Vince and Gretchen weren't beside them. "Hey, I want to show you something," he tells her in a soft tone, almost impossible to hear over the music.
He turns back to the other two, seemingly just now remembering that the two of them are there. "We'll meet you guys outside after the dance?"
As the two head off toward the gym doors, Vince rolls his eyes and crosses his arms as he watches them go.
"Jeez, he's about as subtle as a jackhammer," he mutters. Then he turns back to Gretchen. "So, what did Lawson want?"
Gretchen turns away from TJ and Spinelli's retreating forms. She'll find out tonight whatever TJ has planned and turns back to Vince. She shrugs.
"He asked Spinelli to dance," she says.
Vince snorts, shaking his head. "Does he live under a rock?"
"It was not his brightest idea," she tells him. "But she said no, of course. And when she did, he asked me. He was having trouble taking no for an answer, I suppose."
Vince frowns and his eyebrows furrow. Whereas his expressions had been incredulous and somewhat joking when she told him about Spinelli, he almost looks angry now.
"He what?"
"It's not a big deal. He's gone."
"I can't believe he'd do that. Asking you like that, like you're some kind of second choice to Spinelli."
She hadn't actually thought about it like that, but she supposes it is probably somewhat true and the underlying topic isn't one she hasn't already acknowledged. Spinelli is objectively pretty in a scientific way. It is why Gretchen theorizes Spinelli was able to get away with so much playground violence as a child with little more than a slap on the wrist from Ms. Finster and Principal Prickly. Facial attractiveness is associated with personality traits such as kindness and dependability, regardless of whether or not the correlation is true, and there have been studies to show that pretty people are less likely to be found guilty. Authority figures can be swayed by attractiveness, leading to her theory that a cute bruiser gets into a lot less trouble on the playground than a less conventionally attractive one.
Gretchen wouldn't consider herself ugly, but she also isn't upset by the reality that she does not fit into the rigid box of conventional attractiveness like Spinelli, Vince, and TJ. Thus, she knows that in the world of high school dances, of course she plays the role of second choice to Spinelli and that doesn't exceptionally bother her. There are other arguably more important points to Gretchen than how many people ask her to dance in high school.
But, she would be lying if having it said aloud doesn't hit a nerve.
"Well, I told him no." She is surprised by the indignancy her voice takes.
"Good. Because you're not a second choice, Gretch," Vince says. "And any guy worth your time will know that."
She gives him a small smile. She is grateful to have Vince always boosting her up, even when he doesn't realize she's feeling down on herself.
Over the speaker, the DJ announces that the final song of the night will be up next and tells people to start finding their partners. Dances always end with a slow dance and as the final fast song of the night begins the wane, she glances out at the dance floor.
"Are you going to go dance?" she asks.
Vince winces and shakes his head.
"I've been dancing the whole night with girls I don't even know," he tells her, his voice sounding sheepish. He rubs the back of his neck with his hand. "It just doesn't feel right asking one of those girls. There's a lot of implications if I did that."
Gretchen nods, understanding his concern. Vince doesn't want to hurt anyone. Dancing to fast-paced dance music feels less serious than dancing to a slow song. But standing off to the side of the gym while the rest of the school begins to couple off also seems significant. She is sure someone will pluck up enough courage to come over and ask Vince to dance, seeing him standing here with her, and he seems uncomfortable with that scenario.
"We could go wait outside with TJ and Spinelli?" she suggests.
Vince shakes his head. "They're not outside."
She frowns and waits for him to continue, but he doesn't.
"If they aren't outside, where did they go?" she asks. "Do you know what's going on?"
"I do, but I'm not gonna say a word because I can tell you with a hundred percent confidence that Spin is going to want to tell you this story tonight."
The smirk he gives her is a taunting one, an I know and you don't sort of grin. She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.
"That being said," he continues, cutting her off before she can interrogate him for details. "We can go outside and wait for everyone. Unless…you want to dance with someone?"
She turns away from him toward the dance floor. She never really considered dancing with someone tonight. There isn't anyone in particular that has caught her eye and, while what Lawson said is true about friends dancing, she had no intention of asking Vince, Mikey, or Gus. Nor does she think any of them had indicated that they would ask her.
Last homecoming, the four of them had left early, just as the slow song had started, because Gus had seen Spinelli walk out in tears and when the four also couldn't find TJ, they had rushed off to figure out what had happened. She remembers feeling relieved to find the two of them in good spirits at Kelso's, but then frustrated later in the evening when Spinelli told her that she ran when she saw TJ and one of the Megans dancing together. It was then that Gretchen began to realize that slow dancing together can often come with a lot of emotional baggage.
If she doesn't like someone, she shouldn't dance with them unless it is abundantly clear between the two that it's just a friendly dance. That's what she learned last homecoming.
"No, I'm not planning on dancing with anyone." She turns and nudges him in the side. "Besides, I used you as an excuse with Lawson. I'd be caught in a lie if I danced with anyone else."
She wonders if Vince remembers when he told her to use him as an excuse in eighth grade. When he looks at her, his face is cast with a mixture of sadness and anger. Maybe she overstepped.
"You don't owe someone like Lawson an explanation," he says, his voice low and serious. "He should have accepted your no for what it was and moved on."
"I know," she says firmly. She wants Vince to know that she wasn't going to back down just because someone was insistent. She and Spinelli handled it as well as they could, she thinks.
"Good," he says. Then he smiles, a dimple showing up in his cheek as he nudges her back. "But, if you wanted to dance with me, all you had to do was ask."
She gives him her best exasperated look at his joke and he chuckles.
"You're so full of yourself."
"And yet, I'm still one of your best friends so you must find it endearing," he tells her. Even though half his face is hidden by shadows, she can see him flutter his eyelashes at her teasingly.
She looks up at the ceiling so he can't see the grin filling her face as she starts to laugh. Yes, he is correct. He is one of her best friends and she does find his interactions endearing, mostly because she knows his spirit. Vince knows about his talents and his popularity, but he also knows how to joke about it in a way that doesn't make him sound exceptionally cocky.
He steps in front of her and she looks away from the ceiling rafters, the smile still spread across her face. He holds out his hand to her and nods to the song that has started playing through the room. It's different than the typical Stairway to Heaven that has played last at every single dance she has ever attended.
"Gretch, this is like your perfect song. The Scientist," he says. "You used me as an excuse. Can I use my best friend to get out of dancing with someone too?"
She looks at his outstretched hand for a moment and then nods her head, taking his hand in hers. Spinelli had told Lawson that she would have no problem dancing with Vince, Mikey, or Gus, and she feels the same way. The one issue of dancing with Vince is that she is sure that there are girls waiting in the wings, ready to disparage the girl that managed to snag him for herself. However, the entire school knows of her somewhat unorthodox and anti-hierarchical friendship with Vince. She shouldn't be seen as a threat and, as such, Gretchen doesn't expect any negative comments. Not that it would matter anyway. Vince is her best friend, nothing more and nothing less.
"I wonder which Ashley likes Coldplay," Vince mutters as they head out toward the dance floor. "You know they're behind this choice. Not that I mind the change up."
"Stairway to Heaven is a long dance," she agrees as she places her hands on his shoulders.
"I know, it's like a lifetime," he jokes.
Now that she is out on the dance floor, she is glad that she is dancing with Vince. She has never slow danced with anyone before and doing so with him is comfortable. She imagines that if she had a crush on someone that her nerves would probably get the best of her, but now she can actually enjoy it.
…
"Where are we going?"
TJ guides her to the staircase and gestures with his head. "It's a surprise."
Spinelli looks at the doors to the dance and back to him. "Teej, I've hit my surprise quota for tonight."
He squeezes her hand and gives her a shy smile. "It's a good one. I promise."
She gives him a little nod. She trusts TJ, but after today she is a little on edge. Her day so far has been a rollercoaster and she's exhausted by it. She had known TJ was going to call her at midnight because he felt guilty about having to spend most of the day decorating for homecoming. She was actually not as upset about it as she should have been – it gave her an excuse not to invite him to the family party with all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Her mother had told her all her friends were welcome to come – what's five more people in a house already packed to the gills? – and she was thrilled her friends were busy. By the time Gretchen, Vince, Mikey, and Gus finally showed up, telling her that TJ had been roped into cleaning up with the Ashleys because he was late, half her family was already gone.
But by that point she was beat because while she knew TJ was going to call her at midnight, she hadn't expected him to call her from under her window. When he called, at midnight on the dot, he told her to look out her window and there he was, waving up at her. As quietly as she could, she snuck out to meet him, avoiding the creaky stair and praying that Scruffy didn't notice her movement. He didn't and she met him outside.
The quick midnight phone call turned into three hours of talking and kissing in the grass. After she nearly fell asleep with her head on his chest, they snuck back into their homes, which meant that when Spinelli's mother woke her up bright and early to celebrate her time of birth, she was grouchy and sleep deprived.
Of course, it was worth it. It was always worth it to spend time with TJ. However, the constant stimulation between the party at her house and the homecoming singalong in conjunction with her sleep deprivation has been a recipe for disaster, causing extremes with her mood – the highs have been so high but the lows…she hyperventilated in front of Vince for Pete's sake.
TJ leads her up to the top of the staircase and when they reach the locked door to the rotunda on the second floor, she turns to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Why are we up here?"
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key.
"How did you get your hands on that?"
He grins. "Conned the janitor. Gave him my best puppy dog eyes."
She rolls her eyes and watches as he slips the key into the lock. He turns the handle and opens the door, allowing her to go first. The rotunda is dark and being in here after school hours, while the rest of their classmates are in the gym below, has an almost creepy feel. She turns around to ask TJ what he wanted to show her, but he is no longer standing behind her. Instead, she sees him a few steps away, bending and plugging something into an outlet.
The room suddenly becomes awash in light. The same twinkle lights that adorn the gym downstairs hang from the walls, giving the rotunda a soft yellow glow. The table that is always in the center of the rotunda and used for fundraisers and club information is pressed against the far wall with TJ's small portable iPod speaker sitting on it. She turns away from the lights to look at TJ.
"Is…this all for me?" she asks.
"I figured…you've had quite the day today. Even without the spontaneous singing or Lawson being an asshole, it's not really your ideal birthday to have homecoming on the same day," TJ reasons. He gestures to the rotunda. "So, I figured, I'd give you at least one song where it's just us."
She feels her entire body warm with the thoughtfulness he put into it.
"Did you do all of this yourself?" she asks.
"I had a little help," he tells her. He snorts and shakes his head at some memory. "You'd never guess who."
"Not the guys or Gretch?"
He shakes his head.
She supposes it doesn't really matter who helped him out. Instead, she thinks about how TJ had been missing when the rest of their friends showed up at her house this afternoon. She wonders if they all know about this and were in on the secret.
"Is this why you didn't come over after decorating with everyone else?" she asks. "They said you were cleaning."
"No, unfortunately the Ashleys did force me to clean up because I was late," he says, smiling at her and raising his eyebrows in her direction. Of course he was late. If her mother hadn't woken her up, even she would have slept through her alarm this morning. "But after that I stayed behind to do this."
She smiles and looks at him, bathed in the yellow glow. She has no idea what she did in a previous life to deserve TJ Detweiler.
"This is perfect."
"You like it?"
She nods her head. "I love it."
"Here, I even downloaded your favorite songs," he says, showing her the iPod in his pocket. "I figured we could have our slow dance up here. What song do you want?"
She reaches for the iPod and quickly maneuvers the click wheel's buttons. She goes into his playlists and finds one called Spin's Songs. Her cheeks warm and her stomach flutters as she clicks into it. It's so innocuous, but the fact that he has an entire playlist of all her favorite songs makes her incredibly happy.
She clicks through the songs, taking her time to find a song she thinks would be good to dance to with TJ. She debates between Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars and Rob Thomas' Ever the Same for a few seconds before deciding on the latter. She hands it back and he plugs it into a small portable speaker on the table, the music filling the rotunda.
"Can I have this dance?" he asks, holding his hand out for her to take.
She smiles and plays along. "Of course."
As they sway to the music, her head resting on TJ's chest and their arms wrapped around each other, she wishes she could stay here forever. In this moment, there is nothing more she would rather do than forget the rest of the school down below, dancing to whatever song the DJ has chosen as the final of the night, and just keep swaying under the twinkle lights in the rotunda.
She turns her head slightly, resting her chin on his chest to look up at him. He turns down, looking directly into her eyes.
Of course TJ would know exactly what she would like and create the perfect end to the dance she didn't even want to attend. Sometimes she thinks TJ knows her better than she knows herself. She lifts up on her toes so she can kiss him, moving her hands to his cheeks. When she pulls away, she stays on her tiptoes and only moves far enough away so that when she speaks it's not muffled against his lips.
"Thank you," she says. "This really is perfect."
"I wanted you to have the best end to your night," he says. "And I wanted to tell you something."
She frowns slightly as he bites his bottom lip, looking almost bashful. "What?"
He takes a deep breath and gives her the lopsided smile that makes her knees weak.
"I love you." He nervously chuckles. "I've been trying to tell you for weeks, but it just never felt like the right time."
Her heart beats rapidly in her chest, seemingly banging against her chest wall with the strength of its movement. TJ loves her. He loves her. It doesn't necessarily surprise her, but her breath does catch in her throat when he says it, in more of an excited way than a shocked one. Subconsciously, she leans up, smashing her lips to his.
This kiss is different from the sweet one they shared before his confession. This kiss feels heated, with a fire bubbling in her gut that stretches throughout her entire body. TJ swiftly lifts her up and she wraps her legs around his waist, their lips not breaking apart. She can feel him walk over to the table where the iPod sits, the music getting louder as they approach. The song has changed now, an upbeat Goo Goo Dolls song now playing instead of Rob Thomas. But it doesn't matter. It's just background noise to her now.
TJ loves her. And she hasn't said it back.
She pulls away slightly and puts her hand on TJ's cheek. He looks slightly disappointed by her breaking away and she rubs her thumb against his cheek.
"I love you too."
The smile that spreads across his face stretches across his entire face and she giggles. He takes a step forward and she can feel the table. He sets her down and she remains at a perfect height for him to kiss her. He kisses her jaw and moves down her neck. She sighs involuntarily and closes her eyes as he sucks on the bare skin of her collarbone.
It will definitely leave a mark, one that she will have to remember to hide from her parents in the morning, but she doesn't mind. She doesn't think she would mind anything in this moment actually. All she can really think about is the electricity surging through her body as TJ kisses her skin.
She runs her fingers along the buttons of his shirt and he hisses, pulling away from her to watch as her fingers fiddle with the top button.
"Spin," he says in a slightly warning tone, his eyes darting to his left, where she knows the door that leads down to the lobby is located.
She looks up at him through her eyelashes and continues to unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt. She wants to get at his skin as well and her access is a lot more restricted than his. Once she has a bit of skin she presses her lips to his, and follows the same path he took with her – moving from his lips to his jaw down his neck to the skin in the center of his chest.
When she pulls away, his pale skin is already discolored and she smiles at her work. Beautiful.
Unfortunately, the movement has drawn them out of their little bubble and the noise of the dance emptying into the lobby begins to invade their space. She sighs and lets her shoulders drop. Their time in the rotunda flew by so quickly. She can't believe it's over.
"Should we clean this up?" she asks, pointing to the lights.
TJ shakes his head. "You're not cleaning any of this," he says. He looks around and then shrugs. "I'll come by tomorrow and do it."
He backs up slightly and she jumps off the table, holding her hand out to him. "Might as well get down there before Gus thinks we left without him," she jokes, although it comes out flat and betrays her disappointment.
She frowns when TJ doesn't go to grab her hand and she glances up at him with confusion. He isn't looking at her though. He is glancing at the doorway.
"Why don't you go first?" he says quickly. He looks at her and has a serious expression on his usually jovial face. "People might get the wrong idea if they see us coming down together."
She is about to balk at the idea, when she realizes what he is insinuating. She could only imagine the rumors someone could spread about them if they were seen walking down the stairs together alone. The last thing she wants is to be at the center of a raunchy rumor about her and TJ sneaking off during the dance. She can't be at the center of a sex rumor when she's not even having it.
"Oh, yeah," she says. "I, um, have to go grab my boots and jacket anyway. I'll meet you outside with the others?"
He nods and starts to grab the iPod and portable speaker. She turns to head toward the door. When she gets there, she looks over her shoulder at him and sees him sitting on the table, tapping his fingers on his knees while looking at the ceiling.
"Hey, Teej?" He looks over at her and she smiles as she says, "I love you."
He gives her a boyish smile. "I love you too."
When she walks down the stairs, she realizes that most people aren't paying her any attention. The lobby is full of her schoolmates, some standing in circles trying to figure out where they're going next and others trying to push by these groups to leave through the doors. She quickly joins the mob, going the opposite direction from the rest. Once she gets into the gym, it's emptier and she finds it easy to reach the bleachers where her things are hidden.
However, when she gets there, she realizes Gretchen must have grabbed her things when she took hers because both of their belongings are gone. She should have known. Of course Gretch would have taken her jacket and boots when she grabbed her own shoes and jacket, probably thinking Spinelli would forget. Which, she reasons, she would have. She was fully prepared to just walk out with TJ, not another care in the world. She hops back down the bleachers, not paying attention, and slams smack into a group of girls.
The Megans glare at her as she backs up.
"Like, watch out," one of them hisses.
"Sorry, just leaving," she mutters and turns to walk back out into the crowded hallway.
"Hey, Spinelli?"
She pauses and turns, wondering what they could possibly want to say to her.
Megan King gives her a saccharine smile.
"Happy birthday," she says. "Hope it didn't embarrass you too much tonight with the singalong. I know how you hate stuff like that."
Spinelli stays rooted to her spot, her heart beating quickly in her chest, as the other three girls giggle. Megan King crosses her arms and the four girls barrel by her as Spinelli remains standing in the nearly empty gym.
…
Notes
I did not write last year's homecoming as a chapter, but Gretchen is referring to something that TJ mentions in the January 2007 Part 1 about Spinelli seeing him dance with Megan King.
I imagine TJ has a fifth generation iPod, originally released in October 2005 and updated in September 2006. It featured a click wheel for navigation. I remember it being extremely popular and was very jealous of those who had it.
Songs referenced this chapter: Coldplay - The Scientist (2002); Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (1971); Rob Thomas - Ever the Same (2005); Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars (2006).
For the Goo Goo Dolls song that plays when TJ and Spinelli are in the rotunda, you can take your pick, but I was listening to Let Love In (2006) while I was writing that scene.
Let me know what you think!