11th Grade, High School

Age: 16

October 2008

…

Vince closes his locker door and starts walking toward the cafeteria. Mr. Dudikoff had asked him to stop by quickly at the beginning of lunch for a brief check in. Vince had been sure it was a last minute homecoming week issue – maybe the Ashleys had already overspent the budget or there was a change in the event timelines. But, the Dude had actually wanted to talk about Vince himself. The teachers were apparently more looped into the school's gossip mill than Vince realized because Dudikoff had heard about Spinelli's current crisis and the young teacher had wanted to see how Vince was doing.

He hadn't known how to answer. Admitting to Dudikoff that he is fine, that his day-to-day life hasn't really been affected, makes him look callous. But, as unfortunate as it is to say, it's the truth. He doesn't spend a ton of time with Spinelli outside of student senate anymore and he doesn't have any classes with her. Of course, TJ and Gretchen, who are his main connections to Spinelli now, have been freaked out since her in-school panic attack the previous week, but that's really the extent of his concern. He feels bad for her, sure, but his life has been relatively unchanged and it feels like a terrible thing for a friend to say.

Of course, when he stuttered and didn't have a firm answer, Dudikoff took that as him being spooked or flustered and offered Vince as much assistance as he needed moving forward. If he wanted to appoint a temporary assistant in the vice president role, he could do that. Vince didn't think that would be necessary. The Ashleys already handled more of homecoming than Vince and Spinelli combined. He could handle whatever the leftover was without Spinelli and, of course, should he need more help the others would surely step in.

Dudikoff finally let him go with another urging to ask for help as needed that Vince internally shook off. Spinelli was the one Dudikoff should have called in for a chat, not him.

The hallways are quiet and empty, but as soon as he turns onto the catwalk that leads to the cafeteria, his ears are flooded with noise. There's a long line at the homecoming ticket booth, currently manned by two kids Vince has never seen before. Although, to be fair, he doesn't pay much attention outside his own classes and sports groups. TJ would probably know them, but TJ has never met a stranger. There are plenty of people not on Vince's radar.

The cafeteria is at full volume, with all the tables full of students raucously eating and conversing among themselves. Today's the first day of Spirit Week, the theme of the day being Neon Day, and it's almost painful to the eyes to look at everyone. He can pick out the Ashleys, sitting at their exclusive table by the window, looking like a multipack of highlighters, each in the brightest hue of their signature color. Vince had had to dig deep into his closet, but he found an old pinney from one of his basketball camps, now a size too small to be comfortable but not absurd enough to forgo wearing it for Spirit Week.

As he approaches his table, his guard goes up. His friends sit quietly, despite their brightly colored clothes. Mikey has a fluorescent orange vest that appears to be from his first – and last – day of being a safety ranger at Third Street. Gus, who probably doesn't own a stitch of clothing that isn't some shade of neutral, has three or four glow necklaces around his neck and one across his forehead. Vince had already seen Gretchen's pink and blue dress and had already teased her about how it was more pastel than neon, fitting in better at a baby shower than an 80s revival.

He hadn't seen TJ yet today and had fully expected him to be wearing some ridiculous hat he found at Goodwill, Spirit Week being the only week of the year where TJ could actually wear his favorite accessory to school. But TJ isn't wearing a hat, nor is he wearing any neon whatsoever.

And Spinelli is missing.

Vince's teeth clench together and he immediately tries to slacken his jaw before he slides into the empty chair between TJ and Gretchen. Both had been quietly sitting, not paying much attention, and when Vince takes the chair, they both turn almost expectantly. He watches as TJ, wide-eyed and startled as he nearly spins in his chair, falters briefly when he realizes it's Vince sitting beside him. His face drops only slightly, but it's enough for Vince to notice.

Sure, the seat that Vince took is typically the one Spinelli sits in, but it isn't like they have assigned seating.

"So, where's the birthday girl?" Vince asks.

"She had another panic attack and so her parents aren't making her come to school this week," TJ says. He sighs. "She was thinking about homecoming and her birthday and then she just sort of spiraled."

"I mean, we all sang a rousing rendition of happy birthday at homecoming last year," Mikey says. "So I could see why she might be anxious."

Vince glances down at the table as the others start conversing around him. He vaguely remembers last year, when he saw Spinelli run out of the dance and he followed after her. What he saw then was definitely not the same severity of what they all witnessed last week, but should he have said something? At the time, it hadn't seemed serious. She shook it off like she usually did and the rest of the night she was fine.

It's a moot point now, a year later.

"So, she's not coming to school at all this week?"

TJ shakes his head at Gus's question.

"Nope," he says. Then, when no one else speaks, he starts to ramble. "But she was already going to be out Thursday and Friday. Her dad called in every favor he's ever had and I guess someone he used to work with, his wife is a nurse practitioner at Arkansas Children's. Not in psych, but she knew someone who knew someone or something like that. They got her in for an appointment on Friday. So her parents are gonna drive down there on Thursday with her."

Vince frowns. The Children's Hospital is in Little Rock, about three hours away from where they live. When he fell during a basketball game in fifth grade, completely busting a bone in his hand and needing surgery, that's where he had to go. His mother grew up in Little Rock, so she had swapped her schedule around at work so she could bring him down and they stayed with his grandmother for a bit after. His father, an accountant, was busy with tax season, but Chad had insisted on coming too. Although it was probably more so because Chad was in his I-want-to-be-a-surgeon phase than for Vince's sake, he still remembers Chad walking beside his bed, clutching the bed railing tightly, as the nurses wheeled Vince toward the OR doors, the final place the family could follow.

"Little Rock's far," Vince mutters, more to himself than anyone else.

TJ must hear him. "Yeah, but at least they could fit her in. It'd be January before she could get in with anyone up here."

The rest of the group begins to nod, but Vince can't help that his mind goes to this week. Dudikoff's sudden meeting with him now makes much more sense. Spinelli's parents must have called the school to inform them of her absence, so her teachers must be in on this plan. She is going to be absent for the rest of the week, if not longer, and that's why the Dude insisted on talking to him about a temporary stand-in or needing any help. Never mind Spinelli not being in the right mindset to help, she won't even physically be in the building. Or the town limits.

He has no idea what time her appointment is, but if she's in Little Rock, the chances of her making it home in time for the homecoming game are slim. Not that she would go anyway, unless the doctors could give her some magic cure, which he also feels is highly unlikely. And if she had a panic attack thinking about Spirit Week, homecoming itself is probably also off the table.

He eyes TJ. If Spinelli isn't going to homecoming, TJ won't go. Especially after her visit, he will want to see her when she gets home. He looks away from TJ at Mikey and Gus. Dances like homecoming are typically an activity they do as a group, but this gives Gus the perfect out of something he almost never enjoys going to in the first place and Mikey always follows the group.

Vince lets his eyes fall to the table, not allowing himself to turn to Gretchen.

He doesn't even hear the rest of the conversation going on around him. He is president of the class. He is the favorite to win Homecoming Prince again. He is a football player. He can't skip homecoming. More so than all of that, he wants to go. But he doesn't want to go alone.

Gretchen is his only chance of having someone to go with and he knows that by asking her he is putting her between a rock and a hard place. It feels like freshman year again, when he felt like TJ was choosing between himself and Spinelli. Part of him doesn't even want to ask if Gretchen is going to go or stay behind – he doesn't know if he can handle playing second fiddle to Spinelli again.

He is startled out of his thoughts by the warning bell, alerting the students to the end of the lunch period. He gathers his things like the rest of his friends and follows them out, dragging his feet. They each turn their own ways, only Gretchen and himself going in the same direction. The two have identical schedules this year, having chosen all the same electives.

"You're quiet," Gretchen says as they sit down in their seats. "What's going on?"

He shakes his head. "I'm fine."

Gretchen's brow furrows and she crosses her arms, leaning in closely so she can speak low but still firmly.

"Please, don't use fine," she says. "We can't hide behind fine anymore."

He shakes his head. "I'm not Spinelli. I'm not hiding anything."

He swallows thickly, knowing that he is bending the truth. While he isn't using fine the same way that Spinelli used it with Gretchen, he is keeping his thoughts from her. But he isn't ready to ask her about homecoming yet. If she says no and chooses to stay behind, he definitely won't be fine.

When he speaks again, he chooses his words carefully. "I'm just…worried about the implications of this week with her not here."

"You're not alone," Gretchen says. "We'll all be here to help out."

He sighs, realizing that he could ask her now. He could throw it out casually, as if he's just wondering if she's planning on going now that Spinelli and TJ, and most likely Gus and Mikey, wouldn't be going. That way he would at least know. But his throat tightens when he tries to ask, unable to put the words out there.

"Yeah," he says instead. "Of course. I know."

Their teacher calls them to attention and Gretchen gives his hand a squeeze before turning her attention to the front of the room. She meant it in a kind way, but the gesture makes Vince's gut flip. He turns his head to look at the ground beside him, not wanting anyone to see the grimace on his face.

When the bell rings at the end of the day, Vince hasn't learned a single thing. Instead, he quickly stuffs his things in his bag and gives Gretchen a hasty goodbye, saying he has a quick turnaround between the end of class and practice today. Then he darts out of the room, down the hallway, and to the locker room as fast as he can, wanting to get to the field and avoid any stares or questions. He wants practice to be over so he can go home and lay on his bed, trying to teach his gut to stop churning at the thought of being the second choice.

As he walks down the parking lot toward the football field, he sees TJ walking the opposite direction from the fieldhouse. He frowns.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

TJ looks over his shoulder and shrugs. "I threw up in the bathroom, so I'm going home sick. I just told Coach."

Vince can tell just from TJ's tone of voice that he's lying. "Really?"

TJ frowns and looks over his shoulder once more, making sure no one is around to hear. "Look, it's not like I'm starting the game anyway. The team doesn't need me anymore than they need anyone else right now," he says quietly. "You understand, right?"

Vince lets out a breath and nods his head. He actually does. When he skipped practice last week to walk Gretchen home from school, he had the same reasoning. The team was not as important as Gretchen was at that moment. He also understands why TJ felt the need to lie this time. Last week, when Vince skipped without an excuse, his punishment had been wind sprints for the remaining practices and no playing time on Friday night. But skipping during homecoming week without an excuse would be an entirely different story. It would be a one-way trip to the bench for the rest of the season.

"Don't get Spin sick," he says, playing into the lie.

"I'll see you later, Vin."

Vince kicks at some rocks on the asphalt as he trudges toward the field. He is sluggish during practice, his mind elsewhere, but it isn't noticeable enough for a callout from the coaching staff. He tries his best to stay back, knowing he isn't putting out his best performance and not wanting to draw attention to it.

When practice ends, he puts his things away slowly, wanting to walk out on his own. His friends all hold back, clearly waiting for him, but he shakes them off. With his permission, they start to leave, walking out at the exit on the other side of the field, where in the distance he can see someone waiting.

Ashley B leans against the fence, her cheer bag slung over her shoulder as she tries her best to look completely disinterested. She chomps on a piece of bubble gum, carefully timing her bubbles as members of the football team pass her by. She doesn't attempt to stop anyone as they pass, only greeting a few of his teammates with a closed-mouthed smile.

He hopes she isn't waiting for him.

He holds back, slowly pulling his cleats off as he watches the last of his teammates leave. But as Vance Lombardi walks out and Ashley B gives him the same closed lip smile she has given everyone else, Vince grinds his teeth. She has to be there for him. Probably some dumb homecoming nonsense, although he would have expected the entire crew to hound him if that were the case.

He sighs and stands, throwing his bag over his shoulder. Now or never.

"What do you want?" he asks in lieu of a greeting as soon as he is close enough not to yell.

She rolls her eyes and blows a bubble, waiting until it pops with a loud smack, before sucking it back in and smirking.

"Like, hi, LaSalle. How are you? How was practice?"

Vince's eyes key in on the fluorescent yellow choker around her neck, the last remnant of her neon day fashion. All four of the Ashleys matched today, right down to the plastic chokers around their necks. She must have been sent as the messenger, the rest of the Ashleys busy with their planning.

"Cut to the chase, B."

The girl rolls her eyes again and crosses her arms. "Someone is in a bad mood."

He sighs and crosses his own arms to mimic her. "Ashley, what do you want?"

She looks taken aback by the force of his voice, clearly having assumed his tone was their typical banter. He sees her wince and for a minute he feels bad for being so rude.

"So, like, we were trying to plan the hallway design," she says. "I, like, was actually looking for TJ, but he didn't come to practice today?"

"Yeah, he went home sick."

She raises an eyebrow, but Vince doesn't validate her silent question. Ashley B, as well as the rest of the Ashleys, should know them well enough to realize the ploy.

"Well, like I said, we were trying to start the hallway design ideas and I, like, totally figured that instead of assuming Spinelli will be around to help with the art, I would ask beforehand," the girl says. "She has flaked on us two years in a row and if she's like, totally, not gonna be around, I want to know now."

"Yeah, she's not coming," he says shortly. Then he steps by her. "Bye, Ashley."

He adjusts his bag on his shoulder and starts walking up to the main road, leaving her behind him. However, he hears her call his name and he groans in response, turning around to see her jogging toward him to catch up.

"What?" he spits. "I'm trying to get home."

Ashley B fidgets slightly, swaying on her feet. He raises an eyebrow at her unusually meek body language. The Ashleys, even timid Ashley T, have mastered confident poses. Ashley Boulet is known for appearing chronically bored, as if nothing in the world is more interesting than her new manicure. Worry is foreign on her face.

"Is she, like…okay?" Ashley asks.

The Ashleys are all master manipulators. Ashley B, in particular, has been able to work him since they were toddlers fighting over the same toy at the church nursery school. This may be the first time he has ever heard genuineness in her voice, like she's actually asking because she cares rather than because she's snooping for information to use against him and his friends at a later date.

"You know, it's really none of your business," he says coolly, on the chance he is reading her wrong.

She nods and winces uncomfortably. "I just, like, heard a rumor today."

Vince groans and shakes his head. Great. More rumors. That's exactly what his group of friends don't need right now. If TJ and Gretchen hear about rumors, they'll be on the patrol trying to stop them.

"Look, if you're actually concerned, I would appreciate it if you and your friends could stop the rumors. Start other rumors. I don't care what you do, but we don't need this right now," he tells her.

"Understandable," she says. Then she cocks her head as if she has just thought of something. "So I take it you all aren't going to homecoming this year? Should we take your name off the ballot?"

He grunts and crosses his arms.

"TJ isn't going," he says through his teeth. "I'm not sure the rest of us have made our decisions."

"I thought you all did everything as a group?" she fires back.

The last person he wants to talk about this scenario with is Ashley B. She'll make fun of him for sure if she figures out that Vince is probably going to be left out in the cold by all his friends. He absolutely cannot handle that at the moment, so he turns around and waves to her over his shoulder as he starts to walk out of the sports complex again.

"Bye, Ashley."

He hears her following him and by the time he reaches the main street, she's walking side-by-side with him on the sidewalk.

"Well, like, if none of your friends are going to go, you could come with us," she offers. She shrugs and rolls her eyes. "Even if we take your name off the ballot, people will probably just write you in anyway. And it would be, like, super awkward if our class's prince didn't show. Ashley A would have no one to dance with."

Vince snorts. "Well, she usually ends up dancing by herself by the end of the song anyway, so maybe I'm not actually needed."

She rolls her eyes. "Well, maybe you two could actually, like, not fight this year."

"Fat chance."

Ashley B blows out a breath. "You are impossible."

Vince shakes his head and tries to quicken his strides, but she walks right along with him. He keeps expecting her to leave, to throw her hands up in exasperation and turn around, heading in the opposite direction back toward the school. When she makes it all the way to the Grand Street crosswalk, he crosses his arms and glares at her.

"Why are you still walking with me?" he demands. "Didn't Daddy buy you a car for your birthday?"

"Funny," she deadpans. "You know just as well as I do that's not the case."

He does. Ashley B's father is friends with his father. They had been acquaintances in high school back in New Orleans and had gotten closer when they both attended LSU. They lost touch a little when his father moved to Little Rock for an accounting job and her father moved to Fayetteville to get his MBA, but her father had actually gotten his father a job when he and his mother, recently married with a baby Chad, had wanted to move to a better school district and were debating where to move.

The Boulets live in a nice house for sure, but she and Ashley Q both live over by Gus and Mikey in houses very similar to the rest of the neighborhood. Her family is comfortable, just as his is, but not extravagantly wealthy where they could buy their daughter a car for her sixteenth birthday. If he had to guess, just by the looks of their houses, Ashley T is actually the one with the most family wealth – she lives in a large Victorian home in the Old Historic District off Third Street.

"So, you're going to walk home with me?" he asks.

"We're both going the same way," she says, as if it's obvious. Then she rolls her eyes. "If it bothers you that much I could, like, follow ten paces behind you and look like a stalker."

He smirks. "Absolutely. You could be the first member of my fan club."

She rolls her eyes. "I don't think I've ever met someone as cocky as you."

"I'm not cocky," he tells her. "I can just see my potential."

"Potential means you haven't reached it yet," she counters. "So, that's, like, totally cocky."

When he can't come up with a snarky response, she smirks and adds a little bounce to her step. He glares at her and crosses his arms. They walk for a bit in silence before Ashley B speaks again.

"Ashley T doesn't have a date yet," she says, almost offhandedly. "She has, like, totally rejected everyone who has asked her so far."

"Good for her," Vince says, unsure why Ashley B even brought it up.

She shrugs, seemingly realizing that Vince isn't following her train of thought, and continues.

"I was just thinking, you know. If you wanted a date for homecoming, you could always ask her and come with us," she says.

He glances at her out of the corner of his vision, trying to decide if she is setting him up romantically or for failure. He and Ashley B are hardly friends, so the idea that she would want to help him seems ludicrous. The only thing he can think of is that Ashley T not having a date when all three of her friends do is embarrassing the others. Perhaps Ashley B is trying less to help Vince and more to help Ashley T.

"What makes you think she wouldn't reject me?"

Ashley B snorts and rolls her eyes. "Vince, you're, like, the most eligible bachelor in school. No one would reject you. Trust me."

"I can think of a few people," he mutters. He clenches his teeth, frustrated that he let that slip in front of her.

She frowns. "Well, they're morons."

He crosses his arms around himself and stares at the cracks in the sidewalk as they continue to walk. He will not get into it with Ashley B. So instead he continues to stare at the ground as they walk in silence side-by-side. When they get to where she has to turn off Third Street, she veers off with hardly a goodbye. Vince watches her over his shoulder, waiting for her to turn around and tease him, tell him the girls have all pranked him or some other Ashley-esque nonsense, but she doesn't. Instead, she just turns the corner and disappears from sight.

He sighs and starts his final stretch home.

Going to the dance with Ashley T wouldn't be horrible. In the grand scheme of everything, she isn't so bad. She was his first kiss after all. Wouldn't that be fitting? But if Ashley B was right, her friend has rejected nearly every boy who has asked her. For what reasons, Vince has no idea, but he doesn't particularly want to end up on that growing list of names. How embarrassing would that be, to be stranded by both his friends and the girl he asked to the dance?

No, he would rather go alone than risk that.

As he gets closer to his house, he can see someone sitting on his stoop. It doesn't take long to realize who the person is – dark auburn hair and a pastel dress with her nose in a book, her face completely obscured by the text. He chuckles slightly under his breath. If there was a Wikipedia article about Gretchen Grundler, this would be the picture at the top.

She looks up from her book when she hears him approach and sets her book down on the porch as he comes to a stop in front of her.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asks.

"I wasn't sure what time your practice finished, so I figured I could just sit on your porch while I waited," she says, pushing her glasses up her nose as she looks up at him. "Something was bothering you today. I didn't push it but I was thinking about it and I can't let someone else I care about get hurt. Not if I can help it."

He takes a seat next to her on the stoop and turns to study her face. Her pupils are dilated behind her glasses as she waits expectantly for his response. There is a dusting of freckles on the bridge of her nose, slowly fading as fall encroaches. The corners of her lips tilt downward in the slightest of ways to display her concern.

Gretchen doesn't want him to hurt, but what she doesn't realize is that he is afraid of her. Or, in reality, he is afraid of losing her. He is afraid of being her second choice, just as he was for TJ and as he could very well be for Ashley T.

There is no more beating around the bush. Gretchen has keyed in on his behavior and he knows she won't let him get away. Maybe before Spinelli, she would have let him shake her off, but not now. Gretchen is on edge and, as much as she doesn't want to hurt him, he doesn't want to hurt her. Telling her to mind her own business or blowing her off would just make everything a lot worse.

He might as well rip off the bandaid. It always hurts less than pulling it slowly.

"Are you going to homecoming?" he asks, his voice so quick that it comes out garbled.

Gretchen frowns. "I'll be honest, I haven't really thought about it much. No one has talked about it." Then she turns it back to him. "Do you want to go?"

She hasn't outright denied him yet. That's a good sign.

"Yeah," he says. When she doesn't answer immediately, he lets his eyes drop and rubs the back of his neck with his hand, mumbling, "Ashley B actually said that I could go with them if you guys weren't going to go."

When he dares to look up at her, she looks confused, tiling her head quizzically. The skin of her forehead wrinkles as her eyebrows furrow.

"You're going to homecoming with the Ashleys?"

"I mean, they just threw it out as an option," he says, shrugging. "If, you know, you guys didn't want to go."

Gretchen's brow furrows even deeper. "Why wouldn't we want to go?"

Now it's his turn to tilt his head in confusion.

"Well, Spin isn't gonna go so TJ's not going. I guess, I just figured…you know, I know homecoming isn't exactly yours and Gus' cup of tea," he reasons.

It makes sense to him. Gretchen and Gus aren't exactly dancing fiends. They go for the experience, but neither particularly enjoys the atmosphere of a bunch of teenagers grinding against each other and jumping around to hip-hop. What a wonderful excuse not to attend.

"Do you want to go to homecoming?" Gretchen asks. "I will go with you. You don't have to go with the Ashleys."

"What about Spin?"

"What about her?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Wouldn't you want to spend time with her? You know, she's your best friend."

"Vince, you can have more than one best friend," she says, almost chuckling under her breath. She even has a ghost of a smile on her lips. "I vaguely remember TJ writing an essay on it, actually."

He feels the confusion begin to melt off his own face, his lips upturning to match her smile.

"There will be plenty of chances for me to spend time with Spinelli," Gretchen continues. "This is important to you. She will understand that. She will have TJ with her and I will see her another day."

His heart starts to beat rapidly in his chest as it feels like a weight is lifted off his shoulders. The nausea that had been plaguing his stomach all afternoon dissipates and he tries to calm the smile threatening to take over his face.

"Thank you," he says.

"There's no need to thank me. This is what friends do," she insists.

He lets out a breath and decides to let it drop, not wanting to ruin his sudden glee with back-and-forth bickering. Instead, he will live in this particular moment for a little while longer, allow himself to enjoy it before the rest of the world returns again.

…

Notes:

Mikey was a safety ranger for a hot second in the episode "Officer Mikey."

Arkansas Children's opened their Northwest satellite campus in Springdale in February 2018, about a decade after this chapter takes place. The flagship hospital is located in Little Rock.

In my original draft of this story, this arc for Vince was a lot darker and more dramatic and he did actually go to homecoming with the Ashleys. Vince and Gretchen have both grown a lot more than in my original drafting and so him joining the Ashleys no longer made sense. That being said, I don't want to get any of the Vince and Gretchen fans too excited – they are not going to get together at homecoming. It will happen eventually and it's not meant to be torturous, but these two have a lot going on besides romance. I want to keep it feeling very much like them and, for me, that means they'll go a lot slower than their counterparts. I just wanted to give everyone a fair warning – I never realized how invested people would get in their storyline!

Thanks for reading!