11th Grade, High School

Age: 16-17

May 2009

…

The Ashleys are at it again.

Ashley A stands at the front of the classroom, Mr. Dudikoff's pointer in her hand as she gestures to different ideas the four girls had meticulously written on the board. They must have come in early to prepare for the lunchtime meeting because the entire chalkboard has been littered with four different handwritings. They have three ideas laid out, each seemingly more elaborate and glittery than the next.

Gus leans back in his chair and glances amongst his friends. Mikey is the only one paying any semblance of attention to Ashley A's blabber on different themes. Gretchen is flipping through flashcards of SAT vocab, while Vince has his eyes closed beside her. He has his hands stuffed into a Wake Forest University hoodie, one he hasn't stopped wearing since he attended an official recruiting visit there in early April, and his head tilted forward, chin tucked into the neck opening of the sweatshirt. Spinelli and TJ are passing a note back and forth across the table on Gretchen's other side.

It isn't as if they really need to listen. The Ashleys will pick a theme, just as they have for every other event their class has to design, even if they make it seem like the student senate has a chance at providing input. But, even those who didn't go to Third Street have now realized they don't have a choice – it's the Ashleys' way or the highway.

He knows the four girls have put a lot of time and energy into curating the ideas, using it as practice for what they deem the bigger and more important event – senior prom. According to Ashley T, junior prom is like a trial run. If they can pull off a spectacular event in the school gym, imagine what they can do with an actual event space. In order to save money in the student account for all of the senior year festivities, the junior prom is always held in the gym and Gus figured it would just seem like a more intimate homecoming.

Instead of finishing their math homework at Kelso's yesterday, Ashley T had tried to explain to him why that was wildly inaccurate. After her explanation, he still didn't quite get it, but regardless he was actually quite impressed by the attention to detail. The four have turned into event planners overnight and could probably make a good career out of doing this in their adult lives if they wanted to do so.

Ashleys Event Planning – scandalously designing together since 1997. He chuckles under his breath at his own slogan.

It's a fun idea to think about, but he knows it won't happen. Through Ashley T, he has learned so much more about the other Ashleys than he had ever known before. Ashley A has plans to major in business, while Ashley Q wants to do something in fashion merchandising – whatever that means. Ashley B will be applying early decision to Howard University for pre-law. Ashley T herself hasn't decided exactly what she wants to do, but when she starts her applications, she is debating between biology or chemistry, or perhaps biochemistry to combine the two. The four girls will probably end up all spread out, pursuing their goals all over the country.

It makes him glance at his group of friends again, realizing that is probably the same for them. He doesn't like to think about it. When he was in elementary school, bounced from school to school to school, he never thought that he would fit in anywhere. Now that he has, it's almost over. Next year they'll be seniors and they'll have one year before they don't see each other every day, before they don't live down the street from each other. Before they all start the rest of their lives.

They'll have to make next year count.

He is sprung out of his thoughts by the sound of paper hitting a table. He startles and looks around the room. Most of the other students are either gone or milling around, getting their things together. Ashley B stands in front of the table Vince and Gretchen are sitting at, a stack of papers sitting in front of Vince and a sour look on her face.

"Oh, like, I'm sorry, Mr. Basketball. Did I wake you up?" Ashley B mocks.

Vince stretches his neck from side to side and smirks back at her. "No, but you almost lulled me to sleep with your unnecessary presentation. Which theme have the four of you chosen?"

Ashley B rolls her eyes and pushes the papers toward him.

"Just because you're famous now, doesn't mean you aren't still the president," she hisses. "Hang these posters and do your job."

She doesn't give Vince a chance for rebuttal before she turns on her heel, storming back to her friends at the front of the room. He glances at Ashley T, who meets his eye while holding in a smile.

Beside him, Vince grabs the piles of papers and snickers as he starts to pass them amongst the group. "She just can't get over it."

This year, Ashley B won the Teen Miss Blush beauty pageant around the same time that Vince was named Mr. Basketball, an award given to the best individual basketball player in the state of Arkansas. Whereas every other year, the Teen Miss Blush results were shown as a quick blurb on the local news, the news station had instead chosen to focus a whole segment on Vince and leave out the pageant results entirely. She ended up getting a small photograph in the Grand Street Gazette, which paled in comparison to the front of the sports page, which had a large photograph of Vince making a basket.

For a good week after that, all four Ashleys had given Vince death glares from across classrooms and hallways. Now it's settled down a bit, with only Ashley B and Ashley Q still giving Vince a hard time about it.

Gus grabs a small stack of the papers from Vince and takes a quick glance down at the top sheet. They've used color printing with a deep yellow to mimic a golden hue that can be easily read from a distance. The theme the girls have chosen, "Glitter and Gold," is in large calligraphy typeset in the middle of the page and the dates of the ticket sale in smaller print at the bottom. His eyes glance at the price and barely registers it before he hears TJ balk at it.

"Thirty-five bucks?" TJ exclaims. The four Ashleys turn to look at their group. "What are you decorating with? Real gold?"

"It's a fundraiser, Det-whiner," Ashley Q says, rolling her eyes.

"It's a dance in a gym that we're renting for free," Vince responds. He and TJ both have their eyebrows raised. "Homecoming tickets didn't even cost half this price."

Ashley A crosses her arms.

"We have to start fundraising now or we'll, like, never have enough money to buy a class gift and rent a halfway decent venue for senior prom," she states, almost too calmly. "This is merely the beginning of our fundraising process."

"So, unless you would rather have our senior prom at the Super8 off the highway, I would shut your mouths and hang the posters," Ashley B adds.

"Better hurry and hang them all up or you'll miss lunch!" Ashley Q smirks as the girls start moving toward the door. Once the other three have walked through, she stops and turns around, giving a mocking wave. "Toodaloo!"

Vince turns to TJ and points his finger in the other boy's direction.

"You better pass math because I am not dealing with them again," he says.

TJ stands and grabs some of the papers, shaking his head. "Give it the summer. They'll forget all about that dumb pageant."

"Well, that won't matter because, like I said, I am not dealing with them," Vince responds, starting to separate the remainder of the pile to pass out. "I have too much on my plate to be president again. That's all you."

"We'll cover more ground if we split up," TJ says, with a touch of annoyance under his breath.

Gus frowns as TJ starts telling everyone which hallway to take. If anyone else picks up on it, they don't show it. Mikey heads off toward the first floor, with Vince and Gretchen heading toward the second and third. TJ says he'll take the basement and sends Gus to the rotunda near the cafeteria and the catwalk leading to it with Spinelli going to the gym.

But, as they start to head out, TJ takes Spinelli's papers. She balks at him and he just shakes his head, still appearing frustrated. Gus holds back, eyeing his friend from the doorway and plans to talk to him, but TJ barrels right by him.

So, instead, he looks back into the room. Spinelli is standing in the same spot she had been in, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"Everything okay?" Gus asks.

She startles, as if she hadn't realized Gus was still standing there and then shakes her head.

"He's just upset," she says, sighing and walking toward him. "He needs to blow off some steam."

"About what?"

Spinelli frowns and shrugs. "I just told him that I can't go."

Gus furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "Can't go where?" he asks. Spinelli doesn't answer him, instead just glancing down to the papers in his hands and it dawns on him. "Oh, to prom?"

She nods. "I, uh, missed too much school, so," she says, trailing off. "So, if he seems annoyed, that's why. Even though I told him that I don't even know if I'd want to go anyway."

Of all the reasons Gus could have thought up for Spinelli to skip junior prom, that wasn't what he expected. If she had told him that she was nervous to be in the crowd, that would have made sense. If she had told him that she had to go away that weekend, that also would have been logical. Maybe she had appointments or something already planned. But to have the right to go stripped away from her?

"But they were all excused absences," Gus says firmly. "It's not like you played hooky."

Spinelli shrugs. "I guess there's no distinction in the policy."

"Well, that's not fair at all."

Spinelli rolls her eyes and starts to grab some of the stack of papers from his hands. "Come on, I'll help you hang these up."

He follows her out of the classroom, letting her lead him toward the catwalk that brings them to the rotunda and cafeteria. There's a pit in his gut as they walk, which increases in discomfort as he thinks about what she has just told him. Spinelli has come a long way since the beginning of the year and this feels like punishment for her. It feels wrong and uncomfortable, with the information crawling under his skin.

Now he can understand TJ's frustration. He feels it himself.

As he hangs the posters on the wall, the excitement of everything has soured. He can't say he hadn't had any excitement flooding through his veins at the thought of prom. Homecoming, while fun, had been out of the ordinary. TJ and Spinelli hadn't come and Gus had nearly been beaten up at the after-party Vince had dragged the rest of them to after the dance. The dance itself, wild and packed with people, was always slightly out of Gus' comfort zone.

But Ashley T's excitement about this dance was contagious. When she described the theme the Ashleys were planning, it sounded magical. When she told him about the pre-prom party the girls wanted to have, where they would take pictures and have dinner together, it sounded fun. And when she had included him and his friends in the conversation about it, as if there wasn't a question about whether or not they would be invited, he had felt a warmth run through him, imagining sitting beside her at the table for the dinner their parents were going to have laid out for them at the Armbrusters'.

He glances down the catwalk to where Spinelli has moved into the rotunda to hang the posters. Lost in his selfish excitement for the dance, he has been much slower in his hanging. With still nearly a full stack in his hands, he starts to haphazardly press them to the walls, some of them tilted with his terrible tape jobs, just to catch up.

"I think that's probably fine," Spinelli says as he joins her. "It isn't like people won't notice the ticket table every lunch."

He nods his head, an awkwardness flooding through him as he realizes he doesn't know what to say next. Spinelli isn't going to the dance and so talking about it in front of her seems wrong, even if it's the most exciting thing to talk about right now. As they enter the cafeteria, he can see all the tables abuzz with chatter and he imagines the groups of girls all talking about their dresses and their potential dates.

Their table is still empty, the rest still hanging posters, as they sit down. They've barely taken their seats when he notices movement at the Ashleys' table. Ashley T stands from her chair and walks over to them, a broad smile on her face.

"We forgot to mention it at the meeting, but we're putting together a Facebook page for our dresses," Ashley T says to Spinelli. "If you and Gretchen just hit join, you should get let in automatically. We didn't set it up with moderators or anything like that. So once you buy your dress, put a picture on there so no one else gets it."

Spinelli nods her head and gives Ashley T a toothless smile. Gus swallows thickly.

"Sounds great," Spinelli tells Ashley. Gus grinds his teeth at how unaffected she sounds. "I'll let Gretch know."

"Perfect!" Ashley squeals. Then she smiles at both of them, her eyes twinkling in a way that usually catches Gus' attention and blocks out the world around him. "And we're having a party before, so I'll get the invites to you all soon. It's going to be so much fun!"

She gives them a wave and nearly floats back to the Ashleys' table. Gus watches her until she leaves their line of vision and then focuses back on Spinelli. He pushes out his chair and changes seats, taking the one that Gretchen typically sits in, so he can sit next to her.

"I'm sorry," he says.

In theory, the absence rule makes sense to him. Perhaps, for some teens, it would be a deterrent from playing hooky and skipping school for no reasons except to skip. Give them the punishment as a consequence for their actions. That wasn't the case for Spinelli and the thought of the school isolating her when she has just started to reintegrate herself doesn't make any sense to him.

"It doesn't really bother me that I can't go," she says. "I'm not sure that I'd even want to go. But it's going to ruin it for TJ and…"

"And us," Gus adds for her, sensing her hesitation. He reaches forward and gives her hand a squeeze. "It won't be the same."

"What won't be the same?"

They both turn. Gretchen and Vince have joined, with Gretchen eyeing Gus before taking the seat that Vince has sat in. Vince leans around Gus.

"What happened?" he asks.

"Might as well let the cat out of the bag," Spinelli grumbles under her breath. "I can't go to junior prom."

The other two both frown and Vince gives her a stern glance.

"If you're worried about those nitwits," he starts, but she shakes him off.

"It's not that," she says. "I skipped too much school."

A look of confusion floods Vince's features, but Gretchen's jaw drops with realization.

"They're really going to enforce the truancy rule?" She pulls out her notebook and starts writing in it, no doubt a note to herself. "Surely there must be a loophole."

"It's fine," Spinelli says. "You all can still go and I'll just come to senior prom. It's the more important one, right?"

Gus shakes his head. "It's still not fair."

"Yeah, well, life's not fair." Spinelli shakes her head and again, like she had when she was talking to Ashley T, flips a switch. Any disappointment in her voice has disappeared, leaving a flippant attitude in its wake. "There are people way worse off than little ol' me having to skip a stupid dance."

"Doesn't make it any less awful for you," Gus insists.

Vince nods. "Yeah, what does Mikey say?" Then he holds his hand out like he's Mikey, on stage, quoting poetry. "Comparison is but the thief of joy."

Spinelli glares and crosses her arms across her chest. "Oh, come off it," she grunts. "You can't compare me missing prom to, like, some kid with cancer."

Vince gives a shrug of agreement and Spinelli leans back, looking pleased at her ability to shut him down. Gus sighs, realizing that Spinelli has effectively ended the conversation. She is right. There is plenty of evil and terrible things that happen in the world – war, famine, cancer. Comparing Spinelli missing prom to any of those larger, existential things is impossible. But she went through her own terror this year and that can't be understated.

Gus taps his fingers against the table, an idea suddenly sparking in his head. No, missing the dance itself can't be compared, but perhaps that might be the key to getting Spinelli the option of attending the dance.

"Actually, yes," he says, standing up and grabbing his bag. "Yes, we can."

The other three at the table share confused glances as Gus slings his bag over his shoulder. He can hear them call out his name as he turns and starts to head out of the cafeteria. He gives Mikey a quick wave as he passes him in the doorway, Mikey frowning as he watches Gus continue to walk by him. He would usually stop, invite the others into his idea for moral support, but he is afraid that if he loses his steam, he won't actually follow through. When he has a rare streak of bravery, he needs to let his adrenaline lead him.

He speed walks out of the cafeteria, back over the catwalk, and toward the main stairwell. He can't tell if the others have chosen to follow him, but he doesn't dare turn to look. The plan in his head is simple. He wants to ask the principal a question – if Spinelli's excused absences had been for some other reason, would she still have to skip? If she had cancer or had been in a car accident, would they make her skip prom for missed school? Or is the stigma of mental illness the real reason?

Having seen his father's struggles through the years, he has a terrible feeling that it's the latter.

He makes a turn down the stairwell and nearly runs into TJ, who is climbing the stairs with his head down. The two stop on the stairs to steady themselves.

"Where're you headed?" TJ asks, curiosity an undertone to his voice.

"Principal's office," Gus tells him. When TJ frowns, he elaborates, "I'm going to try to get Spinelli to prom."

TJ's eyebrows uplift hopefully as he joins Gus in walking down the stairs.

"What's your plan?"

Gus can't help but grin at TJ's question. It feels like they're back on the playground again, coming up with plans to save the day. But he only lets himself sit in the moment for a second before he brings TJ into his idea, so the two of them are on the same page. By the time they make it to the principal's office, sliding passed the secretary who has her back to them while on the telephone, both of them know the plan.

"TJ," the principal groans when the boys walk in. "I already told you–"

"Sir, if you could just listen to Gus," TJ interrupts, gesturing to the boy beside him. "He makes a great point about the prom rules."

The principal sighs and turns to Gus, who suddenly feels a lump in his gut. He swallows thickly and lets out a breath.

"Sir, it just isn't fair," Gus starts, his voice small to start. "Spinelli's absences were excused. Excused absences shouldn't count as truancy."

The more he speaks, with TJ and the principal both looking at him with intrigue, it gives him courage to keep going.

"I just can't help but think that if she had cancer or if she had been in a car crash and was in the hospital recovering – if those were the excuses for the absences and people found out she wasn't allowed to go to the dance, there would be a riot," Gus continues. "But, what some people don't understand is that her absences at the time were just as important to her health as a cast or chemo in those other situations. She had to."

"It saved her life," TJ adds quietly.

The two boys look at each other and share a nod.

"Boys, I understand," the principal says with a long sigh. "But unfortunately, it's out of my hands. You'll have to bring it up with the school board."

Gus hears TJ let out a dejected breath. "She'll never let us do that," he mumbles under his breath.

They walk out quietly, not speaking again until they're in the hallway.

"I thought it sounded like a good argument," TJ says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt.

"It's unfortunate that his hands are tied," Gus mutters.

Because he has to agree with TJ's earlier assessment. He would be surprised if Spinelli would offer to be the show pig at a school board meeting, where they would have to rehash her story in front of the entire board and any townspeople in attendance in order to plead their case. It would be a very public acknowledgement and even if the rest of the school knows bits and pieces, Spinelli's privacy shouldn't have to be broken to overrule it.

It isn't fair.

"There they are!"

Gus and TJ look up to see Vince in the hallway ahead of them, gesturing to the group behind him. The six meet up by the stairwell, in the still quiet hall while the rest of the school is still at lunch. When they're all together, TJ takes the lead, letting them know what had just happened.

"Unfortunately, I guess, it's the school board's decision," he finishes.

"There has to be something we can do," Vince says.

Mikey shrugs. "We could boycott it? Get everyone to do something else with us instead?"

Gus frowns and Vince shakes his head.

"I think the Ashleys would literally murder me if I staged a boycott against their precious prom," he says. "B and Q already throw daggers at me as it is."

The warning bell rings above them, signaling the end of lunch. Within moments, the halls will be full of students passing through and they'll all need to get to class. Gus glances at his friends, all of them lost in thought about what they can potentially do moving forward.

"We'll figure something out," he says as the group starts to walk toward their next classes. "We just need a plan."

…

Notes

I don't know why, but it always feels the most natural to have Gus narrate the transition chapters. Probably because he's the most introspective when it comes to change.

I thought this would be a one chapter section, but as I started writing, there was a lot more to cover and instead of post a 6000+ word chapter, it's getting a part 1 and part 2.

According to Wikipedia, there was no Mr. Basketball of Arkansas in 2009. The spot is now held by Vince.

The Little Miss Blush beauty pageant is the pageant in the episode "The Beauty Contest".

One of my favorite parts of the original series is Gus and TJ's friendship, and how they're both leaders in their own way. While TJ is more of the out in the open, big name leader, Gus is more of a quiet leader. It's shown really well in the movie and I tried to draw on that a little here.

I know there was some issues with emails recently with this website and I really appreciate people still coming to check and leave reviews on the newest chapter, even when alerts were down. Thank you all so much for your continued interest!