It was one of the colder days of winter. The clouds were droopy and the winds were howling. Hardly anyone was outside, and anyone who was was bundled up. Being one of the few who chose to be outside, Ferris regretted the decision. The wind was nipping at his fingers and nose and his sweater was not enough to keep away the cold. It was not a pleasant feeling, shivering and sniffling.

He felt more bad for Wynona who was practically trembling and she had more on than Ferris. She was wearing a black graphic hoodie with a brown trench jacket over it and faded blue jeans. Her hair was whipping in the wind and every time it did she would try to fix it and fail. Ferris would tease her about it, but Wynona only ignored him or shot him a scary glare.

They wanted to sit near the park, but once the wind started kicking up dirt they decided to leave. Wynona had already called her father to pick them up, but he was stuck at work for another hour. Wynona had suggested walking home, but something stopped Ferris from leaving. He wanted to stay and wait out the hour.

While they were walking, Ferris could feel Wynona's gaze on him. He tried not to make it obvious that he noticed. He knew she would get embarrassed. He wanted to talk to her about something, anything, but with the way she was staring it made it difficult. For some strange reason, Ferris was nervous.

"Hey, Ferris," Wynona spoke abruptly.

Ferris jumped and quickly turned to her. “Y–Yeah?"

She stiffly chuckled and looked straight ahead. "I know we're supposed to work on the song, but I want to get to know you, too."

"Oh," Ferris was still looking at her, hoping she would look back. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

A small smile grew on her face. "Let me know if I get too personal."

"I will and I hope you'll do the same." He felt this short wave of amusement seeing that smile on Wynona's face. He wanted to see it more.

"Of course," Wynona turned and looked up at Ferris. "So…"

"So?" Ferris smiled smugly. "What do you want to know, Wyn?"

Wynona's face slowly became a light shade of pink as she looked down at the pavement. "Have you ever like kissed someone?"

Ferris stopped and burst out laughing. "Wow!"

"What?" Wynona laughed awkwardly. 

He shook his head and covered his mouth. "Nothing, it's just you jumped right into a very specific question." He glanced at Wynona and saw her face heat up with embarrassment. It made him laugh harder.

"You don't have to answer." She looked away.

"No, no, no, no, no." Ferris placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'll answer, I'll answer." He calmed down and cleared his throat. "Have I ever kissed anyone?" Ferris scratched the back of his neck. "I mean, does Spin the Bottle in eighth grade count?"

Wynona looked up at him and started laughing. "Spin the Bottle?"

This time Ferris was the one embarrassed, but he laughed with her. "What? A kiss is a kiss."

"A kiss is not just a kiss." She pushed him. "I'm talking like an intimate moment, not a game."

Ferris rolled his eyes and smiled. "Then no, I've never kissed someone . But in Spin the Bottle I have a lot of names under my belt," He joked.

Wynona laughed more. "That is not something to brag about, Ferris."

"What about you?" He nudged her gently. "Have you kissed anyone?"

Wynona nodded. "I have, in fact."

"Really?" Ferris was surprised. "Who?"

"Ah, you probably don't know them. It was in Freshman year." Wynona looked down at the pavement.

He did not remember seeing Wynona with anyone Freshman year, although he hardly remembered her at all before recently. "You never know. Who was it?"

Wynona seemed hesitant, but she took a deep breath and said. "You remember Dallas Fulton?"

Ferris' mouth fell open. He knew Dallas almost as long as he knew Cole. "Dallas? Really?" Ferris asked. It was nothing personal, but Dallas was jerk.

"Yeah…" Wynona nodded. "We had a class together, hung out, and he asked me out." Steadily her voice became quieter. An uneasy feeling grew in Ferris' chest.

"I never saw you guys together on campus." Ferris pointed out.

Wynona shrugged. "He wasn't very comfortable with people knowing, and that was okay with me."

Ferris nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense." He took another glimpse at her. "So, are you and him still…?"

"What?" She turned to him. "Of course not. He moved, remember?"

"Yeah, no, I remember that." Ferris remembered hanging out with him a few days before he left. He had moved to Virginia or something. They still talked every now and then, but most of the time it was small talk. "I just assumed you would have done long distance or something."

"Me too." Wynona looked down again. "But, he had other plans."

Ferris turned to her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, really, just that he met other people." Wynona shrugged and shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. "I mean, I understood, I just wish he would have told me sooner instead of pretending, you know?"

Ferris grimaced. His ches tightened and it felt like his heart sank slightly. He hated how quiet she was getting. "Pretending?" He asked.

Wynona shrugged again. "I don't know, by the time we broke up he already had feelings for someone else."

"How do you know?" Ferris asked. 

Wynona smiled weakly. "You never saw him post about his girlfriend. He posted her almost two weeks after he ended it."

Ferris looked down. "Oh…" He peeked at Wynona, slightly angry for her. "Maybe it was just a rebound."

"No, they're still together." She looked up at Ferris and chuckled dryly. 

Ferris looked back and smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Wynona shrugged. "It's fine, it's more of a bitter feeling now, but I'm over it for the most part."

Ferris nodded and awkwardly asked, "So you still talk to him?"

"Nah, not really." She looked at him. "We just follow each other on social media."

Ferris nodded, ignoring the bitter feeling in his chest. "Oh, cool." He wanted to say more, but what was the right thing to say? Wynona looked impassive and Ferris felt bad prying.

"So you've never had a girlfriend?" Wynona asked.

Ferris shook his head. "No one's really caught my eye like that."

She raised her eyebrows. "I'm surprised. At school it looks like every girl's all over you."

"Really?" He laughed. "I've never noticed. " That was the truth. Ferris talked to a lot of girls, but he only ever saw them platonically.

"You're really oblivious then." Wynona chuckled. "So you don't like anyone? There's no one you're interested in?"

Ferris spoke without thinking, "No, not really." As the words left his lips he thought about June. Why would he say no if he liked her? It felt so natural coming out of his mouth too...

Wynona changed the subject, "Cole is your best friend, right?"

Ferris was lost in thought, still processing. "Hm? Cole?" He took a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I've known him for years. I can't remember a time when we weren't friends."

"That's cool, that's kind of how I feel about Elijah. I've known him for about six years, although we stopped talking for a bit when I met Dallas. But he was really cool about it when we started talking again."

Ferris remembered someone named Elijah growing up, but he did not know who it was. "Elijah?"

Wynona nodded. "He moved here when we were around eight but I didn't talk to him until I was maybe nine or ten. He has light brown hair and he's around my height, maybe taller."

Ferris shook his head. "Doesn't ring any bells." He looked around the barren park trying to find something else to think about. As he did, he made eye contact with someone on the other side of the park. They looked familiar, but it was hard to see who they were. 

Wynona must have noticed because she nudged him. "Do you know them?"

"Maybe?" Ferris squinted. "I can't see them very well."

"Why don't you go up to them?" She asked. 

He turned to her. "You know how awkward that is if I don't know them?"

Wynona rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him toward the person. "Don't be a baby."

"What?" He would have resisted her, but instead he focused on her hand. She was touching his arm which was not a big deal, but it made his heartbeat skip. 

He was so distracted, by the time he remembered the person they were much closer and Ferris could see them clearly. It was a boy around their age. He had short jet black hair that fell over a part of his face and baby blue eyes, similar to his fake ones. He was covered in piercings on both his ears and his lip and was wearing a navy blue hoodie, white sweats, and black shoes.

He was with two other people, a boy with short sandy blonde hair and a girl with long dark brown hair. The boy next to him was wearing a black long sleeve, khaki pants, and black and white shoes. And the girl had on a faded purple sweatshirt and black leggings and brown boots. Both the blonde and the girl had piercings. They were also staring at Ferris, their eyes squinted and their brows furrowed. 

Ferris slowly waved. "Angel?"

The boy with dark hair's face lit up. "Ferris?"

A smile grew on Ferris' face as he pulled out of Wynona's grasp. "Hey! I haven't seen you for a minute."

"I know, right?" Angel met him halfway, his hands in his pockets. "You never visit."

"I saw you for Thanksgiving." Ferris glanced back and motioned for Wynona to join him. "This is my friend, Wynona." 

Wynona was next to Ferris and smiled. "Hi."

Angel waved and pointed to the two people behind him. "Those are my friends, David and Evangeline."

Ferris nodded. "Yeah, I remember them." 

David looked around eagerly. "I'm surprised Cole isn't with you. You guys are always together."

"Oh," Ferris shrugged his shoulders. "He's with Aimee. I'll let him know you were looking for him"

David chuckled and nodded. "Please do. I'll text him later, too."

"If you remember." Evangeline rolled her eyes and turned to Wynona. "So you're Ferris' new friend? He mentioned you."

Wynona quietly nodded and smiled.

Angel smiled awkwardly and turned to Wynona who was avoiding their gazes. He chuckled, "Sorry, you're probably wondering how we know each other. I'm Ferris' cousin."

Wynona looked between Ferris and Angel and nodded slowly. "I can sorta see the resemblance."

"We looked identical when we were younger," He added. "Ferris' hair used to cover his forehead completely! He looked like–"

"Haha, that's enough." Ferris cut in. He was smiling but he could feel his face flushing with embarrassment. He turned to Wynona, "If I had a brother, it would be Angel or Cole."

Angel shrugged. "You'd probably pick Cole."

Ferris nodded. "Cole doesn't annoy me for fun."

"I'm the annoying one? Remember that one time when we were ten and you–"

"Okay!" Ferris held up his hand. "That's enough."

Angel rolled his eyes. "You're never this self conscious when you introduce new friends to me."

Ferris wanted to correct him, but he caught himself. Wynona and Ferris were friends just like Cole and he were friends. So then why was he so self concious?

"Hey, have you visited your dad recently?" Angel asked.

Ferris' heart sank. "What?" His eyes darted between Angel and Wynona, hoping his cousin would pick up on the hint.

Angel furrowed his brow. "Your dad? Have you seen him? I know you…" He trailed off, finally picking up on Ferris' hints. "I know… I know, um…" 

Wynona must have noticed something off because she quickly nudged Ferris. "Jonathan is here."

Ferris briefly turned to her and then back to his cousin. He was relieved to have a way out of the conversation, but he was worried Wynona would ask questions. "Hey, we gotta go. I'll text you later, okay?"

Angel nodded, looking equally relieved. "Let's hangout!" He motioned to David and Evangeline who were talking to each other. "We're planning to do karaoke one day, you should join us."

"Sure, I'll talk to Nonna about it." Ferris waved and started walking away.

"Tell Nonna I say hi!" Angel called. "We'll visit her!"

Ferris waved again, but kept going. Wynona was beside him, leading him toward the edge of the park. She looked back at Ferris, "You're cousin is nice. Does he go to our school?"

"No," Ferris turned to her. "He goes to another school. A private school."

"Oh, fancy," She muttered.

He chuckled. "I know." 

They were quiet for a while before Wynona mentioned, "You looked really uncomfortable near the end."

"I don't want to talk about it." Ferris avoided her gaze. From the corner or his eye he saw her nod and drop iyy. Ferris felt bad for being snippy, but he really did not want to talk about it. He did not want Wynona to know anything.

She led Ferris into a small black car. There was an older man in the driver's seat that he assumed was Jonathan. He had dark black hair and green eyes similar to June's. He was waving at them as they got closer and Wynona waved back bashfully. Ferris sat in the back while Wynona sat in the front. 

Jonathan grinned and turned to Wynona, "Hey Wynnie Bear."

Wynona's face became a bright pink. "Please don't."

Ferris could not help but snicker. Wynnie Bear? He tried to see her face in the mirror, but she had her head down.

Jonathan chuckled and nodded. "How was it? It's pretty cold outside." He looked between Wynona and Ferris.

Wynona shrugged. "We got some work done, but we walked around when it got too cold. We ran into Ferris' cousin."

"Really?" He looked back at Ferris.

Ferris smiled awkwardly. "Y–Yeah, my cousin, Angel."

The man nodded and started the car. "Small world, huh? Is he your guys' age?"

"Yeah, he's sixteen." Ferris looked out the window. "But he goes to a private school."

"Oh, I see. So, are you joining us for dinner, Ferris?" Jonathan asked.

Wynona chimed in, "No, Ferris cooks on Wednesday's."

Ferris wanted to go, but Wynona was right. He did cook on Wednesday's; he had completely forgotten. "I mean, I can go, my grandmother won't mind."

Jonathon laughed and shook his head. "No! There's always next time, don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay…" Ferris forced a smile but he was disappointed. He wished he could go. He hoped Wynona did not say that because of how Ferris had acted earlier when they were walking to the car. He doubted it because shewas not like that, but he could not help but overthink it the entire ride home. 

When they stopped in front of Ferris' house, Jonathon talked to Ferris a little bit longer, before Wynona ended the conversation. Ferris thanked him for the ride and quickly got out of the car, getting the feeling that she wanted him to leave. 

As he walked to the door he heard from behind him, "Bye Ferris! I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Let's go to the diner after school!" He turned back and saw Wynona waving at him from the window.

All of his worries quickly melted away when he saw her large smile. He waved back. "Yeah, let's do it." He smirked. "Bye Wynnie Bear." Ferris quickly turned and eventually heard the car drive away. His hand was on the doorknob but he did not open it. He was staring down at the ground, a large goofy grin on his face.