Proselyte 2:03

Monday morning, Winslow and Reid wandered the halls to kill time before school officially started. They bumped into one of Reid's friends, Landon, and he joined them in walking laps. Once Landon was in the picture, the guys started to ignore Winslow a little bit. She'd always gotten the feeling that Landon didn't like her much, but Winslow didn't care. She didn't particularly enjoy his company, either, and he wasn't at all the kind of person she'd value the opinion of.

While the two boys laughed with each other and shared stories about their weekends, Winslow quietly followed along, smiling at the people passing in the other direction and toying with the spiral of the notebook she clutched to her chest. Turning a corner between the library and the orchestra room, Winslow's eyes landed on a group of boys coming from the far end of the hall.

She hurried ahead, leaving Reid and Landon to themselves, and called out, “Kiernan!” with a smile and a wave. His group stopped walking, a few of Kiernan’s friends nudging him on the arm.

He looked towards her, bewildered, and said, “Yeah?”

“Where were you on Friday?” She closed most of the distance between them, not caring if Reid noticed she was walking away.

“My family went out of town.” Keirnan stepped forward, too, away from his friends.

“Oh, cool! Where to?”

“St. George,” he replied. “College tour for my sister.”

“Cool!” Winslow smiled, but faltered in confusion when she looked past Kiernan. His friends had moved closer and were standing behind him again, listening but poorly pretending they weren't. He followed her gaze, looking over his shoulder and noticing them, too. He rolled his eyes and led her a little further away.

Brushing it off, she asked, “So… did you get the notes, then? From the lecture you missed?”

Kiernan chuckled dryly. “Not really. None of them paid much attention.” He nodded in his friends’ direction.

Winslow laughed, prompting Kiernan to finally crack a smile. “Figures.”

“Yeah,” he said, glancing down the hall and seeing that Reid and Landon had stopped to wait for Winslow. Reid’s eyes were shooting daggers in their direction. Winslow didn't notice or care. 

“Well, I can send you mine! If you want, I mean.” She definitely didn't want to intrude or anything.

Kiernan was a little taken aback by her offer. “I–Yeah! That'd be great!” He chuckled again, trying to avoid the cold stare coming from Reid's side of the hallway.

“Okay, here!” Winslow grabbed Kiernan's wrist and pulled a highlighter from her notebook spiral, then scribbled her phone number on the back of his hand.

He looked down at the fresh ink, a small disbelieving smile creeping onto his face. Reid looked ready to explode, but again, Winslow wasn't looking at him. She was still focused on Kiernan, which made him even more nervous.

“There, just shoot me a text later and I'll send you the pictures!” Winslow had a sweet and genuine smile, but Kiernan couldn't look her in the eye.

 “Thank you,” he said, accidentally sounding like he wasn't actually appreciative. He was really just surprised by the offer. “That's a big help,” he told her, hoping it sounded better. “I'll, uh… see you later?”

“Yeah! Bye!” Winslow waved at the guys as Kiernan returned to his group and she trotted back over to Reid and his friend.

Landon laughed in disbelief as he looked between them— Reid, scowling, and Winslow, oblivious. He didn't want to stick around for the fallout. “Hey, I gotta go,” he excused himself through a nervous chuckle. “I have seminary first today.” He turned and ventured back down the hall, leaving them both behind.

Reid turned to Winslow. “What the heck? What was that?” His scowl twisted his face in a way that Winslow really didn't like.

Looking back towards Kiernan, confused, Winslow found that Kiernan's friends were patting him on the back, saying things like, “Score!” and, “You're the man, K!”

She turned back to Reid. “He missed class. We were exchanging phone numbers so I could send him the notes.” Reid only huffed in response. Winslow defended herself, saying, “Come on, it's not like that!”

Reid exaggerated a scoff and an eye roll, saying, “I gotta get to class.” He shot another sneer in Kiernan's direction, turning away from Winslow and walking away without another word. She didn't bother to follow him.

Reid acted cold towards Winslow the rest of the day, but she had forgotten about their conversation almost immediately. It didn't seem significant to her. Plus, it wasn't unusual for him to be bent out of shape about something, whether it was something harmless Winslow had done, a boundary she'd tried to set, or even just a view she'd shared that he didn't agree with.

Even though he was still annoyed with her, Reid went to the library with Winslow and her friends for prep period. He pointedly sat out of conversations, even when she tried to gently coax a few words out of him. He just sat still, arms folded, scowling like a child about to throw a tantrum.

He did pretty much the same thing at lunch, though he also picked through a bag of spicy potato chips that Winslow couldn't stand the smell of. Gwen and Marcella could tell something was up with him, but Winslow didn't know what to say to their inquiries. He'd shrug her off whenever she'd ask what was wrong.

Towards the end of the day, Winslow texted Reid to ask if he was still coming to her house to study after school. He replied with a simple, “Yep.” When Winslow saw his one-word response— what felt like the millionth one that day— she wished she hadn't even asked. She didn't want to be around him if he was just going to continue sulking.

Walking to Reid's car after school, Winslow assumed he was going to cheer up so they could hang out together. Instead, Reid trudged along in front of her, making a show of refusing to walk with her like he normally would. Clearly, he was still upset.

Getting into his car, Winslow begged, “Can you please just tell me what's wrong?”

At first, Reid just offered a pathetic shrug, but eventually he added, “It just bothers me that you'll flirt with someone else in front of me. It’s emasculating.” His voice had a condescending twinge.

Winslow was surprised and more than confused by this confession. After a second of combing through the day's events, she asked, “Wait, are you talking about this morning?”

Reid made a gesture that said “duh,” and moved to retrieve his seatbelt.

Winslow frowned. “First of all,” she held up a finger, leaning towards him. “I am not flirting with Kiernan.” She held up another, getting more worked-up. “Second, you and I aren't even, like, official.”

Reid scoffed. “Pfft, of course we are.” He clicked his seatbelt into place.

“Oh? Are we? Name one time you've asked me on a real date.”

“Come on, don't be like that,” Reid said, now that Winslow was showing any sign of an emotion that he found inconvenient.

“Like what?” She scowled at him. “You just like having a girl on your arm but with none of the commitment.”

“Oh, whatever!” Reid rolled his eyes, irritating her more. “You can ask me out too, can't you? I thought you were a feminist!”

Winslow scoffed in his face. “I can be a feminist and still want to be taken to a movie! Quit being such a jerk.”

“Quit flirting with other guys!”

She sat back in her seat, trying to take a deep breath. “Listen. You need to get it through your head that Kiernan and I are just friends. We sit together in class and we share a textbook. Sending him the notes benefits me, because if he's behind, he'll just slow me down. Nothing is going on, and even if it were, I can do whatever I want until you ask me to be your girlfriend!”

“Fine. Be my girlfriend!”

“No, not if you're gonna ask like that!”

Reid threw his hands in the air, his keys sitting in the ignition even though he hadn't started the car. “What more do you want from me?”

Winslow stared at him like she didn't know who he was. “Well, for starters, ask me to be your girlfriend instead of saying it like a demand!”

He shook his head and pouted. “You're impossible.”

She was taken aback, frustrated, and sick of dealing with this kind of thing. “I'm also allowed to have male friends that aren't you. Get over yourself.” She grabbed her backpack and opened the car door, stepping out. Reid rudely asked where she was going, and she said, “I'm taking the bus,” as she slammed the door behind her.

Winslow then crossed the parking lot, half-expecting Reid to come after her, but he never did. She spotted her bus, parked first in the dedicated lane, and turned to go in that direction. She was nearly there when the bus hissed and swung its doors closed, immediately pulling out of the line to depart. Tears of frustration welled in her eyes as she stood stranded among an ocean of students. She watched as the remaining buses all drove away, knowing she had no convenient way home unless she wanted to turn around and go back to Reid. Quickly trying to weigh her options, Winslow considered walking home, but knew it would take over an hour. It would be significantly quicker to call her parents and have them come get her after picking up the twins, but that would still take at least forty-five minutes. Still, both options sounded worlds better than getting back in that car with Reid.

 Winslow turned around, hoping to find somewhere outside to sit and wait. The sunshine would be nice, and maybe she could even get some studying done before her parents arrived. Instead, though, she found Kiernan standing a few feet away, nervously eyeing her and glancing at the buses as they vanished from view.

“Do you… need a ride?” He asked slowly, his tone full of caution. Winslow could see the remnants of her phone number smudged on the back of his hand. She wondered if he'd tried to scrub it off. She hoped she hadn't overstepped, but pushed the thought aside, offering Kiernan a smile of gratitude and following him through the crowd of their classmates.

“I asked if he could even drive, and he said his sister could,” Winslow said, recounting the story to her friends the next day. They were sitting in class, waiting for the bell to signal the start of first period. She had graciously accepted Kiernan's offer, of course, and Marcella insisted that they needed to hear every detail in person.

“I just love that he was there for you when Reid wasn't,” Gwen said.

“He's so much better than Reid anyway, right? I bet you're gonna fall in love!” Marcella was practically vibrating with excitement at the thought.

Gwen gasped. “Oh my gosh, yes!”

Winslow tried ignoring them, rolling her eyes and turning back around. They had been joining Kiernan's friends in trying to push the two of them together, but not nearly so aggressively. They probably just liked getting a reaction out of her. Laughing quietly at the idea, Winslow heard the classroom door click and swing open. She looked towards the sound, seeing Kiernan walk into the room. He made his way over to his seat, unshouldering his backpack and greeting her with a crooked smile. Winslow's stomach twisted into knots.

She thought back to him holding the door for her the other day. Then in seminary, when he volunteered to help her with the devotional, and the way he got Reid to help her, too... When he apologized for his friends acting up and his cheeks turned pink because she had turned around too close… How he'd walked her to class afterwards...

Now that they've planted the idea in my head, she thought to herself, I'm not sure I'll be able to get it out…