Standards 3:02

Gwen and Marcella could tell right away that Winslow was feeling off when they got to class the next morning. She told them she hadn't slept well, which was true, but also admitted that she had a stressful evening prior. They already knew that Winslow wasn't supposed to be dating yet, even though her parents were okay with it, but they never quite understood the fuss.

Eventually, while Winslow was describing her evening, Gwen asked, “Why can't you date until sixteen again? That rule never made sense to me.”

“They say to wait until you're ‘mature’ so you don't make bad choices or move too fast with someone.” Winslow was twisted around to face them, resting her folded arms on the back of her chair.

Gwen made a sour face. “That's definitely odd,” she said. “I think these people care more about teenagers having sex than actual teenagers do.” This claim got a laugh from Marcella.

Winslow blushed, trying not to think about the countless lessons she'd endured about chastity. She didn't like talking about that kind of thing. It always felt embarrassing and a little weird. “Yeah, we don't even want to… do anything yet.” Her friends both chuckled. They knew she hated talking about sex, and she could hardly even say the word. “But they also gave us this whole lecture about how we shouldn't go on a lot of dates with the same person, and how you should always be going on group dates, and it just totally felt like they were calling me out.”

Behind Winslow, Kiernan walked into the room, and she glanced towards the sound of the door opening.

“Textbook?” Miss Foster asked.

“No, miss,” he answered politely.

“Well, were they?” Gwen asked.

Winslow looked back at her friends, briefly considering the thought. “I don't think so,” she said. She wasn't even sure if her leaders knew about Reid. She didn't exactly brag about him.

Kiernan arrived at their table, pulling out his chair to sit down, but Winslow remained facing her friends, saying, “It's not like Reid and I are actually dating, though. He's never actually asked me out.”

“Yeah, you just make out sometimes,” Marcella said with a teasing laugh.

“Oh, shut up!” Winslow blushed again. “You know that's hardly true,” she spat. She secretly hated kissing, and she definitely didn't make a habit of it— not for lack of trying on Reid's part. Gwen and Marcella were the only people who knew about this, but they liked to tease Winslow about it anyway, which she didn't mind. They both playfully snickered at her embarrassment, but didn't press the issue further.

Winslow finally looked towards Kiernan, whose face was rather pink, but he didn't seem to be in much of a talking mood. He just busily dug around in his backpack, only saying, “Hey,” in response to Winslow's polite greeting.

Soon, Russ got up from his seat and walked the few paces over to Gwen and Marcella's table. The three girls looked up at him expectantly. He asked to borrow a pencil, saying his mechanical pencil was jammed and he couldn't get it unstuck. Winslow always kept a bunch of spare pencils to give to classmates that needed one, and she started to reach for the bag, but Marcella handed him the pencil she was using instead. Russ accepted Marcella's offering, thanked her, and scurried away.

“You better give it back!” Marcella called after him. She then reached for her pencil case, unzipped it, and pulled a new pencil out, not noticing the surprised yet knowing look that Gwen and Winslow were exchanging across the table.

Soon enough, the bell chimed and the school day officially began. Miss Foster stood up with a stack of three-page-long worksheets, passing them around the room.

Once everyone had their papers, Miss Foster said, “Okay, I'm turning you loose to do your packets. Feel free to work with your friends, just try to keep the volume down, okay? You have the whole period to finish them, but try not to waste your time.”

Winslow dug through her belongings and pulled out a pencil, writing her name at the top of her paper. She opened her textbook to the appropriate page and slid it towards Kiernan. “Together?” She asked.

“Sure.”

They positioned the book between them so they could both read the pages easily, and scooted their chairs closer for good measure.

Even though their friends repeatedly tried to distract them, Winslow and Kiernan made quick progress through the work. The two read silently on their own, but kept approximately the same pace by sheer coincidence. When they found an answer to a question, they'd discuss it together to check the accuracy before writing anything down or moving onto the next one. Winslow already decided that she liked sharing her book with Kiernan, but working with him one-on-one was apparently even better. He provided all the benefits of working with a partner, but also all the freedom of doing solitary work. They found a groove together easily, and they understood things the same way. They kept each other on track and helped each other along, but didn't turn the group work into a chore. It felt surprisingly perfect, but it wouldn't last forever. Kiernan would be getting his own textbook soon— he had already placed the order, though the book hadn't shipped yet. Winslow found herself hoping the service would get delayed or even that the package would get lost in transit. Anything that could keep them sharing this book longer would be fine, really.

After an hour or so of steady work, Winslow heard the classroom door swing open. She perked up, seeing an unfamiliar student make their way inside. She wondered what brought them by. The student crossed the classroom, handing a single slip of paper to Miss Foster and immediately departing.

“Winslow! Counseling center,” the teacher read the note and waved the slip of paper in the air.

Winslow rose from her seat. Turning to Kiernan, she said, “You should work with your friends while I'm gone. They probably need you to keep them in check.”

They both turned to look at the group of boys, realizing they had been quiet for a while. As expected, they weren't doing their work. Instead, Jacob was sticking pencils into an eraser, gouging deep holes while the other two watched. Even from afar, Winslow could see several darkened wounds from the graphite. Russ held up a paper clip, showing the other boys, then twisted the metal and poked it clean through the mangled eraser. Jacob and Antonio seemed to appreciate the addition.

Kiernan turned back towards Winslow, trying not to cringe. “Yeah… You're right…” He started gathering his things to move to the other table, and Winslow went to retrieve her ticket to the counseling center.

Making her way through the quiet halls, Winslow wondered what awaited her in her counselor’s office. She tried not to stress, though she remained keenly aware of the speed of her steps. She didn't want to seem anxious as she passed the other classrooms with open doors.

Thankfully, her phone buzzed, serving as a fantastic crutch. She continued to ignore the unopened message from Reid that said, “Come over tonight,” and tapped the new message from Kiernan.

“Please hurry back,” it said. “I can't keep them under control for long.”

Winslow laughed as she typed out a response. She wasn't at all doubtful that the boys were being rowdy, and she certainly didn't mind knowing that Kiernan already missed her.

Walking into the counseling center and handing over the ticket she'd received, Winslow was ushered into her counselor’s cramped office. The woman welcomed her warmly and gestured for Winslow to sit on the small sofa opposite her desk, explaining a scholarship opportunity that Winslow currently qualified for. It was open to incoming sophomores who were enrolled in band or orchestra and had at least a 3.5 grade point average. Now that her counselor had nominated her, all Winslow had to do was submit a short essay and answer a few questions. She received a handful of papers with detailed instructions for filling out the application online, then was dismissed back to class.

The walk back to Miss Foster's room felt shorter than before, and Winslow assumed it was because she was less nervous about what awaited. She felt silly for being so anxious about what turned out to be such a simple meeting, but she was eager to get back to class and finish her worksheet. If she got the whole thing done, she wouldn't have any history homework over the weekend. That would be a dream come true, she thought.

Stepping back into the classroom and approaching her desk, Winslow pulled out her chair to take a seat. Kiernan was engaged in a conversation with his friends at the other table, so she wagered that she'd taken too long and lost him to the distraction. If he wanted to keep working, he'd come back on his own, right? Winslow flipped through the new set of paperwork to make sure everything was in order, then slid it into her backpack and reopened her textbook to the appropriate bookmark. A pale yellow sticky note waited for her in the middle of the page.

“What's this?” She whispered to herself, peeling the note away from the book. She held it between two fingers, reading the words that had been scratched onto it. 

Will you go to Homecoming with me? Kiernan's name was signed at the bottom.

“What's it say?” Marcella asked, immediately invested and straining to get a peek. Winslow turned around to show them.

Gwen peered forward and read it aloud, grinning in disbelief.

Jacob, Antonio, and Russ turned toward the girls with massive grins on their faces.

“Is this real?” Winslow held the note in the air to show them, but she only looked at Kiernan.

His expression was largely unreadable, but he almost looked terrified. His face continued to grow redder as he quickly looked towards his friends, then ducked his head back down like he was looking at the open textbook. "I'm not doing this right now,” he muttered.

“Wait, are you not going with Reid?” Gwen hissed quietly.

Hushed, excited chatter had broken out among the boys, and Kiernan mumbled something that Winslow wouldn't quite hear.

Responding to Gwen, Winslow said, “I mean he hasn't even asked…” Her voice trailed off as she continued looking at Kiernan.

Jacob, who suddenly looked more serious than Winslow had ever seen, began to backpedal. “It's a joke! It's a joke! It was just us!” He looked frantically between Kiernan and Winslow.

Russ interjected, “What? No! Winslow, go with Kiernan!”

Antonio was saying, “Kiernan, come on!” and shaking his friend by the sleeve.

Winslow tried to fit all the pieces together. “So it's not real?” she asked.

Kiernan didn't say anything, shrugging Antonio off his arm and pretending he had been focused on his work the whole time. He kept his face hidden and looked down at his paper, using his pencil as a pointer to read the next question. The boys continued to pester him, but he stood his ground, and they slowly gave up their desperate attempts.

Winslow's mind still reeled as she stared at the yellow note in her hand. Pretending to finish her work, she tried to recall everyone's responses. Russ and Antonio seemed to think it was Kiernan who'd left the note, but Kiernan looked confused and traumatized by the whole situation and Jacob insisted it was just a prank. What had transpired while she was gone? Had Kiernan actually left the note, or was it just another joke meant to embarrass them? Who was telling the truth? She'd tried to grill Gwen and Marcella in their group chat, but they both swore they didn't see a thing. Kiernan stayed at the boys’ table the rest of the period, and Winslow felt like asking him about it would only embarrass him more, whether he'd left it or not.

Without an answer, though, her mind made up all sorts of possibilities. Maybe the guys had left the note, knowing Kiernan wanted to ask her, and they were trying to do him a favor. Perhaps it was his friends’ way of trying to get them to go together. Maybe Kiernan had left it, but he hoped she wouldn't find it until later and was embarrassed he'd been caught so soon. Maybe he'd left it but gotten scared from the attention. Surely her friends weren’t cruel enough to be behind it, right? Worse, what if Kiernan didn't really like her, and the note was only to make fun of her? The uncertainty threatened to tear her apart, but Winslow caught herself thinking that she wanted to go with him to the dance. She tried to tell herself it was stupid and that the boys were just messing around, but her mind kept circling back to, what if it was real? She didn't want to admit it, but she wished it was. I'd have said yes, Kiernan, she insisted, but he couldn't hear the words from her mind.

At the end of class, Russ approached the girls' table. He stopped, pulling something from his pocket, and held the pencil he’d been loaned back to Marcella.

“Here. Thanks for letting me borrow it,” he said.

Marcella looked at his outstretched hand, surprised. “Oh.” She plucked it from his grasp. “I didn't think I'd actually get it back. Thanks!” She glanced up at him with a sweet smile, her pencil now safe in her hands.

“Well, see ya later,” he said awkwardly, then turned to slink back to his friends.

“EYYYYY,” the group cheered, patting him on the back and praising him.

The girls got up to leave, and Winslow said, “I think you've got money on the wrong people falling in love.”

Marcella looked scandalized as she whirled towards Winslow. “What? Nuh-uh!”

“Oh, he totally likes you!” Winslow asserted.

Gwen nodded sympathetically. “It’s true,” she agreed, smiling like she was trying to break the news gently.

“D’you think so?” Marcella turned to look back at Russ before the girls filed out of the room.

Gwen gasped. “Oh my gosh, you like him back, don't you?” She gushed excitedly.

Marcella blushed, shrinking into herself like she wanted to hide. “No!”

Winslow poked Marcella on the arm and teased, “I think you do!”

“I do not!!” Marcella stomped her foot as she whined. The girls laughed, continuing to tease her well into prep period, when she finally admitted, “Okay, maybe…” and Gwen cheered at their vindication.