The Fall 4:03

With October nearing its end, Winslow had developed an adequate schedule for staying on top of her homework, though she still felt like there was far too much of it. Kiernan continued to share her textbook with her every day, but she didn't dare ask for an update on the one he'd ordered. She worried that he'd interpret the inquiry as her wanting to get rid of him, which absolutely wasn't true. She loved sitting with him and doing all their classwork together, and she was glad that his textbook order seemed to have been further delayed.

While starting the worksheet she'd picked up on her way into first period, Winslow’s thoughts were interrupted by a jarring cacophony of cheers and hollers from Kiernan's friends. Russ even had a blowout noisemaker that he frantically hummed into.

“Happy birthday, Kiernan!” The boys shouted in unison, still whooping and rioting.

Winslow looked up from her paper, seeing that Kiernan had indeed entered the room. His friends swarmed him with hugs and handshakes and pats on his back, loudly proclaiming that sixteen looked good on him. Jacob ruffled Kiernan’s hair and Russ blew the noisemaker straight into his ear while Antonio slung an arm around the birthday boy. After the greetings settled down and the boys released Kiernan from their grasps, he made his way to his seat, laughing off the attention.

“Today's your birthday?” Winnie confirmed excitedly.

“Yeah!”

“Happy birthday!” She exclaimed, a grin stretching across her face. She paused, reading the date on her paper again. “Wait, that means our birthdays are exactly six months apart!”

Kiernan raised an eyebrow at her. “You just know that off the top of your head?”

“Well, today's my half birthday, so yeah, I guess so.” She shrugged.

“You celebrate your half birthday?” Kiernan chuckled in disbelief.

“Yeah!” Winslow felt a little indignant. “I think it's good to celebrate things as often as possible. It makes life more fun,” she insisted.

Antonio piped up with a scheming smile. “You know what I think makes life more fun? That Kiernan can go on dates now!” He nudged Kiernan on the arm. “With those weird Mormon rules, huh?”

Kiernan blushed and shook his head, playfully elbowing his friend. “Dude, shut up.”

Winslow laughed. "So, are you doing anything to celebrate?”

Kiernan thought for a second. “Well, I'm going down to the DMV to get my license…”

Russ chimed in. “And we're going to a corn maze tonight!”

“Wait, you guys should totally come!” Jacob added, and everyone looked at Kiernan for confirmation.

“Ey, that's a great idea!” Antonio agreed as Russ cheered in support.

“Oh, you guys don't have to,” Kiernan said, ignoring his friends and looking at Winslow.

She narrowed her eyes. “It sounds like you don't want us there.”

Kiernan’s eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed again. “No, no, I just meant… Like, it's super last minute. It'd be awesome if you could make it, though.”

Winslow turned to look at Gwen and Marcella. They both shrugged and nodded like they were open to the idea.

“Yeah, we'll be there,” Winslow said, looking back at Kiernan. “Sounds fun.”

Kiernan hesitated then said, “Reid could come too, if you want…” His friends all groaned quietly and rolled their eyes. Jacob even threw his hands in the air and dramatically flopped into his seat.

Winslow tried to hide her frown, but she was admittedly disappointed. It probably wouldn't be as fun with Reid there. “Ah, well his car is in the shop tonight, so I don't know how he'd get there…” She knew he could borrow his mom's car, but it sounded like a reasonable excuse.

Russ piped up again, saying, “Kiernan can pick you guys up!”

Kiernan glanced at Russ, then back towards Winslow. “Yeah, uh… I could do that. Text me your address?”

Winslow nodded, but her heart wasn't in it. If Kiernan picked them up from her place, that would mean Reid would need to take the bus home with her, and she'd be alone with him for a few hours. The idea sounded unbearable, especially after seeing how funny he found Landon’s creepy, disgusting joke.

Luckily, it didn't turn out to be a problem.

That evening, Winslow watched as a small red sedan pulled into her driveway. She grabbed a cardigan and the gift she had wrapped for Kiernan, then headed out the door. She padded across the walkway, and Kiernan leaned across the car to push open the passenger door.

Winnie slid into the seat, handing him the gift. “Happy birthday!” She beamed.

“Where's Reid?” Kiernan asked bluntly. 

“A simple ‘thank you’ would have been fine,” Winslow laughed and twisted to put on her seat belt.

“Yeah, thanks. You didn't have to, but I appreciate it.” Kiernan looked down at the wrapped gift in his hand, then back up at Winslow, still wondering where Reid was.

She waved him off. “Just drive, silly.”

“Reid couldn't make it?”

“Nope,” Winnie chirped and brushed her hair out of her face. “We got into a fight. I told him not to come.” She looked over at Kiernan as he put his hand on her seat to check behind the car as he reversed. “Sorry,” she added. “I know that's not really my call to make.”

Kiernan faced forward again, putting that car into ‘drive.’ “Nah, I'm okay with it,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, I think it’ll be more fun without him, anyway.”

Kiernan raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. “You really think you'll have more fun without your boyfriend?”

“He's not my boyfriend, but yeah.” She folded her arms defiantly. “He's been awful lately. I'm kind of sick of him.”

Kiernan's face filled with genuine concern. “Was the fight really that bad? Are you okay?” 

“Well, it wasn't really bad but I’m annoyed and he thinks I'm overreacting. He always thinks I'm overreacting, though. But he should know by now that I don't like when he criticizes my friends.”

Kiernan said, “Wait, what? He was shit-talking your friends?”

“Language, Kiernan!” Winslow whirled towards him, scandalized, placing a hand over her heart.

His cheeks flushed. “Sorry, but I'm serious. Why's he being mean to your friends? Gwen and Marcella are chill.”

Winslow quietly stared down at her lap, debating whether she should tell Kiernan the truth, which was that Reid had aggressively declined the invitation. He didn't seem to be a fan of Kiernan at all, and he had a lot of mean things to say about him. Winslow sighed, thinking she'd probably want to know if she were in Kiernan's place. “We were fighting about you, actually.”

“Oh.” Kiernan gulped, staring straight ahead at the road. Quietly, he asked, “What happened?”

Winslow's chest ached. She shouldn't be friends with someone who talked about her other friends the way Reid was talking about Kiernan. She didn't want to admit that she had made such a poor judgement call. “He just said something mean about you and I told him to knock it off.”

“What’d he say?” Kiernan asked quietly, his mouth dry. Neither of them were looking at each other anymore. Kiernan gripped the steering wheel tightly enough that his knuckles turned white as he stared ahead.

“I don't think you want to know…” She snuck a peek at Kiernan and saw he had a sideways frown. She shouldn't have brought it up, but she realized too late. She kicked herself for doing so.

“Come on,” Kiernan pleaded.

Winslow sighed. She supposed she had to tell him now. “He said you were a bad influence and called you embarrassing and fat,” she said, then rushed to add, “and I know that ‘fat’ isn't necessarily a bad thing and I think you look really good, but the way he said it, it was definitely like he meant it to be a bad thing.” She watched Kiernan, anxiously waiting for a response. She left out some of the worst details of what Reid had said, but that was the gist of it. He had also been adamant that Winslow shouldn't go to the corn maze, either.

Kiernan contemplated quietly for a minute, then remarked, “All I heard was that you think I'm hot.”

Winslow laughed, taken aback. “Shut up,” she insisted playfully, hoping he couldn't see her blush. 

He definitely did see her blush, and it prompted his face to redden, too.

The drive to the corn maze was rather short, but they spent the rest of the time chatting about school and the latest homework from their history class. Neither of them brought up Kiernan's textbook, though.

Arriving at the expansive field that held the maze, Kiernan pulled the car into the adjacent dirt lot and circled until they found a parking spot.

“That door gets stuck sometimes,” Kiernan said, turning off the car. “I'll get it for you.” He stepped out of the car and walked around the front, shoving his keys into his pocket. Pulling the handle, Kiernan tugged the door open and took a small step back.

“Thank you,” Winslow said as she stood up, immediately finding that she and Kiernan were now face-to-face, much closer than she intended. She stared at him for a second, getting lost in his dark brown eyes. He smelled good, like he had put on cologne earlier, and Winslow was complimenting it before she realized what she was saying. She tore her gaze away and tried to hide her blushing face by slowly walking alongside the car, toying with her necklace. Meanwhile, Kiernan pretended to fiddle with the door lock, buying time to recover emotionally before facing her again.

Hoping he looked sane and put-together and not nervous or overwhelmed, Kiernan followed her away from the car. Together, they made their way towards the admissions booth beside the corn field and a snack stand. The gravel beneath their feet crunched as they walked, but neither of them worked up the courage to say anything. Winslow looked around, appreciating the fall colors on the trees, the smell of cinnamon from the snack stand, and the birds hopping between cars, eating pieces of corn off the ground. Kiernan only looked at her.

When they were still a few yards from the entrance, their friends spotted them. Jacob, Antonio, Russ, and Marcus all started cheering. Gwen and Marcella stood in the same circle, but laughed off the excitement.

“Kiernan!” The boys rioted. “The man, the myth, the legend!” The group had already gotten their own wristbands, so they stood together on the other side of the main gate, waiting in the small courtyard by the snack stand.

Kiernan held up a hand to acknowledge their greeting, offering a small, genuine laugh that made Winslow's heart flutter. The two of them made their way to the admissions booth, and Kiernan insisted on paying Winslow's way in.

She protested, saying it was his birthday so she should be paying, but begrudgingly accepted defeat when he wouldn't back down.

Their friends watched them from inside the gate. When Kiernan stopped to help Winslow put on her wristband, Marcella swooned.

“They're totally gonna fall in love, right?” She murmured.

Russ chuckled with agreement, looking at the pair. “Yeah, I think so.”

“I hope so,” Jacob declared. “He's liked her since, like, forever.” He folded his arms, smiling as he watched Kiernan continue to adjust Winslow's wristband.

Antonio slapped Jacob on the arm. “You're not supposed to tell them!” He gestured vaguely towards Gwen and Marcella.

“Oh, like they don't already know,” Jacob laughed. “It's obvious.”

The girls murmured in agreement, excited for the information to finally be confirmed.

As the pair approached the group, the boys tackled Kiernan with handshakes, playful punches, and slaps on the back.

Marcus soon began insisting that the group try out the haunted corn maze instead of the “baby one,” saying the adrenaline rush would be exciting. Kiernan didn't sound convinced. The other boys tried to list some pros and cons of both mazes, saying Kiernan should ultimately get to decide since it was his birthday.

He looked to Winslow and asked, “Which one do you want to do?”

She shrugged and said, “Whichever.” She fought a smile, thinking that either maze would be fun with all their friends there, but especially with Kiernan. 

Marcus insisted on the haunted maze again, telling Winslow she should cast her vote in favor of it. She laughed him off, not particularly caring about the mazes at all. They could stand in this circle and chat until curfew and it'd probably be the most fun she'd ever had.

Kiernan finally relented, saying, “Fine, we can do the haunted one,” but he still didn't sound thrilled.

“Are you sure?” Winslow asked, touching him gently on the arm as the group broke to head to the maze. She felt him tense a little.

“Yeah,” he said. “It'll be fun, right?”

The two of them hurried to catch up to their friends, who were getting their wristbands marked at the entrance to the haunted maze.