In Chap­ter Eigh­teen of “If These Wings Could Fly,” the pro­tag­o­nist reflects on her progress reports, reveal­ing her aca­d­e­m­ic per­for­mance: a stel­lar AP Eng­lish score of 100 and decent grades in oth­er sub­jects except for a dis­ap­point­ing C in Art I. This grade frus­trates her, as she had viewed art class as an easy break to focus more on her news­pa­per work and col­lege appli­ca­tions. In her frus­tra­tion, she nav­i­gates through crowd­ed hall­ways, eager to escape the school envi­ron­ment and dive into her per­son­al inter­ests, which include read­ing and music.

As she makes her way to her lock­er, a class­mate, Liam, play­ful­ly teas­es her about her grades. Their con­ver­sa­tion reveals a bud­ding friend­ship as he offers to help her improve in art. Despite her ini­tial resis­tance and self-doubt regard­ing her skills, Leighton finds her­self intrigued by the idea of spend­ing time with Liam out­side of school. While nom­i­nal­ly an art tutor­ing ses­sion, it feels akin to a date to her.

Their play­ful ban­ter con­tin­ues, and Liam invites her to a foot­ball game that night, which also has a bon­fire afterward—a prospect that makes her anx­ious as she’s not one for par­ties. While she hes­i­tates, it is evi­dent that she is drawn to Liam’s enthu­si­asm, and a part of her is tempt­ed to join in.

After dis­miss­ing Liam’s invi­ta­tion, she boards the bus, feel­ing con­flict­ed about her inter­ac­tions with him. Camp­bell, her friend, ques­tions her about Liam, and the top­ic shifts to her grades, high­light­ing her aspi­ra­tions for New York Uni­ver­si­ty. Camp­bell makes a pro­tec­tive remark about Leighton’s grades that indi­cates their deep bond and under­ly­ing fears about their future. The chap­ter clos­es with Leighton grap­pling with her deci­sions about school and friend­ships, pon­der­ing her own brav­ery in leav­ing her cur­rent life behind, with the weight of uncer­tain­ty hang­ing over her as she con­tem­plates what will ulti­mate­ly pro­pel her for­ward: courage or cow­ardice.