In Chap­ter Six­ty-Five of “If These Wings Could Fly,” the prepa­ra­tions for a spe­cial evening unfold at the pro­tag­o­nist’s house. It’s New Year’s Eve, and Leighton and her friend Sofia are ready­ing them­selves, adorned in strik­ing out­fits, includ­ing a black satin dress that accen­tu­ates Leighton’s red­dish hair. The play­ful ban­ter about their attire reveals their close friend­ship, with Sofia humor­ous­ly com­par­ing Leighton to a com­bi­na­tion of Audrey Hep­burn and Straw­ber­ry Short­cake.

As they address a knock at the door, Camp­bell enters, admir­ing Leighton’s look, which prompts fur­ther com­pli­ments. Before head­ing out, they are sup­port­ed by Leighton’s moth­er, who reflects on her past as she sees the girls pre­pare for their night. The cold out­side is pal­pa­ble, empha­siz­ing the bleak­ness of their envi­ron­ment, where crows have over­tak­en the town, mark­ing a fore­bod­ing end to the year and sym­bol­iz­ing deep­er issues with­in their com­mu­ni­ty. Sofia’s car serves as a sanc­tu­ary from the frigid weath­er, yet the omi­nous pres­ence of the crows out­side can­not be ignored.

Upon arriv­ing at the school, the atmos­phere shifts to excite­ment as Liam greets Leighton, appre­ci­at­ing her unex­pect­ed glam­or. His light­heart­ed deci­sion to wear a Super­man t‑shirt under a tuxe­do show­cas­es his quirky per­son­al­i­ty. Their inter­ac­tion is sweet, filled with teas­ing com­ments and moments of shared laugh­ter. Liam also shares news of his accep­tance into an art pro­gram, boost­ing both his future prospects and his spir­its.

Their inspir­ing con­ver­sa­tion reveals Leighton’s pride in her writ­ing, espe­cial­ly as Liam quotes her work in the local news­pa­per that con­fronts the town’s prob­lems, sug­gest­ing that the crows are just a symp­tom of deep­er issues. The chap­ter encap­su­lates poignant moments where friend­ship tri­umphs over adver­si­ty, under­scored by a sense of new begin­nings as they dance togeth­er in the gym, lost in each oth­er amidst a world of chaos. Leighton’s reflec­tion on a past rain­storm metaphor­i­cal­ly ties to her cur­rent bliss, reveal­ing how amidst the unpre­dictable nature of life, she finds solace and beau­ty in this one per­fect moment with Liam.