In Chap­ter Twen­ty-Two of “If These Wings Could Fly,” the nar­ra­tor, Leighton, reflects on the sun­set as she trav­els to Liam’s house, not­ing Auburn’s beau­ty despite its flaws. The glow­ing red sun reminds her of a chaot­ic moment with her sis­ter Juniper using high­lighters on her copy of “The Bell Jar,” a con­trast of bright col­ors against dark words. As they arrive, Leighton’s moth­er ques­tions her sto­ry about need­ing a tutor, teas­ing her about the neces­si­ty of help in art class. This light-heart­ed ban­ter leads to Leighton show­ing her moth­er her lat­est still life project, which pro­vokes a laugh, and a ten­der moment occurs as she kiss­es her moth­er good­bye.

Upon enter­ing Liam’s home, Leighton is greet­ed warm­ly by his sis­ter Fiona, who express­es relief at Leighton’s vis­it, shield­ing her­self from Liam’s antics. Their friend­ly rap­port is estab­lished, light­ened by Fiona’s com­ments about Liam’s hob­bies and teas­ing. Mrs. McNa­ma­ra, Liam’s moth­er, enters, bring­ing warmth and warmth with her. She also shares her expe­ri­ences of teach­ing in a small, pre­dom­i­nant­ly white town, voic­ing her thoughts on the impor­tance of inclu­siv­i­ty in edu­ca­tion.

Liam soon arrives, exud­ing charm and an invit­ing pres­ence that leaves Leighton wish­ing this was a legit­i­mate date. They engage in ban­ter while choos­ing snacks, and Liam’s endear­ing nature starts to break down Leighton’s walls. Inside Liam’s room, they share a cre­ative space filled with art, graph­ic nov­els, and a glimpse into Liam’s aspi­ra­tions. Despite their play­ful exchanges, a deep­er dis­cus­sion about future aspi­ra­tions unfolds, reveal­ing their mutu­al fears and ambi­tions inter­twined with the chal­lenges of small-town life.

While work­ing on art, their close prox­im­i­ty becomes charged, prompt­ing flir­ty moments and reflec­tions. How­ev­er, as Fiona intrudes, the light­ness of the scene sharp­ens, high­light­ing their friend­ship. Even­tu­al­ly, they step out­side to part ways, where Liam express­es a desire to spend more time togeth­er beyond school. Despite Leighton’s instincts to focus on her respon­si­bil­i­ties, she finds her­self want­i­ng to embrace this thrilling snip­pet of teenage life and agrees to a bon­fire.

As Leighton returns home, she feels both exhil­a­rat­ed and guilty at the thought of mov­ing beyond her usu­al rou­tine, a bal­ance of excite­ment and famil­ial oblig­a­tions echo­ing in her mind as she nes­tles into bed. This chap­ter cap­tures themes of youth­ful explo­ration, fam­i­ly, and the del­i­cate tug-of-war between ambi­tion and enjoy­ment in life.