𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 | 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

"cooties"

"Congratulations to the Edina graduating class of 1994!" Principle Dunn announced, sending the large group of eighth-graders into fits of excitement — loud cheers could be heard throughout the large football field where the ceremony took place.

"We did it, guys! We actually graduated!" Alex Larson happily exclaimed to his friends.

"Junior High. We graduated junior high," Brendan corrected.

"Can't you just be happy for two seconds, McGill?" Rowan asked the sour boy.

"Fine, only because Abby's coming over here and I'm gonna ask her to be my girlfriend," He said before quickly running to meet her halfway.

"How do you go out with someone for 6 months without asking them to be your girlfriend?" Adam questioned as the trio watched Brendan.

"Sounds a bit familiar," Alex mumbled, quietly snickering along with Rowan.

"There was only one date!" Adam defended himself. "And it was nearly a year ago so I say we just forget everything leading up til that point."

"Whatever you say, loverboy," Rowan smiled at her boyfriend while fixing his crooked tie.

Alex spotted Amelia in the crowd and took a deep breath. "I'm going in."

"Good luck," Adam patted his shoulder.

"Now that we are alone, I talked to Charlie earlier, and we are all gonna meet up at Mickey's Diner tonight. You can come, right?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"Perfect," She grinned. "But for now, I think we should go check on Alex and Brendan because I have a feeling they both got rejected."

"You're moving?" Charlie exclaimed, repeating Jesse Hall's unexpected information.

"Yeah... Terry left to live with my mom last year and my parents want us to be together again."

As Jesse filled the team in on all the details of the extremely unfortunate situation, they all shared worried looks of sorrow — Adam's gentle grip on Rowan's thigh slightly tightening at the news, causing her to faintly wince.

"Sorry," He whispered to her, to which she placed her hand on his for comfort.

"Why can't Terry move back here?" Averman interrogated while Connie lightly slapped his arm.

"I don't know, they think a 'change of scenery' would be good for us," Jesse spoke with annoyance.

"When do you leave?" Guy quietly asked.

"In a week, I still have to pack everything up, so..."

"Man, how are we gonna get through high school without you? Play hockey without you? I mean, you've been here for years," Charlie questioned.

"What he means is, we're gonna miss you, Jess," Connie quickly said.

"I'm going to miss you guys too," He gloomily responded.

"Maybe we will play you sometime next year," Fulton suggested in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yeah! It'll be High School puck! I'm sure we can do some kind of traveling!" Goldberg enthusiastically agreed.