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The day that Frankie was cleared of her concussion diagnosis, she celebrated with a four-hour-long band rehearsal in Tyler's garage. It would've gone longer had it not started to thunderstorm, and so the friends moved their celebration to the diner.
It was one of the rare times Emmett wasn't with Frankie. Unknown to her, he was with Bella and the rest of his family, playing a game of baseball that would change everything.
"No, because what do you mean you thought Stanford and Samford were the same place?" Jessica asked Tyler, who was shrugging. "Why the fuck would we want to move to Alabama?"
"I don't know," he said, throwing his hands up. "I was so confused but I went ahead and applied anyway. Got early acceptance."
"Impressive," Angela told him. "Are you gonna play for their football team?"
"Right now, that's what they're wanting," he said. Then he looked at Frankie and Jessica apologetically. "I know the band can't exactly move to Birmingham."
"No, but you'll be getting the hell out of here," Frankie told him. She had her feet propped on Mike's lap, and he had an arm around Jessica, the three taking up a whole side of a booth as they ate. "Same way soccer is gonna get me out of here."
"I've gotta stay here and run the family business," Mike grumbled. He'd probably end up getting a business degree from somewhere close by before taking over Newton's Olympic Outfitters.
"Yeah, but that's so cool that you've got a legacy to carry on," Jessica told him. "Plus, you were talking about opening up other stores in different locations. You could travel to them then and that'd be a way out of here."
"Very true," he said before pecking her lips. "You're a genius."
"I know I'm a genius," she said, grinning. "And if I'm not valedictorian next year, someone will die."
"At least it won't be me," Frankie said, winking at her.
"Please, Jess loves you too much to harm you," Eric said, shaking his head.
"Hey, the rain is finally letting up," Angela noticed as she looked out the window. "Want to head back to Tyler's before we get caught in it?"
"Absolutely," Jessica said, not wanting to get rained on again.
The six of them slid out of the booth and headed outside to leave, laughing at some stupid joke Eric made. And as they did so, a familiar red truck passed by, its owner looking on at the scene, longing to be with them instead of running for her life.
