to live for the hope of it all.

Chapter 9

September 8th, 2023

"Got a feeling your electric touch,
could fill this ghost town up with life..."

Beckett

"That was weird, right?" Caleb asked, turning to me as I watched Bailey trail after her best friend.

"What was?"

"Wren walking off like that, I think my presence annoyed her," he said, scrunching his brow in confusion as if he couldn't believe it.

"What? No, Wren is nice, I think you're overthinking it. Watch," I said, hitting his shoulder and grabbing my bag. "She'll be more talkative at dinner I'm sure."

"Okay," he said, not quite believing me but following me out to the parking lot where my truck was parked anyways.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Delilah had requested Lucy's for dinner, and something I have come to love about my sister is when she wants something, she's gonna get it.

So here we are, 9 people in the biggest booth Lucy's diner has to offer.

Caleb, ever the gentleman, had shoved himself into one side of the booth as soon as we got there, leaving me to fill in after him so he couldn't say anything potentially embarrassing about me directly to Bailey.

Then I watched, and silently prayed, as Bailey and Wren had a silent conversation before Bailey slid in to the spot next to me and Wren followed in after her on the end of the booth.

Caleb's parents sat directly across from me, followed by my mother, Delilah, and Grandpa Matt at the end in front of Wren. Squishing 9 people in this booth wasn't ideal, but I noticed if I angled a certain way that my knee would brush against Bailey's. Though it wasn't a direct touch to her skin because of her jeans, my body still honed in and focused on that one spot where our legs brushed together. The first time I did it, she had flushed and turned to Wren on her other side, and I had hoped that she was feeling the same thing I was.

"It's our first time sending them there on their own, but we figured since they'll be there next year that one trip beforehand couldn't hurt. I booked a room for the boys after their game against Clearwater, so they'll be driving up that night, and meeting with their coach first thing in the morning," my Uncle said, breaking my trance from where Bailey and I's legs brushed under the table.

"It's an overnight trip?" Grandpa Matt asked, raising his eyebrows at my mother.

She shrugged at him in response. To be fair, we hadn't known it was going to be an overnight trip until a few seconds ago either.

"Caleb is usually too amped up on energy after games, as you can tell," my aunt laughed, pointing at my cousin who was more than halfway through his meal. "I'd rather him drive there with energy, than early in the morning. He is not a morning person, so getting him to meet with Coach Rivers at 7am will already be a challenge."

"Sounds like somebody I know," Grandpa Matt laughed, calling out Bailey who awkwardly laughed and flushed.

"I was telling Matt that since Bailey and Wren applied to Pennbrook, maybe they could go with the boys and have them as tour guides the next day before they drive back. Is it too late to get the girls a room?" My mom asked.

"You girls applied to Pennbrook?" Aunt Jenna gushed, an excited smile on her face as she turned to Bailey and Wren.

"Yes ma'am, we submitted our applications just before school started," Bailey smiled. Wren still wasn't speaking like I thought she would, but I figured it was just nerves. In her defense, we'd only spoken a few times by Bailey's locker in the mornings, but I thought since Bailey and Grandpa Matt were here she'd engage more.