I woke up to find myself laying on the couch in the living room. I tried remembering what happened and then remembered that the news that mom and dad gave me some time ago. Then I see mom walk into the living room with a glass of water before saying "Oh good, You're awake! We were worried sick when you fainted after we told the news. Got you some water in case you wanted it."

"Thanks mom." I say quietly while taking the glass from her and taking a sip of water. I set the glass on the coffee table while mom stood there, still looking concerned about what happened earlier.

"Mom, I'll be fine. It was just a shock when you announced that you were going to retire and hand over the diner to someone else. Honestly, I still can't believe that it's happening."

"Honey, I understand that you are surprised by the news and have so many memories there but it's not the end. Our friends the Morrisons will take good care of it and plus they said everyone including you can still work there if you want." Mom said while putting a hand on my shoulder in a effort to comfort me but deep down, I was still upset.

I then decided to stay in my room for the rest of the night as I wasn't feeling hungry or really up for anymore talking for the day. The next day at school, I told my friends about the news and they were just as shocked as I was. Pearl asked what my parents were going to do now that they weren't running the restaurant anymore. I told her that my dad planned on going back into office work at the local bank that he was in until he opened up the diner years ago and my mom planned on working at the local hair salon back when she was in college and needed money to paid for expenses.

Pearl only nodded her head as she listened to what I just told her and then told me that everything would be okay. Nancy and Susan also had similar things to say to me too but then Susan asks "So do you know who is taking over the restaurant other than them being your parent's friends?"

"Not really. I heard they knew my parents from when they were in college together and have a son about our age but other than that, nothing." I told her.

After that, not much else was said on the matter and we continued our day with boring classes and the usual stuff we talked about until school ended for that day. As Pearl and I were walking into the diner for our shifts, I totally forgot my roller skates in her car and asked her if I could quickly get them. She said sure and handed me her car keys before going inside to clock in for the day. I got my skates from her car and then locked it but just as I was walking back across the parking lot, I accidentally bumped into a guy wearing a white shirt with a blue vest over it, blue jeans and black shoes. His hair was a dark brown color and slicked back and his light blue eyes were as blue as the ocean.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you. Totally my fault for not seeing you." I quickly say with an apologetic look.

"No worries. Just be careful where you're going next time." He said with a small smile before walking across the parking lot. I then quickly walked inside and clocked in for the evening shift.

Some time passed and I then saw the same guy who I bumped into walk in and then get waved over by a group of guys who I assumed were his friends in one corner of the diner in a booth near the bathrooms. I took a pitcher of water over as they hadn't ordered yet and as I approached the table, I could recognize another person in particular, Teddy! Teddy seemed more social than he had been before when I first met him a while ago. Maybe because he now had a group of friends or was just starting to fit in with the flow of the town. As I reached the table, Teddy looks my way and says "Hey Macey. Been a while since we last talked."

"Yeah it has been a while. How have you been doing?" I say with a small smile.

"Good. Been having a good time with my new friends here since Josh introduced me to them." Teddy says while looking at the guy from earlier with a small smile of his own.

"I see. I actually met him out in the parking lot on the way in. But never did get his name. So your name was Josh?" I said before looking over at him while lightly taping my pencil against the notepad I held in my hand.

"Oh sorry. Guess I was in a hurry to lock my car that I never actually introduced myself when you bumped into me."

"It's fine. It was my fault anyways because I was in a hurry."

Josh just gives me a small smile before I went back to taking their orders and going back to doing the rest of my shift.

The rest of the night was uneventful and I clocked out around 9:00 pm for the night. Pearl offered to drive me home since it was so dark out and she didn't feel like it was safe for me to be out on my own. I thanked her and we went out to the almost empty parking lot where her car sat waiting. The cool night breeze blew through the area and we could hear frogs and crickets out in the distance. Street lights lit up the road and the parking lot as we walked to Pearl's car. Occasionally we would see a car or two passing by as we reached her car and got into it before heading home.

As we drove home, we turned on the evening radio and listened to the news and whatever the caster was saying for that evening. The lights of stores were for the most part turned off and we could maybe one or two restaurants still open that usually stayed open until 10 or 11pm. People were walking around still on the sidewalk or getting into their cars and going home for the evening. Downtown lit up from the street lights or store lights that flashed neon lights on either side of us as we drove past them one by one and into the different neighborhoods that were just outside of the local plaza and park in the center of town. I could see a light breeze blow through from the treetops swaying as we stopped at a stop sign just off of St. James street and South avenue. Lights from some of the houses were still on while others were all turned off as we continued driving past houses. Some time later, we arrived at my house and my mom offered Pearl to sleepover that night since we were already both tired and she didn't want her to fall asleep at the wheel. Pearl accepted the offer and I then lent her some clothes she could borrow and that she could wash them and give them back to me later when she could. The next morning, we both woke up and got ready for school that day. Some days later, I got back from school that day when I heard the phone ring. I answered it and my mother on the other side.

"Hello? Mom is that you? Why are you calling? Is everything okay?" I say.

"Yes, it's me. Everything is fine, just calling to let you know that we're having our friends come over. You know the ones who took over the restaurant? Well they wanted you and their son to meet over dinner and thought it would be a good idea if you two could become friends. Hope that's okay?" She says from the other side of the phone.

"Yes that's fine, mom. When are they coming over for dinner?" I ask.

"They're coming over at around 6pm for dinner. So please be ready then and start making dinner a bit early tonight after you do your homework, okay sweetheart?"

"Yes I will. Don't worry, I'll be ready."

"Thank you. Now I have to get back to work. Try not to get into trouble until your dad and I get home. Love you. Bye.

"I will. Love you too. Bye." I say before I hang up the phone and going upstairs to do my homework. After some time, I got ready for dinner and then went downstairs to start cooking. A few minutes later, I could my mom walk into the house saying "I'm home."

"Welcome back. In the kitchen." I replied.

I could hear mom walk into the kitchen as I turned the stove onto a low temperature before I turned around to face her. She set her stuff down on the counter near the entrance and asked me how school was before helping me finish making dinner. Dad came home some time while we were making it and helped set the table and just as we started placing food on the table, the doorbell rang.

"Macey. Can you answer the door? Must be the Morrisons." Mom says as she continued putting food on the table.

"Of course." I say before walking over to the door and answering it. And to my surprise, I wasn't expecting to see Josh standing there with his parents. I didn't know what to say or do. I just there frozen on the spot, trying to think of something and the next thing I knew, I could hear Josh say "Hey Macey." Before I quickly turned around and ran upstairs just as dad walks up, shouting "Macey! Macey! What's wrong?"

I then just closed my bedroom door, locked it and crouched down in front of it, head in between my arms and cried with only the sounds of me crying, cars driving in the background and the faint light of a street light in the distance like a lighthouse near the sea.