AN: Hello! I must say it has been a while hasn't it? I apologize greatly for it, but if I'm being honest, I don't have an excuse as to why. I've had this chapter done for a little while now... maybe it's just because I wanted to have more chapters written out. And that didn't happen... but anyway, I hope you guys like this one! We're finally getting somewhere, so that's pretty good! If y'all wouldn't mind leaving a little review at the end, I would really appreciate that! Happy reading and happy Monday!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Jill's Pizza was a squished between two other buildings on main street. It was in decent walking distance of the school, and everybody knew what someone meant when they said by Jill's. Olivia had been taking Wendy there for years. Their first ever dinner in West Meadow had been at Jill's, and a tradition had broken out to eat there the weekend before school began. They had gained a few stragglers such as the Wheeler family, and it was always a fun night to catch up before school really began.

That Sunday the crowd had been particularly rowdy. A soccer game was going on at the numerous soccer fields that had been put in to attract more business. People came from all the surrounding states like Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Ohio; occasionally, some team from Tennessee was playing there, but that was very rare. Anyway, the crowd was boisterous, but Jill had made sure that the beloved choir directors had a good spot for their families.

Wendy waved to a few school friends, and refrained from jumping at the sight of Jacob on a date with his girlfriend. She knew that she had no claim to the boy, but she had felt like he spent a lot of his time at the beck and call of his girlfriend (Wendy did like Jacob's girlfriend; she was a sweetheart, but there's something about seeing your very good friend go on dates and leave you in the dust). So, instead of coming off as steaming mad, she waved slightly and watched her friend's eyes light up when he saw her.

"So, Wendy!" Grace squealed. "You still haven't told me about your trip to France this summer!" Frankly, Wendy hadn't really told anybody. She had barely even shown the pictures to her friends, and only the girls had seen the most of her trip. Olivia had only seen what had been posted on social media, continually pestering the teenager to open up about it.

"Oh, well, you know… I had a great time. I miss it a lot. My host siblings were absolutely hilarious, and one time…" Wendy was never sure where to start with her trip. She had spent the best 6 weeks of her life in France with an immersion program. She had so much to talk about, yet whenever anyone asked her, she came up blank. Maybe it was seeing Jacob here tonight. Maybe it was the fact that when she thought about France, she knew it was over, meaning school was beginning soon.

"So, I mixed up the words for Russian and red head, and my host mom was so confused!" Wendy said through her mouthful of the last piece of pizza. "She asked me where that part was in the book, and I said that he'd always been Russian! I realized what I said about five minutes later, and we were cracking up. I said, 'Peter Pan and the lost comrades,' and my host sister almost chocked from laughter."

"I remember when you played Peter Pan in elementary school!" Grace laughed. "You were definitely the cutest Peter Pan ever." Olivia smiled, patting her daughter's crown.

"Yeah, definitely cuter than her—" Olivia caught herself before another word could escape. She had almost mentioned the time that Wen had played Peter Pan in the school play their sophomore year, before their major tours took off. Grace stared at her friend, and thankfully Wendy and Austin kept munching on the few remaining breadsticks. "Opponents for that part…" she coughed out, taking a sip from her Coke to shut herself up.

Wendy flew up before anything else could be said when she saw Jacob making his way through the crowds to the door. His girlfriend stood dutifully at his side and jumped when Wendy was suddenly before them.

"I texted you saying that before you left we had to talk to Jill about getting a gig." She grabbed his arm somewhat forcefully, dragging him to the front counter, leaving Eliza to scurry behind them.

"Won't your mom get upset?" Jacob nodded to the full table that watched them.

"Nah, she only cares about us writing our own crap. Singing covers ain't no big deal; we did it at Dance Marathon last year anyway." They stepped to the counter, cutting off a couple and their son on accident. Wendy threw an apologetic glance over her shoulder mouthing her apologies.

"Wendy, you can't go—" Jacob began, but was cut off by Wendy's palm covering his mouth. He stuck his tongue out, and the girl cringed, wiping her saliva covered palm on his t-shirt.

"Jill," she said before Jacob could interrupt again.

"What can I do for you, Wendy White?" Jill had always loved calling Wendy by her full name, liked the alliteration she claimed. Wendy smiled brightly, slamming her hands onto the counter in a good-natured manner.

"So, we've uh, we've been working really hard, and… Jacob, can you get me a gumball? Sorry, Jill. Ok, so you know that we've kind of gotten a bit of a local following with the kids at school, and we were wondering if you would book the band? We don't want money or anything, just wanna, you know, play some covers for the customers. Maybe like just a weekend thing?" Wendy sounded meek, but she normally had confidence for days.

"I was wondering when you would ask!" the kindly older woman laughed. "Watchin' you kids grow up singing and jivin.' Why, I'd be a fool if I didn't let you play here!" Wendy beamed, slapping Jacob on the arm with excitement.

"Mama," the girl shouted across the restaurant, but stopped when she saw her mother hiding behind her purse. She looked to Grace, hoping for the smile of approval, but her mother's best friend wore a stone-cold expression. "What's up with them?" she spared a glance at Jacob, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Wen, we've really gotta be going." Jacob locked hands with Eliza once more. Wendy nodded absentmindedly, scooting out of the way for the couple behind them to pay. She watched her friends leave, and she met Jacob's eyes through the window before bending over to get the gumball she had asked for earlier yet hadn't received.

Wendy made her way back over to her mom, chewing on the gumball while wondering where they would set up their equipment. Olivia didn't return to normal until the couple at the counter had ordered their ice cream and walked out. The blonde woman then jumped up, paying before Grace or Mike could say anything about the bill.

Olivia was chatting easily with Jill before a woman reentered the pizza place. "Excuse me, but I think my husband may have left his wallet?" She looked to Jill then to Olivia. The woman then let out a startled gasp, tears springing to her eyes. "Liv, is that you?" It was too late for Olivia to run away and hide as she had before.

"Hi, Mo…" she whispered, averting her eyes from Mo's shocked expression.

"Oh my gosh! It's you! It's really you!" Mo flung her arms around the blonde, squealing with glee. "Oh my gosh! How have you been? How are you here? What have you been doing for the past twenty years? We've missed you so much! This is like totally crazy, right? It's so good to see you. Let me, let me just go get Charlie, and then, and then we can talk, yeah?" Olivia didn't know what to say, so she only nodded in response.

"Jill, you might want to add some sundaes to our bill… I'm gonna need it."