A/N: Okay. First of all, in my little universe, those stupid Friends Forever books cease to exist. Yeah, I can do that. Because, to quote Arj Barker, "It's not your world, it's my world." So, the following tale occurs straight after The Fire at Mary Anne's House.
Secondly, some of these characters are mine. Others are Ann M Martin's. You know the ones I mean.
Okay, on with the show!
During
They arrive at the hospital at the same time. The severity of the situation has provided a temporary amnesia, and so they enter together. One of them casts surreptitious sideglances at her middle school friends and tries to recall the last time they were all in the same room. Voluntarily.
They find her parents in the waiting room. "They won't tell us anything!" her mother sobs.
Her father pulls them aside. "We appreciate you girls being here," he tells them. "But it's best you go home. She..." He looks over his shoulder at the inconsolable woman and sighs. "I don't think she can handle crowds right now." He promises to call the second they learn anything.
They go back to Claudia's. It seems appropriate.
But once the small talk has been exhausted and the numbing shock of the event begins to ebb, the room grows heavy with the weight of four years worth of unresolved anger. The tragic accident may have brought them together, but it has failed to erase their past.
To ease the tension, one of them attempts a joke. "So," she smiles. "What has everyone been up to?"
A ripple of nervous laughter passes like a Mexican wave. And then they start talking.