Chapter 2

The sad anniversary of the accident and Paul's death had gone by quietly. Nina had visited, and Terri had gone with her and her parents to place a new bouquet of flowers on Paul's grave. June had gradually rolled into July, and Terri was helping in the restaurant again. She couldn't help her thoughts from trailing off to Bristol-Hillman Music Conservatory as she continued cleaning the empty tables. She wondered if Jay would be going again. The two of them had kept on mailing each other for a while, but suddenly without reason the back and forth mailing had stopped. Neither of them had really tried to get back in contact. She sighed, going harder on the table top. She wondered if her friends Kiwi and Sloane would be there again as well. Most likely.

As Terri felt pleased about the tables, she started undoing her apron and hung it at the peg behind the cash registers, taking her black jacket and pulling it on slowly. "I'm going home, are you closing off?" Terri yelled.

"Yeah! Good night!" Nicole's answer came from the restaurant's kitchen.

"Good night!" Terri replied, walking out of the door and closing it behind her.

It was abnormally quiet when she arrived home about ten minutes later and she didn't take the time to undo her jacket but went to find her parents in the living room, the television playing almost inaudibly. "Theresa?" Her dad's voice sounded, when he heard his daughter's footsteps in the adjoining kitchen. "Could you come in here for a moment?" He asked, as she usually went straight upstairs until dinner.

Terri swallowed. Her father's voice sounded serious yet calm and friendly at the same time. She made her way through the kitchen and joined her parents in the living room. She didn't sit down, but just stared at the envelope in her dad's hand. "You received a letter from Bristol-Hillman Music Conservatory today," Frances stated calmly looking at her daughter's confused expression. "You're accepted."

"That's impossible," Terri said. "I told you I was too late to apply."

"Maybe, but a little note came with the letter, signed by a Mr. Torvald," Simon said, handing her the letter. Terri accepted it curiously and sank down in one of the comfortable chairs. She could feel both her parents' eyes on her as she simply ignored the letter saying that she had been accepted and pulled out a piece of grey paper, written on by a somewhat familiar hand. Terri's eyes slid over the words fast, trying to grasp as much of the content as possible.

Dear Theresa,

We were all very surprised not to have received a letter of application from you this year. We actually had the impression that you enjoyed last summer here and would have liked to come back. Your other teachers and myself agreed to invite you for a second year at the Music Conservatory. Your performance at the end of the summer music program last year happened to be enough to convince us of your talent, and we would all like to see you again in August.

Best wishes,
Mr. Torvald

By the time Terri finished reading, her eyes had started shining with happiness. She couldn't believe it. Maybe she would actually end up going back to L.A. after all! "Oh, dad... Please?" She begged, looking up at her father hopefully. He sighed and slowly nodded his approval, and Terri jumped up from her seat and ran to hug him and her mom. "Thank you!" She squeaked.