CHAPTER TWO

Meanwhile, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacy were at Stoneybrook's only Mexican food restaurant, drinking margaritas and eating chips and salsa.

"Claudia! Tell me about Mimi!" Mary Anne said, taking a bite of her fajitas.

Claudia sighed contentedly.

"She's beautiful, you guys. She's two years old and she's already painting! Can you believe that! She's already an artist!"

Mary Anne and Stacy were so proud of Claudia and all she's achieved. After almost failing middle school completely, Claudia realized she had to get it together or her art would have to be put on the back-burner. With a lot of help from Stacy, her parents, and Janine, she got her academic life on track, enough to get a scholarship to a fantastic art school in San Francisco. When she was a senior, she fell in love with her pottery teacher, and the rest is history. She had a beautiful baby girl and was now a graphic artist at one of the biggest advertising agencies in town. She named the little girl after her favorite person in the world, her grandmother Mimi.

Stacy was also doing well for herself. After college at NYU, she settled into a career of investment banking. She had a degree in finance and with her aptitude for math; the job was a breeze for her. But she could never kick that fashion bug, and at 25, she finally flung herself head first into the fashion industry, where she was welcomed with open arms by the fashion community. She was an up and comer in the fashion world, and her star was steadily on the rise.

"So, Stacy! Dish! How's Ethan?"

"Oh yeah! Mary Anne, Ethan and I broke up before I went to college because I was so focused on my grades and stuff. I dated other people in college, but you know how that goes... nobody ever compared to him. A year after graduating I bumped into him at Barnes and Noble, and well... it just clicked. The age difference didn't mean so much anymore. And we got married a few months later!"

Mary Anne squealed with joy.

"That is so cool, Stacy! I'm so happy for you!"

Mary Anne was still single, having never found someone she liked as much as Logan. She told the ladies about her new career in the non-profit industry.

"I did a lot of volunteering when I was in school and I really wanted to work at a non-profit agency. Instead of trying to find one I liked, I created one! It's called "The Barn House" and basically it helps victims of fires. We help them rebuild their lives after fires took everything they owned. After the fire burned down our house, I always wished we had something like that in our lives."

"I read about it in Time, Mary Anne! I'm so proud of you," Claudia gushed.

Eventually, after all the food was eaten and cleared off the table, the talk finally turned to the inevitable.

"So, Mary Anne... how is she?"

Mary Anne sighed.

"She's great, you guys. I don't understand why she never called you, but really, she's fine. She lived in Paris for 5 years, and then moved to London. She missed Paris, though, so she moved back after she had some kind of disastrous love affair over there."

"What does she do in Paris?" Claudia asked.

"She's in marketing! Think how well she marketed the BSC in this little town. I can't imagine what she could do with unlimited capital.

The girls chuckled, thinking about me and my domineering ways.

"I miss her," Stacy said.

"Well, she'll be there tonight. It should be interesting."

Claudia checked her watch.

"Girls, we gotta go. We don't want to be late for our reunion, now would we?"

The girls paid and left to go to the high school. They were all nervous, but for different reasons.