CHAPTER 12: NEW DAWN
Now that Freida had told Randy about her decision to stay home and let Alice take her place as a candidate to be a music star,she spent the rest of the day getting all of her things ready and accounted for since she was set to head back to her side of town that evening and meet up with Charlie Brown at his place. Freida was completely contempt with her choice and felt no regrets whatsoever as she lounged around and did as she pleased until she would head back. However much like when she woke up that same morning,Alice seemed to be entirely absent around the studio and didn't show up for the rest of the day,she wasn't even cooked up in the instrument room where she liked to practice her talents,and despite Freida wanting to ask Randy where she could have possibly gone,he looked positively more busy than she and Alice could have been combined so she decided to leave him be for the day.
Pretty soon the end of the day finally came and the studio was all locked up as the sun was starting to set,Freida and Randy were both standing at the bus stop with all their luggage in hand,with the latter even carrying Alice's due to her still not making her presence known even though their flight was set to leave in less than an hour. It was at this point that Freida was starting to feel a little concerned as she politely asked out of a slight sense of worry "Have you seen Alice at all today Randy? I sure haven't." only for the teenager to shake his head and regrettably reply "I can't say I have Freida,I wish she'd hurry up and get over here cause our flight leaves in 45 minutes." before the two of them were suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice stating from behind "Don't worry about me,I don't have a reputation for being tardy." to which they both turned around to see none other than Alice walking towards them with a smile on her face.
"There you are,I was beginning to worry that I've been stood up." lamented Randy with a deep sigh of relief before Freida added equally as relieved and calmed down "You said it Randy,where were you all day Alice?" to which the girl promptly explained herself while she relieved Randy of her luggage "I had decided to spend the day in town,just to see some of the sights one more time before I had to go." which resulted in Freida wondering out of curiosity at the mention "You know since you were in town,did you ever happen to come across Fillmore Street?" only for Alice to raise an eyebrow and ask in response "Fillmore Street?"
"Oh,I guess not,it's where me and a lot of my friends live. I thought maybe you could have met some of them." sighed Freida after Alice's frankly confused response before Randy looked down at the kids and nonchalantly stated "Looks like our bus will be here in a few,I guess we better say our goodbyes. It was really nice meeting you Mrs Rich,you seem like a good kid." to which the curly haired girl smiled and retorted while she and the teenager shook hands "It was nice meeting you too Randy,I hope things go well for you, your dad and the company."
"Always have my fingers crossed." chuckled Randy with a slightly bashful tone of voice as he held up two of his crossed fingers before Alice sighed and meekly admitted while Freida turned to face her "Well Freida,I guess this is goodbye. It was nice meeting you and…..I just want to say thank you for helping me do this. You really didn't have to." only for the curly haired girl to lightly scoff and question in response "Well why in the name of Sparky Schulz would I want to do that? Helping someone out can just feel good to do,one time almost all of us helped out a very shy friend when she had to sing at a music show,and now she can't stop hanging out with all of us." to which Alice stayed silent and thought about it for a few moments before she shrugged her arms and couldn't help but agree "Well I guess when you put it like that,I can't really argue with it."
However it was then that the girls' conversation was interrupted when Randy and Alice's bus pulled up to the stop and opened its doors while the former sighed and calmly announced "Here's our ride Alice,you better say your goodbyes real quick." to which the latter perked up and giddily obliged due to excitement as she quickly shook Freida's hand and stormed onto the bus along with Randy "O-ok Randy,s-see you around Freida. I'll make sure to send you the first copy of my album!" which prompted the curly haired girl to chuckle and take her up on the offer "Send it in the mail,and feel free to visit anytime when you're free!"
"I will!" agreed Alice with a bright and chipper as she poked her head out a window and waved goodbye to which Freida returned the gesture while the bus started to make its way towards the airport,and once the bus was finally out of Freida's sight,she started to promptly make her way towards Fillmore Street to see what Charlie Brown wanted at his place,unaware that she was gonna be in for a huge surprise.
NEXT CHAPTER: BIRTHDAY GIRL