THE NEXT DAY

John pulled up to Foster's in the loaner Camry and smiled. Even though things had fallen apart the night before, he was still looking forward to spending the day with Frankie. As he left the car, he grabbed the bouquet of roses he had bought and started for the door when he ran into Mac, on his way to Foster's from school.

"Hey, John!" Mac said.

"Hey, Mac," John answered. "I see you had the same idea I did."

"Oh, I come here every afternoon after school. I live just down the road, so it's not that far of a walk."

"I see." Mac and John entered Foster's simultaneously to be greeted by Mr. Herriman and Madame Foster, who immediately gravitated towards John. Madame Foster took his hand and said, "You must be the young man that Frankie told me about."

"Uh...that's me, ma'am. How are you?"

"I'm fine; thank you for asking. The rabbit here is Mr. Herriman." John took his hand and said, "Oh, so you're Herriman. It's a fitting name."

"Thank you, Master Jonathan. Miss Frances has said many glowing things about you, and I want you to know that you are more than welcome anytime here."

"Thanks. Where's Frankie?"

"Oh, she had to go to the grocery store to pick up some odds and ends. She'll be back soon," Madame Foster said.

"Okay, then." He put the roses on an endtable and asked, "Would you mind if I took a look around the place?"

"Not at all, Master Jonathan." John ascended the stairs and was greeted by Bloo descending the stairs to greet Mac. The two exchanged a greeting and continued on their way.

"So, Mac," Bloo said, "it turns out I was right."

"What are you talking about?"

"John. I never doubted him for a second." Mac rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead at Bloo's bravado before greeting Herriman and Madame Foster like he always did. As he left the foyer with Bloo, he whispered, "Do they know about yesterday?"

"No. Frankie didn't say anything, and Charlie didn't either. I've been quiet too, if you can believe it."

"Good. I don't want Herriman or Madame Foster to worry."

"Worry about what?" Wilt asked. Mac and Bloo spun around to see him, Eduardo and Coco standing behind them and scrambled to cover their tracks. "Worry about...John trying to dump her! Yeah, that's it!" Bloo stammered.

"Dump her? Don't be silly! That guy's the genuine article--he's perfect for Frankie!"

"Si! Senor John is better than that 'prick' he mentioned!" Eduardo said.

"Co cocococo co co coco!" Coco interjected.

"I hope you're right, Coco," Wilt said. "I really hope you're right." Just then, John descended the stairs, greeted the quintet in front of him, and said to Madame Foster, "Man, this place is enormous! You must have a lot of people working here!"

"Well, as long as everyone pitches in to help, everything turns out fine."

"So Frankie's really the only one that works here?"

Mr. Herriman interjected, "You make it sound like Miss Frances is a slave, Master Jonathan."

"I'm not saying that, Herriman. I'm just saying that for one person to clean this entire house is asking a bit too much. If there's anything you need done right now, I'll do it."

"Are you sure, dearie?"

"Absolutely."

"Well then, get crackin'! I've got a bowling game to get to tonight!" John chuckled at her spiritedness and started for the laundry room when the front door swung open and a hysterical, sobbing Frankie ran into his arms. Everyone in the foyer was taken aback at seeing Frankie so unglued and raced to comfort her.

"Frankie, dear, are you okay?" Madame Foster asked.

"What's wrong, Frankie?" Mac added.

"Whatever happened to you, Miss Frances?"

She didn't hear any of them. Frankie sobbed loudly into John's shoulder as he rocked her back and forth, saying, "It's okay. It's okay." He put his hand under her chin and drew her eyes up to his and asked, "What happened, honey?"

She wiped her eyes and whispered, "He was at the store."

"Who was at the store?" Wilt asked.

"John, he was at the store!" Frankie cried.

"Who? Who was at the store, Miss Frances?"

Frankie sniffled and turned pale. She knew that by mentioning his name, the truth about last night would eventually come out. All she wanted was for this to be dealt with in private and for no one to know but her, John, Mac, Bloo and Chris. Tears began to spill from her eyes as she faced everyone and uttered one word to identify who it was:

"Dylan."