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January 5th, 2028 10:00 pm Chicago/Evanston

I had just arrived home. Home; it's such a simple word but to me, it was complicated. My mind filled with thoughts as I walked out into the chilly January air. I put my stuff in the back of my 4-Runner before getting in the driver's seat. I let my car warm up a little as thoughts overtook my mind.

I knew once I walked in the door of the house, both of my parents would want to know what happened. I hoped they would leave it alone for a night but I knew that was highly unlikely.

The car warmed up before I started driving the deserted streets of Chicago. I smiled thinking back to all the memories I had created in Albuquerque. Just thinking about Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Jason, Ryan, Kristin, Zeke, and Sharpay instantly put a smile on my face.

Before I knew it, I was pulling onto my street. I quickly found the house I was looking for; my house. I pulled into the driveway and saw that the porch lights were on. My parents must have put them on for me. I sighed loudly before opening the door and went to get my suitcase. Before I opened the trunk, the front door was swung open and my parents came rushing out.

"TESS!!" my mom cried as I pushed forward a fake smile to the two of them.

"Hi, mom, dad." I told them as mom wrapped me up in a hug.

"Hi kiddo. How was the flight?" Dad asked me as I smiled at him.

"It was good. I slept for the majority of it." I told him as he gave me a hug.

"That's good. Are you tired? Hungry?" Mom asked me as I shook my head.

"Leave her alone, Rose." Dad told mom as we both smiled at her.

"I'm fine for the moment. I'm just tired." I told them as a yawn escaped my mouth.

"All right honey; come on in and we'll let you get some sleep." Mom told me.

"We'll talk in the morning." I promised grinning at the two of them.

"Yes we will. It's good to have you home, Tess." Dad told me as he dragged my suitcase up the stairs to my room.

"Thank dad. It's good to be home." I told him as he kissed my forehead before leaving the room.

I walked over to my desk and turned on my laptop before changing into my pajama pants and a t-shirt. I threw my hair up in a ponytail before sitting down at my desk.

I opened my email account and started typing a long email to everyone.

Dear Albuquerque clan!

Well I made it home. I just got home in fact; my parents are relieved to have me home but it feels different for some reason. I can't really explain it.

I just want to thank all of you for everything you did while I was in Albuquerque. I know it took a while but once you accepted me, it was really neat to see all of you! Thank you for all the stories and advice; I'll never forget it.

I will keep in contact. Until next time!

Tess

I quickly typed in all of their email addresses before hitting send button. I sat in my chair and looked around my blue painted room. There were pictures of Chelsea, Meghan, and I from basketball and volleyball. Other pictures of me with friends lined the blue paint. Pictures from the musicals and dance recitals were also taped on the painted wall. There were playbills from plays I had been in; Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors, The Secret Garden, Footloose, and The Music Man all were taped to the blue paint.

On the wall across from my bed I had taped a bunch of quotes that I had found inspiring and funny. My friends called me the quote queen because if they needed one all they would have to do is come into my room and find which one they needed. I looked at my closet doors, which had been covered in black paper. Meghan, Chelsea, and I had all taken silver pens and had written a bunch of stupid stuff on those black papers.

I shook my head and grabbed my digital camera. I uploaded the photos I had taken the last few days onto my computer. I had taken pictures of the banners that hung in East High's gym, the pictures from the restaurants, pictures of Jack and Carly's house, and various other pictures I thought reminded me of my mother and father.

"Tess you still awake?" I heard my mom asked from the other side of the closed door.

"Yeah I'm awake." I told her as she slowly pushed opened the door.

"Can't sleep?" Mom asked me as I quickly shook my head.

"My mind is cluttered with a bunch of stuff. I'm trying to sort it out but it's not really working." I told her flipping through the pictures on my computer.

"Did you take all of these while in New Mexico?" Mom asked me coming up behind me and looking at the photos.

"Yeah. I wanted something for me to remember my trip there." I told her stopping at the big group picture that I had just taken hours before.

"Who are all these people?" Mom asked me taking a seat on my bed.

"That's Taylor and Chad; Kelsi and Jason; Sharpay and Zeke; and Kristin and Ryan. They were Troy and Gabriella's friends." I told her as she smiled.

"They've been out here a couple of times to see you play ball or see you perform in a play you've been in." Mom told me as I swiveled my chair around to see her.

"I found that out while I was sitting in the restaurant they all own one day. Sharpay and Ryan told me." I told her.

"They didn't want you finding out about them until you turned 18. They called one day and asked if they could sneak out to see you. I told them yes but you couldn't know about it." Mom told me.

"When I asked you who those people were, you just told me they were old friends of yours and dads." I told her.

"They were in a weird sort of way. They came out a couple of more times; the most recent was when you were in the championship for basketball last year. After the game, Chad told me that it was like they were watching Troy play again. He told me that you were going to go far." Mom told me.

"Well they got to see me play for themselves. I played two on two with Chad, Jason, and Zeke." I told her.

"Did you learn a lot?" Mom asked me as I slowly nodded my head.

"I did. I learned a lot of stuff. Troy and Gabriella's old drama teacher warned me that I wouldn't like everything I learned and she was right about that." I told her smiling faintly.

"You don't have to tell your dad and me anything if you want. We just want to make sure you got all of the answers you were looking for." Mom told me.

"I've got the majority of answers I'm looking for but there's still some stuff I have to find out." I told her.

"Whenever you're ready to talk, your dad and I will be here." Mom promised me.

"It might take me a few days but we'll see." I said as my computer made a noise.

"What's that?" Mom asked looking over at the screen.

"I've got new mail." I told her as she laughed.

"All right; I'll leave you alone. Good night, Tess." Mom told me.

"Good night mom." I told her watching her leave the room before going to my inbox and seeing who the email was from.

I double clicked the email whose subject line read "Albuquerque's Number One Superstar!" I laughed when I saw it was from Chad.

My dear, dear Tess!

I'm glad you got home all right. We were all waiting for a phone call but I guess email will work too. It's pretty boring around this old town since you've left. We are all talking about you coming back and we can't wait.

We forgot to introduce you to all of the kids; they were asking why we were spending so much time at the bar. We just told them we were getting drunk and having a good old time. My oldest just rolled his eyes and said some incoherent.

Anyways, I guess I'm boring you, Tess and for that I'm sorry. You know how us old folks are. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call.

Good luck with everything!

Chad

I smiled as I reread the words. Leave it to Chad to make me smile no matter what kind of mood I was in. I yawned again as I shut down my computer. I walked over to the big bay window that occupied the other wall of my room. I stared out, looking into the outskirts of Evanston. I saw the light house I used to love to visit when I was a child.

I was interrupted when my phone started to ring. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID before ignoring the call. It was Meghan and I didn't feel like talking. If I would have taken the call, it would have seemed this was a big dream.

I lay down in my bed and closed my eyes before I drifted back to Albuquerque. I knew tomorrow would bring a whole new set of challenges in my direction.

There you guys go! She's home. What kinds of problems will Tess face now that she's home? Stay tune and find out.

This story is long from over. I've got too many ideas so I'm not ending it anytime soon!!! Feedback, as always, would make my day!!!! Thank you to everyone who had read and reviewed this story!!!!