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February 8th, 2028 8 am Evanston, Illinois

I flicked off the TV for the second time that morning after getting tired of hearing the big news of me going to UNM. I was lying on the couch with my feet on the back staring at the black screen. I rolled my eyes and mimicked the news reporters shocked expression that I hadn't picked Duke. My life was one big expectation and I was tried of people telling me what I had to do. I wanted to follow the beat of my own drum.

"If you continue to do that, you have that face permanently." Chad said taking a seat on the sofa across from me.

"I'm tired of the stupid newscasters." I told him sitting up and looking at him.

"It's their job to be nosey. What's wrong with them?" Chad asked me grinning.

"They all predicted that I would go to Duke instead of UNM. Now they're saying that I've messed up my whole basketball career." I admitted to him.

"Whoever is saying that about my niece needs to get their ass kicked. You're an amazing basketball player. You chose the place that you felt the most relaxed at. Don't listen to them. You're going to be amazing just like you are in high school." Chad told me.

"How do you do that?" I asked him as he had a funny look on his face.

"What do you mean?" Chad asked me as I giggled a little bit.

"How do you instantly make me feel better? You just said all that and I'm all right." I told him.

"I'm a guy and it didn't take me long to figure out how to cheer a woman up. It's in my nature." Chad told me.

"Well who ever taught you that, I'm glad. Thanks." I told him as he looked at me.

"Is this how you're going to spend your senior skip day?" Chad asked me.

"I was waiting for you guys to show up so I could show you where I grew up. I wanted to give you a tour of the town." I told him.

"Well that's going to be a little hard because your little 4-Runner isn't going to hold all of us." Chad told me.

"The town isn't that big. We're going to walk around." I told him rolling my eyes.

"You run a lot around here?" Chad asked me as I looked at him.

"I run almost everyday between 3 and 5 miles." I told him as his eyes got wide.

"Wow girl. Did you go running in Albuquerque while you were there?" He asked as I heard someone in the doorway.

"What are you two talking about?" Sharpay asked coming to sit next to me on the couch.

"Chad's asking me about running. And I did run some while I was in Albuquerque." I told them.

"Were you going to show us around town today or no?" Sharpay asked me as I smiled.

"I can if you want me to. It's a little cold but I think we'll be fine. At least it's not snowing." I told them grinning.

"We were just talking and your mom mentioned doing something. A glimpse at the town you grew up in sounds good." Sharpay told me.

"Well first I have to get dressed so let me go do that and then I'll be ready to go." I told them as they both nodded.

I looked at them quickly before running upstairs. I threw on a pair of jeans with my lime green sweater. I braided my hair into pigtails before applying lip gloss and blush. I looked myself in the mirror before heading downstairs.

"Wow girl you got ready fast." Chad commented as I walked into the kitchen where everyone was.

"I kind of have to. I don't get up until 6:45 in the morning and I have to walk out the door at 7." I told them getting a bowl and the Captain Crunch from the cupboard.

"Tess, you all ready ate." Mom told me as I looked at her with a grin. She shook her head as I grabbed a spoon from the drawer.

"That was a tiny bowl. I'm going to eat a real bowl now." I told her sitting at the table.

"What time did you eat?" Ryan asked me as I smirked at him.

"6:30." I told him as his eyes went wide.

"Haven't you heard of sleeping in?" Zeke asked me as I shook my head.

"Nope; Tuesdays and Thursdays I get up at 6 to work out. I go running and then I come back shower and eat breakfast before heading to school." I told them.

"And you got up at 6 this morning?" Sharpay asked me as I nodded my head.

"I sure did. I'm in training for volleyball now. I'm an athlete with a strict schedule." I told them.

"What do you do on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays?" Kristin asked me as I thought about it.

"Workouts after school. Those are the mornings I get to sleep in until 6:45." I told them grinning.

"Funny you boys never used to be this disciplined now that I think about it." Taylor said looking at Chad, Zeke, and Jason.

"We were on a strict schedule. We had workouts everyday after school." Jason said speaking up.

"But unlike Tess, I let you guys treasure your sleep." Jack said speaking up as I laughed.

"I choose to wake up early. I strive to be the best and in my mind that's waking up and going running with my friends." I told them.

"Chelsea and Meghan get up and run with you?" Carly asked me as I smiled.

"They sure do. But today I got up and ran on my own. They decided to take the day off and catch up on some sleep." I told them grinning.

"Hey Tess what are you doing today?" Mom asked me as I finished my bowl of Captain Crunch.

"I was planning on showing these guys around town and then going to the Fire House Grill for lunch. What are you up to today?" I asked her.

"Sounds good. I was planning on doing some shopping." Mom told me.

"How about I call you before we eat and you and dad come and meet us?" I asked her.

"That sounds good." Mom told me as a light bulb clicked over my head.

"Did you call me in today?" I asked her as she thought about it for a minute.

"I did. I did it last night so I wouldn't forget." Mom told me as I grinned.

"Thanks. I have to be excused to play tomorrow night." I told her as she nodded.

"I know you do Tess. That's why I did it last night." Mom told me as I stood and walked over to the sink.

"Are you guys ready to go?" I asked them as they mumbled their responses.

"Let's go." Jason told me clapping his hands together as I smiled at him.

"You guys might want to get your coats on. It's going to be chilly." I told them grinning.

"Your mom warned us that it was going to be cold when we got here." Taylor told me grinning.

"It snowed a couple of days ago but we're pretty lucky to remain snow free today." I told them pulling on my boots before my blue coat.

"So where are you taking us?" Chad asked me as we walked out into the snow covered ground and started walking towards the end of the street.

"I'm taking you all over the town." I told them as they nodded their heads.

It stayed quiet until a thought hit me. I turned around and looked wide eye at my family standing around me.

"What's wrong Tess?" Jack asked looked at me and my weird look on my face.

"Where's Gabi at?" I asked them as they looked at one another before looking at me.

"She said she was going to email you, Tess. She had a family emergency and she couldn't make it." Carly told me frowning a little bit.

"Oh I just noticed she wasn't here." I admitted to them bowing my head a little.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Tess." Sharpay told me coming over to my side.

"It is too. How bad am I that I don't notice my birth mother not being here when I sign to my choice for a college?" I asked them walking a little ahead of them.

I pointed out some old houses and some memorable places as we walked. I pointed out the high school and they got me to tell them some stories of my times there.

"There was one time, my freshman year. We were in gym class and a bunch of the senior guys were there. All of us girls were playing basketball and one of the guys, Andrew came up to us and told us that we all sucked. I looked at him and grinned a little before walking out to the half court line and threw a basketball towards the hoop. With amazement, the ball went in. I walked back to Andrew and told him that if he ever told me that I sucked again, that he and I would go one and one and I would surely kick his ass. Then I told him that when I did beat him, I would let the entire school know that I had beaten him." I told them laughing.

"Wow you were a confident kid even back in your freshman year." Ryan told me grinning.

"I sure was. A lot of people told me that I was going to do great things while I was in high school because of my confidence." I told them grinning.

"Well you certainly did that." Jason said nodding his head.

I continued on our journey as they slowly followed behind me. I looked back and had to hold in my laughter watching them in the cold Chicago weather that they were not used to.

1:30 pm

We just walked into the Fire House Grill and I smiled at the hostess as we walked up to her.

"Hi Danielle. How are you today?" I asked her as she smiled at me.

"I'm good Tess. How many today?" She asked me as I quickly counted everyone.

"I think there's going to be 13. I should have called ahead." I told her smiling.

"Don't worry your mom called and said you would be bringing in a large group." Danielle told me.

"Thanks Danielle." I told her as she grabbed menus and led us to our table in the back room.

We all sat down before I watched everyone look around in amazement. I grinned at them before speaking.

"This is another restaurant that my life has been chronologically timed here." I told them as they looked at me.

"What do you mean Tess?" Jack asked me as I pointed to a picture on the wall.

"That's me when I was 6. For Halloween one year, I wanted to be a firefighter so my parents dressed me up and took me trick or treating." I told them before pointing to another picture.

"That one was taken at the last home basketball game. It happened just as the clock counted down. I got the ball and made a pretty three pointer." I told them smiling.

"You never told us what your parents do for careers." Chad pointed out to me as I smiled.

"My dad's a firefighter; he was one of about 20 who went into together and opened this place. And my mom is a nurse at the hospital. She would always take shifts during school hours so she and I could hang out after school. My dad would take shifts usually at night so he could be there when I came off the bus." I told them smiling.

"You've had a good life here, Tess." Ryan told me as I smiled at him.

"I think I have. I've learned everything I need to know to survive in the big world. But I have my fears and worries that constantly plague me too." I said looking around the restaurant I've spent so much time in.

"You're happy and that's all we wanted for you. When your adoptive parents came to pick you up, they asked us all what we hoped for you. And we just told them that we wanted you to be happy." Carly told me.

"Your hope for me came true." I told them falling silent.

The silence plagued us for a little while until I looked up and they were all staring at me. I laughed a little before giving them a look.

"Ok what's up with you guys? Since I've met you, you guys haven't shut up about everything. What's going on?" I asked them smiling.

"We're just really happy that you're moving out to New Mexico. It's going to be nice to have you close by." Sharpay said speaking up.

"You're one of the reasons I decided on UNM. I wanted to be closer to you guys." I told them.

"But what about your parents?" Kristin asked me as I smiled at her.

"They've got family out there. Both sets of grandparents live out there, so they're happy that I picked there." I told them.

"Your dad would be proud of you, you know that Tess?" Chad asked me as I slowly nodded my head.

"I know he would have been. I think he would have been more excited the day I picked up a basketball for the first time." I told them smiling.

"Oh he would have been running the town screaming that his little girl is going to play basketball." Taylor told me shaking her head.

"It's just hard to accept that I'll never get to talk face to face with him. But that's why I have you guys around." I told them smiling.

"It's doesn't get easier, Tess. After 18 years of him being gone, it's still hard." Jason told me nodding his head.

"I guess it's going to take time and a little bit of grief." I told them as someone put their hand on my shoulder.

"We'll be here, Tess. You can come talk to us, anytime you want." Kelsi told me.

"Thanks." I told them smiling at them.

"So last time we talked, you were having a hard time incorporating your new life with your old. How are you doing with that?" Zeke asked me as I smiled.

"Surprisingly well. For Anatomy, I had to do a family tree and that was interesting. Everyone thought I would do it on the family I grew up in but I did it on my family in New Mexico. I stood in front of my English class and did a five minute speech on being adopted. I'm slowly coming to terms with the idea of being adopted." I told them.

"Good; we're glad. We didn't want you to build up your resentment so much that you would come to hate your adoptive parents." Jack told me smiling.

"I could never hate them. They raised me." I told them as the waitress came and we ordered.

The rest of the afternoon we hung out. I continued to tell them stories about growing up in Evanston. I got them to laugh pretty hard during some of those stories.

There you guys go. I probably won't update any of my stories until next week sometime. I have to focus on exams and studying. So wish me luck!!! Feedback would be most appreciated!!! Thank you to all my loyal reviewers and readers!