There is no denying that a lot can change within a span of one year.
For Maggie Collins, bad luck had followed her continuously ever since that fateful night on Black Friday.
For starters, she had to miss the entirety of the gymnastics season, and it is a high possibility that she may never compete ever again, however with physical therapy, who knows where she could be. Maybe she can still get a chance towards her gymnastics scholarship.
She is on numerous medications for various reasons; pain, anxiety, depression, PTSD, you name it, she's probably on it.
She is in therapy, whether it is with an actual licensed therapist or her guidance counselor, it is insisted that she has to attend those sessions because of what she had witnessed with her mom.
Everything that Maggie had was taken away from her within an instant.
And the cherry on top of that shit sundae? The Wright family continues to not take any responsibility of what happened on that fateful night.
Immediately after everything went down, Mitch had quit RightMart, along with almost every other employee there, right on the spot. He is now working two jobs so that they can still afford the house that they live in.
Upon hearing that Lizzie was one of the people that was indirectly involved with the shopping cart collision that ended her mom's life, Maggie couldn't work there anymore, but thankfully, her friend, Silvio, had hooked her up with his dad's restaurant, Papa Gino's.
Maggie was packing up her stuff, getting ready to meet up with Alyssa, Alyssa's boyfriend Nico, and her own boyfriend Paxton at Capotain Diner and is about to leave until a news broadcast has caught her attention.
"I'm live here at Right Mart, and although the store has announced they will have substantial security upgrades for Thanksgiving, many residents feel, after last year's catastrophic events, the store shouldn't be open at all." Hank Morton reports.
"Thomas Wright, you and your entire family have blood on your hands, my wife and my daughter's blood." Mitch seeths out. "We open for Thanksgiving, and you only hire two security guards? One of whom runs away, and the other is trampled to death in the same stampede that killed my wife and could've killed my daughter. You and your entire family need to go to prison, not have another sale!"
With the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday coming up, as well as the news that Right Mart is going to be opened on Thanksgiving, just like last year, if Mitch wasn't at home, then he would be protesting outside of Right Mart to close doors on Thanksgiving.
Maggie had to physically swallow down the bile when she saw Thomas Wright trying to abide by the community. Whenever she sees her dad's former boss, it makes her physically sick to her stomach.
"Right Mart owner, Thomas Wright, has worked overtime since last year, to give back to the community, restoring Plymouth Park, and even going so far as to start the Wright Family Foundation, sending local kids to college, but many say it's not enough." Hank continues.
It now switches over to one of the trainings that Bobby is at, along with a picture of Bobby, with his moniker of 'Golden Arm'. Maggie is then suddenly realized that ever since the massacre, Bobby has just upped and left town.
He just vanished like a ghost. "Local pitching phenom Bobby di Stassi suffered a career-ending injury and has not been heard from since the accident."
It now switches over to Maggie's floor routine, which was one of the catalysts of winning Nationals for Plymouth East's gymnastics team, with her moniker 'Viper'. "In addition, gymnastics hopeful Maggie Collins, who is also the daughter of former Right Mart manager Mitch, suffered a catastrophic leg injury and has refused to comment on the matter." Hank reports.
A hand gently places itself onto Maggie's shoulder, causing her to jump and when she turned around, she found Silvio.
"Hey, you okay, colomba (dove)?" Silvio asks in concern. Maggie just nods as the two now left, with Silvio guiding Maggie out of the restaurant.
"You sure you want to meet up with the guys over at Capotain? I know how you feel about Lizzie." Silvio asks in concern. Because Silvio has to attend the Thanksgiving festival at Plymouth Park with his family, he couldn't meet up at the diner.
One might think that Silvio is third-wheeling them, but everyone in that friend group ensures that no one gets left out or puts them in a position where they feel awkward.
"It's okay, Sil. I know her section, and you know that Paxton and Nico will sit anywhere that is not in Lizzie's section. I practically have it memorized." Maggie reassures her friend.
"Sorry I'm late." the voice of Alyssa Ortiz speaks up as she gets to Silvio and Maggie. "Evan Fletcher decides to stare at my boobs before I left that Thanksgiving festival at Plymouth Park." she explains.
"Evan Fletcher does know that he is dating Gaby, right?" Silvio asks. "Along with him knowing that you've been dating Nico since Freshman year, right?" Maggie inputs in.
"Oh, he knows, He's just not smart." Alyssa bluntly responds as the three of them piled into Silvio's car, with Alyssa in the shotgun seat and Maggie in the back.
Silvio then got up to Capotain Diner. Alyssa and Maggie got out of the car and walked into the diner, catching the attention of the regulars who instantly recognize the blonde.
"Maggie!" a chorus of voices exclaim with joy.
"You still got that clout from the Cap, huh?" Alyssa nudges Maggie.
During her time working at Capotain Diner, Maggie had proven herself to be a wonderful waitress. All of the regulars love her and they admired the lively girl that Maggie had used to be. After Maggie had quit Capotain Diner, there was a shift in the atmosphere at the diner.
It wasn't bright and full of personality anymore.
And it became pretty apparent that Maggie Collins was that spark that has been brought at Capotain Diner.
"Over here." Maggie hears and she saw Paxton and Nico waving them over. Maggie and Paxton greeted each other with a peck on the lips as she sits down to join Paxton, sitting across from Alyssa and Nico.
"You see this place? It's like Thanksgiving threw up in here." Nico says to the girls. "Baby, you know how traditionalisitic values Plymouth has." Alyssa reminds him.
Maggie just kept her mouth shut, keeping her thoughts to herself until Paxton tapped her hand. "Mags, you want anything?" Paxton asks her.
Maggie then turns her attention towards the waiter, who might as well be relatively new, considering that Maggie has never seen him when she was working at the diner. "Just fries and an Oreo shake."
"You okay there, Collins? You spaced out there for a moment." Nico asks.
"If I were to tell you guys this, can you promise not to overreact?" Maggie questions. The group then listens intently on what Maggie has to say.
"I don't think that I might celebrate Thanksgiving this year." Maggie confesses.
"Jesus Christ, Maggie, are you trying to get a hit on us?" Nico asks, hissing at her. That earns him a slap on the shoulder from a disapproving Alyssa before turning to face her.
"Be careful what you say, Mags. I know that your uncle is the sheriff, but you know how gossip travels here. They hear that, and bam, you're the town pariah." Alyssa warns.
"Believe me, I'm already exiled from that community as is." Maggie tells Alyssa. "With the anniversary coming up, as well as dad leading the protests, we kind of…forgot about it."
The food then came back. Paxton lifts his drink up. "I propose a new tradition." he starts. "Keep in mind that I have already talked to Silvio and he is up for it." he interjects before giving out his idea.
"Extended halloween. Because dinner is normally early on Thanksgiving, we all meet up at Maggie's house and we have a horror movie marathon." Paxton proclaims.
Maggie gives Paxton a grateful smile as she leans her head on his shoulder. It would probably work out fine, either way because her dad would have to get up early for third shift on Black Friday anyways.
"I'm in." Alyssa immediately agrees. "So am I." Nico adds in.
The four all raise up their drinks and clink them together. While Nico, Paxton, and Alyssa were conversing, Maggie saw from the corner of her eye that she got a notification from Instagram.
Opening up the app, she saw that she, as well as five others, have been tagged on a picture of a table, which looks like it has been set for Thanksgiving.
The caption, which adds to Maggie's confusion: The table is set.
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