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chapter thirteen
The next morning, Jessie was up early. She woke up at about 8:00 and took a shower. Alex was still sleeping. She took her time getting ready. She wasn’t supposed to meet them until 12:00, but when she looked down at her watch, when she was finally finished, she realized it was 11:30.She called goodbye to Alex and left. On the drive to the restaurant, she started for the first time, to be a little bit nervous. What would it be like? She hadn’t seen her family in five years! Jessica sighed deeply as she pulled into the parking lot. When she walked in, she noticed that Zac was already there. Luckily, he was the only one. She walked towards the table and plopped down right next to her.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” she said, only a little nervous. “What time is it?” she asked hurriedly.
“11:55. Why?”
“No reason,” she said with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
“You’re nervous!” Zac exclaimed. She glared at him.
“Not really nervous,” she said.
“Still! You’re nervous!” He leaned over and whispered something in her ear. She started laughing as Isaac and Taylor entered the room.
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Isaac and Taylor walked into the large room that was accommodated by chairs and tables, and dotted by a few employee stations. Taylor surveyed the area, and found the two blond heads a few tables away.
“Look,” he said, pointing. Isaac turned his head.
“Zac wasn’t lying,” Taylor said. They stood there for a moment, just staring, not saying a word. Jessica and Zac were talking and laughing like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. But after all, they had had lunch together the day before.
“Well are we gonna stand here all day?” Isaac asked finally.
“Nope,” Taylor answered. “C’mon, let’s go.” The two walked over to the table. Jessica and Zac were still talking, and hadn’t even noticed Taylor and Isaac.
“…oh and…”
“…yeah, but…”
“Hi,” Taylor said, trying not to smile. It didn’t work. The bright, happy smile broke through. The two heads broke apart and turned. The first thing both Isaac and Taylor noticed about Jessica was that she looked exactly the same. There was the same spark in her eyes and her long hair still hung down her back.
“Hey,” Zac said. Jessica simply stared back at the two, eyes sparkling.
“Hi,” she said quietly, almost shyly, after a long moment. Not minutes after Isaac and Taylor had sat down, the rest of the Hanson clan was visible through the door. Zac, Jessica, Isaac and Taylor turned toward the door and watched the family with smiles and laughs. After a few minutes, their noise caught Zoë’s attention. She smiled and tapped Mrs. Hanson on the shoulder. She turned around annoyed, because she was trying to find out if anyone else was there. Zoë pointed to the small group, holding back a laugh. Mrs. Hanson turned back to the hostess and told her something, then five of them, Mr. And Mrs. Hanson, Avery, Mackenzie, and Avery. Jessica took a deep breath as they neared. This wasn’t going to be easy. But before they could get to the table, Jess saw another person a few tables away, smiling their head off at her. It was Alex.