Melodies of the Heart

Chapter Thirteen

Kassidy

For the first time since her friends had returned home for the summer, Kassidy was finally on her way to do something with them. She'd meant to arrange a girls' night, maybe dinner or a trip to the movies or something when they got back, but Levi had shown up at the exact same time and her world had been sent spinning on its head.

Kassidy also knew she was in for some grief over that. They'd been back for two weeks and every time they'd gone to do something as a group, she had always had to bow out.

Tonight would be different. Kassidy pulled on a pair of black leggings to go with the heather grey shirt she got at Maeve's clothing shop up the street. It cost a bit more than the similar stuff that ShopMart sold, but Kassidy was happy to support one of their Main Street neighbors.

Her parents were relieved that she was going out with the girls for once, though they didn't say anything more than that. She knew they wanted to add, "Instead of that rock star," but at least they kept that part to themselves.

It had been Kassidy's choice to head to The Black Sheep, a restaurant that had been part of town since before any of them had been born. After nine it turned into a bar, but they had a few hours before that would happen and they served great food all night long.

"Hey," Addison called to her when Kassidy walked into the restaurant. Her friends were already there and Kassidy slid into their booth to join them.

"What's up?" Kassidy asked, excited for a night of girlish gossip and finally getting to catch up with her friends.

"I found out what is going in the vacant lot on Main, the one near ShopMart," Addison told them.

"Oh?" Kassidy asked.

"Yeah, apparently we're getting a Great Harvest House," she told them.

"You mean the chain?" Gillian groaned. "That is the exact opposite of what we need around here."

For the first time that summer, Kassidy agreed with her. She hadn't always seen eye to eye with Gillian, and she'd only found herself more put off by her since she'd gotten home from college. Gillian was grumpier than usual, but she thought better than to call her on it.

"I know, isn't that awful?" Addison agreed. "This was like, the last place in town that was doing well and that chain will probably kill it."

"That's bullshit," Gillian snapped, and everyone paused to look at her. "What?" she snapped again.

"Um, that's just a bit excessive," Kayla said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"So is all this chain stuff coming to Pinewood Grove and ruining a great town," Gillian shot back. "You know what? I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine," everyone agreed, but Kassidy was left wondering what Gillian was so grumpy about. Her dad was an optometrist, the only one in town, and their family did well enough that her mother hadn't worked a day in her life. She'd never complained about the chains before, which only made Kassidy more worried for her.

"Tell me about college," Kassidy said, turning the topic to something more enjoyable. "What was your junior year like?"

"Oh, not bad," Addison said with a shrug. It certainly wasn't the kind of answer that Kassidy was expecting.

"Just not bad?" Gillian asked, though she didn't look that concerned or interested.

"I don't know," Addison mumbled. "School is fine, my grades are good, but it's not really what I want to do. Three years studying biology have only made me realise what I really want to do."