“I’m leaving,” was the only goodbye Frankie offered before launching herself over the balcony’s wood railing from their second-floor apartment.

“Take the sta-” Rachel yelled as Frankie disappeared. Rachel ran to the terrace to ensure she hadn’t misjudged the landing. “You are going to hurt yourself doing that one of these days,” she yelled after her daughter. Frankie rolled her eyes and got in the front seat of Faith’s bus.

“Mom hates it when I do that,” Frankie smirked as she fastened her seatbelt.

“So why don’t you just take the stairs like a normal person?” Faith inquired.

“This way is quicker.”

“You’re crazy, Chickadee.”

“I’m not crazy; you’re just afraid of heights.”

“No, I'm Not. I’d be afraid of not clearing that row of bushes along the sidewalk!” Faith pointed at the hedge surrounding the building.

“You just have to know what you are doing,” Frankie assured her friend.

“I’ll stick with the stairs, thank you,” Faith backed out of the parking spot and headed toward town.

“I wish you weren’t going to your grandparents for Thanksgiving tomorrow,” Frankie complained as they cruised down Main Street and turned the heat up. “It is going to be so boring this weekend without you. You are going to Charlotte, and Steve is skiing in West Virginia. I will be stuck here for four days with mom!”

“I’m sorry, SweetPea,” Faith stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “I wish you could come with us. Are you sure your mom won’t let you?”

“I already asked twice. She is deadset against it.”

“I don’t understand, though,” Faith pouted. “You have always gone with me to my grandparents for Thanksgiving. What’s her deal?”

“She wants to start making Thanksgiving traditions this year. She is acting all weird. She doesn’t even like turkey.” Frankie slumped in the passenger’s seat, “We’ll probably have Kentucky Fried Chicken or Taco Bell for dinner. You know, “traditional” Thanksgiving cuisine,” she made air quotes when she said it, “Come to think of it, I don’t remember her cooking a turkey my entire life.”

“Should be an interesting meal,” Faith quipped.

“Hopefully, she doesn’t try to cook it in the microwave! She isn’t exactly Betty Crocker, you know.” They laughed at Frankie’s joke. She could imagine her mom forcing a turkey inside their tiny microwave, barely large enough to reheat a cup of coffee.

“Hey, do you mind stopping by Gamer’s World so I can see Hunter?” Faith shot Frankie her best puppy dog eyes as she asked, “I won’t get to see him before I leave tonight. He has to close the store.”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Frankie wasn’t a video gamer like Faith and Hunter were, but she wouldn’t deny her best friend a goodbye kiss from her boyfriend.

The girls entered the video gaming store, searching for Hunter amid the towers of video screens displaying the newest games available. Players ranging in ages from middle schoolers to senior citizens stood at the monitors, transfixed on the games. Some were playing the demo games while others stood and watched. Frankie did not understand her friends' fascination with these games; they seemed senseless. Frankie turned to say something to Faith but found her staring at a screen displaying the latest version of Destiny. Frankie shook her head and went to find Hunter on her own.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She heard Hunter before she saw him. His voice was animated as he described the number of kills he had in Call of Duty. Frankie rolled her eyes. Why anyone would want to “play” war while real wars were happening worldwide was beyond her.

“Hey, Hunter,” she said and tapped him on the shoulder. “Faith is over ther-” she stopped suddenly. Was Hunter talking to Mr. Winters about video games? What the crap?

“Oh hey, Frankie,” he smiled, I will be with you when I finish here with Michael.”

“Michael?” her eyes grew wide, “Mr. Winters, you are a gamer?”

“I’m not that old yet, Frankie,” he chuckled.

Hunter darted his eyes between the two of them. “You two know each other?” he was clearly confused.

“He’s my English teacher,” Frankie glared at Hunter, hoping he wouldn’t make the connection and blurt out the secret. Faith had undoubtedly told him about the situation and that Mr. Winters was clueless about who she was.

“Oh, cool,” Hunter said and was either completely oblivious to the situation or an outstanding actor.

“Hi, Babe,” Faith bounced around the corner but came up short when she saw the group before her. “Oh, uhm. Hi Mr. Winters,”

“Hi, Faith,” his smile was genuine. “I hadn’t realized how much of a small town Holly Springs is. I rarely ran into any of my students when I taught in Tulsa.” Frankie felt a cold chill run down her spine at the mention of Tulsa and began twisting a strand of hair between her fingers while staring at the linoleum tiles on the floor.

“Oh, you are from Tulsa,” Faith raised an eyebrow, “Yet you know Frankie’s mom. She is from Texas, not Oklahoma…” Frankie elbowed her in the ribs.

“I’d better get going,” Mr. Winters cleared his throat, “Thanks for the Call of Duty tips, Hunter. I’ll see you girls on Monday. Have a happy Thanksgiving.” he hurried past the trio before they could respond.

“Now that’s a guilty conscious if I ever saw one!” Faith wiggled her eyebrows. Frankie snorted in response.

“What are you two talking about?” Hunter’s eyebrows squished together.

“Nothing,” Frankie said in a sharp tone. “I’ll be waiting in Pickle. See you later, Hunter.” she turned and headed toward the front of the store.

“What’s wrong with her?” Hunter asked as she retreated. She was through the front entrance before she heard Faith’s reply.

☙☙☙

The girls sat at their usual table near the windows that overlooked Main Street at Tasteful Beans. “We are here so much. We should own stock by now,” Frankie joked.

“No kidding!” Faith sipped from her steaming chai tea latte and glanced around the newly renovated cafe. “I love how they have hung fairy lights all over the windows and the plant terrariums on each table. They have brought the outdoors inside the coffee shop.”

“You sound like a host on one of the home improvement shows on HGTV,” Frankie giggled but couldn’t agree more with Faith’s statement. “I wonder if plants grow better to the smell of coffee?” A few moments of silence allowed the girls to ponder the question and enjoy their drinks.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Faith’s sudden outburst shattered the tranquility surrounding the table, “I have something for you!” she bounced in her seat as she dug through the messenger bag in her lap. “Look what I got this morning!”

Faith’s sudden outburst startled Frankie, and she jumped, knocking over the remaining contents of her mug. Hot brown liquid flooded across the table, headed straight for the package Faith had placed on the table. “Oh, no!” Frankie screamed, and launched from her seat, sending it crashing to the floor. All the commotion caused every head in the shop to turn and look in their direction. Quickly, she tore a was of napkins from the dispenser to sop up the caffeinated torrent rushing towards the opposite side of the table. The cheap napkins did little to stop the flow. “These sure aren’t the ‘quicker, picker, uppers,’ are they?” she quipped as she cleaned the mess. Faith, as usual, sat and laughed at her friend’s mishap.

“This was your fault!” Frankie demanded. “You scared me to death!”

“Sorry,” Faith replied in a most insincere tone. Frankie righted her chair and sat back down. The table was sticky from the sugar, so she scooted to the other side of the table that wasn’t icky.

“So, what did you get me?” Frankie leaned in closer and rubbed her hands together rapidly.

“Tada!” Faith said with a dramatic flair and placed a plain cardboard box, about the size of a Big Mac container, in front of Frankie.

“Okay,” She raised an eyebrow, “What am I supposed to do with a plain box?”

“Frankie, I sware!” Her friend’s lack of understanding exasperated Faith. “It’s the ‘Pop Test,’” she said in air quotes.

Frankie’s eyes grew wide as comprehension settled over her. “It’s here already? That was fast.”

“I know, right? The representative said three to four weeks, but it got here in a week!” she squealed and then lowered her voice to a conspiratory tone, “Spend the weekend reading the directions and thinking of ways to get his ‘sample’ (again with the air quotes). When I get back on Sunday, we will formulate a plan.” she whispered loudly and cocked an eyebrow. “Operation ‘Whose Your Daddy’ is underway and cackled like the Wicked Witch of the West.

Frankie smiled meekly at her friend. Now that the test had arrived, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. Part of her wanted to disprove her mother’s story, but part of her secretly liked the idea of possibly having a father around, even if he was clueless about the situation.

Thirty minutes later, the friends parted ways. Frankie decided to walk back to the apartment; she needed time to think. Faith drove off in one direction, and Frankie set off in the other. She was armed with the ammunition that would change her life forever, one way or another.