As her mind was busy thinking about all the things she could do when her friends got here, she had arrived in front of the largest restaurant in town, The Little Goose. It was a two story restaurant that catered to everybody; they had high dining up top and casual dining down on the main floor— The best of both worlds.

The owner, Redrick Greasefinger had built the Little Goose from the ground up and had turned it into what it was today, a delicious restaurant that everybody could enjoy. Jane didn't know how the old man let Eric work as a chef at his restaurant considering he was known for his strictness, that must just mean Eric was pretty talented at cooking.

She stared up at the brand new signboard that was hung overhead using chains. It read “The Little Goose.” and on both ends of the sign were images of little plump baby gooses. She walked through the large wooden doors— hoping they didn't actually cook baby gooses.

Smells of all sorts rushed straight at her and an immediate smile plastered her face, they were familiar smells that almost made her start drooling as she looked back at her old memories of coming here. Dozens of tables were splayed out but as the lunch rush was already over, it was generally empty compared to most other times.

With a long stride, Jane walked over to the counter and found herself a seat which looked right into the open kitchen that Redrick had designed. It was a nice way of demonstrating to their customers that they weren't afraid of showing how they cooked things, everything was out in the open for others to see. Cleanliness was a worry for some but if you were able to see how the chefs prepared and cooked all the foods yourself, you wouldn't worry as much.

She looked into the kitchen trying to find Eric but none of the figures looked familiar to her, it also didn't help that most of the workers had their backs or sides to her. Spending another minute or so trying to piece together any clue as to which one was Eric, she eventually gave up.

“What can I get you today?” A young waitress working the counter section who looked like she was still in school, approached her.

“Hmm, I just ate— Maybe a drink then? Got any cider?” Jane asked.

“Of course, we got plenty— Here's a drink menu.” The waitress handed her a simple drink menu filled mostly with beers, wines and ciders.

Jane flipped it open and browsed the various drinks, she had never been able to do this before because she wasn't old enough to purchase alcohol before. At the academy she had tried her fair share of alcohol but this would be her first time doing so back home.

Maybe she should go for a drink with her parents or Eric, now that everybody was allowed to drink.

“Can I get a grello cider?” She played it safe and got a nice simple drink. Grello were similar to apples but they were twice the size, always a vibrant green, and had a nice natural sweetness that outclassed apples. It was a popular fruit and drink because of its sweetness and size, and in the Redwood valley there were farmers who grew them which meant any grello’s found here were always fresh.

“Sure thing. That would be three bronze please.” Jane handed over three bronzes from her wallet she brought along from home to the waitress. The waitress took the coins and quickly poured out a grello cider for her from behind the counter..

Before she left to another customer, Jane asked her, “Hey, is there an Eric here? Eric Frier.”

“Huh? Oh ya, he's right at the back there. He's almost on break if you want to talk to him.” Jane thanked the waitress with a smile and sipped on her cider in the meantime.

She stared at the back of her old childhood friend wondering when he had become so tall and muscular. When she left Redwood, Eric was skinny, shorter than most his age and without a lick of muscle— but now he looked like a grown man.

Even from the counter Jane could see his vascular arms tightly holding a knife as he chopped ingredients while his large frame overshadowed the other chefs in the kitchen.

‘Looks like we both had a glow up.’ Jane thought. Back then she was also pretty short for her age and was only a little more muscular than Eric, but now she was over six feet tall and had a good amount of muscle mass.

After a few minutes passed, Eric seemed to be done with his current work. He wiped a bead of sweat off his brow and walked out of the kitchen into the main room through a side door. Short golden brown hair rested atop his head and worked its way down onto his face where a neatly trimmed beard lay. He had colorful orange eyes that scanned the counter looking for a chair to sit at, and after plopping down onto one of the chairs, he took a deep breath in and reached over the counter to pour himself a glass of water.

“Hey pretty boy, anybody sitting next to you?” A woman's voice sounded in his ear, sounding somewhat familiar to him.

“Hm?” Turning to his side, his jaw opened with a gasp. Without any delay he stood up and embraced the woman, his height slightly overshadowing her own.

“Jane!” His voice almost cracked as his emotions that had been in dormant rest for years rushed through him.

“Oof! Boy did your muscles grow.” Jane said, feeling the tight embrace of her childhood friend wrap around her.

Jane closed her eyes and the two stayed there for a minute, letting each other take in the warmth and emotions of the other in silence. It wasn't until Jane heard sniffling that she pulled back, still with one arm hooked around his shoulders.

“Tears? For me?” Jane smiled, eliciting a slight chuckle from Eric.

“You must be imagining things.” He wiped a tear running down his cheeks. “Did your time at the academy make you dumber?”

“Hoho, okay I see how it is. Just cause you got a little more handsome you think you can start making fun of me.” A pause, then the two laughed together.

“...I missed you too.” Jane also had to wipe tears away from her face.

The two sat down and stared at each other, they looked so different compared to four years ago but after a while they laughed once again.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“How the hell did you get so tall— and muscular— and a little more handsome than I'd like to admit.” Jane slapped his back.

“I could say the same, you're almost as tall as me and looking at your muscles, I can see you've been hard at work.” Eric complimented. “Maybe a little more pretty than I'd like to admit as well.”

“Calling me pretty for the first time since we've known each other, you're a changed man.” Jane said then reached up and touched his freshly trimmed beard. “I mean look, there's this weird hairy part on your face that I've never seen before.”

“Woah woah, watch the beard, I can't have you messing it up so soon.” Eric jokingly swatted away her hand. “But Indeed, I am a changed man who can admit when someone else is good looking.”

“Hmm, I might like the new Eric better— quick question, Is the beard meant to impress your girlfriend? Does she like it?”

“How do you know— ah your mom… Well yes, she does like my beard for the most part, and so do I.” Eric explained. “It's refined and makes me look manlier.”

“Okay big man, I can also admit that… it doesn't look too bad.” Jane took another swig of her cider and smiled. It was so freeing to be able around Eric once again, like a scratch she could never itch had disappeared. “Ma told me you had a girlfriend but for some reason she wouldn't tell me who it was, care to share?”

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you.” Eric smirked, a signal Jane knew that meant Eric actually had something good to say. When they were younger, it was easy to tell if something good or bad had happened to him depending on his facial expressions— he was very much an open book. She might have used this against him when they played poker against each other, but don't tell him that.

“Try me.” Jane chugged her cider in one last gulp and stared him straight in the eyes.

Eric purposely waited for a couple more seconds to increase the hype and spat out a name that Jane truly would have never guessed. “Danielle… Petal.”

“As in…” Jane's eyes were already long past surprised.

“Yep, the one and only Danielle Petal— daughter of Redwood's mayor, Peter Petal.” Eric crossed his arms and nodded, feeling good about himself.

Jane was left gobsmacked, her mouth couldn't close as she was too surprised to hear that name. Beside being the daughter of the mayor, Danielle Petal was the closest you could get to a celebrity in Redwood. Not only was she the nicest person Jane had ever met, she was a bubble of warmth and energy that seemed to energize folks around her.

Back in their school days, Danielle was the prettiest girl in school and was friendly to everyone and anything; bugs, squirrels, snotty nosed children— you name it. Jane did say that Eric was her only friend from Redwood but that would technically be a lie because Danielle was friends with everyone. It was hard not to be friends with someone who went out of their way to be so kind and warm to everyone around them.

That was why Jane couldn’t even reply. Her nerdy, bookworm of a childhood friend, who ignored everyone but Jane when they were in school, had managed to hit the jackpot and snagged the idol of Redwood.

Speak of the devil— or in this case the angel, things got even crazier for Jane as Danielle Petal herself walked into the Little Goose. She scanned the restaurant before her eyes rested on Eric and she briskly walked over to him.

She wore a low-key yellow dress that matched with her vibrant blonde hair and complimented her gorgeous emerald green eyes. She wore a matching green amulet around her neck and had a pair of twin silver bracelets resting around her wrists.

Sitting down next to the slightly surprised Eric, Danielle smiled at him before she looked past him and saw Jane. Her eyes shot open and she rushed to give Jane a massive embrace— or as massive as her tiny frame could give.

“Jane! I knew I'd find both of you here.” She said and let go of Jane with a beaming smile.

“There’s so much to talk about— oopsie that's not why I'm here though!” She turned to Eric. “I'm sorry, I won't be able to make date night tonight!”

“Oh, what's up? Did something happen?” He asked.

“Yep, Jane came back home.”

“Huh? Why does that matter?” Jane looked bewildered.

“Good news— well maybe bad news if you don't like it. It's tradition in Redwood that we hold a town wide celebration when a classholder from Redwood graduates and comes back home. You might've not known about it since it only ever happens every few decades, but since my father knows your back, the planning has begun and I'm supposed to help him out.” Danielle explained.

“Wait wait wait, A town wide celebration? For me!?” Jane pointed to herself, starting to freak out just a little. “Like a celebration similar to the one they held when I left Redwood?”

“Mhm, but even bigger this time!” Danielle gestured with her hands to try and showcase how much bigger it was. “The one before was small and quickly planned, but now that you're back and a certified classholder— I can’t even imagine what my father has planned for this event.”

“Oh boy…”

“Yep! It's gonna be so fun now that you're back!” She smiled.

“This sucks…” Jane burrowed her face in her hands but when she heard Eric start laughing loudly, she raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? What are you laughing at exactly?” She grabbed his arm tightly while questioning him.

“Nothing nothing— just the fact that the wild tomboy of Redwood, who used to show up to class covered in mud, is about to be celebrated by the whole town— ouch don't pinch me!”

Jane let go of his bicep which she had pinched and replied, “I'll have you know that I'm— firstly, a different person, and that I graduated with the third highest grades at the academy.”

“I doubt the first half— okay I'm sorry!” Eric grinned while apologizing seeing Jane threatened to pinch him again. Danielle smiled seeing them “argue” with each other, it reminded her of her parents bickering at one another.

“So, when's the celebration?” Jane asked, if it was gonna to happen regardless then she might as well embrace it and prepare herself.

“Not sure yet. I was gonna come visit you and explain the whole ordeal after we had planned everything, and catch up with you at the same time, but I thought I might run into you earlier here. Now that I'm thinking about it, my father would also rather explain it himself than have me do it— but regardless we need to hang out sometime!”

“Ya im pretty much free whenever so just come visit me— Oh, do you know where I live?”

“Of course, I know where all my friends live!” Danielle then kissed Eric on the cheek and said, “I gotta get back soon or fathers gonna get impatient, you guys should take the evening to properly catch up since we don't have a date night tonight.”

“Okay, thanks for everything Danielle!” Jane sincerely thanked her as she jogged out of the restaurant. Once she was gone, Jane eyed Eric with a smirk.

“What's that look for?”

“Nothing— just thinking about how you hit the gold mine.”

“Are you sure it wasn't her hitting the gold mine instead?”

The two talked briefly for the next few minutes before Eric said he had to get back to work lest Redrick got angry with him. He said he would meet her at her place in three hours from now when he was done with work.

That worked for Jane. She could spend the next three hours reminiscing as she explored the town, maybe buy a thing or two with her leftover allowance money she got from the academy. She waved one last time to Eric who began to cook in the kitchen and headed into town.

‘Where to first? Maybe Greta’s bakery?’ Jane didn't want to think about too much and headed out, going wherever she ended up.