Kids in Love

The door swung open quickly, it was Frank's mother who answered. She was tall with blonde hair, it had been a long time since Alice had seen her last but she still looked well. She looked down at Alice, as if she thought she recognized her but quickly brushed it off, "Hello" she simply said.
"Hi," Alice spoke and coughed quickly to clear her throat, the shakiness in her voice was obvious, "I'm not sure if you remember me but my name's Alice. I'm Mrs. White's granddaughter. I knew your son when we were kids." she swallowed anxiously.
"Oh my God! Of course, Alice. Come here." she enveloped Alice in a warm hug, as she'd done often when she was a child. Mrs. Iero was always taken with Alice, Frank always thought it was because she wanted a daughter but never had one. "How are you? You're so grown up. Come in, come in."

Alice stepped into the air conditioned hallway, not a whole pile had changed. Her eyes darted around the room, taking it all in and looking for any sign of Frank she could find. Nothing. "I'm sorry Mrs. Iero but is Frank here by any chance?" she asked hopefully.
"Oh, I'm afraid not Alice, he's staying with his father this weekend but he'll be home tomorrow morning" Alice was both disappointed and relieved that Frank wasn't home, she was torn in half, she wanted to see him as soon as humanly possible and wanted to put off seeing him for as long as she could in equal measures. "That's okay, I'm staying here for the whole summer just like I used to so I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to get reacquainted with him later." she kept a positive attitude, "My Grandmother wanted me to bring these over" she passed the plate of scones to Mrs. Ireo.
"That so kind, tell her I said thank you, would you like to sit with me and have a scone and a cup of coffee?" she asked, already walking into the kitchen to boil some water.
"Well, I've just eaten but I'd love some coffee, thanks." Alice made herself comfortable at the kitchen table, it felt so familiar, nowhere near as foreign as she'd expected it to be. The kitchen walls were painted a duck egg blue, it was bright in comparison to the forest green that Alice remembered, it was nice.
"So Alice, how are you doing these days, you moved to California wasn't it? I always mean to invite Mrs. White over more often, I just can't keep track of time!" she chuckled and poured two cups of coffee, Alice picked hers up and blew on it gently.
"I've been pretty great, I'm eighteen now, nineteen next month, time's just going by so fast."
"Tell me about it dear, it's a real shock seeing you now. The last time I saw you you were about yay big," she held her hand out not far above the table top, "This is such a nice surprise, Frank'll be thrilled to see you" Alice took a shaky breath, 'dear go I hope so', she thought to herself.
"About that Mrs. Iero. This was a bit of an impromptu trip, we only made the plans two days ago. Anyway, could I be so bold as to ask a little favor of you?" she asked politely, Mrs. Iero nodded,
"Anything."
"Would you mind, if you're talking to Frank at all today, could you not tell him I'm here. I'd like to keep it as a surprise until I see him in person."
"Of course. He should be back tomorrow around ten in the morning. He drives himself back from his fathers, just keep an eye out for a blue van, y'know the one that used to be permanently parked in our garage?" Alice remembered it well, the engine didn't work anymore but Frank's dad had bought it to fix up, he must have done it then. Frank and Alice used to play card games in the back of the van, there were no seats, only a small bit of carpeting, so they'd bring in couch cushions from the house to sit on, which Frank's mother was never happy about. It, along with the tree-house next door, were their little hideaways. They loved the other guys but these little places were theirs and theirs only.
"Um, yeah, how'd you get that thing working. It seemed pretty beyond repair to me" Alice asked,
"Oh, there's no credit to me, that was all Frank. He turned sixteen and spent pretty much everyday fixing that god damn thing. Practically didn't see my son for a year!" she sighed, "He and his little band mates use it to bring their instruments places" she threw her eyes up to heaven.
"Band mates?" Alice sat up straight, her attention peaked,
"Oh yeah, Frank and few of his buddies, you knew them, they started this band a few years ago. I don't know a whole pile about it, not my area, but they use the garage to practice all the bloody time!" she rolled her eyes yet again.
"Could I maybe take a look?" Alice asked, trying not to appear eager, but this was something she felt silly for not anticipating. Mrs. Iero shook her head,
"I would love to show you dear but that room stays locked, Frank's got the only key. I think he doesn't trust me not to break something if I go in there!"
Alice giggled quietly, that reminded her of Frank's rule when he was playing with his toy cars. He would line them all up in a 'traffic jam' in his room and his parents weren't allowed to go inside if he was playing. He always said they'd move one and then the game would be ruined.

When it came time to leave Alice thanked Mrs. Iero again and they exchanged mobile numbers, 'Just in case' Mrs. Ireo said. Alice returned home, she was thrilled with everything she'd learnt over the afternoon and had it not been for the long filght and the early morning, she may not have even slept that night. The anticipation was overwhelming.

Notes

Wow guys, thank you for all of the votes and comments.
I really hope you guys are enjoying the story so far!
You excited for the reunion yet? Let me know.
And as always, feedback keeps me in check.
Thanks again. xxx