Cass-ette Recollections

Silence reigned in the kitchen as the clocks ticked. Cecelia watched the second hand on the wall clock intently. Sitting at the kitchen table, her husband checked his wristwatch every minute or so. Seated across from Red, Zaylie offered reassuring smiles. Nate paced impatiently in a circle while glaring at the microwave clock. The Bank sisters preferred to stare at their phones while frequently looking up to check Lacey for a sign, while the older redhead leaned toward the basement door, listening for any sound. Only Barney appeared relaxed.

“I can’t believe you made Trey go. It might be dangerous!” Tenille exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

“We asked you first,” Serinda pointed out. “Trey seemed fine with going.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know any better!” Tenille responded in a huff.

“Don’t look at me. I already did my part by going into the men’s room last night,” Sanna reminded the others.

However, her grandparents hadn’t heard about that mission. Red’s head snapped around. Before he could demand to know why his youngest granddaughter entered a men’s bathroom at the charity ball, CeCe asked the question first.

“Well, duh, somebody had to give the phone to Finn,” Sanna replied, offering a what’s-the-big-deal expression. “Serinda refused while Polly pitched a fit at the idea.”

"Don't forget I came inside a couple of steps to check on your progress," Serinda stressed. "None of the guys would go."

Noticing the look the sixteen-year-old sent him, Nate halted his pacing.

"I already explained why I couldn't go inside!"

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, something about your family’s possible warrants. Well, our **** prank might have actual warrants out for us soon,” Sanna said, brushing off the risk.

“Now, don’t think like that. Brandy took care of Crystal’s threats,” CeCe reassured her granddaughters, even if she wasn’t necessarily assured herself. She glanced over her shoulder at her husband in concern.

“Sugar, we all pointed out that your family doesn’t have warrants out for them. The twins haven’t been in Honey Hollow in a few years,” Zaylie refreshed Nate’s memory.

“Now, hold on. Tinsley might have a few—” Red began to argue before his wife’s glare shut him up.

“I can’t risk getting the cops called on me. I already got tangled up with gangsters last night,” Nate argued.

Lacey chuckled out loud.

“Finn hiding in the bathroom was before we went to help Ramsey at the Penalty Pub,” Barney pointed out.

Lacey’s single chuckle turned into a series of laughs.

“I… I don’t know! I have enemies all over town, including her!” Nate squealed, jabbing his finger at Zaylie before returning to Barney. “You could’ve helped more, you know.”

“I was respecting Finn’s wishes,” the photographer stated.

Nate turned to glower as Lacey’s laughs morphed into a giggle fit.

“You think it’s funny, muffin? Where were you when we tried to help Finn? Oh, right, you attacked that dancer, which was why he was hiding in the bathroom.”

“Nate, her nickname is a cupcake, not a muffin,” Tenille scolded, shaking her head at her older cousin.

“Be nice, Nathan. Lacey wasn’t the only one involved in the fight,” CeCe protested, smiling at one of the brawl's main instigators.

“Although we missed the best part,” Red complained grumpily.

“Shhh! I hear something,” Sanna alerted the room.

The door opened just enough for little Trey to slip through before he quietly shut it behind him. Everything watched with bated breath when the boy turned around to face them.

“Well?” Tenille questioned, her annoyance flashing to concern.

“Is Peyton alive?” Nate asked.

Trey raised his left hand to give a thumbs up.

“Alive? Ugh,” Lacey mumbled, shaking her head at Nate’s idiotic question.

“Have they made up?” CeCe inquired.

Trey raised his right hand to match his left and gave another thumbs up.

“Yay!” Sanna and Serinda joyously cheered.

Immediately, the two gingers scrambled toward the basement door. Their grandmother told them to wait, but after looking back at her and then at each other, the two teenagers yanked open the basement door. Their hurried footsteps echoed into the kitchen.

Finally able to do something, Nate moved forward while scooping up Trey. He threw his youngest cousin over his shoulder to carry down the basement stairs. Despite Tenille’s intentions to stay upstairs, Lacey and Zaylie grabbed each of her hands to pull her downstairs.

Only Barney didn’t rush downstairs. Sensing he didn’t plan to, CeCe asked if he was going home.

“Everything should be back to normal until the next blowup. Finn’s always the one who figures out how to fix their trio. I’m not needed any longer,” Barney replied, walking over to pick up some of the things he left earlier in the day.

CeCe’s relief at the current fight ending turned into a frown at Barney’s attitude. Glancing over at her husband, they shared an unspoken conversation. The Banks wouldn’t let the young man downplay his essential role yet again.

“Don’t dismiss how important you are, Barney Barrie,” CeCe declared sternly. “And never act like you’re a fourth wheel. Finn has known those girls since they were babies, but kindergarten isn’t much older. You’ve been his closest male friend since almost day one. Don’t discount that.”

“Every boy needs a close guy friend. You and Finn have always had each other’s backs,” Red added.

“Lana and Peyton get all the credit for saving Finn after Cassie died. Sure, they pulled him back out of his shell, but you didn’t just sit around and not help. Those two girls mean the world to him, but they also have broken his heart, meddled as good and bad gatekeepers when it comes to girls, and generally driven him nuts. But during all those ups and downs, Finn had you to give him advice or an ear to vent to. Never forget how much that matters,” CeCe listed with strong emotion.

“You’ve been that kid’s rock, and we can never thank you enough,” Red declared, placing his hands on Barney’s shoulders before offering his hand for a firm handshake.

“Uh, I wasn’t complaining. I’m just tired from last night,” Barney revealed sheepishly. “I’m fine being off to the side and taking their pictures or videos. I don’t want the attention.”

Barney’s revelation only furthered CeCe’s glowing view of him. Nudging her husband out of the way, she threw her hands around her grandson’s loyal friend for a motherly hug filled with tears.

“I’ll never forget how excited Cassie was on Finn’s first day of kindergarten that he made a friend who wasn’t a family friend,” CeCe recalled.

Sanna and Serinda barreled down the stairs, skipping one or two stairs as they hurriedly hopped to their destination. Once at the bottom, they spotted the three BFFs sitting on the large L-shaped sofa. Finn sat directly in the middle with Peyton on his left-hand side and Lana on his right. The formerly feuding friends held hands across Finn’s lap as their eyes glistened.

“We wanna watch!” Sanna yelled.

“Can we? Please?!” Serinda added.

“Sure. Have a seat,” Finn replied.

However, rather than sitting on the couch, the Bank sisters settled onto the floor in front of their cousin—Serinda, on Lana’s side, with Sanna on Peyton’s. Only a few seconds later, Nate bounded down. He immediately flipped Trey around so the little boy appeared to be flying.

“Here comes Super Trey!”

Giggling, Trey gestured to Lana’s side of the couch when asked by his older cousin where he wanted to sit. Nate agreed, sitting beside his Lanana Banana while placing Trey on his other side. Tenille managed to release herself from Lacey and Zaylie. Spotting Peyton patting the free spot next to her, Tenny hopped onto the cushion. Zaylie didn’t need to decide where to sit as Trey held his arms out. Finally, Lacey plopped down next to Tenille.

“This one is almost over,” Finn announced, meaning the video playing.

On the screen, a ten-year-old Peyton opened a First-Aid kit while crouching down in front of Barney. The light-brown-haired boy gritted his teeth in pain while Peyton examined his bloody knee. The blonde reassured him it would be okay; he only skinned his knee.

“Way to go, Stratton,” a voice could be heard off-screen.

“Shut the hell up, Zuccaro! I didn’t mean to push Barney. I was aiming for you!” Lana screeched with worried tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Why are you filming this?" Stephanie's voice could be heard asking close to the camcorder.

“It will be great footage to show when Pey graduates from medical school,” Finn answered. “Plus, Barney’s already her most frequent patient. My mom took a few pictures of Pey treating him over the years.”

“Just as long as Barn doesn’t end up as one of her medical school cadavers,” Poppy cracked.

She immediately regretted the joke as Barney’s head swung around with wide eyes at the suggestion. Feeling guilty, Poppy moved into the picture to hold Barney’s hand while he winced in pain from Peyton applying ointment to his bloody knee.

“Don’t worry, Barney. If anyone can patch you up, it’s Peyton,” Reece called over.

“I-Is he going to be o-okay?” Lana whimpered upon seeing a spurt of blood.

“Barney’s a pro. Right, buddy? You got this,” Peyton said, winking at her patient. “If not, you can hold this scar over Lan for years.”

Back in the basement, Nate nudged Lana while complaining to Peyton.

“I thought I was your favorite patient growing up?”

“You were never my patient,” Peyton shot back, causing Nate to cover his heart.

“Of course, I can’t be my beloved’s patient. I mean too much to you to be merely insurance paperwork.”

Peyton didn’t care for Lacey’s laughter. So she whispered to Tenille to pinch the petite redhead.

“Oww! The hell, Tenny?”

“Do you still have the scar, Barn? Hey, where did Barney go?” Sanna questioned.

“He didn’t follow us down,” Lacey realized.

“Barn went home,” Finn stated.

“How do you know that? I never heard him say anything. Did he message you?” Serinda queried.

“I just know Barney,” Finn said, standing up. Walking around his two cousins, he went over to the TV. Popping the old video cassette out, he put in another one. “You guys are going to love this one.”

---

Thirteen Years Ago

“Hold on…I think I got it…Yep, it’s on,” Barley Barrie announced, turning the camcorder around to face his wife.

“Don’t you think it’s finally time to buy a new one?” Rikki Barrie asked, sighing at her husband’s refusal to get rid of the old machine.

“Yeah, I think it’s past time to enter the digital age, Bar,” Ned Toone teased.

“Never. This thing will capture both kids’ high school and college graduations,” Barley vowed before switching to his narrator's voice. “Welcome everyone to Barney’s eighth birthday party at Funland!”

“Yay!” came a round of cheers and clapping led by several parents in attendance to help chaperone the birthday party.

“Say hello to everyone, Barney. Barn? Hey, where did the birthday boy go now?” Barley asked, frustration already in his voice.

“Leave him be, honey. You know Barn doesn’t like attention. Focus on his friends and classmates,” Rikki instructed her husband.

A brunette with dark-brown hair and bright blue eyes bounced over to face the camera lens. With a wave to the eventual watchers, she introduced herself.

“Hello, I’m Lilith Arness. I sit in the seat in front of Barney in Mrs. Go–”

“Out of the way, Arness. Your family are second-fiddle lawyers. Mine are the best,” an arrogant ginger said, pushing Lilith out of the way. “Hi! I’m Lana–”

“Lana, apologize to Lilith right this second!”

“But Mom!” Lana whined. “You’re ruining my moment!”

“Apologize, or you get a timeout,” Rachel Stratton ordered.

“Fine. Sorry, Lily,” Lana mumbled before perking up again. “Hi, everybody. I’m Lana Stratton, and this is my best friend, Finn Singer. And this is my other best friend, Peyton Tarver.” Pulling her two best friends into the frame, Lana threw her arms around their shoulders.

“And this is my super-good friend, Thea Olsen,” Peyton announced, tugging another brunette over.

The camera caught Lana’s scowl.

“Hey, where did everybody else go?” Barley asked.

“It’s Funland, honey. Where do you think they went? You’ll have to go search for them,” Rikki replied.

“She definitely doesn’t take after you. Was Clive a wild child?” Bridget asked with a laugh. She was crammed into a booth with three of her oldest friends in the restaurant section of Funland.

“Hold up! Rach can get wild. We’ve all seen it,” Tinsley reminded her table of friends.

“Yeah, when she’s drunk,” Bridget scoffed.

“I do think Lacey takes after Rachel far more,” Cassandra added. “But I’ll know more once she’s one of my students next year.”

“What I do know is that keeping Tinny in line helped prepare me for Lana,” Rachel proclaimed, shooting the petite brunette a glare.

“Oh, I didn’t know Sherry Stackhouse started working here,” Bridget exclaimed, waving her hand while calling the seventeen-year-old’s name.

“Who’s that again?” Rachel inquired, frowning as the name sounded familiar.

“She’s part of Brandy’s group. Well, more like friends with Fawn and Darla,” Cassie supplied. “I assume that Darla got her the job.”

It was an easy assumption as the Dawkins family owned Funland and Pinheads Bowling Alley. Based on the Day and Fallon families' friendships with the Dawkins, the two businesses tended to be where Bridget, Tinny, and Cassie threw their children’s birthday parties. Other options dwindled over the years due to bans after their children’s behavior.

“Sherry, we’re going to need some drinks. No, no, we want the good kind,” Tinny said, all business as soon as the teenager came over.

“She means liquor,” Rachel clarified.

“Uh, I’m not allowed to serve those. I’ll need to get someone,” Sherry admitted.

“Do you really need them?” Cassie challenged with a sigh.

"Yes!" Tinny and Bridget replied jointly.

Rachel's head went back and forth in an I guess gesture.

Over in the arcade section, an eight-year-old with black hair attracted a crowd of classmates as he put on a show while playing Tombstone Showdown. A two-player Old Western-style shooter, the game allowed Laredo Olmstead to live up to his name by mowing down his competition.

“Tough luck, Chuckie. The Laredo Kid strikes again. Maybe you’ll get lucky someday. Who’s my next victim?” Laredo questioned, eliciting a few oohs and ahhs from several little girls by spinning the corded gun around his finger two times.

“You’re the lucky one,” a new challenger said, stepping forward.

“Ooh, I can’t wait to take down Roddy Taft,” Laredo stated, cracking his small knuckles.

Not very far away, Lana dragged Finn toward a sit-down racing game.

“C’mon, Finn, I want to play Speed Demon! Pey can have a turn after we’re done.”

“That’s okay. Thea and I are going to play a two-player game over there,” Peyton replied.

“We totally have to play Bee Brothers, Pey!” Thea insisted, causing Finn to chuckle and Lana to grimace.

“You sit first. I wanna sit on your lap,” Lana commanded loudly while glaring in the other girls’ direction.

Around the corner, Peyton’s five-year-old brother shot a mini-basketball toward the hoop. The ball hit the rim and barely rolled in, causing the red scoreboard to flash with another point.

“No, you’re shooting wrong, Sean. You need to–”

“I know how to play Jumper Jam, London,” Sean told Laredo’s younger sister, a fellow five-year-old. The girl he barely knew had spent the past several minutes criticizing each of his shots.

“Have you looked at your score? I don’t think you do. Here, give me that,” the black-haired girl demanded.

Sean sighed before London airballed her shot.

“I thought you were a basketball expert,” Sean remarked sarcastically.

“I never said that. I don’t even like basketball,” London replied, clanking another shot high off the backboard so that it bounced like a boomerang at Sean. He managed to duck at the last second.

“C’mon, Sean. Play skee-ball with me,” Lacey said, grabbing Sean’s hand and tugging him over to the row of games about ten feet away.

“Uh, skee-ball isn’t for two people,” Sean pointed out.

“I know that,” Lacey giggled. “You can play on the one next to me and get away from London.”

“Oh, uh, thanks, Lace,” Sean responded, matching her grin.

“Don’t be. I’m going to kill you and win that stuffed bear I showed you in the prize area,” Lacey vowed, her smile turning mischievous.

Barney resurfaced momentarily, allowing his father to introduce the birthday boy to the camera’s audience. However, he quickly slipped away when a group of screaming kids distracted Barley. Weaving around various games, Barney stopped near a group of claw machines because of a curious sight.

“Uh, what are you doing, Destiny?” Barney asked the quirky girl who sat behind him in class.

“She says she’s giving me spiritual guidance to get the toy I want,” Wendy Crane replied instead. “It hasn’t worked so far.”

Wendy stood at the claw machine while Destiny Bright stood behind her, facing the opposite direction.

“Shhh! I’m attempting to astroproject into the machine, but the building has too much chaotic energy,” Destiny explained, never opening her eyes.

Slipping away from his odd classmate, Barney overheard several classmates complaining about being turned back from the rock climbing wall.

“Too young? I’m almost nine!”

With his son missing again, Mr. Barrie followed loud cheers to find Micah Taft and London cheering on Sean. He had an extended string of tickets sticking out of the skee-ball game. Next to him, Lacey had a much smaller amount.

“Having fun, kids?”

“We sure are, Mr. Barrie,” Sean said, rolling the ball into the toughest hole again.

“No, we are not!” Lacey shrieked as her ball rattled into the worst spot it could.

Throwing her arms up in frustration, the little redhead sobbed before stomping away, leaving her tickets behind.

Back in the restaurant area, Rachel gasped at Bridget’s story.

“Your mom caught Brandy doing that with a boy?”

“Don’t act so shocked, Rach—Brandy’s seventeen. Bee did way worse at a much younger age,” Tinny pointed out.

“I did not!”

“Bitch, please. I know you did because I was right beside you doing the same stuff,” Tinny reminded, which caused Cassie to nod before cradling her head.

“Are you ladies drinking at my kid’s party?” Rikki asked, rushing over. “Give me a sip.”

“See? I told you these were necessary,” Tinny told Cassie.

“Oh, I needed that,” Rikki said, wiping her mouth after a long sip. “Tinsley, you better come.”

“Oh, come on! Already? Can’t Ned handle the twins for this long?” the petite brunette grumbled, standing up before taking a long gulp of her drink. “They better not have hijacked the zip line. I already told them that three-year-olds are not allowed to use it.”

“Um, no. It’s not Natalie and Noelle; it’s Nate,” Rikki explained, causing Bridget and Cassie to get up too. Rachel offered to stay behind to watch their things.

“Hopefully, he hasn’t decked anyone yet,” Tinny muttered.

Fortunately, Nate hadn’t punched anyone yet. Instead, the moms spotted him in a standoff with Roderick Taft, with Finn attempting to play peacemaker.

“It’s cool, Nate. Laredo is fine,” Finn said.

“No, it’s not cool. He cheated by elbowing Laredo. I saw it.”

“I didn’t cheat. I played smart,” the blond-haired boy argued with a smirk.

“Drop that grin, or I’ll make it bleed,” Nate threatened.

“Whoa! You don’t need to overact,” Finn argued.

“Overact? I don’t like you,” Nate told Roddy. “You’re two-faced.”

“See that? Who says my kid doesn’t learn in school?” Tinny said to Cassie.

“I’m two-faced?”

“Yeah, like the Batman bad guy,” Nate replied to Roddy’s question.

Cassie raised an eyebrow at Tinsley while Bridget laughed.

“I’ll put money on Nate reading that comic book in school. So you might be right, Tin,” the blonde doctor teased.

Three events happened at once. Nate shoved Roddy, Sean appeared at his mother’s side to tug on her arm, and Lana screamed bloody **** at Peyton and Thea. In response, Tinny rushed forward to stop the fight from escalating while Cassie informed Bridget that she could handle Lana.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Sean’s mother asked him.

“I wanna buy something with these, but I don’t know if I have enough,” the five-year-old boy explained, holding a wad of tickets.

“What do you want to get?”

Bridget’s face lit up with pride as Sean told her. Gesturing for him to head to the prize counter, Bridget stopped to catch Sherry. She asked the teenage worker to fetch Mrs. Stratton.

“Hi, Bridget. Hi, Sean. What can I getcha?” Darla Dawkins asked from behind the counter.

“Long day, dear?” Bridget inquired, noting Darla’s tired appearance.

After nodding at the question, Darla leaned down to take Sean’s pile of tickets.

“Wow. It looks like somebody scored big. What would you like to get with your winnings, big shot?” Darla asked Sean while winking at her friend’s older sister.

“I want that. Do I have enough?” Sean said, pointing to one of the stuffed bears on the highest shelf.

“If he doesn’t, I’ll pay the rest,” Bridget hurried to say, noticing Darla’s expression at the discrepancy.

Rachel appeared as Sean walked away, struggling to carry the stuffed animal nearly as large as him. When the school teacher asked why Bridget sent for her, the doctor motioned to follow Sean.

“It sounds like Lacey struggled with skee-ball and ran off crying. Sean felt terrible as he teased her about it. So he wanted to use his tickets to buy that for her.”

They watched as Sean spotted Lacey, still teary-eyed. He shuffled over with the stuffed bear, which held a cupcake in its paws. Bridget and Rachel both nearly broke into tears as they watched Lacey’s face transform as she realized what Sean had done for her. Happily accepting the bear, Lacey put it down for a second to hug her family friend and plant a kiss on his cheek, which caused Sean to react with a loud “Yuck!”

Nearby, Grover Greiner approached his classmate.

“Finn, Chuckie’s starting trouble again. You better stop him,” the geeky kid explained, directing Finn toward the restaurant area.

“Dammit, Hillhouse. Stop that!” Finn ordered, rushing forward after spotting class terror Chuckie Hillhouse opening one of Barney’s presents. “Grover, get Nate.”

Upon hearing Nate’s name, Chuckie dropped the half-opened present.

While Barney’s gifts were saved, his father caught a portion of Cassie and Lana’s conversation with his camera.

“So you’re upset that Peyton has a close friend at her school?”

Lana nodded while wiping away more tears.

“Oh, honey, that’s normal. I know you, Peyton, and Finn have always been super close, but you don’t attend the same school as I did with Bridget and Tinsley. It’s natural to have separate friends. I know you have a lot of friends at our school. But the others need friends too. Peyton has Thea, and Finn has Barney,” Cassie explained.

“Barney doesn’t count.”

“Lana, that isn’t very nice to say.”

“I didn’t say it to be mean. Barney’s just Barney. He’s not going to steal Finn away from me,” Lana explained through another round of sobs.

“Ah, I see. You think Thea is going to steal Peyton, don’t you?”

Lana nodded as tears poured down.

“Sweetie, I don’t think Thea would do that. You have to learn to share your friends. Kids like Barney and Thea might stick around or they might not. And if they do stick around, then someday, as your trio starts to go to the same schools together, the Barneys and the Theas might become your friends too,” Cassie explained patiently.

“No, Finn doesn't need any more girlfriends. Just Pey and me,” Lana said, her voice filling with a more heated emotion.

“Lana, you’re going to need to accept that Finn will have other friends who are girls and that someday he’ll have girlfriends. But they aren’t there to replace you and Peyton. You two are his best friends; someday, you’ll need to be there for him during tough times. He and Peyton will do the same for you. I know you will because I’ve had to rely on Bee and Tinny. That’s what best friends are for. Does that make sense?” Cassie asked.

“I think so,” Lana replied, wiping more tears as her face dried.

“Good! Now, I see a pair of girls who want you to play with them,” Cassie revealed, motioning to the ball pit. Behind the rope fences, Natalie and Noelle called for Lana to join them. “While you go play, I’ll talk to Peyton.”

With Lana scurrying off to the ball pit entrance, Ned walked over to find out what happened. The Toone twins cheered as the older girl crawled gingerly into the ball pit. Suddenly, balls shot into the air as a two-year-old exploded out from beside Lana.

---

“Aaaahh!!!” present-day Lana screamed in the basement.

“Jesus, Lan. That’s just Ranielle,” Finn pointed out, looking at the ginger as if she’d just grown a second head.

Next to Finn, Peyton started to laugh madly.

“Just Ranielle? Just Ranielle? That little monster bit me…repeatedly. Can’t you see it? Lana screeched, pointing at the screen about Barney’s baby sister. “I had bitemarks for weeks!”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Peyton said dismissively.

“You weren’t the one bit by that…biter!”

“It was just a phase for Ranielle. Lots of kids go through that phase. Lacey did,” Peyton pointed out.

“Hey! We don’t talk about that,” Lacey declared.

“Wait, where was Rani last night?” Peyton wondered, turning toward Finn.

“Barn said she was grounded,” Sanna replied first about the fifteen-year-old.

“Yeah, she had to be sent to their grandparents for the night,” Serinda added.

“Do you see? A monster!” Lana exclaimed.

“There is a huge difference between being a monster and getting into trouble. Or don’t you mean your defense of Natalie and Noelle?” Peyton challenged.

“The twins are different than Biting Barrie,” Lana proclaimed, crossing her arms.

Nate opted to stay out of this argument about his sisters. Instead, he perked up as the video cut to Barney opening his presents.

“Aww! Look at Emily,” Peyton gushed.

A year younger than Barney, shy Emily Buttery appeared on the screen. Emily, a neighbor of the Barries, had a long, awkward history with Barney. She gingerly handed over his present at the party as if it were a rare treasure. It turned out to be a treasure to the birthday boy, who received some camera equipment he badly desired.

“Emily and Barn need to be endgame,” Sanna declared.

“Totally! We should create an episode about their love story,” Serinda agreed.

“Love story?” Nate scoffed. “Accidentally, losing your virginity together at prom isn’t romantic. It just takes your dick falling–”

“Nathan!” Peyton, Zaylie, and Lacey screamed.

“Smurfie, there are young ears down here,” Lana reminded. “Or do you want your aunt calling you up over another issue?”

“Don’t worry, girls. Emily occupies slots 1-4 on my matchmaking list for Barney,” Lacey informed the Bank sisters.

The group watched the final ten minutes of the video while commenting on what presents Barney received from everyone. Serinda and Sanna cheered at one point as Finn saved the day by catching a camera when Barney accidentally knocked it off the table. It was the main gift he received from his parents. The only break in the laughter came when Trey pouted over Funland’s closing.

“Don’t worry, buddy. Your dad is close friends with Mr. Dawkins. Once they finally repair all the fire damage, I’m sure you’ll be the first to know when they reopen,” Nate told his cousin. "I promise to take you there myself."

Peyton involuntarily smiled at the way Nate calmed Trey down.

Due to popular demand, Finn returned to the VCR to insert the first tape. Everyone who hadn’t watched it the first time wanted to see what they had missed.

With Finn’s spot empty, Lana slid over to nudge Peyton.

“She was right, you know,” Lana remarked before clarifying. “Aunt Cassie. She was right. Finn needed us, as she said.”

“I know,” Peyton replied, wiping away a tear. She’d recognized that fact immediately but fought back her tears so as not to upset Finn.

“I’m sorry I was jealous of Thea and never gave her a chance. Have you heard from her lately?”

“Her school’s volleyball team played Ellie’s in a small tournament. She sent a message praising my protégé,” Peyton recounted.

“Do you miss her?” Lana asked.

“Some days. It’s hard to get together since her parents moved away,” Peyton admitted.

“I’m sorry,” Lana apologized again. “Hey, we should plan a road trip and visit her sometime! I’ve never been to Thirsty Gulch, and we can see Lupita and Ariana!”

“I’m down!” Nate announced, picturing the hot girls.

“Can I go?” Trey asked.