Life's a Drag - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

“God, this sucks not having a car.” Sarah sighed.  It was monday, the girls were all in school but her, and she had two weeks off.  She had already completed almost all two weeks worth of homework as well.

Chris smiled as he came into the living room.  “Did I hear someone say something about not having a car?”

“You and your super Dad hearing,” Sarah groaned, but giggled.  “Yeah.  I mean for one thing I can’t go anywhere and cabin fever’s starting.  I’ve even done almost all my homework, except for that essay about Emily Dickinson for AP Eng.  Even I’m not that bored yet.”

Chris laughed, “Well, I think you might want to go check outside the garage, Megan sent over a gift for you this morning.” 

“Oh God,” Sarah giggled.  “Don’t tell me, she dug into her private collection to loan me a Yugo from 1962?”

Chris laughed, “Don’t make fun of the Yugo Princess,” he said patronizingly.  “It was a strong car, but no, I had her stop by the Ford dealership to pick you up something.”

Sarah’s eyes widened, and she leapt from the sofa like she didn’t have a major concussion.  She was too excited to care.  She raced out the door to find a brand new, cotton candy pink Mustang GTO convertible waiting for her.  It even had a big, fluffy car sized pink bow on top.

Sarah realized she was being watched and glanced up at the cute brunette peeking around the door.  She waved her hand high over her head to get the girl’s attention, smiling brightly.  “I got a new car!” she called over, giggling as she jumped in the driver’s seat.  She didn’t notice the girl’s wide-eyed, terrified response as she quickly pushed the door shut again.

“I’ll have to introduce myself sometime.” Sarah giggled as she started the car and revved the motor a couple of times.

Chris was smiling at his daughter as he came over to the car, “How do you like it, Sport?”

“It’s perfect! Sarah said as she hopped out of the car again and raced around it to hug her father.  She leaned on him a moment to get her balance before adding, “I promise I won’t race this one either.  It’s too nice to risk, and besides, you can’t put a good roll cage in a convertible,” she added jokingly.

“Glad you like it sweetie.” Chris laughed and kissed Sarah on her forehead, “Be Careful if you go anywhere.  You are supposed to be taking it easy after all.”

“Oh I will,” Sarah giggled, just happy to have a car again.  “I was thinking I could run a few errands or something for Isabella.”  She had to catch herself because she almost said ‘Mom’.  “I also want to grab some paint samples.  Next weekend Crystal’s going to help me redecorate.”

Sarah rushed back inside to get her purse and to put on a little makeup to cover the bruising from the accident.  She was actually feeling a lot better today, with only occasional dizziness.  She was out the door and ready to go within ten minutes.

As she pulled up to the stop light though, a black Camaro with custom rims rolled up beside her, and her favorite meathead jock wolf whistled at her.  “Nice car Daddy’s girl.  I’m surprised the vanity plate doesn’t say ‘Princess’!”  The honeymoon was over, it seemed, and Kevin was back to his old self.

“It was already taken,” Sarah called back.  “That was you wasn’t it?”

Kevin scowled at her.  “Okay smartass, so let’s see what the little pink dream machine’s got under the hood?”

Sarah laughed, revving her engine, but had no intentions whatsoever of racing, she actually spotted the cop turn before Kevin showed up.

“Alright!” Kevin howled.  “You’re gonna be eating dust!” he said as he revved his motor, priming the Nox boost next to him.  Sarah just rolled her eyes, watching the light.  The second it turned green, Kevin sped off.

Sarah giggled as she turned and pulled into the parking lot to watch Kevin get pulled over.  He didn’t even make it to the next intersection.  “Serves him right,” she said as he started screaming at the police officer and pointing at Sarah, which quickly led to him being led in handcuffs - still yelling belligerently, to the waiting squad car. 

A second police car pulled up next to Sarah.  Much to her surprise, a veteran racer from her car club stepped out of the car, but she had her long, black hair in a french braid today, and the police uniform was new as well.

“Step out of the car please ma’am,” Officer Johnson stated, trying not to crack a smile at seeing Sarah out and about, and in a new Mustang too.

Sarah smiled as she stepped out of the car, “Did I do something wrong officer?” she asked very politely.

“License and registration please,” she replied.  “Strictly a formality.  I’d have to card my own daughter,” she added with a wink.  “If she were old enough to drive.”

Sarah pulled the registration from the glove compartment, taking her license from her purse. , “It’s fine Officer Johnson.  Oh, I’m supposed to tell you that it’s a provisional, I can’t drive after 9, and I'm only allowed one additional passenger.,” she said as she handed the documents over.

“So Kevin - err, Mister Taylor,” she corrected herself as she looked over Sarah’s information, “Wait, why does this say Andrew?” she suddenly interrupted herself, looking between Sarah and the license.

Sarah blushed a little.  “Andrew is my old name, but I have papers for that too.”  She fumbled around for the document that Doctor Snider gave to her, and handed it over as well.

“Oh!  I’m sorry,” Officer Johnson offered sheepishly as she handed the letter back as well as the other legal documents.  “Anyway, Kevin claims that you goaded him into racing?”

“I did nothing of the sort.  He came up to me, revved his motor and challenged me to a race.  I politely declined and pulled over here.” Sarah half-lied.

“Uh huh,” Officer Johnson chuckled.  “Well, whatever really happened between you two, I do know that you just got out of the hospital and even you wouldn’t be crazy enough to race so soon after a wreck like that, especially non-sanctioned.”

“I promised my dad I wouldn’t race this car.  And you know how I feel about illegal street racing.”

“Of course I do,” she said with a wink.  “Because George would have to get in line to tan your hide if you did,” she added, now laughing softly as she gave Sarah a light hug to let her know she was just messing with her now, purely off the record and between friends.  She respected Sarah as a driver, even if she was only 15.

“Hey Lisa off the record, are you any chance related to a Doctor Brad Johnson?  Young guy, kind of lanky, really friendly?”

“He’s my husband actually, and based on that letter I take it you’ve met him?” she asked.

Sarah blushed, “He’s my endo...”  She nodded, “I guess my old PCP retired because I’ve been scheduled for a full physical Friday.” she sighed, “Not looking forward to that.”

“Oh?  Who did you get?” Lisa asked as she leaned against her squad car casually.

“Your husband gets to do the ugly work on me from now on.” Sarah giggled.

“Oh dear,” Lisa laughed.  “Don’t worry.  He might seem like a bit of an awkward nerdy type, but he takes his job very seriously and he loves helping people.  That’s why he branched off into endocrinology.  Our niece, his sister’s daughter, is like you you know?  But she’s really shy.”

“Oh cool.  They didn’t happen to just move into my neighborhood did they?” Sarah giggled.

“Seriously girl, that Shining stuff is starting to scare me,” Lisa laughed.  “It’s weird enough when you do that on the track!” she teased, referring to Sarah’s uncanny ability to hit the gas at just the right moment coming out of a turn or speed off from the starting line without jumping the light.  It was a wonder to Lisa why Sarah hadn’t taken first place yet.

“They did just move right across the street recently, if your driver’s license is still accurate,” she said, nodding.  “They were hoping a change of scenery here in South Haven might help her get a fresh start.”

“Oh I think I scared your niece earlier.” Sarah giggled, “I was so excited that daddy got me this new car..  Maybe I should go back and apologize to her and offer to take her to the mall?”

Lisa laughed softly.  “I bet she’d love that.  And I trust you to drive her safely.  Sorry for teasing you before.  I just know how you and Kevin get into it sometimes - usually when he starts mouthing off after coming in behind you,” she sighed.  

“Yeah.  But George refuses to throw him out - I think because he’s afraid he might go illegal if he did.  I can’t stand the guy, but I wouldn’t want him to go and get himself killed either, so I tolerate him,” Sarah chuckled as the two got into their respective cars, and Sarah followed Lisa back out onto the street.

A few minutes later she pulled up into the neighbor’s drive across the way and honked the horn twice.  She could hear a small dog barking excitedly in the  large privacy fenced back yard as she walked up the driveway and rang the doorbell.

An older teen girl maybe even 20ish answered the door.  “Hello, um, you must be my mom and sisters neighbor?”

“Hey, I’m Sarah,” Sarah answered cheerfully.  This definitely wasn’t the girl she saw earlier.  “My friend Lisa told me you guys just moved in.”

“Oh, you know Aunt Lisa?” the girl asked, relaxing a little, and Sarah nodded.

“Yeah, we’re part of the same race club actually.  I never knew she was a cop, but the way she handles those turns, it kind of makes sense now.”

“Oh, hello there,” an older blonde-haired woman said, smiling warmly as she approached from inside.

“Mom this is Sarah.  She’s friends with aunt Lisa through the local car club,” the older girl said, smiling warmly.

“Oh, you know Lisa?  Well I’m Bev Turner and this is my eldest daughter Suzanne.”

“Hi Mrs. Turner,” Sarah said warmly as she shook the woman’s hand.  “Actually I wanted to stop back by and introduce myself because I wanted to apologize for scaring Suzanne’s sister.  I was just so excited about my new car.”

“Oh, it’s Miss, and you don’t have to apologize sweetie.  Erica’s very...” she trailed off, and Suzanne continued.

“She’s very shy.”

“Yeah, Lisa mentioned as much too.  I know how she feels actually.  I’m super nervous about going back to school as a girl in a couple of weeks.”

Bev and Suzanne both looked at each other, and then back at Sarah, who nodded.  “Lisa only just found out because she had to pull me over, so I showed her my letter from Doctor Snider,” Sarah giggled.  “Oh but don’t worry, I’m actually a very safe driver.  It was the other guy that wanted to race me.  I just let him take off and pulled off into a parking lot to wait for the police.”

“Oh my.  That’s very um, responsible of you dear,” Bev said, not really sure what to say to that.

“Hey why don’t you come on in and meet Erica?” Suzanne said, trying to cover up for her mother.  “She could use some new friends here.”

“Thank you.” Sarah answered, smiling warmly.

Suzanne shrugged, “I’m only here for another day, and I’m off back to college town..” she laughed.

“I still have a few more years,” Sarah giggled, “But I might study journalism if I can’t make it big on the racing scene.”

“Sounds fun.  I heard there’s some big shot mag exec that lives in this neighborhood.” Suzanne said.

“My dad,” Sarah giggled.  “We’re just across the way, but he spends a lot of time at the big corporate office.”

Sarah left out the part about him considering moving the corporate office to South Haven after her wreck.  She didn’t want to terrify the new neighbors.  “It’s a great neighborhood though.  The worst you’ll get is me sometimes playing my music too loud when I’m on the way out somewhere,” she teased.

Suzanne nodded, “I used to be the same way.  Hold on; let me go dig up Erica.”  She dashed upstairs to drag her little sister down.

Sarah stood just inside the doorway waiting for Erica when her phone rang.  It was Morgan’s ringtone.

“Hey you,” she said quietly.

“Hey, I didn’t catch you at a bad time did I?” Morgan giggled.

“Oh no, I’m just checking on our new neighbors.  I’m going to see if their daughter Erica wants to come hang out at the mall.  Hey, guess what?  I got a new cotton candy pink Mustang!” she said excitedly, while still trying to keep her voice down.

“Oh wow!  Sarah you are like the luckiest girl alive!” Morgan squealed.  “Well I have to run again, but I wanted to check on you first.  What time will you be home?”

“Oh, I’m not sure.  If Erica doesn’t want to hang out then I’ll be home in just a second.  It’s really up to her though.  She’s shy like I used to be,” Sarah trailed off, hoping Morgan would get the hint.

“Oh?” Morgan asked, and then stated, “Ohhhh...  She’s TG?”

“Yeah.  She doesn’t have any friends yet, so I wanted to make her feel welcome you know?” she said, not realizing Erica was right behind her as she looked out the bay window across at her house.  “I don’t want her to go through what I had to.”

“That’s sooo sweet Sarah.  I’ll have to come say hi when I stop by your house later.  I’ve got a big surprise for ya.”

“Uh oh,” Sarah laughed.  “I can’t wait,” she said as she hung up the phone.

“... Hi,” Erica said quietly as Sarah turned around.

“Hi there,” Sarah replied in a friendly tone.  “I’m sorry if I scared you before.”

Erica shook her head a little, responding in the same quiet tone.  “N-no it’s not your fault.”  She sighed, looking Sarah right in the eye.  “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I don’t think you know what I’ve been through.”

“Oh yeah?” Sarah asked, not stand-offishly, but quite confidently.  “Try me?”

“Being pinned down while someone writes ‘Sissy’ on your forehead in permanent marker?” Erica asked.  Sarah giggled.

“Head first into a toilet twice a week for a year?”

“Head first into a dumpster three times a week,” Erica actually giggled a little.  “Until the Janitor got wise and caught them in the act.”

“Tampons in the locker?” Sarah added.

“Hannah Montana wig in the locker,” Erica giggled and then sighed.  “Okay... Maybe you do know.  But if this school’s no different than my last one how can I possibly go?  They’ll see right through me.”

“Na I thought you were a girl.” Sarah said, shaking her head, “Besides, they were just picking on Andrew, they had no clue I was really Sarah.” 

“Oh,” Erica said quietly.

“Sarah’s actually pretty popular,” Sarah giggled.  “And you know what happens when a new girl is seen with a popular girl, right?” she teased.  “So, want to hit the mall with me?”

~oOo~

By the time Sarah and Erica left the mall around 6 pm, Erica had been introduced to at least a dozen of Sarah’s friends and acquaintances, but the real surprise came when the girls walked out to Sarah’s Mustang.  Julie, one of the popular girls who picked on Andrew relentlessly, was sitting in the front seat of her Camry looking flustered.  As Sarah popped the trunk on her car to put her bags inside, Julie tried to start hers again, with no luck.

“GAAAAH!” she screamed, slamming her fist into the horn out of frustration.  “Stupid piece of junk!  Why me!” she sighed.

“Problem?” Sarah asked, making Julie jump.  She looked up at Sarah, completely flustered and ready to cry.

“Triple A can’t send anyone for another hour.  I’m supposed to meet a college recruiter in an hour and a half so I won’t have time to change, and if I don’t have time to change then I won’t be able to make a good impression on her, and if I don’t make a good impression then I won’t get a good scholarship and I’ll end up working at Nails R Us and-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sarah finally stopped her.  “Just calm down.  Pop the hood, and let me take a look okay?”

“Oh, you’re that racer girl right?” she asked as she reached down to release the hood.

“Or you can call me Sarah,” Sarah answered with a smirk as she lifted the hood.  “Hey Erica, can you run over to Sears and tell them we need to borrow a tool rack?  Tell them Sarah Angel sent you.”

“Sure Sarah,” Erica said, actually smiling as she walked back toward the mall.  Julie shook her head.

“I don’t get it.  Why are you hanging with a loser like her?” Julie asked.  Sarah shrugged.

“Because she’s not the loser Julie.  She has friends who care about more than who designed her outfit, who won’t turn on her the second she buys the wrong handbag.”

“Says the girl in designer jeans,” Julie shot back, and Sarah laughed.

“Yeah, I wear designer jeans, but you know what?” she paused, wiping engine grease right across the front of them, “I’m not afraid to get dirty to help someone who needs it either.  You can say whatever you want about me, but don’t call her a loser to her face either, or you’ll be sitting here awhile waiting for Triple A.”

Julie sighed, “Ok ok, you win.  What’s wrong with it anyway?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Sarah answered honestly.  “But I’ll know in a minute.  Sorry for being so harsh by the way,” she added, glancing around the hood at Julie.  “I know a lot of people think you’re a vapid bitch, but you wouldn’t be freaking over a scholarship if you didn’t care about your future at least a little bit.”

Julie shrugged as she stepped out of the car.  She stared down into the engine for a moment, not unlike a frightened lamb, staring into the gaping maw of a hungry wolf.  “I’m used to being defensive I guess.  I need this scholarship,” she sighed.  “Everybody thinks I’m rich because I wear only designer clothes, drive a nice car...  So I try to live up to their expectations, even if it means being a vapid bitch.”

Erica came back out with a girl in a Sears shirt, pulling a tool cart with them.  “Here you go Sarah.” Erica said.

“Hey, thanks,” Sarah said, nodding to the Sears girl as well, as she pulled open one of the drawers.  “Let’s see... 2014 Camry right?” she asked, glancing over at Julie.  With an affirming nod from the distraught girl, she set to work.

“Hey,” Julie said as Erica moved aside to watch Sarah work.  “I’m Julie.  Sarah said you just moved here?”

Erica nodded, “Yeah.”

“Ah I see part of your problem right here.” Sarah said.  “Loose plugs.  Who did your p2p?”

“Um...  My what?” Julie asked hesitantly.

“Your last tune up.” Erica giggled softly.  She knew a little about cars.

“Oh um... Honestly I don’t even know how to change a tire.  My Dad takes care of all that stuff,” Julie answered.  “I’ve only had it for a few months.  It’s been making a weird noise though...”

Sarah nodded as she fiddled around in the motor, “It looks like someone was under the hood recently, messing with stuff.”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Julie said, holding her hands up.  “The only oil I let touch these hands is Oil of Olay.  N-no offense.”

Sarah laughed, as she poked her head out, her face had a few grease stains on it, “Did Richard and his goons mess with your car at all?” she asked, referring to Julie’s brother and his friends.

“... Maybe?” Julie said thoughtfully.  “He and his idiot friends were messing with Dad’s car the other night when I came home.”  She sighed angrily.  “I’m going to murder him.  I think I can get away with it if I plead temporary insanity.”

Sarah laughed a little, though she tried not to for Julie’s sake.  “Ok I think I got it, but your battery’s dead, so we’ll have to get you a new one.” she turned to the girl from sears, “Can you get us a Deep Cell?”  She stuck her grease covered hand in her pocket, retrieving a couple of $100 bills and handed them to the woman

“Sure thing,” the girl answered as she helped Sarah return the tools to the cart.  “I’ll be right back.”

Julie stared, dumbstruck by Sarah’s generosity.  “... You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, there wasn’t any point in trying to give you a jump.  Just be glad this isn’t a hybrid, or you’d have to get a fault code reset,” Sarah replied as she wiped grease from her hands onto an oil rag.

“That’s not what I mean,” Julie sighed.  “You didn’t have to buy a new battery.”

“Call it an investment in friendship,” Sarah answered.  “All I want in return is for you to tell your brother not to touch your car again, or I’ll put a wrench upside his head,” she teased, causing Julie to laugh out loud.  It was the first time Sarah had seen Julie laugh without Andrew being the butt of her jokes first.

“Deal,” she answered, hesitantly shaking Sarah’s hand.  “Maybe you can teach me how to change a tire sometime, and I can teach you how to shoot a 3-pointer or something.”

“Sounds fair.” Sarah said as the girl from Sears came back with another small cart carrying a battery.

“This is what you wanted right?” she asked.

“That’s the one,” Sarah answered, adding, “Can you give me a hand getting the old one out really fast?”

“Sure thing.  I’ll take the old one back to our battery recycling center once we get it out,” she said, and as Julie pulled out her phone again, Erica stepped up to help switch out the old battery for the new one.

“Hi Daddy, can you cancel the Triple A people?  Yeah, this girl Sarah Angel or something saw I was having trouble and got it fixed.  She said someone had been messing with my car recently and unplugged some stuff so I had to get a new battery...  Yeah, Richard,” she added, trying not to sound angry.

“Oops,” Sarah giggled quietly, causing Erica to laugh too.

“Try it now?” Sarah asked as Julie hung up the phone.  Julie got in her car, and after a moment the engine turned over, and then roared to life.  She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you so much Sarah,” she said as she got out of the car.  She was in tears as she hugged her, oil stains-be-damned.  “You’re a freaking lifesaver.  I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Stop by my house after the interview?” Sarah answered.  “I’m supposed to be taking it easy still, but I’m having some friends over.  You sound like you could use some downtime.  It’s 1723 Oceanview Drive.”

“Count on it,” Julie answered.  As she jumped into her car and pulled away, Erica looked confused back at Sarah.

“She’s our age isn’t she?  Like, 16, maybe 17 tops?  I thought only seniors worried about scholarships?”

Sarah nodded as she climbed into the driver’s seat of her Mustang.  “She’s living two different lives - trying to get into a good college her parents can’t afford, and pretending to be the queen of the school.”  She glanced at Erica and grinned, changing the subject.  “More importantly though, why didn’t you say you knew anything about cars sooner?”

Erica laughed.  “Because girls aren’t supposed to know anything about cars.  It’s such a ‘guy’ thing,” she sighed.  “I also love paintball and playing video games.  And I hate shopping, but I really had fun hanging out with you.”

“Oh, Erica,” Sarah giggled.  “Didn’t you know?  As soon as I get a good racing car, Sarah Angel is having a comeback race.”

“Comeback race?” Erica asked as Sarah pulled onto the street heading home.

“Oh,” Sarah answered sheepishly.  “I was in a huge wreck Saturday.  I’ll show you what’s left of my helmet sometime.”

“Oh wow, I’m so sorry,” Erica gasped.  “Are you okay to drive?  Shouldn’t you be like resting or something?”

“I walked away with a nasty concussion, and I’m still not 100%, which is why I’m taking it slow and doing 40 in a 55,” she teased.  “But I was getting cabin fever bad.  I just needed to get out of the house for a few minutes.”

Morgan was standing in Sarah’s driveway when the pair pulled up to the house.  She had a mischievous look about her as Sarah got out of the car.  Sarah walked up to her and kissed her, putting an arm around her.  “Hey you.  Where’s your car?”

“Oh, it’s at home,” Morgan giggled.  “This must be Erica?” she asked, changing the subject.  “And why do you have engine grease all over your jeans?” she added, wiping a spot of grease from Sarah’s forehead with her finger.  “What the heck have you two been up to?” she teased.

“Hey, one question at a time!” Sarah giggled.  “First of all yes, this is Erica.  Secondly I’m covered in grease because I had to dig around Julie Thomas’ engine to fix a problem her dumbass brother caused.”

“Julie The Cat?” Morgan balked.  “You sure she didn’t give you rabies while you were there?”

“Be nice,” Sarah laughed.  “I had a real heart to heart talk with her.  She’s under a lot of stress, and Andrew just happened to be her release valve.  I invited her over after she meets with some scholarship people, to unwind.  Now it’s your turn.  What are you up to?”

Morgan giggled, wiggling a ‘come hither’ finger as she turned and opened Sarah’s garage.  Both Sarah and Erica’s eyes widened as Morgan walked over to a rough looking 1986 Mustang,  The body was covered in rust with mismatched body panels - one blue, another orange, and the tires were almost bald, but it looked mostly salvageable.

“Nice huh?” Morgan giggled out.  “I mean the body needs some serious work, but the inside’s serviceable,” she said as she popped the hood.

~oOo~

About thirty minutes had passed when Suzanne peeked around the side of the garage.  She had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh at seeing her sister’s butt sticking out over the side of the rust bucket of a car, but Erica still heard her.

“Hey sis,” she called as she stood up.  “Nice huh?  Sarah asked me if I’d help her and Morgan fix it up.”

“Mom was starting to wonder what happened to you,” Suzanne giggled.  “I haven’t seen that smile in so long I forgot what it looked like,” she teased as she held up her phone, snapping a picture of the three girls - Morgan and Sarah with their heads half under the hood, and Erica laughing and waving at the camera.

“Plus I talked her into taking auto shop,” Morgan added as she stood.  “If anybody gives her crap, I’ll just introduce them to my steel toed boots.  Most of the guys are actually really nice though.”

“Nice,” Suzanne giggled.  “Maybe you guys want to play a few rounds of paintball with us next Sunday?  I could grab a couple of my limp-wristed sorority mates,” she teased, causing Erica to laugh.

“Don’t let her hustle you.  Her roommate Katherine’s a sniper when it comes to paintball.”

“That sounds awesome,” Sarah said, trying not to laugh as Julie’s Toyota Camry rolled up the street and into the driveway.  “Just let us know how many people to bring, since this thing probably won’t be ready to race next weekend anyway.”

“Well, it might be ready for the Saturday track race,” Morgan added, “But Isa’d need time to paint it first so that would just leave us four days max to get it tweaked out.”

“If she can get my Camry running in twenty minutes I’m sure you guys can get this rust bucket ready by Saturday,” Julie said as she came into the garage.  She was still dressed like she was going to an interview in a black pencil skirt and dark hose with heels and a nice jacket.  She grinned.  “I was too excited to run back home and change first.”

“Heya Julie,” Sarah said as she waved.  “You know Morgan right?  And that’s Erica’s older sister Suzanne.”

“Suzanne Johnson... Holy crap,” Julie gushed.  “Sorry, you wouldn’t remember me.  You were a senior advisor at my basketball camp last year.”

“It’s Turner now actually,” Suzanne corrected her.  “But yeah.  I was the captain of my basketball team my senior year, so I got some extra college credit advising for a couple of camps.  Anyway you guys, Mom said to tell you she’s making her special cinna-burgers if you’re hungry.”

“Cinna...burgers?” Julie asked.  Erica giggled.

“I know right?” she said.  “Most people think sweet when they think cinnamon, but if you don’t add sugar it’s actually kind of spicy.  Mixed with some other secret ingredients, they’re to die for.  You guys should come try some.”

“Mom always makes way too much,” Suzanne added.  “Heck, invite your Dad too if you want Sarah.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sarah giggled.