Okay, before you proceed...
STOP READING. If you answer "Yes" to any of these, stop reading and leave the story.
1. You like being negative all the time.
2. Even though you saw the list of characters on the front page for this story, you want to complain about it having Sharon and Andy both in it.
3. You want to complain it's "just another Sharon and Andy story."
4. Had high hopes for a pre-Closer story, only to find it was another with Sharon and Andy.
5. You are tired of reading about Sharon and Andy.
6. You don't write anything, yet you enjoy remaining a guest on many people's story reviews and trashing anything just to be mean.
7. Don't like my writing, which begs the question of why would you read it anyway?
8. Any of the above are true, yet you decided to ignore and read anyway, just ready to then complain.
9. You want to argue that this isn't in their character.
10. While you saw the A/U on the title, you want to argue that too. A/U-Alternate Universe, so it won't be how the story goes.
With that out of the way, proceed with caution. I'm taking some topics a couple people keep begging me to write about and working them into my story. Leave now if you don't want to read it. Really. I never ask for reviews. I just write. Glad if people enjoy, but for those who don't, stop complaining. The warnings were set out in the 10 statements above.
To the rest, enjoy! It's short, but remember, we have a lot of touring to do!
It was now Tuesday morning. Sharon and Ricky were officially in the middle of their college search, and Sharon, at least, was tired already. They'd spent the weekend flying up to Oregon, where Ricky had liked the campus, but he hadn't been thrilled with it. The highlight of the weekend had been seeing his best friend, Sam. They had grown up together, just that Sam was a couple years older. He had been closer in age to Emily, but the boys had clicked early on. Sharon had taken the boys out to dinner, and Sam had spent time showing them around the campus. Ricky had even begged to sleep in Sam's dorm room, where he slept on the floor. Sharon had chuckled at the notion he wanted to sleep on the floor of a college dorm room instead of a bed in their hotel room. It had been a quick trip. They had flown up Friday after school, toured the campus Saturday, taken Sam to dinner Saturday night and brunch on Sunday, before they flew back to LA. They didn't spend much time in LA, though, either, just enough time to wash clothes and repack because on Monday, they started their driving tour. They were driving up to Stanford first, the school Ricky had almost written off because Jack had gone there, but Sharon had insisted that a lousy dad wasn't reason enough to write off a perfectly good school. So, Monday morning, the two loaded up the car to start their drive north. It had been a fun road trip up to Stanford, just one stop of many for the week, and now here they were, Tuesday.
"These tours are so in depth," Sharon commented as she studied their itinerary for the day. "When I was looking at colleges, we got a quick tour and a map of the campus. If you had questions, you asked students. Now, it's a tour, scheduled department tours, even a dorm room tour, wow," she sighed. "It's almost overwhelming, and I'm not the one even going to college," she chuckled.
Ricky finished eating his breakfast. Their hotel had a nice breakfast buffet set out, something Sharon noted when she had made the reservation. She'd specifically picked this hotel chain for the free buffet style breakfast and had booked this particular hotel for all their tour stops. She figured she might as well earn hotel points during this trip, and with the free buffet breakfast, she wouldn't break the bank with Ricky's eating habits.
"Yeah, it seems like a pretty cool school, even if Dad went there," he sighed, as he finished chewing his toast. "Does Dad even know we came up here?"
Sharon hummed as she continued to look through their information. She had a cup of tea and a bowl of mostly eaten fruit at her side. "I sent him an email explaining our week. It was somewhat of a safety thing, in case anything happened," she rolled her eyes as she met Ricky's. "Not that he ever lets us know where he is, but I did want to let him know we were flying and driving all over the West Coast. As for the school and all, he never commented, but if you decide to come here, you are a legacy, and that helps."
Ricky raised his eyebrows, "Not that Dad has helped in anyway my whole life."
Sharon shrugged as she chuckled, "True," she said as she put the cup of tea back down on the table, "but, luckily for us, the admission office doesn't ask if your father was a good one when you apply. They only ask about his attending here."
"Oh, hey, look," Ricky smiled, nodding toward the door. "It's that guy and his son, Nate. I forget the dad's name."
Sharon's gaze followed Ricky's and she shook her head. She looked back to Ricky, "This is a small world. We really need to pay attention to whomever else might be visiting the same schools this week." She and Ricky both waved at the men, who started to chuckle themselves as they made their way to the table.
"What a small world," Andy chuckled as he and Nate walked up to the table.
"That's what we just said," Sharon chuckled again. "It's Andy and Nate, right?"
"Yes," Andy nodded. "Sharon and Ricky?" he questioned as he pointed to the two of them.
"That's us," Ricky smiled. "We were just finishing our breakfast. I have a 9:00 tour."
"Ahh, very good," Andy nodded. "We scheduled the 11:30 tour. He's got other stuff this morning."
"Sounds familiar," Sharon nodded, as she gestured to the schedule for the day. "I was just commenting how in depth these college tours have become. It's a full day. I'm exhausted already thinking of it."
"Mom, you're partially exhausted because we've already flown to one school on this trip," Ricky pointed out.
"Oh?" Andy looked. "Where have you been, besides UCLA, of course. I forgot where you were headed."
"We flew up to Oregon State over the weekend. It was a nice trip, but yes, quick turnaround at home. We drove up here yesterday."
"Ahh," Andy nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I worked a half day yesterday before we hit the road. We toured Cal State over the weekend. His mom wanted to see that school. I think that's her favorite," he explained.
"Definitely not my favorite, though," Nate chimed in. "It was fine, but I don't think I want to go there."
"Well, it's good you are at least figuring that out. Ricky," she turned to her son and smiled, "is still narrowing things down, but I think Oregon State is out."
"Yeah," Ricky shrugged. "It would be cool to be near my friend again, but the school just didn't click with me. I can't explain it."
"Well," Andy nodded, "that does make sense. Sometimes, you can't explain why something is right or wrong. Trust your gut; that usually is the voice in your head talking to you."
"So, are you here for a couple days?" Sharon asked. "I wish we could stay longer. This area is so beautiful, but we have other stops."
"Same here," Andy nodded. "We're hitting the road through the desert to UNLV next."
"Ahh," Sharon smiled. "We're also headed to the desert, just further south to Arizona State. We would have put Northern Arizona on the tour then, but we couldn't get it setup when we wanted. So, we are headed to Phoenix."
"Ahh," Andy smiled. "I guess we'll be a day behind you."
"Oh, we are staying there a couple days," Sharon added. "That's where my daughter is in school."
"Yeah, not really sure I want to go to school where she is. I've already spent plenty of time around her," Ricky made a face.
"I'm so with you!" Nate exclaimed. "I don't want to go to school where my sister is either, even if San Diego is one of my favorite places. It's almost like she's ruined it."
"Well, I told you to keep an open mind and not rule out anything yet," Andy rolled his eyes, as he rocked back on his feet.
The two adults started to chuckle as the boys shared in their older sister misery. Sharon glanced at her watch.
"Oh, we need to get going," she looked to Ricky.
"We'll get out of your way. Nice to see you again. Hey, Phoenix is large, but maybe we'll see you there."
"Maybe," Sharon smiled. "Good luck with your tours."
"Same to you, Sharon," Andy smiled. He and Nate waved, and Ricky and Sharon returned the wave as they made their exit.