It was a thunderous rumble that woke Vinnie up. It wasn't from an earthquake, no, but from an argument next door.

"There's nothing else to talk about. I don't want you seeing that boy anymore!"

It shook Vinnie's body with chills running from her neck down to her toes.

Marcella. Vinnie could clearly tell that it was her yelling. Even if she didn't share a wall with her neighbors she would be able to hear them.

There was a scoff in the other apartment.

"Is that what you think the problem is? A boy?" There was a pause. "That's not me. That's you."

It was Marcella's oldest daughter on the other end of the war of words. Stella.

"This is rich. You should be happy that I haven't been knocked up by now."

Stella's words were calculated, cold even.

Slap.

Vinnie jumped up at the sound, turning and looking blankly at the wall behind her. There was no way that she was hearing this. Through the brittle and crumbling walls she held her breath like they would be able to hear the slightest of sounds.

But this was not Days of Our Lives. There was no way that they could hear Vinnie over their own roar.

"You live in my house -my house!" Marcella was frantic. "You're only a child."

Stella was 16 years old going on 30 and Marcella's wildest of the bunch. They would argue and knock heads once in a while, but this was a first.

Vinnie turned towards her alarm clock and stifled a frustrated huff. They had never had a screaming match at...6:17 in the morning.

Vie fell back into the pillows, hoping that they would swallow her whole.

The pillows didn't muffle out the yelling or the jabs that they threw at each other. Even though her eyes were still heavy with sleep Vinnie's body was jolted awake by the sudden interruption.

"Maybe I don't need this! Maybe I'll go out and start my life."

"You wouldn't -"

"But you did!"

Vinnie could hear the desperation in Stella's voice.

"That was not my choice!"

Marcella yelled frantically with her broken heart bleeding through the wallpaper.

Vie covered her ears with her hands. It was way too early. It was all way too much. She shouldn't have been eavesdropping and was feeling sick to her stomach.

Fumbling with the sheets she was busy thinking of all the ways she could soundproof the house.

There would be no point in trying to go back to sleep now. Vinnie lifted her head with protest and stepped across the room to the dusty box television. With a sudden need to drown out the noise she pushed the power button on and turned the volume up a few notches.

Maybe it was a little loud for six in the morning, but hey, Vie was ready to bet the rest of the apartment floor was already awake from the yelling.

Next was the shower.

Vinnie had taken a shower after the Cheeto explosion the night before, but she did need a distraction. With the water pattering and the tv on in the background, all other noise was blocked out.

She scrubbed and scrubbed to carry away the unpleasant start to the morning.

She shaved and exfoliated and did everything she could to pass the time, and by the time she left the house Vinnie had almost forgotten about why she had added extra steps to the morning routine.

"Rhiannon" was playing quietly in the background and Vinnie was swaying her head while finishing up more claims documents. Today was a much better day.

There were no appointments scheduled and no old bats to put a wrench in the day. The only thing on the schedule was a team meeting.

Her manager was stolen away by an early phone call from headquarters. Everyone needed to get together right away. The entire team met because of a brush fire that had started up in Gilroy. A moratorium had been put in place and they were not going to be able to help increase or start new coverage for homes in the area.

Vinnie had a hard time focusing.

For one, Gilroy was hours away. Second, she never worked on homes and strictly worked on life insurance.

"Gilroy?"

One of her coworkers, Jackson, scowled slightly.

His dark hair was pushed back out of his face and his eyes were oddly cloudy. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Any other day he would have been joking or throwing around flirty smiles, but today was different. Today the sweet and usually warm coworker was rigid and cold.

"If the fire heads west maybe it will knock out all of the scum in the bay area. It could be a blessing in disguise."

One of the older sales reps scoffed. "That's never going to happen. There are ten state parks between there and the beach. The fire department wouldn't let it get anywhere near the coast. That's where California makes all of its money."

Jackson looked more irritated and uneasy as the other man spoke. Vie couldn't help but throw a frown of concern in his direction.

"And more money means more people. More people means more policies. The faster they get the fire under control the moratorium will be lifted."

The marketing director commanded the room, unhappy with the moratorium but buzzing with the thought of how much business they would strum up once the fire was put out.

"Now let's get back to it." Vinnie's boss lamely closed out the meeting and before too long the crowd of people dispersed.

On her way out Vinnie couldn't help but slow down next to Jackson. He was holding his tongue but he didn't look happy.

"What's the problem with the bay area?" She whispered lightly, holding out a pack of Oreos that she snagged from the vending machines earlier.

It was a peace offering, something to try and cheer him up. A semblance of a grin formed on Jackson's lips, but it didn't make it up to his eyes.

He shook his head, unclenching his jaw. She noticed how tense he looked and frowned. He had never been like that before.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Her words were soft, but the guttural sound that came out of Jackson in reply was startling. He was fighting for the words to come up.

"I grew up there." He admitted, clearly torn up about it. "There are gangs, drugs, and disappearances all over the place. It's a tough crowd." He added quickly, crossing his arms and sticking out his chest to make himself look bigger.

He really wasn't around the right crowd to try and size Vinnie up. Jackson looked around and was almost embarrassed when he looked back at her. He wasn't scary, not to Vie.

In fact, she thought it was cute that he was putting on a brave face.

"I don't really want to get into it, Vinnie. As soon as I was old enough to leave I booked it out of town. My Ma is still up there."

She nodded in understanding. It was a touchy subject.

"Well hey, if a fire did come close to the bay all of the gang rats would have to go somewhere, right?" She contemplated. "And I'd really not like them to find their way down here."

"I suppose so." Jackson agreed with a hint of a smile, the bad memories from his younger years slipping to the back of his mind. "It's probably better if they don't come down this way." She couldn't agree more and nodded in solidarity before heading back to her desk.

By the time lunch rolled around Vinnie had a good amount of work done for the day and instead of finishing up one of the weekly reports she was making a list of things to pack for the road trip. She'd left her toothbrush at home one too many times that it made it to the top of the list.

It was the only thing on the list.

Spending the weekend away from home meant another thing - Vinnie would have to break her laundry schedule. She would need to run to the laundromat after work.

The Bubble Bar was a couple of blocks away from her place, and there was still enough sun in the sky to enjoy the afternoon once Vinnie got off work.

She traded a pair of slacks and a too tight blouse for a pair of light washed jeans and a tank top with blue MTV sunglasses. She made her way down to the Bubble Bar with a bounce in her step, trying to convince herself that sitting in the laundromat for an hour wouldn't be so bad. Time would fly by.

For a Thursday afternoon the place was pretty quiet, and she stuffed her clothes into the second machine carelessly. As she reached into her back pocket for change a couple of quarters fell to the ground and she ducked down with a grumble to chase after them.

Not only did Vinnie find the quarters, but she found someone sitting under the folding table.

Someone was hiding under the table.

A teary eyed Stella sat stiffly, sniffling quietly. She was folding into herself, and suddenly Vinnie was reminded of the fight that happened that morning. Stella must have come here right after school.

Poor thing.

Vinnie adjusted to sit cross legged in front of her, leaning her head against the leg of the table. The girl was a mess. Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy braid and her face was still damp. She was flushed. Stella's eyes were glossy and red, her dark eyes filled to the brim with pain and sadness.

She didn't know what to do. Vinnie's maternal instincts were bar none, and she didn't want to intrude on family business. She groaned, deciding she couldn't hold her tongue. The poor girl was a wreck.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Stella looked up slowly, her lips parting and closing almost like a fish in between sniffles. If there were cogs in her head Vinnie could see them grinding together.

"You don't have to be nice to me." Stella bit out. She was hurt. No, she was angry. "I don't need you to be nice to me."

Vinnie slouched back against one of the dryers, letting her eyes drift over the row of washing machines on the other side of the wall.

"You're right." Vinnie agreed softly, holding her hands up in surrender. "But I wouldn't want to be sitting in a mess of dryer lint and dust bunnies."

She made a move to stand up to let Stella have her pity party on the ground.

Stella's eyes went wide with shock as you retreated. It was clearly not the reaction she was expecting.

"Wait."

Vinnie paused, looking back at the younger girl.

"Wait." She repeated slowly.

Her eyebrow hitched up and after an exhale Vinnie held her hand out to Stella to help her get up. It was an olive branch. Stella took her hand and helped her to stand, her thin hands clammy and cold.

She brushed off her skirt and the bangles on her wrists jangled together.

Vinnie needed to find a way to relieve some of the tension.

"Is now a good time to say that I'm glad you weren't sitting under there waiting to mug me?" She joked dryly. Noticing the quip of Stella's lip she considered it a small victory, even if she didn't say anything.

Vie deposited the runaway quarters into the machine, letting the subtle clinks and taps fill the silence between the two of them. It was quiet. It wasn't necessarily calm, but it was quiet.

Time passed, and before too long she realized that Stella had no interest in talking. To break up the silence Vinnie reached for a couple of coins in her back pocket and made her way over to the vending machine in the corner.

The selection was a tough call. There were only root beers and some off brand orange soda.

Vinnie decided on two root beers.

Walking back over to Stella she held one out for her to take. Stella mumbled a small thanks before taking the can. The two of them sat quietly, watching the machines spin and taking sips of their drinks in silence.

Time passed slowly, and it wasn't before too long that Stella decided to speak up.

"She doesn't listen to me." Her voice was hoarse and her eyes were fixed on watching the soap slosh around in the machine. "She thinks I'm going to turn into her, but I'm not."

Vinnie nodded subtly to let her know that she was listening. She wasn't quite sure if words would help.

"I want to do more. I want to see more." Stella added, the words spilling out faster than she planned on. "I see how much she struggles." Stella continued, and Vinnie watched her patiently.

It was a pronoun game, but Vinnie could take one guess that Stella was talking about her mom.

"And I could get a job, I could drop out of school-"

"No way." Vinnie shook her head. In the back of her head she knew that Stella was talking about shortchanging herself. "If you want to do more, you're going to need your diploma. You've only got a year left."

Stella didn't think that they would be having this conversation. Hell, Vinnie didn't think that you would be having this conversation.

The two of them were pretty close in age, and it was different from Stella being berated by her mother. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, tapping on the soda can.

"But just think about how much money I could make in that year."

"It won't be worth it." Vinnie countered.

It wasn't an argument.

"Enjoy the time you have right now, because next year you might not get a hall pass. Have fun now, enjoy your friends. Have a boyfriend, or two, or three." Vinnie offered her with a playful wink.

She was suddenly much more passionate about what they were talking about.

"Because once you start working you'll never stop. Does your mom ever stop?" No. "Do you think she'll be able to stop?" No.

There were crickets from Stella, and her gaze went downcast as if she were embarrassed.

Vinnie dug her heels into the ground, more to convince herself that she was saying the right thing, and she made a move to put her laundry in the dryer as the cycle stopped.

When she looked back there was a frown on the younger girl's face. Maybe she overstepped.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Vinnie apologized on an exhale, waving her hand to clear the air. She shouldn't have been so upfront with Stella. "It's not my place. I'm not your mom."

She looked at Stella apologetically but the younger girl shook her head.

"It's okay. I...I didn't think about it like that before."

A moment passed and the shop owner came in from the back, a worried frown on her face. She was a surly woman, waddling quickly toward the front of the laundromat.

"Oh! Hi ladies." She started loudly. "It's so quiet in here without the TV on. I had to run to Circle K for remote batteries."

Vinnie hadn't even noticed that the TV wasn't on. She was positive that Stella hadn't noticed either.

The TV crackled to life a minute later, and Channel 9 news was talking vibrantly about the fire spreading up in Gilroy. It showed a house that had caught fire from the hot embers. The screen was red with flames and black with smoke.

"Where's Gilroy?" Stella asked, eyes glued to the screen.

"Up north." Vinnie answered quietly, not looking away from the wreckage.

She was also glued to the disaster on screen. It was a terrible sight, and the house was engulfed in flames.

"It's east of Monterey Bay." The shop owner added. "Oh, what's that jingle?" She mumbled, and looking over Vinnie could tell she was concentrating.

The older woman tapped her hand on her leg looking for the right beat, and Vinnie checked to see if Stella was paying any attention.

"You guys must have seen the commercials." Vinnie tilted her head.

Had she? What was she talking about? The woman ended up humming the jingle before adding in the words.

"It's for that beach town. Santa Carla - oh you must have heard of it." The woman preened. "It's the Santa Carla beach boardwalk. In the warm California sun."

The lady sang the jingle. Poorly. She sang poorly. Could they even call it singing? Squawking, maybe?

Regardless, It was enough to jog her memory. Vinnie could see the commercial in her head. She had seen it before. She had seen it everywhere for as long as she could remember.

There were smiling kids and fun rides and park games. It was cheesy and silly and perfect for families. The place was a tourist trap, and it wasn't just a boardwalk. It was an amusement park right on the beach.

It's the Santa Carla beach boardwalk. In the warm California sun.

She hummed out the beat and shook her head. It was a terrible jingle. A final buzzer alerted Stella and Vinnie that her clothes had finished drying and she worked her way back to the machine, stuffing them into her hamper.

"Are you ready to head home?" Vinnie asked the younger girl, and Stella nodded but she didn't say anything.

They dumped the cans of soda and waved a quick goodbye to the owner, heading out while the sun was setting.

Santa Barbara was a pretty place.

The air was crisp and the ocean wasn't too far away, and Vinnie looked over to see that Stella was enjoying the view too. Stella actually had a stupid grin on her face. It was the first time that she had seen it all day.

"What?" Vinnie asked with a smirk, tilting her head. She was ebbing at the girl to say something. "What is it?"

Stella actually managed to let out a light laugh.

"It's that stupid song. It's going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the night." Stella grumbled about it, but she was smiling with the shake of her head.

"Which one?" Vinnie joked dryly. "The original, or the masterpiece we got to experience at the laundromat?"

Stella rolled her eyes.

"That's the problem. Both."

"I'll have nightmares." Vinnie agreed, grinning as they padded up the steps inside the apartment building.

"About which one?" Stella threw the question back at her.

"Both." Vinnie repeated.

A beat passed as they walked up the stairs.

"Maybe that would do you some good. Go to the boardwalk, ride the rides. Have fun before you grow up." Vinnie offered with a hopeful tone.

She needed to end the night on a high note. Stella raised an eyebrow, clearly thinking about it.

When they made it to Stella's door Vinnie gave her a nudge of assurance, a silent you got this. She watched the younger girl open and disappear behind the front door and she continued on to her apartment. There was no more yelling that night.

Vinnie considered it a little victory.