Disclaimer: stuff isn't mine, storyline mostly is...
A/N: sorry this one is so short. I wanted to get SOMETHING up, but I didn't have a lot of time... I'll try to post again soon.
Finally, her cappuccino came, the waitress bringing it straight to the table Sarah was at. Sarah dug some money out of her pocket and handed it to her server. Breathing in the steam coming out of her cup, she stood, walked out the door of the café, grabbed her bike and waited on one of the benches for her train.
Leaning against the back and sipping at the cappuccino soothed her building nerves. Her stomach had begun to constrict and her muscles tighten with energy and nervousness. She took some deep calming breaths and just chilled on the bench, glancing at her watch from time to time. Finally, a minute and a half behind schedule, her train came through the tunnel a few hundred feet from the platform. While it was screeching to a stop, Sarah watched through the tinted windows and was glad to see that most of the train was empty. When it was finally still, she climbed the steps into one completely empty car and lifted her bike in after her.
She plopped down and stretched out into the seat, her backpack tossed next to her. When the conductor came around for her ticket, he glared at her bike for a moment, then punched a hole in her ticket and kept walking.
The ride passed mostly uneventfully. Sarah pulled out her iPod and sipped at her cappuccino for a while, keeping her mind clear. When she finally slipped into thought, she contemplated what she was going to do with her bright, promising summer.
There's the lake, of course, she thought. Not to mention that Charlie's place isn't too far from Nora and Bud's vacation place. I guess that they're still in Huston. I know where the key is though. I could hang there…ohhhh… when she thought about the house on the lake, of course she thought about the surrounding houses and their occupants, and that led her thoughts straight to the Murtaugh's. ELLIOT! HE'S GOING TO BE THERE FOR THE SUMMER!! YESSS!! She was excited to remember that her summer love from previous years was going to be where she was going to be throughout the whole summer. She realized that she hadn't seen him since the two families had competed in the Labor Day Cup three years ago, and Nora had almost had her baby lakeside. Sarah smiled fondly at these memories.
He must be…. Well… older of course, but… different. Maybe he'll have a girlfriend… that thought sickened her. Or maybe he just won't remember me… that'd be major suckage. She shook herself and forced her mind to clear. Focusing in on her music, she turned it way up and drowned all thoughts from her mind.
When they hit the Winnetka station, Sarah yanked her now almost dead iPod out of her ears and shoved it back into her backpack. Grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders, she wheeled her bike out the front door of her train car and lifted it down the steps of the train. She dug her cell phone out of her back pocket and called Charlie, who was now number two on her speed dial.
"You here?" was the first thing Sarah heard when her big brother picked up the phone.
"Yeah, just got here," she replied happily.
He told her he'd be there in ten minutes and flipped his phone closed.