(Sara)

Sara couldn't believe how well the talk with Michael had gone. She knew it would be hard, but she wanted this friendship to work. And she knew the only way for that to happen was to ignore her feelings for him.

She would treat him the same as she treated any other friend, she told herself as she made her way down the hall to his bedroom door. Once there, however she froze up. Big talk she scolded herself, and then forced herself to proceed. She took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in", she heard Michael say, so she pushed open the door and found herself in his room for the first time since the day of his arrival.

"Sara…Hey what's up"? He asked and Sara noted the surprise in his voice.

He was lying on the bed leaning against a pillow. He had been reading, but now the book was resting open across his chest.

"Hey, Michael…Um"… She took a deep breath.

"I was wondering if you kind of…maybe wanted to do something?... you know hang out"?

There she had said it. Whew! Why was this so hard?

Michael looked even more surprised, but then he smiled.

"Yeah, that would be great… What did you have in mind"?

Sara grinned.

"Well, we do have this awesome go-cart track… I'm the undefeated champion, in fact", she bragged.

"Oh yeah, well I'm not too shabby myself, you know? You might have to give up that crown before the end of the day", he grinned.

"Not a chance, Scofield", she said feeling her heart beat faster at the challenge.

His grin widened.

"We'll see about that".

He eased up from his position on the bed and closed his book.

"When did you want to go", he said coming to stand directly in front of her.

Sara took a deep breath and told herself she could do this, she could be this close to him with out freaking out.

"How about right now"? She suggested raising her eyebrows.

"That is of course if you're not thinking of chickening out".

Michael grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it".

Sara studied him intently.

"You don't scare me, Scofield. I've beat every guy I know".

Michael raised his eyebrows.

"Then maybe I should be scared"?

Sara laughed.

"You should be. Come on, before you grow feathers and cluck away", she teased and headed for the door.

Once in the car they grew quiet.

Sara knew she could have quiet times with any and all of her friends, but somehow the silence was always filled with tension when she was with Michael.

She told herself to say something; anything to ease the tension.

"So, how's Lincoln"? She asked.

Sara knew Michael spoke with his brother at least twice a week, and figured that would be a good question to ask to fill some empty air.

"He's good, great in fact. He took Veronica; his girlfriend to this beach", Michael laughed.

"This 'nude' beach and she got so mad at him"… He trailed off and Sara saw his face turn pink.

Sara felt her own face redden. She knew he was thinking of her skinny dipping at the lake.

"Um, yeah I guess that would be embarrassing".

"God, Sara, I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking"… He said and then faced forward and mumbled softly. "I'm such an idiot".

Sara shifted her eyes from the road to see his discomfort.

"No, its okay, Michael, I'm a lot tougher than I look. Really, I can take it… so tell me what happened at the nude beach", she prodded smiling.

"Really, you really want to hear this"?

Sara nodded.

Michael grinned. "Okay, well… obviously he didn't tell V that it was a nude beach… and I guess she was mad at him. But she ended up getting even with him by the attention she got at the beach", Michael explained.

"So, then she went with it"? Sara asked.

"Oh, yeah she went with it alright", Michael grinned.

"And she had guys all over her. V's really beautiful, Sara".

Sara felt her gut twist in jealousy. Now she was jealous of his brother's girlfriend? She had no clue how she would survive watching Michael at the dance with her friend Christy if him just saying someone was beautiful made her feel like this.

Sara grew quiet. And then, "Do you miss them much, your brother and Veronica"?

Michael nodded.

"Yeah, I miss them a lot, especially Linc, but V too. Veronica is like… I'm really close to her. The three of us grew up together, you know"? He said and his voice grew wistful.

Sara nodded.

But she didn't really know how it felt to have a sibling. She was an only child.

"It must be great to have a brother like that", she smiled.

Michael looked at her and she glanced away from the road to meet his eyes for a second.

"It's the best. I'd do anything for him, and I know he would give up his life for me if it ever came to that".

They both grew quiet after that. And then the conversation officially came to an end as Sara pulled into a spot at Go-cart Haven and turned off the car.

"Are you ready to go down, Scofield"? She teased with a twinkle in her eyes trying to bring back the lightness of their earlier banter.

Michael grinned.

"You are so going to eat those words, Tancredi".

Sara grinned. "Not today, I'm not. Come on. Oh, and I get the red car", she said over her shoulder.

(Michael)

Michael glanced over at Sara in her bright red car. He could see the determination radiating off of her. She had a lot of spunk he would give her that.

He had never met a girl who was into Go-cart racing. And he had to admit he was surprised that Sara was so enthusiastic about it.

He watched as the light turned from red to green signaling them to start and she shot out in front of him and headed around the first corner.

He pressed harder on the gas and almost hit one of the large tires that surrounded the track, trying to catch up, but Sara made the turn easily and at a speed he would never have thought her capable.

Damn she was good!

He grinned and pressed his foot down determined to catch up. He could see her red car up ahead, her auburn hair blowing in the wind.

He was almost up beside her when she looked back at him and smiled. God she was so beautiful. She took his breath away. He smiled back and pressed harder on the gas, but he knew she was teasing him when she sped away, her car somehow lighter and faster with her behind the wheel.

He watched her passing under the small bridge as she ended her first lap. Only one more lap left in which to catch her. But Michael knew it was a lost cause. She was just too good. He was impressed.

He went under the bridge and hit his second lap, his car a shiny blue one easing smoothly up behind Sara's as they headed for the next turn.

He knew she was doing it again, letting him catch up to her, teasing him, but this time he was prepared. As they went around the bend he pressed his foot to the floor and shot out in front of her, taking the turn like a pro. He heard her laugh and looked back to see her excited eyes.

He pressed on as she came up on him her car easing up beside his. He looked over at her and met her eyes, their intensity making his foot let up a tragic fraction of an inch.

She shot passed him with a gleeful laugh and it was over. Sara had beaten him.

He grinned as he got out of the too small seat and joined her. She was jumping up and down.

"I beat you! Ha"! She exclaimed laughing.

And her laughter was infectious.

"I admit it, your one hell of a driver, Sara", he said once they had stopped laughing.

"How do you take those turns so fast"?

Sara laughed again.

"Nope, I'm not giving away my secrets".

Michael grinned. "Oh, come on! I'll buy lunch if you tell me"?

Sara considered it for a second.

"Nope, but you can still buy lunch", she teased as she headed for the car.

Michael laughed as he followed her. She was truly amazing. He couldn't remember ever having this much fun racing Linc.