SATURDAY - JUNE 5, 1976

Sarah rushed into their room, dropping her bags on the bed and calling out for Sam. She turned in a circle, puzzled by what she saw. The room had been trashed, their clothes thrown all over the bed, the lamp on the table had been knocked over, apparently by the shoe that rested beside it. Sam's guitar case was open and his guitar was missing. She ran down the hall to Trish's room in a panic.

Trish opened the door, surprised to see Sarah. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know! I think someone broke into our room!" Sarah was terrified and shaking.

They both ran back to Sarah's room and surveyed the damage.

"Is anything missing?" Trish asked.

"Sam's guitar, I don't know about anything else." Sarah's eyes roamed the room and landed on the bed. "Why would someone go through our bags and throw our clothes all over like that?"

"Money? Maybe they were looking for money. Is anything missing from the bag?" Trish crossed over to the bed and helped Sarah fold the clothes.

"Nothing else is missing." Sarah looked at Trish, confused. "The door was locked. How could anyone get in? And why would they lock the door behind them?"

"I don't get it." Trish wandered around the room, stopping to pick up the lamp and set it on the table, clicking it off and on. "Well, at least the lamp isn't broken. The hotel can't complain about that."

She was referring to the hotel where they had stayed in Cincinnati and the shower curtain that Sam had ripped off the shower. Gisette had given Sam a hard time about the cost of the damages; they'd had a heated argument about it. Sarah had heard about it from Trish.

Both girls looked up in surprise when Sam burst through the door, cursing loudly in french. They heard Gisette yelling back at him as she followed him into the room. They shouted over each other, neither of them really listening to the other.

Sarah rushed over to Sam and grabbed his arm as he raised it above his head, to make his point. His hand caught the side of her face, knocking her back.

"Fuck! Sarah, are you alright?" He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. He checked her face, looking for any marks on her cheek. "Oh god, sweetheart! I'm so sorry." He feathered kisses over her cheek, repeatedly apologizing.

Looking up, he saw Gisette, standing by the door. "Get out!" he yelled.

Gisette stood stubbornly, speaking rapidly in french.

Sam set Sarah away from him and headed for Gisette. Grabbing her arm, he pushed her out the door, slamming it in her face.

Trish stood, still frozen to the spot that she was in when Sam had entered the room.

"Wow!" She breathed, "That was stupid. She is really going to be on your shit now. What the hell were you two arguing about?"

"I don't know. Everything." Sam wrapped his arms around Sarah. Holding her head against his chest, he said, "Sarah, I am so sorry that you got caught in the middle of it all. I would never hit you on purpose." He kissed the top of her head, his hand running down her braid.

Sarah pulled away. Stepping back, she swept her arm around the now straightened room.

"Did the argument start here? Is that why this room was such a mess?" She asked angrily.

Sam nodded his head guiltily, then looked around. "I see you picked everything up. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

Trish opened the door and left, calling out her goodbyes. She wanted to talk to Georgie and hear what the latest disagreement between Gisette and Sam had been about.

Trish was worried, she saw the steam building between them and knew it would blow one day. She was afraid that Sarah would get hurt in the explosion.

SUNDAY - JUNE 6, 1976

Sam woke up groaning, his head pounding with each loud heart beat.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up slowly, holding the wall until he felt the floor settle under his feet.

Sarah caught Sam's reflection in the bathroom mirror as he shuffled across the darkened room. The toothbrush in her mouth moved slower and it stopped altogether as she watched him. She lowered her head and spit, trying to gauge his hangover.

She felt his hands around her waist as he slid past her, mumbling an apology. Or what she thought was one. She rinsed her brush and sipped some water as she watched him palm the wall and lean over the toilet.

"Can you turn the light down, Sweetheart?" He mumbled, resting his head against his arm.

Sarah flipped off the bright drying lamp, dimming the room. "You were pretty messed up. How are you doing?"

He pressed himself off the wall, and walked around her to rinse his face in cold water. "I think I'm going to take a shower. Do we have anything for a headache?"

Sarah dug in the travel case, pulling out a bottle of aspirins. She handed it over to him silently, waiting to see if he was including her in the shower.

Sam filled a glass of water and took the pills, then leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Thanks, Sweetheart."

Sarah bit her lip, as she caught his face between her hands. She looked worriedly back and forth at his eyes. "Are you okay, Sam?"

He smiled as he pulled her hands away, planting a kiss on each palm. "I'm good and I'll be even better after a shower."

The ride to the next city was a white knuckler for Sarah as Sam laid into his bike and flew on the freeway. Sarah squeezed her arms around him, her head pressed tight on his back.

Sarah sat on the bed, reading a magazine and listening to him play his guitar. Since they had settled into their room, Sam had been sitting in the chair by the window, strumming listless tunes, his head hung down.

When it was time for him to go to practice, he gave Sarah a kiss on the cheek, absentmindedly telling her to call her parents, and left.

Sarah held the receiver to her ear, listening to her mother ranting. "This is madness, Sarah! You can't seriously be doing this. I know we gave you a lot of freedom growing up, but this is taking it too far."

"Mom, I called to tell you that I'm doing good, and to see how you and dad are. If you keep this up, I won't call you anymore. You have to accept that I am here with Sam. I know you don't understand it. But please, trust me."

"Trust you? Sarah, you are out on the road, doing god knows what. I'm worried about you!"

"That's why I'm calling." Sarah said with exaggerated patience. "To tell you that I am alright."

She heard her mother give a loud sigh on the other end, and knew she had to change the subject. "So, tell me, how are you and dad doing?"

"Besides worrying about you?" Sarah rolled her eyes on her end, saying nothing, and her mother went on.

"Your dad goes to the restaurant every morning. He's been trying to do the paperwork and ordering on his own, and he's having a hell of time with it. It's time to do payroll again. He says he needs you here to help him."

"He's the one that showed me how to do it, he'll work it out." Sarah clenched her teeth. Her mother was doing a great job of making her feel guilty.

"Have you talked to Pete?" The question slipped out of Sarah's mouth. She had to ask something to get her mom off the subject of her leaving.

"No, I haven't seen much of him lately, either. Delly told me last night that he was moving out, getting his own apartment." Jane Winston paused, then went on mournfullly. "I don't know what has gotten into you kids lately. Why you feel this need to break away from each other like this!"

"Maybe it was just time, mom." Sarah went on, softly. "Pete and I have been together all our lives. It's time for us to be separate. We are each choosing different directions."

"Well, I don't like the direction you are choosing, I'll tell you that." Jane started in again about Sarah leaving.

"Mom, I'll call you again in a couple days. I love you, and give dad my love." Sarah cut her mother off, quickly.

Sarah decided to call Midgie after her conversation with her mom. She wanted to hear more about Pete's decision to get his own apartment. The phone rang continuously, indicating that no one was home.

She called the salon next and was informed that Midgie was at the campground with Dave. Sarah fielded questions from Midgie's mom as best as she could; she knew she was probably the main subject in the salon's gossip circle.

The phone in Dave's office was picked up on the third ring. Sarah's heart jumped into her throat when she recognized Pete's voice.

"Hi Pete." Sarah struggled to sound normal.

Silence hung heavy on the line, then Pete spoke. "Hello Sarah. How are you doing?"

Sarah could tell he was making the same effort at normalcy as she was."I'm good, how about you?"

"I'm good, too. Where are you calling from?"She heard the coolness in his voice.

"I'm in Madison, Wisconsin. I wanted to call and see how everyone is." Sarah listened for a reply, there was none forthcoming so she cleared her throat and went on. "I just talked to my mom. She told me that you were getting your own apartment."

"Yeah, I am. Listen, Sarah, I'm really busy here. I can't talk right".

"Ok, but wait! Don't hang up!" Sarah raised her voice.

"What?" His annoyed voice finally came through the lines.

"Can I talk to Midgie?" Sarah asked.

"She's not here right now. I'll tell her you called." Pete hung up the phone.

Sarah listened to the dial tone, her heart pounding. She felt like she was unraveling. She needed someone to talk to, so she decided to go see Trish.

Trish threw open the door, glad to see Sarah. "My god, I'm bored to tears here. It's turned into such a dreary ass day outside, and there's nothing to do."

Trish motioned to the rain splattered window, then to the glass, filled with amber liquid, sitting on the dresser. "I was just about to have a drink. I think you should too, you look terrible."

Sarah took the drink offered to her and sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. "Thanks, I could use this. I've had one fucked up day. Sam just was so quiet all day. I can see Gisette is eating away at him, and he won't let me help!"

Trish sipped her drink, and shook her head. "He's so fucking stubborn! And Gisette just feeds it to him! She gets him like that on purpose! I don't know why he can't see that."

Sarah looked at her, "What should I do?"

"We'll just keep our eyes on her. You and I, we won't let her get away with any shit. Okay?"

Sarah nodded her head, then told her, "I just had a terrible phone call, too. It was awful."

"Your parents, huh?" Trish cocked an eyebrow at her. "I know it's tough when they don't approve of what you're doing. I had the same problem with mine at first. But I've been with Georgie so long that now they have learned to accept it."

"It wasn't just my parents. I also talked with Pete." Sarah's voice cracked.

She raised her glass to her lips, and her hand shook, visibly. "I don't think we'll ever be able to be friends again."

Trish watched her in sympathy, then she walked over and took her pill bottle out of her purse. "Here, you really are a mess, this will help."

Trish watched as Sarah took the Valium and washed it down with the drink.

She listened as Sarah recounted her years with Pete. As she talked, the pill took effect, loosening her tongue, making the story easier to tell.

Sarah ended her story with the night before she came to Cleveland, telling Trish about the scene on the beach and back in the tent.

"So, you had a choice and you chose Sam." Trish said quietly.

"I chose Sam. But that doesn't mean that I don't still want Pete around. I do, just not that way." Sarah shook her head, "Why do I have to sacrifice my friendship with Pete?"

"Sarah, can I ask you something?" Trish was thoughtful. Seeing Sarah's nod, she went on. "Sam told me that you had your heart broken before. Was Pete the one who broke it?"

"Yes." Sarah slid down onto the pillow, closing her eyes. "But please don't tell Sam." She felt herself drifting off to sleep.

Sarah woke up in her bed; only the glow from the bathroom light softly illuminated the room. She ran her hand over her eyes and looked around in confusion. She remembered being in Trish's room, talking with her. And when she thought harder about it, very vaguely she remembered Sam carrying her to bed. She rubbed her hands in her eyes again, and then she looked at the clock and gasped in surprise. It was 10:00, everyone was at the concert!

Sarah laid her head back on the pillow, feeling her eyes fill up with tears.

'This is crazy.' she thought to herself. 'I don't even know why I'm crying.'

She lay there and felt it come up from inside her, a darkness so deep, she thought she would drown in it. Loneliness. She had never felt so alone before. Sam was preoccupied with his problems with Gisette, and she couldn't fall back on Pete for comfort anymore.

Her thoughts left an ache in her chest, pain that nearly took her breath away. Sarah sat up in bed and went into the bathroom. She splashed cold water in her face, and leaned her hands on the counter, taking a deep breath, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face and eyes were red and puffy from crying, her hair was loose and straggled around her face.

'You're a mess, girl.' She whispered. Then she realized who she needed to talk to.

"Midgie! I'm so glad you're home!" Sarah blurted out. "I didn't want to have to call Dave's office again."

"Sarah!" Midgie yelled in surprise. "I knew you would call tonight! Pete said he talked to you today, I had to know how you were doing."

"He sounded so pissed off at me." Sarah started crying. "Talk to me, Midgie. Tell me how he's doing? Fuck it, I want to hear it all, what is everyone saying about me?"

"First of all, calm down, girl!" Midgie was alarmed to hear her crying. "It's not as bad as you think, ok? Most of the people in town just think you are away, visiting a friend. That's what your parents have said, so we've been sticking by that story."

"Does 'we' include Pete?" Sarah had calmed down to a sniffle already. She was relieved to know that she wasn't embarrassing her parents by being gossiped about.

"Of course it does! Sarah, he is still your friend, you know that? Right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, you should have heard him on the phone." Sarah told Midgie the whole conversation, verbatim. It was branded in her memory.

"You caught him by surprise, Sarah. I can tell he's thinking about it a lot. But I think he's made a good decision to move out on his own." Midgie's voice soothed Sarah.

"Why is he doing that?" Sarah asked, curiously.

"I think he's trying to build his life, that's all." Midgie spoke more resolutely. "He's going to be okay, I think he's realizing it."

"Does he talk about me?" Sarah was afraid to ask.

"Yeah, he does, sometimes. When you called me before, I told him. He was cool about it. He said he was glad you were happy."

"Well, that makes me feel better. Tell him that I'm happy for him, too. I'll be back in August, I want to see his apartment." Sarah smiled as she said it.

"I think that's a great idea. Now, tell me about your exciting life." Midgie commanded. Sarah unloaded on her, telling her about Sam and Gisette arguing all the time.

"You know what I heard Gisette tell her friend, and I know you don't believe it. But I think there's more there. You have to watch her." Midgie advised.

Sarah heard the commotion in the hall as everyone returned from the show. She told Midgie good bye and thanked her for listening and helping her, then she ran in the bathroom to fix her hair.

She didn't plan on going to Georgie's room tonight, she didn't feel like facing everyone. She trusted Trish to watch over things for her, and she hoped Sam would come back to the room sooner if he saw she wasn't coming over.