For the first 15 minutes after leaving the room, Sam, Sarah, and Linda all went on auto pilot. Their brains couldn't process what had happened, so their bodies got to work doing what needed to be done. Sam went and got ready for his shift, serving the people who he used to eat with, which would be the key to him being better at serving than Jon ever was, Sam knew instinctually what everyone's tastes already were. Still there was a certain amount of humiliation that occurred, something deeper than his pride that was wounded as he had to get Jane and Richard their drinks and watch the two laugh and stare into each others eyes as they explored what was clearly a new May October romance. Jane didn't even notice Sam, she wasn't supposed to for one and for another she was completely overtaken with feelings of love for the the man she was with. Richard, as he had mixed around traits had taken the extra measure of stealing some of the feelings Sarah had for him and adding it on top of Susan's, creating something of a daddy complex with Jane as well as the normal level of attraction, he had of course saved some of that for Linda...Liddy?...he'd figure that out eventually too, to try and maintain something of a loyal and loving daughter, though that was less important to him now. This was a fresh start, Liddy was almost old enough to be out of the house and here before him was a made to order perfect woman to please him and live out the rest of his days with, where if anything he could start over and make more kids if he wanted. Jane was a trip, not only was she beautiful, but also having been a teenage boy not long before there was still enough Jon in her to make her interesting in conversation, Jane could talk sports, she wasn't too dainty to get her hands dirty or play rough if he wanted. When he had started with Susan he wanted an equal, that was a mistake, she had resented him for being more powerful than him, for having secrets, and her ambition poisoned not just their marriage but Sarah as well, spoiling her, creating those little annoyances. Jane was none of those things, sure he had to build out of the rough clay of a teenage boy, but he had burred that in enough feminity, sexiness, vanity, and most of all lust and care for him that he knew that if there was a confused boy behind those blue eyes, she was having the time of her life not caring about him anymore. At least that was the plan, and Jane didn't give any hint of confusion, dismay or unwillingness throughout the nights fun, foreplay or finishing. Richard slept well that night, like a man who had won.
Sarah on the other hand found herself waiting outside the high school in traffic to pick up her daughter Zoey, when a group of teenage girls passed by her mom mobile as they made their way across the street the fronted the school. It took her a second to realize they were Sabrina, Amber, and Mellissa, her friends, and yet they looked so young! They were just kids, I mean they were the same age they had always been but through her new old eyes she suddenly saw just how young a 17 year old was. Suddenly the song from he youth rang in her ears again, "For the life of me, I cannot remember, What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise For the life of me, I cannot believe We'd ever die for these sins, we were merely freshmen" forgetting for a second that song came out in 1996 (The Verve Pipe) and that she was remembering the wrong teenager years again. There was a pained part of Sarah that wanted to offer them a ride, to see where they were going, for them to find her cool as they always had, but then the light changed and she had to keep moving. She had a mission, she had to pick up her daughter. Sarah hadn't allowed her brain to process the fact that once in her life now, at least once anyway she had harbored life inside her and then pushed it out into the world, and then she had raised that life and now needed to pick it up from school. It was all in there now, the love and devotion of a mother, right along side the smile lines and the stretch marks and the gray hairs, it was all too much to sort out now. Zoe, that name...she liked that name, though it had to be for a better reason than it was her daughters name...something about it...Wait. Was that the name of Linda's daughter? Was she now the mother of that strange Goth freshman girl? Sarah had given her, and her group of freaks hell over the year, they were bad for moral, bad for school spirit so they had to be put in there place. Sarah waited in terror for what she assumed was her failure of a daughter to come walking out those double doors, it wasn't enough to be old, to be passed her prime and relegated to soccer mom duties, at least let her kid want to play soccer. But Zoe never came out. Sarah waited, watching everyone funnel and pass and go their separate ways, but she didn't see Zoe, nor any of her gothy friends, and she knew where they would be, but they were not there.
The thing that got Sarah out of her car wasn't courage, it was a blue Dodge Charger dropping off a cute red head who she had caught changing in the backseat into her Lakeview High School Cheer uniform as they drove past.
She shared a long kiss with the driver as he "helped' her adjust her top and then squealed away.
"Steve Farber? Why aren't you dating Biff?" Sarah asked trying to get Linda's attention.
Linda was a little surprised to see Sarah, not just so soon, but at all, this was after all her domain now.
"You lived your life, I'm living mine." Steve was way better at a lot of stuff, was the real reason, after all hidden back there in her soul were a lot of experiences and needs that were bolder than just any boy could handle.
"I like the hair." Sarah offered, trying to figure out how to talk to what she assumed was herself.
"Thanks, I saw it on a Tok and I thought, this could be a brand and it seems to be working."
While Sarah knew what those words meant, there was a part of her that cringed hearing Linda say it.
"Linda...."
"Actually I've decided to go by Liddy (she/her/they) seems cuter and Linda was that other thing, I thought I should draw a line, ya know."
"is it weird for you to talk like that? Cause it's weird for me to hear it."
"Sister, all of this is broken mirror, but also it kinda feels great? I'm enjoying it I think...I mean, I'm obviously on my way to cheer practice, and I've never done that, but also like, how exciting you know?"
"I feel like I used to know that, once."
"well weird to run into you, I've got to go, I'd say follow me on socials but...do you still have those? BeeTeeDub, what are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm here to pick up Zoe."
"Oh she should be inside." and with that Liddy zoomed off toward the field, bouncing as she went and leaving Sarah in front of the school.
