Trish was looking at the pictures as they left the 1 hour photo booth. Sarah's mind was on the pool, wondering what Gisette had been up to while she was gone. She tried to speed up their steps, but Trish lagged behind as she flipped through the pile.

Sarah had to keep stopping to look at a picture every few steps and she was getting impatient.

"Sarah!" Trish stopped and held out a picture, "Is this your Pete?"

Sarah took the picture and looked at it and her heart quickened when she saw the look on Pete's face. She stopped beside Trish and stared at the picture. She had taken it the first night that they had all gathered in the tent.

She had called Pete's name and snapped the picture when he turned to her. Now, looking at the picture, she saw the love in his smokey grey eyes and the cocky smile that he was giving her.

"Wow, he is really cute!" Trish studied the picture, then pointed at the corner of it. "Hey! There's Sam!"

Sarah looked closer and saw Sam in the background, he was watching Pete with narrowed eyes.

"Looks like you caught Sam at a bad time. A little jealousy going on there?" Trish teased.

Sarah shook her head, "No way. He knows he has no reason to be jealous." She took her friends elbow, tugging her forward. "C'mon, it's so hot out here. Maybe we can still go swimming."

"I don't know." Trish was still looking at the picture as she walked. "Pete is really sexy."

They entered the motel parking lot and Trish said she was going to take the pictures to her room. Sarah searched the pool area, seeing Sam and Gisette secluded in a corner of the pool, while the others were scattered.

Sam had an arm on each side of the pool edge, trapping her. Gisette leaned back on her elbows. Their bodies were closer than Sarah liked. Sarah didn't like the intimacy that was so obvious between them.

Sam dipped a hand to swirl the water around them and Gisette tossed her hair back, exposing her long neck. Sarah heard her laughter as it drifted across the parking lot. She saw Gisette look her way and say something to Sam.

Sam looked up and saw Sarah coming across the parking lot. He swam away from Gisette and towards the side of the pool, calling Sarah's name.

Sarah kept her cool, she was not going to show Gisette how much it bothered her. She knelt down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Then she turned towards Gisette and called out a hello, trying to be very casual and friendly. She clenched her teeth and forced a smile aware that Sam was watching her closely.

"Gisette was just telling me about the meeting they had yesterday." Sam smiled up at Sarah as he lowered his voice. "She's really turning around, making an effort to be nice."

At the restaurant that night, Trish and Sarah sat together. Sam was across the table with Gisette sitting beside him. Sarah didn't know how the seating situation turned out the way it did, but she knew it was manipulated by Gisette.

Sarah watched as the two of them were in their own little world, talking and joking with each other. She hated when they talked in French!

Occasionally Gisette would say something to Sarah, but in the end, she got edged out of their conversation. As much as she tried to hide the look on her face, it showed that she wasn't happy about it.

"I'm putting together an album of yours and Sam's trip." Trish told Sarah as she drank her coffee. Both girls had taken a speeder that morning on the way back from the airport, and neither of them were eating much.

Trish tapped Sarah's hand, murmuring under her breath. "Don't let that bother you." She tipped her head to Gisette and Sam. "She's been trying to be nicer to all the guys. And I think she is just really making an extra effort to get along with Sam."

Everyone gathered in Georgie and Trish's room after the show. There was a connecting door between their room and Leon's that was opened, giving everyone more space to move around. Sam sat on the chair and pulled Sarah onto his lap, kissing her neck.

"We were hot tonight! Did you hear the crowd?" Sam breathed against her neck. His hand was roaming over her, trying to pull her closer. Sarah felt the energy coming from him, radiating heat between them. His kisses were getting harder and more demanding.

"You feel so fucking good." His hands continued moving lower on Sarah. He grabbed her hand and put it on him. She knew he had to have taken something and she was getting more upset as he groped her.

She stood up and stepped away from him. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

The bathroom door was locked in Georgie's room so Sarah climbed over people that were in the connecting doorway and into Leon's room. She saw Leon on the bed with a girl, in some very vigorous foreplay, mindless of the people around them.

Trish caught her arm as she came out of the bathroom, "Georgie told me that he saw Leon and Sam snorting something before the show tonight."

"Was it just coke?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know. Leon had told them that he scored some stuff. Sam was the only one who went with him." Trish squeezed her arm. "You remember last time he got fucked up."

Sarah looked through the open door and saw a young girl standing by Sam. She watched as the groupie squeezed into the chair with Sam, her arms going around his neck.

Sam laughed and held up his arms helplessly. He wasn't making any moves to encourage the groupie, but neither was he fighting her off.

She made her way as quickly as possible through the crowd. Grabbing the groupie by the arm, she pulled her away from Sam. "Get away from him, bitch."

She pulled Sam out of the chair. "C'mon, Sam, you're going with me."

FRIDAY - JUNE 11, 1976

Sarah groaned as she rolled over in bed. She and Sam had been awake nearly all night, before she finally fell asleep about 6 a.m. She squinted at the clock and saw it was 10:00.

Sam was passed out on his stomach beside her. His slow breathing meant he was in a deep sleep, he had finally crashed. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower and soon the small room was filled with steam.

After her shower, she went to check on Sam and saw he was still asleep and decided to go next door to Georgie's room. After searching for her room key, she gave up and decided to leave her door open a crack, in case Sam was still passed out when she came back.

Trish answered the door in the tee shirt she had on the night before. She held her finger to her lips, shushing Sarah as she let her into the room.

"Georgie's still sleeping." Trish whispered, pulling Sarah into the bathroom.

Trish leaned against the counter and lit a cigarette, looking at Sarah, sitting on the closed toilet. "That was a hell of night, last night. I think we all partied a little harder than usual. We're all going to feel a little crispy today. I see you survived it."

"Yeah, but Sam was still awake when I fell asleep." Sarah lit a joint and passed it to Trish. "Has this happened before?"

"Yeah, he and Gisette would snort meth once in awhile. I'm thinking that's what he did last night. You know, if you don't like it, you should say something to Sam."

"I just wish I had known!" Sarah was frustrated.

"Just remember, we are going to be on the bus for 4 or 5 hours. There isn't much privacy." Trish added, hesitantly.

Sarah nodded and stood up, prepared to face Sam. "Don't worry, we won't take our argument with us."

Sarah paused outside her door, listening. She heard voices inside, talking low. She felt a slow burn when she realized one of the voices had a French accent.

"How are you this morning?" Gisette ran her fingers up Sam's back, waking him up. He rolled over and squinted his eyes.

"Where's Sarah?" He rasped. He rubbed his hands over his face, digging his fingers into his eyes.

Gisette shrugged, "I don't know. Your door was open, again. Sarah isn't here."

She leaned over him, looking at his face, closely. "I was worried about you. I heard what you did last night. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

She smiled and let her eyes drift over his body, displayed nakedly on the bed. "Probably when we were together?"

"Yeah." Sam ran his hands through his hair and yawned. "God, I forgot how I feel the next morning."

He saw the sudden flare in her eyes and felt the heat of it in his dick. He threw the comforter over himself and looked around. "If Sarah comes in and catches us..."

Just then Sarah came into the room, her eyes blazing as she took in the scene. Sam was lying in the bed, naked under the covers, casually talking with Gisette, who was perched on his side of the bed. She noticed the way his hand carefully draped over the comforter as his face flushed.

"Get out, Gisette!" Sarah ordered.

Gisette opened her eyes wide, a bewildered look on her face. "I was just checking on Sam."

"Yeah, and he's fine, now get out!" Sarah held the door for her, watching over Gisette's shoulder as Sam went into the bathroom, holding his jeans in front of himself.

Gisette strolled past her, a look of triumph on her face.

Sarah slammed the door, and went to the bathroom, swinging the door open, and flicking on the overhead light.

"What the fuck is wrong, Sarah?" His eyes were still puffy from sleep and he was squinting as he was having a hard time seeing in the bright lights of the bathroom. He palmed the wall as he leaned over the toilet. His heart was skipping in his chest.

"I don't appreciate Gisette coming in to our room anytime she wants." Sarah bit out.

"Then maybe you should close the door when you leave, Sweetheart." Sam said it as if he was talking to a child. "You're the one who left it open, not me."

Sarah looked stricken. She stepped back and walked into their room, sitting on the side of their bed.

Sam followed her into the room and threw himself back on the bed beside her. He felt like shit and really didn't want to get into an argument about Gisette.

"I'm sorry. I feel really burnt out right now, Ok?" Sam ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it off his forehead. "I think I'm going to take a shower. Can we talk about this later?" He still lay there, his eyes closed and his hands caught in his hair.

"Okay, maybe a shower will help." Sarah said, quietly. She watched him go into the bathroom and close the door.

Sarah sat on the bed, smoking a cigarette as she waited for Sam. She reached in her bag and found the valium, popped it in her mouth and swallowed, then she paced the floor.

She had heard what Sam had said to Gisette about her walking in and catching them, but she hadn't seen what was going on before she walked in. Sarah wondered what he was afraid that she was going to see.

Asking Sam would do no good; since they had come back, he was so fucking protective of Gisette's feelings. Sarah thought it was entirely possible for him to come out of the bathroom and be pissed at her.

Finally Sam came out of the steamy bathroom, his jeans sagged, undone and his chest, bare. He walked past her, over to his duffle bag, by the chair, digging through it.

"I can feel your eyes on my back, Sarah."

Sarah came and knelt beside him. She placed her hands on her knees. "I'm sorry for getting pissed about Gisette. I shouldn't have left the door open."

She reached in her shirt, drawing strength from the blue stone. "We have one hour to talk, then we have to get on the bus. I don't know if it bothers you as much as it does me that we don't have the bike anymore. I do know that I don't want to get on that thing while we are mad at each other. I don't ever want them to see us arguing. Do you agree?"

Sam placed his hand over Sarah's and he squeezed it lightly. "I don't want to argue, Sweetheart. The bus trip will be bad enough. I thought you knew that I hate the idea of riding that thing. I loved riding my bike with you wrapped around me."

"I thought I did know that. But Sam, since we've come back, nothing is the same. Everyone seems to be acting so differently. You did a different drug and I didn't have any idea what was going on."

Sam sat down and pulled her onto his lap, cuddling her into him. "Why didn't you say this last night?"

Sarah chuckled, "Last night, you were either fucking me or pacing the floor, talking about your music, and anything else that came into your mind. Mostly music."

"Fucking you, sweetheart?" Sam tilted her face up to his.

"There's a difference between fucking and making love. Last night was fucking." Sarah stated.

"Wow" Sam said in surprise, "And you're mad about that?"

"No, I didn't say I didn't like it." She squirmed in his lap as his fingers found her ticklish spot. "Wait! I have more to say!"

Sam stopped tickling and groaned in mock torture. "Go on. Tell me what you have to say, then."

"This is serious, Sam! I would like to know if this is a common thing, do you normally take these other drugs?" She looked at him, curiously. "What other drugs do you take?"

Sam tilted his head back, his dimples appeared as he grinned. "God, sweetheart! Let me think!" He laughed, "No! I don't take drugs on a regular basis, except pot. Well, we do coke every couple nights." He paused and cocked an eyebrow at Sarah. "I only do something different every once in a while."

"Do you think, sometimes...," Sarah hesitated. "We could do them together?"

Sam pulled Sarah around to straddle him, his hands on her shoulders. He looked her in the eye. "Anytime you want to try something, tell me. We'll do it together."

Sarah looked at his dimple, admiring it, as she slid a fingertip down the groove. "Sounds good." She said, softly.

His eyes drifted down, and he looked confused. "Why are you wearing your shirt that way?"

Sarah had on a sleeveless button down blouse, tucked into her shorts. It was one that she normally wore partially unbuttoned and tied under her breasts, exposing her stomach. She unbuttoned the first button, revealing a large sucker bite on her neck.

"My god! I did that last night?" Sam grinned, wickedly. "That just goes to show how much I was enjoying you."

"Yeah, well, that's just one of many." Sarah removed her blouse and showed the trail of smaller ones down her stomach that disappeared into the waistband of her hip huggers. "You really enjoyed me." She wrapped her arms around his neck, "But I enjoyed you too."

***

Gisette was standing by the bus, tapping her foot, as they stowed their bag and climbed on. "Come on, we have to go!" She waved them on the bus, following behind, then stopped as she bumped into Sam.

"SURPRISE!!"

Sarah stopped in her tracks, and Sam crashed into her, as they both stood with their mouths open.

The first section of the bus, the aisle that ran between the fours rows of two seats, was criss crossed in red crepe paper.

The next section had red streamers hanging down, hitting the heads of the rest of the group, as they all stood around or sat on the small couches on each side.

"You have to break the cherry! It's your first time, Sarah!" Georgie yelled.

Sarah and Sam laughed as they pushed their way through, falling into Georgie and Trish, at the end.

"You are all crazy!" Sarah said as she took a beer from Trish and a joint from Georgie.

"We wanted to welcome you to the longest bus rides you have ever taken." Tex said sarcastically from the couch.

Everyone had settled in for the ride, some sleeping in the seats and others playing cards at the table, in front of one of the couches. Sam was sitting in a seat up front, playing his guitar and writing on a scrap of paper. Sarah and Trish sat together on the couch, talking.

"You were late getting on the bus, does that mean that you and Sam are okay now?" Trish asked, smiling.

"Yeah, we're good." Sarah picked up the pile of magazines she had brought. "Do you want a magazine to read?"

"No, I really need to organize my pictures." Trish pulled out the bag of pictures, "I want to get your album together, but I want to go through the new ones. I'm sure there are more here that you would like."

Sarah nodded and looked through her magazine.

"Have you noticed how quiet Gisette has been?" Trish spoke low, glancing over at Gisette, curled into the end of the opposite couch, sleeping.

"Yeah, thank god." Sarah looked over at Gisette, "She was in our room when I came back from yours this morning. And there was Sam, sitting in the bed, naked and talking, like it was nothing. I mean, he had a comforter over him. But what if he hadn't been covered when she came in? She would have seen him naked."

"Well," Trish bit her lip, to keep from laughing. "She has seen it before." She noticed the angry look cross Sarah's face. "Hey, she's probably seen all these guys' bare asses." Trish went back to looking at her pictures, adding meaningfully. "You can't take it personal."

Sarah got bored after awhile, and walked down the aisle, sliding into the seat next to Sam.

"Are you working on a song?" She leaned over his arm to look at his notes.

"Yeah," Sam covered the paper with his hand. "I'm trying."

"Oh," Sarah looked at him, impishly. "Am I disturbing you?"

"Sweetheart, you can disturb me anytime." He set his notes and guitar aside, pulling her onto his lap.

"So, what are you writing now?" Sarah tried to see the papers again.

"I don't know yet. I'll let you see it when I'm done." Sam kissed her soundly.

They both looked up as Gisette stopped by their seats. She said something in French to Sam, totally ignoring Sarah.

Gisette was waiting for a response from Sam, and finally when he answered her, she said nothing, but went back to her spot on the couch.

"What was that all about?" Sarah asked Sam. "I hate it when you guys speak French. It just seems too secretive."

Sam slid Sarah off his lap, picking up his guitar, his fingers picking at the strings. "Don't worry, sweetheart. She just wanted to know what we thought of our bus ride." Sam told her as he looked out the window, and strummed the strings on his guitar, absently.

Sarah looked at him, sharply. "That doesn't make sense, why did she ask it in French?"

Sam closed his eyes, "It's her native tongue, Sarah. She probably didn't even realize she was."

Sarah didn't say anything else. She didn't want to be the only one in this group who seemed to have a problem with Gisette.