°°° Test of Might °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • -Carl’s Automotive Repairs And Accessories- Sean sat in the break room having lunch. He hadn’t spoken to Jason in a while. "You are becoming a bad friend, homie." "Bros first, bros first!" he yelled in his head. Picking up his phone, he dialed Jason’s number. After a while, Jason picked His voice sounded groggy as he said, "Hello." "Are you just waking up?" Sean was stunned. "Yeah, what is the time?" Jason yawned. "Dude, it’s already one in the afternoon." "How could you sleep for this long?" "I was tired, bro," Jason laughed. "I've been trying to get back into shape and stuff. "Besides my parents left with Andrew this morning after breakfast, so I was able to cash in on my sleepless nights from last week." "Sorry for waking you then," Sean laughed. "Heheh… So how are you doing at work? "I didn’t call yesterday to find out about your first day experience because I figured you would be tired," Jason explained with an

°°° Safety First °°° Stepping out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and another hanging over his shoulders, the blue-eyed lad walked to his phone and opened it. He had just returned from his morning run, but he wasn’t able to run with himself feeling sore from Carl’s Auto Shop's "Saturday Rush Hour" and trying to pacify himself to stop his thoughts from raging, constantly reminding himself of his promise to himself and his mother. Even now, he was still having thoughts about going back on his words. "How can a grown man be so... juvenile?" Sean couldn’t help but grumble with a frown as he thought about Boris’ actions the previous night. "I mean, even though Sarah can be playful, this guy is just darn stupid." Making fun of a kid at work... "I'm getting revenge by getting my mom to arrive late—even Sarah wouldn’t," he said suddenly, freezing as he realized something. "Oh shit… "I haven’t called her back," his eyes widened. He had just remembered that Sarah was also

°°° Seeds of Doubt °°° The streets were quiet and peaceful. The leaves in the trees rustled every now and then as the wind directed them. Sean walked down the street, his hands in his pockets, and a smile plastered across his face. It was almost eight o’clock, and although he had left Karen’s at about six thirty after his mom called, he was still a turn away from his block. He stared dreamily into the starless night sky; his mind had nothing but bliss in it. He felt a feeling he couldn’t describe, a feeling he believed was what people in the movies meant when they said, "I feel as though there are butterflies in my stomach." After getting to the airport, he sat with Karen, both of them staring into each other’s eyes for a while and saying nothing. These were experiences he had before and thought were silly, but now he was experiencing them. They had chatted about her trip, talked about the screaming kids on her flight, and the pervert on the plane who h

°°° Heart Break in an Instant °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania• -Colonel William’s Residence- "Morning, old man," Karen greeted her granddad, Colonel William, with a smile as she walked to the back of the house. The Colonel put down the magazine in his hands to take a look at the person greeting him. This old-timer had almost forgotten that his grandson was in Philadelphia. Not because he was suffering from any form of amnesia due to old age, but because he was a man of schedule, and his schedule for the entire week didn’t have her on it, so her presence had managed to skip his mind as he focused on every other thing. "Oh… "I almost forgot you were here," the old man chuckled as he stood up from the black outdoor chaise pool chair, stepping out from under the cover of the beige colored umbrella, and his features became much more pronounced. This grandfather didn’t look as old as he claimed to be. With his completely black hair, save for a cluster of silver hair strands

°°° Mutual Feelings °°° •Roxborough Dog Park• The walk to the dog park took them roughly thirty-three minutes. Although the walking distance from Karen’s house on Kingsley Street to the Roxborough dog park typically takes just about eight minutes, Nuke was playful, and Karen wasn’t making the situation any easier with her encouragement for Nuke to "misbehave." On the bright side, they were able to make a couple bucks after Karen made the dog perform tricks on the road. Passersby who were impressed gave what little they could squeeze out. Karen made them stop at three different spots so Nuke would perform tricks, and at each spot, they spent almost eight minutes. "I am never helping you walk Nuke, never again," Sean stretched as they released the hybrid German Shepherd into the off-leash area after taking off her leash. "What?" Karen laughed as she stuffed her mouth with cheeseballs. "What do you mean by "what"?" "You made almost seventy dollars busking with Nuke,