Pam left to attend one of her many volunteer events an hour later.Erin went to meet up with Trevor, obviously.So Sarah found herself back in her Jeep. As she spun her radio dial to find an interesting song, her phone beeped again. She picked it up. Kurl had messaged her about ten emoji smiley faces with hearts. She giggled and put her phone down. She was glad she was giving him a chance. As she drove along, she decided she didn’t feel like going home. Even though she had a lot of homework, she wasn’t in the mood. Plus, it was kind of a nice day. The sun was peeking out from behind a cloud, encouraging her to stay outside. While at a red light, she unzipped her bag to throw her phone in. As she did, her hands brushed across Bent’s black sweatshirt. She paused, letting her fingers caress the soft fabric. Oh why couldn’t her life be as splendid and marvelous as Erin and Pam’s? Could she make herself feel for Kurl the way she felt for the boy with the beautiful name?The light turned green. Sarah released the soft sweatshirt to drive with both hands. But her eyes kept glancing back to it, resting there silently beside her. As if calling to her. When she got to another red light, she grabbed the soft sweatshirt and squeezed it hard against her chest. But the sweatshirt no longer smelled like Bent. Her family’s housekeeper had washed it in an unscented laundry detergent. It now smelled like nothing at all. She dropped the sweatshirt back onto her bag. A sudden thought struck her. She leaned forward over the wheel to see more clearly. Then, taking a deep breath, she turned her Jeep down a side street, towards the beach. The Jeep bumped along the concrete road for about a mile. The houses in this part of town were significantly bigger and more luxurious than the main section of town where Sarah and her friends lived. Even Elly’s house, while still extremely elegant, was only half the size of the houses in this area. Going off memory, Sarah found the little winding road leading to the gate. Wait, THE GATE!Sarah put her Jeep in park before she reached the gate to Bent’s house. Hugging her arms to her chest, she tried to catch her breath. I’m just here to say ‘hi.’ No, I’m just here to drop off his sweatshirt and sweatpants. It’ll be fine. Then I’ll leave. She took another deep breath. The Jeep rolled slowly up to the gate, pushing the button back to drive mode. It took her another couple of minutes to get up the nerve to punch the call button. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes, and hit the button. A woman’s voice sounded on the speaker. “Hello.”Sarah now noticed the camera beside the speaker. Oh my gawd! she thought in alarm. Anyone in the house could have seen her sitting here, silently FREAKING OUT in her Jeep. She swallowed loudly. “Erna? Is that you? It’s Sarah.””Yes, Sarah. It is,” the voice said from the speaker.Sarah smiled, feeling better already. “Yay, Erna, hi! I’m just dropping a few things off for Bent. I won’t be long.” She loooooved to say his name out loud. A buzz sounded from the speaker. The gate suddenly opened in front of Sarah’s Jeep. Cautiously, she drove through. She’d almost forgotten how windy and zig-zagged his driveway was. And without the other cars from the bonfire party parked out front, she could now see the property was on multiple acres. She pulled the Jeep around the water fountain at the center of the driveway. After she parked, she grabbed Bent’s sweatshirt and sweatpants, and hopped out into the warm sunshine. Taking what must have been her millionth deep breath, she approached the massive house. Erna greeted her at the door. She was just as shiny and silver as Sarah remembered. As much as she wanted to hug the android, Sarah held back. “I…um…I brought Bent his clothes back. I…well…I washed them.” She awkwardly handed the clothes to Erna. The android silently took them in her silver arms. “Thank you, Sarah. Please, follow me.” The android spun around and began to walk away, into the house.”Um…wait! I…uh, I didn’t plan to stay!” Now giddy with happiness, Sarah stepped through the front door, into the familiar marble-tiled foyer.