---

Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from Istockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

*  *  *

Sarah Carerra Book 2: Summer Medley

Chapter 2.16 - Unexpected Visitor

Even though I owned my own car, Dad once again seemed to think that as long as he was going to be accompanying me anywhere, it would be in his car. I watched in frustration as the garage door closed, hiding my new baby inside as we pulled out of our driveway Monday morning. But today wasn’t the day to complain to him.

I was going to be in the studio for two days straight before we started shooting the music video. It was going to be a long week, and I hoped that I had the energy to get through it. But once the week was over, we would be heading up to Malibu for a few days. Well, we'd be up there during the day at least. Grandaddy’s and Gran's place was about 30 minutes up the Pacific Coast Highway. He'd been in real estate his whole life, and had amassed a lot of money before retiring a number of years ago. They had an amazing house right on the beach. We were going to have a beach party on Saturday and then we'd be up there again for a barbecue on Sunday before the fireworks later that evening. Malibu didn't set off any fireworks, but apparently there would be two private barges full of fireworks on either side of Grandaddy's house that two of his neighbors had paid for. It would be quite a show!

It had been just over one month since Aunt Judy's party, where most of Mom's family had met Megan for the first time. Most of the family had been accepting of me. I figured that the rest of them where going to be a little less judgmental when they saw me in a bikini.

That's what I needed! I needed a new bathing suit if I was going there! The black one Mom had purchased for me just wouldn't do for showing off to my cousins. I smiled when I realized that I could really blow them away. I needed to talk to Julia. She'd be able to get me something spectacular, even if it wasn't for Sarah. I almost pulled out my phone to give her a call when I thought of something else that was much more urgent.

I turned toward my father. "Dad?" I asked sweetly. A frown appeared on his face almost instantly at my tone, and I almost laughed. But that would ruin the ‘puppy dog look’ I was going for.

"Yes, Princess?" he glanced over at me briefly, but when he saw my wide eyes he immediately diverted his eyes back to the road. I knew that he thought he would be able to turn me down if he couldn't see me, but I'd been getting pretty good at wrapping him around my finger.

"Can we use 'You Can't Hurt Me' for the second single instead of 'Ever After'"? I turned on the puppy dog look full blast, but he never looked over.

Instead, he started laughing. That was definitely not the reaction I had been expecting! I knew that I lost the puppy dog look to the confusion that had washed over my face. It took me a few moments, but I finally realized that he was laughing in relief. I had no idea what he thought I was going to ask that worried him so much, but this didn't seem to be a bad idea in his mind.

Eventually, he turned and smiled at me before looking back at the road. "Yes, Princess, we can. I had a feeling that you were going to ask that question sooner or later. I already have the creative director working on ideas for the video. He was really excited about changing songs when I played a replay of Friday’s performance at ‘Wake Up’ for him - more excited than he had been about 'Ever After'."

I sat there, stunned! I hadn't expected it to be that easy to convince him we should change songs! I was truly amazed that my dad seemed to know me that well, especially since I had apparently changed so much this summer. But a smile quickly formed on my face, and Dad knew just how happy his agreement had made me. "How did you know I was going to ask?"

"I didn't," he replied. "But that song is amazing, Megan. I still can't believe how well you could turn what happened to you into such a positive song. If you didn't say anything, I was going to suggest it. We can delay all of the 'Ever After' stuff for single number three. Jonothon, he’s the creative director and producer we hired, was already spouting ideas five minutes after he had heard your song. It's an excellent decision."

I continued to smile as I sat back in my seat. That was easier than I thought it would be!

*  *  *

Another day in the studio. The band and I had four songs that we needed to record in two days. That usually meant long days to get everything done, but it had become apparent by lunchtime that we had an advantage this time. Working together to put the finishing touches on the songs I had written had already put us most of the way toward having them recorded. We started with 'You Can't Hurt Me', and by the time we broke for lunch we had already finished it and were most of the way through 'Friends Forever'. It would probably take us only another hour or two before Scott was happy with our work for the day. That would give me enough time to recuperate before we did it all again tomorrow.

It was just after we had sung 'Friends Forever' for the first time after lunch that my day turned into a nightmare.

I had stepped over to the small table in the studio that held my water bottle and wet my throat. Then I turned toward the control booth to hear what Scott had to say about our latest attempt. But instead of Scott, my eyes connected to similar, emerald-green eyes on the boy who had just stepped inside from the hallway.

Johnny. Johnny Crawford.

What was he doing here? He obviously wasn't here to see me, because the shock on his face as our eyes connected confirmed it. He seemed to be frozen in place as he looked at me. But why else would he be here if he wasn't looking for me? I knew that he had a huge crush on me; that had been apparent the night I'd had dinner over at his house as Sarah. Scott had been pretty adamant that he should stay away from me that night.

Of course! Scott! He was looking for his father! Out of the corner of my eye I saw Scott look up at me. I also saw the fear cross his face when he saw my expression, and he immediately turned to see what had spooked me. I could even see his own fear when he recognized his son standing in the doorway.

"Johnny!" Scott exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Johnny didn't say anything for another moment or two as he was unable to remove his eyes from me. I'd barely escaped our last encounter, and I had hoped to never see him as Sarah again. In fact, I had hoped to never see him as Megan again too, since I had made him my enemy when I had refused to help him get Sarah's phone number. That had led to an embarrassing confrontation for him in the school cafeteria when he tried to out me as a girl before I was living full time as Megan. When I didn't refute being a girl, he had gotten really mad at me.

"Hi, Dad," he said softly. He still looked shocked when he glanced away from me and to his father, but he quickly seemed to be regaining his composure. I could faintly hear him through the door between the studio and the control room. The door was slightly ajar as we gave the song one first warm-up attempt after lunch. "I was looking for you; the receptionist said you were in here."

Scott stood up from the soundboard and tried to step into the line of sight between Johnny and me. It didn't fully work. I saw Johnny give me another glance around his father.

"Come on, let's go to my office," Scott said, stepping closer to Johnny and motioning for the door. I knew he was trying to separate us again. I silently thanked him for that. However, I doubted it was going to work.

To my surprise, Johnny nodded. His dad stepped past him as he walked out of the studio, but Johnny gave me a horrible leer before he followed behind him.

He'd be back. There was no way that he was going to walk away from me like he did if he wasn't. I sighed.

"Who was that?" Sophie asked from behind me.

"Scott's son," I replied, turning to find concern on her face. "We haven't had the best relationship since we met."

"Oh," she replied. "So you broke up with him?"

"No!" I exclaimed loudly. "I've never gone out with him! But he has a crush on Sarah. He tried to get me, I mean Megan, to give him Sarah's number. I refused. He wasn't very happy with me. I think he’s awful!"

"Sounds rough," Holly joined in the conversation.

"Yeah," I said. "I really hope I never have to see him again."

They smiled at me, but we all knew that was unlikely to be a possibility.

Dad had gone to his office to get some work done while we continued working, so to pass the time while we waited for Scott to return, hopefully sans Johnny, I decided to call Julia.

"Hi, Julia," I said when she answered.

"Sarah! It's so good to hear from you!" she replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I need a new bikini," I said before I chickened out. I hadn't worn a bathing suit since my surgery, and I was hesitant to show off just how changed I was. But I knew that I didn't have a choice. I wanted to go to the beach party on Saturday, and that meant that I would need a bathing suit. "For Megan," I added as an afterthought. If I hadn't, I'd expect that I'd find myself in something glittery that would be too glamorous for a family gathering.

"Oh, okay," she said sweetly. "Did you want to go shopping or do you want me to pick something out for you?"

"Either way works for me," I told her. "It's for a family beach party on Saturday, and I wanted to show them that I'm no longer the tomboy I used to be." Wasn't that the truth?

"I'll see what I can do," Julia said. "Is it okay if I bring a few things over tomorrow?"

"Sure!" I replied excitedly. "I'll be in the studio most of the day if it's easier for you."

"Okay, I'll be by sometime after lunch then."

"I'll see you then," I told her. "Thanks, Julia."

"It's my pleasure, Sarah," she replied. "Have a good day and don't worry about the bikini. I'll find you something spectacular."

"Alright," I replied. I could even hear the humor in my voice. "Bye."

"Bye," she said before I heard the click indicating she had hung up. I grinned. It was going to be a good weekend.

Unfortunately, it was at that time that Scott came back into the studio, followed by his son. My smile immediately turned to a frown, and Scott gave me an apologetic look. I gave him a reassuring smile before preparing to confront Johnny.

I had sat down on the couch in the control room to call Julia, but I stood up to greet the two Crawford men.

Scott spoke first, but I could still see Johnny checking me out over his shoulder. What did he expect from me if he couldn't do anything but leer? I definitely had no desire to spend any more time with him than I had to.

"Sarah, you remember my son Johnny?" Scott asked. I nodded and took the hand that Johnny was stretching out to me.

"It's nice to see you again," I said coolly. It was a lie.

"The pleasure is mine," Johnny spoke his first words to me since school had been let out. They were not nice words. In fact, they made my stomach turn. "I really like your music."

Those words were better, but nowhere near enough to overcome the queasiness that had built up in my stomach. The fact that I didn't believe him also made his words hard to stomach. I was nearly certain that Johnny didn't normally listen to my music.

"Sarah," Scott interrupted us. I was thankful that he did. I had no idea what Johnny wanted, but I did know that I didn't want to talk to him any longer. "We're wasting precious studio time. Everyone, let's get back to work."

I grinned briefly at Johnny, even though I didn't feel he deserved it, and stepped back into the studio. As we worked to try and finish 'Friends Forever' I watched as Johnny stayed close to his dad in the studio. I could also tell that his dad was getting frustrated that he was there too. I knew that my vocals weren't up to what they should be with him there. Johnny seemed to be spreading an aura that muted the sound of every member of the band.

Finally, after an hour of struggling through this, Scott ordered his son to leave. I watched as he angrily stepped out of the control room. I knew that he wasn't happy about it. But I was happy. I was happy that I didn't have to deal with him anymore. The only thing that I was worried about was the thought that he might come back or that he was waiting for me outside.

The result was immediate, and it only took us another half an hour to finish the song. Dad had returned from his office by the time we were done, and I was happy to have him escort me out on our way home. But first I told Scott that I would never record in the studio again if Johnny was there in the future. I had HAD it with him.

*  *  *

The next day consisted of much of the same activities. We started with 'Love?' and continued on to finish 'My Life'. Both songs sounded great after the help I had received from the band, and it took us even less time to record both of them.

"Good work, you guys!" I told them all. I even surprised myself by giving every one of the band members, and the girls, a hug to express my appreciation. "This is going to be one heck of an album."

"We couldn't have done it without you," Jason said while he dismantled his equipment. I wanted to do something to celebrate finishing the album, but too many of the band members already had plans for tonight.

"And I couldn't have done it without you, either," I replied with a happy grin on my face. I couldn't believe how blessed I was to have such good friends to work with. I couldn't ask for a better band to have on stage with me.

As the band started to filter out, I was happy to see Julia standing in the control room. A smile lit upon my face at the thought of what she'd have with her. I smiled and waved to her before heading to the control room.

"Hi, Julia!" I greeted her, wrapping her in a friendly hug.

"Hi, Sarah," she replied. "Are you ready to see what I got you?"

"Yes!" I said excitedly. I knew that whatever she had gotten for me would be worthwhile.

"Come on," was her response. I smiled broadly as I followed her out the door.

*  *  *

"Definitely this one," I told Julia, staring at myself in the mirror again. I'd spent half an hour trying on different bikinis in a private dressing room that Scott had let us use.

Julia had come through with her skills once again. She had six bikinis that she wanted me to look at. I already knew that I was going to purchase two of them from her. But it was as she pulled the last one from her bag that I knew she had been humoring me. She had been purchasing bikinis for Sarah Carerra instead of Megan Campbell.

But the last one, that one was for me. For Megan. From the halter top to the bikini bottoms, I couldn't stop staring at myself in the mirror after I had put it on. It wasn't skimpy; Julia had more class than that. But it did leave an aura of allure that I had never experienced as Megan. I'd seen it a lot in Sarah, and I knew that this swimsuit would look amazing on her. But we had taken off the wig for this one. Julia didn't want me to see it with the blonde wig on.

One of my favorite colors was yellow. It ranked right up there with pink and certain shades of blue. The color looked amazing on Sarah. And this one looked amazing on me. Just like the yellow dress I had worn the first day that I had gone to church as Megan, the swimsuit was a canary yellow. Not too bright, not too soft. Just perfect.

The suit itself was tied on me at both sides of my hips, on my back, and around my neck. No clasps, no hooks, just old fashioned shoelace bows kept the suit covering the parts I didn't want anyone to see. It managed to cover me in every way that a swimsuit should, but I knew my mom would probably not approve of it. That just made it all the better.

Plus, it was from Bloomingdale's! That was sure to get my cousins talking! Julia had told me that this suit was going to cost me about $120, but it was totally worth it. I still had a cap imposed on my trust account. I could only spend $500 a month from the account that held the earnings and assets of Sarah Carerra. But I had learned quickly how to overcome that limitation. Anything I purchased from Julia was billed through my dad's company to the account. I could spend all I wanted with her without affecting that $500 limit.

I rarely used this loophole though. It was hard work to make that money. I didn't want to waste it on frivolous things. But today...today was one of those days.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I felt sexy as Megan for the first time in my life. I'd had this feeling before when looking at Sarah in the mirror. I'd thought that I looked pretty as Megan many times. But I had never looked sexy.

"You aren't leaving this party without a boyfriend," Julia told me as she stepped behind me so I could see her in the mirror.

I laughed immediately at her statement. "It's a family party!" I exclaimed. "I certainly hope I leave without a boyfriend!"

That got her laughing too. But her sentiment was appreciated.

What would Johnny think if he saw me now?

*  *  *