My goal, by the way, is that when people get to the end of the story, they'll understand evrything by then, and won't have to be confused anymore -- honest! Hope you all enjoy!

Kerry Wagner and Sheila Duquesnes were experts on Nascar. At least, they were now. By the time they were one hundred miles out of Florida, they were both wishing Sheila had forbid the man to talk at all. He never shut up. Well, not quite true. He shut up when he was eating. Or sleeping.
They were at the last rest stop before home, less than forty miles to go now. They had stopped so that Ugg could, as he put it, “... hit the pisser and tap the lizard.”
“I swear, Yakko, if he even mentions Jeff Gordon again, I'm pulling my piece and to hell with consequences,” said Sheila, glaring at Kerry as though it were all his fault.
He chuckled. He reached out and patted her leg sympathetically and said, “And we have to bring him back to Florida once everything's cleared up.”
She looked toward the rest stop building that housed the restrooms. She looked down at her holster. She glared at Kerry again.
“Note to self,” she said nastily, “Make Yakko buy earplugs.”
Kerry was still laughing heartily when their guest returned to the car.
* * * * * * *
Jeff left the house early. It was Saturday, and the time at the park wasn't enough last night. When he came home last night — quite late, actually — it had sort of shocked him that not only was Matt's car gone, but Emily was nowhere to be found, either. They didn't seem to be around this morning, either. With a shrug, he rinsed his cereal bowl out in the sink, then stomped into his sneakers and set out. His backpack had traded schoolbooks and supplies for a novel, a sketchpad, his journal, and his discman with the CD that Gerald Knudson had loaned him. He contemplated the three parks in town, and decided that none of them would do for being alone to think on a Saturday. So he headed toward the Elementary School playground, instead.
He sat atop the huge wooden structure that had the tunnels to crawl through, swinging bridges, poles and slides, net ladders, monkeybars... and other stuff and idly wondered why they didn't have cool stuff when he was a little kid. His thoughts drifted back to his personal issues soon enough.
“Hey, kid,” said a voice from behind him.
Startled, he turned and saw the girl from Miss Scr— ah, Katarina's house. Her sister, he thought he remembered.
“Mind if I join you?” the older girl said, “Seems like you've found my favorite thoughtful spot.”
He shrugged and motioned her to climb on up, which she did with the ease of long practice.
He was afraid she was going to ruin the whole purpose, but she just nodded and sat down next to him, staring at the treeline on the other side of the large empty space between the playground and the creek. She sighed the sigh of someone with a lot on their mind, but didn't speak to him, already lost in her own thoughts. So he nodded slightly to himself, and set about losing himself the same way.
Silence.