“I love summer vacation.” said Erin, as she lay out by her pool.

“Today is a good day to sunbathe!” said Vivo, sipping a cold drink and laying next to her. “You know what Ben would be saying if he was here?” asked Vivo.

“Why is Erin mad at me, and why isn’t she baking me muffins?” Erin asked.

“My thoughts, exactly.” said Vivo before he sipped a drink.

“You guys aren’t devoted to hard work, are you?” added Erin.

“At this point in our lives, we are more interested in the quality of our work than the quantity of our work” defended Vivo. They ran the Kookie Mart out of respect for it’s previous owner more than they did for their own wants. Erin knew that feeling and this was why she could never close the Cowffee Cup to go on vacation.

“You do very little, but you do it well.” said Erin.

“I was going to say something different, but yah I’m totally going with that.” said Vivo, drinking his drink.

Back at the store, Therese finished selling a few drinks and said “Thank you.” as the tips it the jar. The customers were always satisfied, and with Therese and Kara working together, the number of caffeinated boys in the town was in the increase. “You flirt too much for your tips.” Therese teased her, with her half lip smile.

“Half of my tips are your tips.” Kara told her, smacking her lips.

“I wasn’t talking about that half.” Therese told her, with a grin.

The two girls very much enjoyed their time working together. Kara gladly followed Therese’s lead and respected her position. Kara still regretted the one time she took the lead in their friendship and Therese fell from the tree fort. True to redemption, Kara was nothing less than a dedicated friend. Therese could be no less happy.

Ben came down and sat on a bar stool at the counter. “Watch this.” Ben told Ana and said, “Yo, Kara.” loudly before lifting his hand and catching a muffin thrown to him. “Now you try.”

“Kar-Kar” Ana said waving. Kara slid a jar of baby food down the wooden bar with a spoon in it and Ben caught it.

“She must like you too.” Ben told her as Ana clapped. Kara grinned and then turned her head laughing as Therese threw her a look and a grin. Their relationship was no secret in either store. Ben had actually found someone who would put up with him.

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“What should we do this summer?” Therese asked Kara.

“I don’t know, we are moving in with our boyfriends, we have jobs and no bills, our whole lives are in front of us.” said Kara.

“Space-Girl Michelle marathon.” Therese suggested. Kara laughed in agreement, and the girls did a double high five.

Ben turned and looked at Ana, “Let me tell you about Star Trek, the better one.” He said as he continued feeding her. “I can tell you all about the Next Generation.” Ben said. “That’s Science fiction, Space-Girl Michelle is all rock music and action. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like it if it made sense.” Ben looked back at Ana “The whole thing, it doesn’t make sense. At all.” He told Ana.

“Space-Girl Michelle is more than just science fiction.” Kara told Ben.

“She is a hero. She is always brave no matter what, even if she loses.” said Therese.

“Ok, so you have this Space-Girl, and she what, fights bad aliens. That is every show. Explain this to me.” said Ben.

“The Space-Girls were created to stop the Gopher King who was using cyborg gophers to take over the galaxy, and the Galaxy wasn’t going to let it happen. Space-Girl Michelle was the first, the best, and the last of the Space-Girls. She stole a regeneration ring from the Gopher King, so when she dies, she comes back as a new Space-Girl, and she keeps fighting.”

“She forgets though, who she was, but she never forgets who she is.” Therese told Ben. “She always follows the Space-Girl rules, and she helps people.”

“Except for season 4, where the Gopher King and the Gulats teamed up, and when they destroyed her, they used a green sun to cause her to come back as an evil Space-Girl.” added Kara.

“That is why the Space-Girls founder had to defeat her and restore her under an orange star.” explained Therese.

“Space-Girls founder? Is that like some old lady, the Space Mom?” teased Ben.

“No, she created the league of Space-Girls, and was frozen by the Gopher King. Knight-Star had to rescue her.” Therese told him.

“If you asked me, it looks like a bunch of badly cropped shots, first with Gophers in little foil suits of armor, and then later puppets.” said Ben.

“Well , yeah, what’s the problem?” asked Kara.

“Good writing always beats good special effects.” Therese told him.

“Have I told you about Anime?” Ben asked Ana, who just smiled. Ben liked feeding Ana, she appreciated him.

Back at the pool, Vivo jumped in and splashed Erin with his cannonball jump. The cold water splashed and hit Erin, who awoke from her nap, and jumped up. Vivo came up out of the water and saw her soaked, and staring at him in disbelief. “What, did you really want a pool just so you could sit out in the sun? You could have done that with concrete.” He asked.

“It’s better than the beach.” Erin told him.

“How is a pool better than the beach? I love the beach.” said Vivo.

“Thousands of strangers peeing their pants, and everyone is happy about it. Think about it, there are like three bathroom stalls, two thousand people, and no one is ever waiting to pee.” Erin told him.

“You pee your pants at the beach?” asked Vivo.

“What do you think a girl means when she says she needs to run out into the ocean to cool off, she’s peeing her pants.” Erin told him.

“You don’t cool off in the pool do you?” asked Vivo.

“No, I have a bathroom here, and you do too.” Erin teased him.