3 days past, still going strong

Day 5 - about 750 words
Day 6 - about 400 words
Day 7 - about 650 words (and that's today)

I'm doing pretty well. For the past three days I've worked on a nice section. I almost have an entire chapter done. Splitting chapters up can some times be difficult, but I think I'll focus on that in the editing stages. I'm going to post this pretty big scene. Hope people like it!

(This takes place at probably about the 4th or 5th maybe 6th chapter would be my guess. Somewhere in there. It's early, but it's not the very beginning so if you're missing some details that's probably why.)

“Why did you choose seven on Friday night?” Sarah asked.
“Bad choice, I admit.” Thomas glanced around the room. “Well there's our boyfriend from the other night. He has extra chairs.”
“That's sad,” Leann said.
“What is?” Patrick asked.
“He's sitting alone on Friday night.” Leann walked toward his table. Sarah grabbed for her arm and missed. “Hey, Gil,” they heard Leann say.
“He just looked over at you,” Thomas teased. “Oh, he's waving us over. This should be fun.” Sarah rolled her eyes.
Gil got up and pulled out the seat next to him. “Here, Sarah.”
Thomas sat down in the only remaining chair, so Sarah was forced to sit in the one Gil was holding. When he pushed the chair in, her body ended up squished between the table and the chair. Once Gil sat down she pushed her chair back a couple inches. Thomas turned and laughed into his arm with a slight cough.
“What are you doing here?” Sarah asked Gil while glaring at Thomas.
“I knew this was the place to be on Friday night. I got here early to get a table.” Gil took a sip of his drink and quickly put it back down. “Do you need something, Sarah? I'll get it.”
“Oh, Gil, will you grab one for me as well. A coke, please,” Thomas said, still smiling.
“Um, sure, man. Sarah?”
“I'll wait until the waitress gets here.” She pulled out her cell phone and typed into it for a few seconds before putting it away. Leann's phone beeped while she was talking with Patrick. After she read the message she looked up and shrugged at Sarah.
“This should be lot's of fun,” Thomas whispered.
“I really can't stand you right now.” She looked through the pub menu to ignore Thomas smirking and the looks from Gil across the room.
As Gil walked back to the table with a coke for Thomas, the waitress walked up and asked, “Can I get you guys anything to drink?” Gil sat down and slid the coke over to Thomas, who picked it up, tilted it to Gil, and then took a sip.
“Can I have a straw, please?” Thomas asked.
“Sure, she said, pulling a straw from her apron. “What would the rest of you like?”
“I just want a water,” Sarah said. She kept noticing the looks from Gil and the stifled laughter from Thomas. The waitress left with the promise of drinks and menu's for those who didn't have one.
The small band area had three guys setting up for their eight o'clock performance while popular radio songs softly played to provide atmosphere for the loud crowd.
“Do you think they'll be any good?” Thomas asked, leaning over to Sarah.
“I just want them t be really loud,” she said.
“Gil, did you do all the homework for Cal yet?” Patrick asked. “She assigned a lot more than I was expecting.”
“I've got about half done,” he said. He shifted his chair a bit toward Sarah. “You want to do some homework together this weekend?”
“I've gotten all done that I needed to. Thanks, though.” Sarah went back to reading the one menu on the table.
“So, maybe that movie tomorrow?” he asked. Leann let out an awkward laugh. “There are a couple of good ones out.”
Sarah looked confused. She stared at Gil as the waitress came and sat drinks out in front of her, Leann and Patrick, followed by menus.
“I'll give you a few minutes,” she said, walking to a nearby table.
“They have several great burgers,” Thomas said. “Look at this one.” He pointed to a description on Sarah's menu.
“That's pretty good, but I prefer the Nicholas burger.”
“Only as of this summer,” Leann said. “You almost stole your brother's meal.”
“I don't see that on here,” Gil said.
'It's not on the menu. It used to be when my grandfather was in school here. They know how to make it, though. They keep a binder of specialty meals that have come off the menu.”
“The Stienwick burger sounds good,” Patrick said. “He knew what to eat. Two patties, bacon, cheese, mayo and onions. Plus some barbecue sauce. Perfect.”
“Sounds like it would clog my arteries,” Leann said.
“You're grandfather has a burger named after him here?” Thomas asked.
“Yeah. He was great friends with the previous owner. Plus, he ate here more than he should have, much like Charlie. My grandfather didn't know how to cook. My grandma was the best thing that ever happened to him.”
“She cooks for him?” Thomas asked.
“Yes. She won't even let him near the stove. He had a close call in the dorm kitchen that could have burned down the entire building. Thankfully the guys got the fire out.”
“I wouldn't let him in my kitchen either,” Leann said. “That's a sacred place.”
“I can cook,” Patrick said.
“Really?” Leann looked skeptical. “What exactly can you cook?”
“Mostly breakfast stuff. And grilled cheese. I love grilled cheese.”
“That sounds about right,” Sarah said.
“I think your grandfather did it right. Almost burn something down so the woman will always cook,” Thomas said. “I might have to try this out.”
“You have to find that woman first. Someone that doesn't mind being around you constantly,” Sarah said.
“I never had to cook,” Gil said. “My mom is a great cook. She wanted me to focus on other things.”
“Oh, like what?” Thomas asked.
“School, mostly. It gave me time for collecting to.”
“What do you collect?” Leann asked.
“Bugs, not alive though. They are all dead and preserved. And stamps. My dad traveled a lot before he died, and he always collected stamps for me.”
The waitress came back to take their orders and then disappeared again. The table of five sat quietly until Leann said, “I'm sorry about your dad.”
“It's okay,” he said. “It was about five years ago. It was tough in high school, but my step dad helped.”
“Wow, you have a step dad already?” Patrick said. Leann hit his shoulder. “I mean, wow, your mom moved on already?” Leann elbowed his ribs. “You know what I mean.”
“She met him two years after my dad passed. He's a nice guy. They've been married a little over two years now.” Gil took a sip of his drink then said, “I'm glad she found him. He helped me make it through high school.”
They all looked from Gil to each other, then shifted back to looking at Gil. He just smiled and leaned back in his chair. “When do you think our first algebra test will be?” Sarah asked Leann, trying to shift the topic. “I'm afraid he's going to make it next Friday.”
“We haven't covered enough material to take a test next Friday. Maybe the Friday after that.”
“You are just in algebra?” Gil asked. “Patrick and I are already in cal two.”
“Well I don't have to take that. I just have to take algebra and trig and I'll be done with math, thank goodness,” Sarah said.
“And I don't know what I want to do, so for now I'm just going to take algebra and trig to have them out of the way,” Leann said.
“Do you like math?” Patrick asked her.
“It's okay,” Leann said. “It's not my favorite, but I don't hate doing it.”
“You get better and better,” Patrick mumbled as the bands bassist checked a couple of cords.
“What?” she asked
“It wasn't important.” He leaned over to Thomas and whispered something. Both of them laughed.
The waitress arrived to the table with three plates, and a guy following behind had two more. She placed them in front of everyone and asked, “Do you need anything else?”
“Some more coke,” Gil said.
She left with his cup just seconds before the bands lead singer tapped on the microphone which caused a loud static noise to invade the cheery atmosphere. “Welcome. We are just a small local band, but we hope you enjoy what you hear.” The drummer started pounding a few drums and then began.
A tall, blond approached the table after they had eaten about half of their meal. She smiled and said, “I was hoping it was you and not your brother.”
“Kitty!” Sarah jumped up from her seat and edged past Thomas to hug her. “Why was I being confused with my brother?”
“I overheard one of my kitchen guys saying it's the second time today he's had to make a Nicholas burger. Since I saw Charlie earlier, I was hoping it was you.”
“Well, it is me,” Sarah said. “How are you?”
“I'm doing well. Sad that you had yet to come and see me.”
“I'm a freshman, which means goodbye freedom of where you eat and hello meal plan.”
“You'll miss that when you don't have it anymore. Because then you won't be able to walk in there when you're randomly on campus and grab a to go cup.”
“I've never thought to do that.”
“You should. So, who are all these people?”
“This is Leann my roommate,” Sarah said. “And next to her is Patrick. This is Thomas. They are roommates. And this is Gil.”
“Well it's nice to meet all of you, I'm Kitty O'Nally.”
“So you own the pub?” Gil said.
“I do. I've had it since my parents passed, rest their souls. My brother and his wife didn't want to run it, so I moved home. It basically runs itself, but I hang around and pretend to be cool still.”
“I'm sure you are still cool,” Sarah said. “Kitty is good friends with my mom. They were in business school together here.”
“You are a mini version of your mother,” Kitty said. “How are your parents?”
“Good. They call me too often, but I think that's the empty nest thing,” Sarah said.
“Well, eventually they'll enjoy having their house to themselves. They won't know what o to when you go home for the summer.”
“I won't know what to do if I go home for the summer.”
Kitty laughed and patted her shoulder. “Maybe you can get a summer internship or something. Would they send you abroad?”
“Maybe if an adult agreed to go. Want to take me to Europe?” Sarah teased. “My other option would be if they came with me, and I don't want to go with them.”
“Maybe I'll see about us going off to Europe. I'm due for a trip, and I know this place can run without me. Especially for the summer.”
Sarah stared at her while everyone else at the table sat quietly through the conversation. “Seriously? I was just joking. Would you really do that?”
“Why not? It'd be great. Here, write your cell number down on this for me, she said handing her a reciept from her pocket. “I'll see what I can come up with for a teenagers first European trip.”
“Wow, that would be great.” Sarah jotted her number down. “I can write down mom and dad's too, just in case you lost them. You will have to talk to them about this.”
“I still have those, unless they've changed in the last few months. And I'll just tell them this is your belated graduation present. They'll let you go with crazy Kitty.” She looked around at the silent faces around the table. “Well, I should let you get back to dinner with your friends.”
“Wait, I was wondering if I could ask you something, alone.” Thomas elbowed her side. Sarah simply brushed him away.
“He looks like he wants to know whatever this is too,” Kitty said. “Why don't you come to my office for a second, when you're done eating.”
“I'm done,” Sarah said, grabbing her purse. “Stay and finish your food, Thomas. I'll tell you what I find out.”
“I want to hear it too,” he said.
“What are you going to find out?” Gil asked.
“Don't worry about it,” Sarah said. Leann, we'll be back in a few minutes.” Leann nodded and went back to her conversation with Patrick.
Sarah followed Kitty through the kitchen door, with Thomas following behind sipping his coke. The kitchen staff made no movement signaling that they noticed people walking in. They were on the grill line working to complete the dozen or more tickets they had backed up.
Kitty's office was in the back of the kitchen, to the left. When Sarah and Thomas walked in they saw a large desk with a small white laptop and a couple of picture frames and several papers littering the top. Hanging behind her chair was a diploma from Stienwick in business and a picture of Kitty in graduation robes with a man and a woman.
Kitty sat in the black computer chair and put her hands down on the table. “So, what question do you have for me?”
Sarah sat in the chair in front of the desk and Thomas sat on the couch to the left. “Well, we're sort of on a mission.”
“A mission, really?” Kitty laughed. “Your brother gave you the book, didn't he?”
Sarah pulled a book out of her purse and set it on the desk. Kitty picked it up and laughed again. “What?” Sarah asked.
“I haven't seen this in almost twenty or so years now. Your brother didn't bring it with him when he quizzed me his freshman year. He's not very organized,” Kitty said as she saw Sarah pull a notebook out of her purse. “Do you have questions prepared for me?”
“A few, if that's okay?”
“We worked on them this afternoon,” Thomas said.
“And who are you again?” Kitty asked. “Are you two dating?”
“Not yet,” he said.
“No,” Sarah interrupted. “He pestered me until I agreed to be his friend.”
“Watch out. He may wear you down enough that you'll agree to go out with him.” Kitty leaned back in her chair. “I'm ready for the questions.”
“Okay, in the book it says the statue has been on campus since the semester the school started, but it doesn't say which month. Do you know which month?”
Kitty got up and went to a filing cabinet on the opposite wall. She pulled the bottom drawer out and searched through some of the file folders until she pulled out a couple of leather bound books. “I think this might tell us,” she said.
“What are these?” Thomas asked.
“They are journals. My great, great grandfathers journals. Well, it might be one more great. Anyway, they belonged to the man who opened O'Nally's.”
“So he would have been here when the fight between Steinwick and the student happened,” Sarah said. “These cold tell us all we need to know. Have you read through them all?”
“Not full, and not since college when your parents and I tried to figure this out. Here we go, it was on October 25, 1897 that Lucas Steinwick argued with a student. My grandfather didn't write the students name down.”
“Kitty, could we borrow those and bring them back to you?”
“Sure, as long as I get them back,” she said. “Do you have any more use of me?”
“I will, but I think I want to see what I can get from these first.” Sarah took the three journals, her book and her notebook, and placed them in her purse. “I should go back out there so Leann doesn't have to sit with those two guys alone anymore.”
“She looked cozy enough to me,” Kitty said. “Enjoy your mission. And let me know what you find.” Kitty stood up, so Thomas and Sarah followed her lead. “Watch this one,” she said, pointing to Thomas.
“Don't worry, I'm nice,” he said.
“Not what my warning is for,” Kitty laughed. “Have a good night.”
Sarah and Thomas left her office and walked past the cooks again to get out to the pub floor. Gil was sitting at the table alone, so Sarah looked around to try and find Leann. “Where did they go?” Sarah asked when she got back to the table.
“She and Patrick walked back to the dorm. They had some work they needed to do. A group project or something. She said you knew about it.” He smiled at her. “So, what are we doing next?”
“I have to go help Leann with that project. Sorry, Gil.” Sarah turned and headed for the door. She heard Thomas say, “I'm her escort, so we'll see you later.” Gil shrugged and turned to face the band that had just started their third song.