Carmen looked out the window at the two houses, the two houses that reminded her of her life over the past year or so. She sighed, running her hands through her long brown hair, and opened the car door. She walked up to the house on the left and hesitated. She wanted to turn around and run so much, but knew her belongings, her life, and the source of the most extreme pain and happiness that she had ever felt in her life were all sitting in that house. She knocked on the door loudly, not wanting to seem fragile, she couldn’t let Shane think she had won. The door swung open, and Carmen was face to face with Jenny. Jenny grinned a goofy smile and threw her arms around Carmen’s neck.

“Oh, my god, Carmen!” she squealed happily, her smile never failing. “How are you? I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer!” Jenny’s smile was obviously contagious as Carmen found she was wearing the same one.

“Yeah, well, my family’s being kind of over-protective right now. They blocked this number.” Carmen mumbled, looking down at the ground. Before Jenny could say anything, Carmen decided it would be best to state her intent. “I just came here to get my stuff.” Carmen’s eyes stayed glued to the ground, she didn’t want to offend Jenny, she was her friend, but she couldn’t stay here. She didn’t have the courage.

“Oh. Well, you picked a good time ‘cause Shane’s at Wax, but she’ll be home in around an hour.” Jenny replied, a little crestfallen.

“I know.” Carmen whispered. She always knew Shane’s hours. She remembered waiting at home for that hour of time they had together on Saturdays after Shane got home and before Carmen had to go to the planet to DJ. Carmen walked in and froze. Everything looked exactly the same. Shane’s scent lingered in the air, and she shuddered, looking around for something to distract her from the overwhelming Shane-ness of the room. She spotted her suitcase in the corner, and started packing it up with all her belongings. By the time she was finished, she had 15 minutes to leave before Shane returned. She dragged the 3 suitcases into the living room where Jenny was waiting.