On her final lap of the Yale campus earlier in the day Bette Porter had come to reflect on one of her father’s more favourite lessons that essentially boiled down to the principle of getting back on the horse after a fall. With this in mind she had settled upon a course of action- she would go to Tim’s that night with Coleman and have a wonderful time while she was at it. She couldn’t possibly be a lesbian, no, instead she’d gotten caught up in all the changes around her and the respect she had for Professor Lambert- nothing more. Her problems couldn’t have been simpler or more easily overcome, so she had returned to her dormitory and set about getting ready to rejoin the world and get back to being herself.

However as she stood now, inspecting how the hour of preparation had left her Bette had a sinking feeling in her heart. Her outfit was simple and understated, the clothes of a content girlfriend really- a perfectly cut plain white t-shirt, her favourite jeans and a red leather jacket with controllably curly hair and a light touch of makeup- but it felt cumbersome on her; ill suited. Though it was too late to do anything about it the sensation clung to her as she snatched up her keys and headed out the door. In spite of herself Bette couldn’t raise her gaze from the ground as she walked towards what she felt sure was the rest of her life, the voices of passers by did little to force her mind from it’s blankness and any attempt to do was short lived. Once in hearing range of the busy uni bar the emptiness lifted so that she actively filled herself with cheer and false excitement, her steps gathered determination and a large smile painted itself upon her features. Unfortunately Coleman stood busily talking to Billy at the window and a wave of nausea forced a falter in her step as her eyes darkened, Bette’s hand instinctively felt for the bulge in her jacket pocket and fished out a cigarette.

“Shit” murmured Bette with a matter of fact sigh as she realised her lighter was currently sitting atop the bedside table next to her single bed. Looking around she spotted a fellow smoker and adjusted her course to fit in this stop off.