Prologue

Bette was lying in her bed, trying to get some sleep. The clock didn’t have mercy for her as it was ticking away so slowly that it seemed to do it on purpose.
"Tee, where are you?" she whispered to herself. Tee had been out since five o’clock and hadn’t got back home. It was two o’clock pm already. Tina had just went out to get some milk, but where the hell was she now?
Tina hadn’t phoned her and when Bette did, she didn’t pick up. Bette thought her heart was jumping out of her chest when she heard her cellphone ring.
"Tee?" she asked, sounding desperate.
"No, this is Alice. Is something wrong? You sound weird."
"No, everything’s fine. Just a bit stressed, that’s all."
"Uhu. Look, I’m sorry to call you in the middle of the night, but I’m afraid I have some bad news."
"What?" The worst scenarios flashed through Bettes head. Tina in a car accident which she hadn’t survived, Tina in a coma, Tina never able to walk again, Tina having a concussion…
"I’m in Chicago now, my dad’s dying. I just… you know, I have to be here. I’m so sorry I am letting you down."
"Letting me down on what?" Bette asked surprised. She had no idea what Alice was talking about.
"Well, the party you and Tina are throwing. I know I said I’d be there and I’d bring the food, but I just… well… you understand, don’t you?"
"Yeah, course I do," Bette answered. She did her best not to sound reliefed, it was shitty for Alice. "It’s no problem."
Alice sounded really uncertain, Bette wasn’t used to that.
"Well… I’ll let you sleep then. Sorry if I woke you up."
"No, you didn’t. It’s fine. Take care, Alice. And if there’s anything, just call me, right?"
"Will do. I’ll let you know when I’m back. I’m so sorry for the party!"
"Oh, no problem. I know what you’re going through, really."
"Thanks, Bette. Sleep tight."
"Bye."

Bette felt tired as hell. She hadn’t closed an eye during the night and was worried sick. "Where the hell are you, Tee?" she shouted in tears. She was all sweaty and tensed of the stress. She decided to get up and take a shower, maybe that would help a bit.
She was right, the hot water felt good and relaxed her a bit. She got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her body and went to the living room. She put on the television and watched completely useless shit.
She felt way too crappy to go to work, she could call and say she was sick… a weird thought, though, she had never done anything like that. But what if Tina came home while she was at work and Tina needed care, but she wasn’t there? She wouldn’t forgive herself. She thought it over and over again, until it was time to leave if she wanted to get to the university.
She took her phone in her trembling hand and dialled Phyllis’ number.
"Phyllis? It’s Bette. I feel really sick, I won’t make it to work. I’m very sorry."
"Is this Bette Porter I am talking to? Bette Porter calling sick? Should I note that?"
Bette wanted to shout that she could do whatever she fucking wanted, but she stayed cool. Phyllis was her boss, and she didn’t deserve such a treatment.
"Well, the fact that I call sick means it’s pretty bad, doesn’t it? I’ll get back tomorrow."
"Take care of yourself, dean Porter."
"Thank you."

Bette couldn’t stand the loneliness in the house and she decided to go look after Tina. She started with the Planet. Kit was looking very suprised, seeing her sister come in on a work day that hour.
"Why aren’t you at the university?"
"I called sick."
"You did what?" Kit looked astonished. "Than it must be freaking bad! What are you doing here?"
"Looking for Tee. Haven’t heard from her since 5 pm yesterday and I thought she had been here, maybe."
"Oh my god! I haven’t seen her, but… I mean, wouldn’t she call you if something went wrong or if she had to go somewhere all of the sudden?"
"Thank you for reminding me of that, thank you for making me even more worried than I already am!" Bette shouted.
"Hey, calm down, I didn’t mean it like that. I’ll help you looking for her. I can phone some friends to look out for her too, if you want to."
"That would be great, thanks."