Spencer had no idea what to do next. Nor did she know what she was most upset about—the fact that her mother was about to catch her in a compromising position with Ashley or the fact that her mother was already out in public with the man she had left her father for.

Ashley was also clueless about her next move. She could try to play it off as though she was in the dressing room alone. Or she could do what she wanted to do most, swing open the door and let Paula get a good look at her Catholic catastrophe.

“Ashley? Ashley, I just saw you. I know it was you,” Paula called from the other side of the door.

“Uh…..hey, Mrs. C! What’s up?” Ashley asked nervously-without opening the door.

“Ashley, will you come out here so that we can talk face to face?” Paula replied with a sigh.

“Um….um….” Ashley stalled, “I uh….I can’t do that.”

“Ashley, I promise I’m not going to lecture you, will you please just open the door?”

“I would, you see, but I’m uh….I’m….I’m naked right now, actually. Very……naked.”

Spencer felt her left eyebrow raise in amusement.

“Ok…then will you get dressed and open the door? I’d really like to talk to you about Spencer.”

“Hmmm…..I’d love to, Mrs. C., but I just can’t. I had planned on being naked for awhile, so whatever talking we need to do, we’ll have to do like this.”

Paula was silent for a moment and Spencer grew more and more nervous. Surely she would have to realize eventually that Ashley didn’t have four legs.

“Ok, fine, Ashley. If you want to be difficult…Even though I’m not living at h….though I’m not living at home right now, I would hope that you would fully respect my decision regarding your relations with my daughter. You must understand that Spencer is going through a difficult stage in her journey towards adulthood right now. She may be experiencing feelings that are simply due to all the recent changes she’s been through. I know that you are a decent enough girl not to try to force Spencer into your chosen…lifestyle, while she is going through this stage. I just don’t want you to be hurt or confused when Spencer realizes that the kind of people she needs to be around are…well, different than you. Do you understand?”