Bette snorted indignantly. 

            “I live in this area,” Tina answered.

            “Oh,” John backtracked.  “Well, I didn’t mean anything by that.  I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

            “John,” Tina said, before he could dig a deeper hole.  “It’s fine.  Do you need directions to the country club?” 

            While Tina explained the directions to John, Bette wiped down the counter obsessively.  Had anyone been paying attention to her, they would have noticed that she’d cleaned the same spot a hundred times.  Who is this asshole with the nice suit and nice car and why is he flirting with my girlfriend?

            As John and Tina were wrapping up, John looked at her seriously.

            “Listen, Tina.  It was really good to see you.  You should come spend some time at your Dad’s again.  I’d really like that.” 

            Tina blushed uncomfortably.  She could feel Bette’s anger in the quickening strokes of the towel across the spotless counter.

            “Um, we’ll see,” she said, forcing a smile. 

            With that, John walked out of the TenMart, got into his car, and drove away.

17 Years before Present Time

            Like every night that one of their parents was working the night shift, Tina was spending the night with Bette.  Upon becoming friends with Bette five years ago, they had been inseparable.  She had even stopped spending summers with her father so that she wouldn’t have to leave Bette for any amount of time.  It helped that she was never that close to her father anyway.

            The girls climbed exhaustedly into Bette’s twin bed, pulling the cover up under their chins.  It was the middle of winter, and it was freezing.  Bette’s father was only using a small space heater at the time to save money on heat.  

            Tina turned over to face Bette, who was lying on her back.  She propped herself up on her elbow.  “Hey, where’s Kit tonight?”

            “She’s singing at the pub, and then probably getting blitzed with her friends.  I wish she didn’t drink so much,” Bette said, turning her head to look at Tina.

            “Maybe she’s just going through a phase,” Tina shrugged. 

            “Maybe.”

            Tina slumped back down onto her back and studied the ceiling.