“Yeah, I guess so. “  I take a pause, “Eric, I’ll call you back in a little while, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.  Remember something, Tina.  I love you.  No matter what.  No matter what comes between us.”

“I love you too, Eric.”

He said “no matter what” as if there was already something between us that could break us up.  Maybe he was scared of Bette’s proximity to me; maybe there was a new girl in Atlanta too.  I almost wish there was.  My phone started ringing and I recognized the ringtone that I had designated for Bette.

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day.  When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May.  I guess you’d say, what can make me feel this way?  My girl…

“Hey, Bette.” I answered.

“Hi, Tina.  Study party?”

“Study party?  Uh, those two words don’t go together.”

“I know, but I’m getting bored staring at Calculus.”

“And do you think I’d be more fun?”

“I know you’d be.  So, come over.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

**

“You’re home alone?” I asked as I stepped inside the beautiful home.

“Yeah, I’m normally alone.  My dad works late so I’m usually in bed by the time he gets home.  And my mom is an artist and she’s usually abroad, like she is now.  She’s in Paris right now.  And my sister has her own place.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“Yeah, she’s my half-sister.  Same dad, different moms.”

She pointed out a picture of her sister, with her, their father, and her mother.  Bette was half-black.  It explained her beautiful skin tone and head full of curly, bouncy hair.

“What kind of medium does your mom work in?”

“Paint.  Watercolors, to be exact.”

“What’s she doing in Paris?”

“Teaching at a university.  We talk every two days or so.”

“You must be lonely in this big house.”

She took me to her bedroom.  The room was decorated in dark chocolate browns and other earth tones.  The room was large enough for a futon and a papasan chair as well as her bed and a desk with her laptop.  I sat on the futon.