Dana’s cheeks reddened, but she quickly came back with, “Is there anything you wouldn’t do?”

“Ooh, good one, Dane. You’ve been hanging around our little smart ***** Alice too much; she’s starting to rub off on you.”

“Hey!” Alice piped up in protest. Shane snickered and wished them both good night, sauntering out with her usual confident swagger.

Shane walked quickly away from the restaurant, hands in her pockets and deep in thought. A strange feeling was gnawing at her brain; something she wasn’t used to feeling: jealousy. Was it that Dana and Alice were exploring their relationship and taking it a step further, leaving Shane out? Or was it something more than that? Shane dismissed these thoughts, walking faster and vowing to go find that redhead to take her mind off of things.

Back at the restaurant, Alice was grinning across the table at Dana. “So, um, hi.”

“Hi,” Dana replied, somewhat shyly. Suddenly, sitting across from Alice in this setting made things different…made her different. It was as if Alice was a totally different person: someone new to Dana.

Stealing glances at each other over their menus, they mulled over what to order. After deciding and placing their orders, they sat in an awkward silence.

“So…,” Dana began blankly, hoping Alice would jump in.

“So…?” Alice repeated questioningly.

‘Oh my God, it’s a disaster already,’ Dana thought, beginning to panic. They couldn’t find one single thing to talk about. Even Alice couldn’t seem to find her tongue, and normally they couldn’t shut her up!

Alice, sensing the problem, quickly jumped in to say, “Well, Bette and Tina are apparently trying to work things out.”

“Well, that’s good,” Dana replied, taking a sip of her mineral water. She accidentally let out a little burp, and her eyes grew wide as she covered her mouth in horror, feeling her face burn with embarrassment.

Alice stared at her a moment, then almost exploded with laughter. “Dana, I believe I’ve heard you burp before, you know.”

Dana removed her hand from her mouth and squeaked out, “I know, but…” She trailed off as she suddenly burst into a fit of giggles. It was contagious, and soon the both of them were nearly howling with laughter. The waiter gave them a strange look as he arrived with their food, calming them down a little. Finally, the ice had been broken.