Alice shrugged. “What’s a little ***** between friends?”

Bette glanced at her. “Will you be serious, for once, and answer the question?”

“Well, the night of Provocations, I went to Dana’s and begged her not to marry that cat-killing, psycho, soul-sucking ***** Tonya. When she asked why, I kissed her. As you know, it worked, and she left Tonya. We went out a few times and things went okay, although we almost burned down a restaurant. So, I like Dana, and I think she likes me, and then Shane here suddenly decided she had the hots for her, too. Shane and I argued over her, then kicked Tonya’s *****, as I’m sure you both remember that awesome event. We all drank a lot, danced a little, and starting feeling a little, uh, horny. To make a long story short-” Alice explained.

“Too late,” Shane interrupted with a snicker, earning a glare from Alice. Bette and Tina just looked confused and surprised at some of the details divulged by Alice.

“Hmmph. Anyway, it was fun,” Alice finished, flashing a bright smile, looking like the cat that at the canary.

Shane nodded her agreement on that point, taking another bite of pancake.

Bette and Tina looked at each other. “Sounds like a love triangle,” Tina remarked.

“I wouldn’t say love,” Shane bristled.

“Not yet,” Alice added, mouth full.

Bette was shaking her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe Dana would…” She trailed off, a picture involuntarily forming in her mind. She shook her head again to clear it, making a face.

“You think you were surprised…” Shane countered.

“Hey, Dana is just full of surprises,” Alice said slyly.

Tina waved her hands in front of her. “Don’t want to hear it!”

Bette leaned forward in concern. “No more fighting, you guys. I don’t want to see any of you guys getting hurt.”

Alice and Shane looked at one another. “No more fighting,” Shane echoed, and Alice shook her hand in agreement.

Doing it so that no one could see, Shane quickly crossed the fingers of her other hand, just in case, while she shook Alice’s hand.

Alice smiled sweetly, holding her crossed fingers under the table and crossing her toes, too, for added measure, as she shook Shane’s hand.

No fighting, my *****, they were both thinking.

Tina stood up. “I’m going to check the mail.”

Bette watched her go, then looked at both Shane and Alice playing with their food, avoiding her eyes.

Tina walked back in, a stack of magazines and envelopes in her hand. “This is strange.”

“What is?” Bette asked curiously.

“It’s a letter, addressed to all of us, and it’s not postmarked. Someone just stuck it in the mailbox,” Tina explained, dropping the small white envelope onto the table.

They all looked at it. “Bette, Tina, Alice, Shane, and Dana” was written on the front in small, neat handwriting.

“Don’t just stare at it. Open it!” Alice insisted impatiently.

“I guess I’ll do the honors, since my name is listed first,” Bette said, picking up the envelope and ripping the seal efficiently with a fingernail. She cleared her throat and began to read aloud, as everyone’s faces mirrored her own shock and surprise at the content of the letter.