“Well whatever it was, it wasn’t like you,” Alice replied.

Shane nodded. “I know, it’s just…  Gabby really gets under my
skin. I see the way she is with you and it just – it… it, drives me
fucking crazy,” she admitted. “You could do so much better then her Al.
”

Alice was looking at her strangely and Shane felt compelled to ask. “What?”

Alice smiled at her. “Thank you.”

Shane burrowed her brow. “For what?”

“For thinking that, and for wanting to protect me from Gabby’s evil ways.”

“You’re my best friend Al, its my job.”
 Alice became quiet. Her eyes fell to the floor. “Shane, I – I
need to tell you something… I -” She fell forward suddenly, having
been knocked into by a passerby. Shane caught her. “Hey, back off,”
Shane shouted at the two inebriated girls who’d just stumbled past
them. “Are you alright?” Shane asked, her arms still wrapped around
Alice’s small frame.

Alice shook her head. “Yeah – yeah I’m fine.”

Shane pulled back a little and looked her over. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Really.” Alice gently eased herself out of Shane’s grasp.

“Alright,” Shane said satisfied that there’d been no damage done. “So what were you gonna say?”

Alice swallowed hard. “You know what? Its late, I should really get going.” She took a step back.

“But -”
“Tell Bette and Jenny I said goodbye, okay?”
Shane stared at her, trying to desperately to figure out what was going
on in her head. Whatever it was, she wasn’t ready to share, not yet.
Shane slowly nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“Thank you Shane.”

“No problem.”

Shane lit a cigarette and pressed her back against the wall as she
watched Alice walked away. How many more times was this going to
happen? Because as far as she could tell this was turning into a common
occurrence with them. She took a drag off her cigarette. The door down
the hall opened, and a second later Alice disappear behind it. Shane
blew out the smoke. “Bye Al. ”

Jenny/Shane’s House – That Same Night

Shane closed the front door and plopped down on the couch next to Jenny.

Mark looked over at them from where he stood in the kitchen. “Hey, did you guys have fun tonight?”

“This one did,” Shane said, playfully ruffling Jenny’s short hair.