Alice put her hand over the mic on her phone and looked at Dana expectantly for an answer.

“Uhm-uh…” Another high-pitched squeak came out of the other girl’s
mouth as she struggled to find words to cover her tracks. But she was
too late. How the ***** do you explain your way out of something like that!
Dana covered her redenning face with her hands and shook her head
profusely so that all Alice heard was a muffled “I’m sorry… I’m not a
perv, I swear! …you caught my attention, that’s all.”

“It’s okay, Dana.” Alice assured her, laughing. “With that look on your
face, it’s kinda cute, actually. Besides, I’ve been out since high
school. Just don’t go following me around with binoculars and *****, and
we’re good.” She winked at Dana to lighten the situation.

“No, no, trust me, there’ll be none of that.” Dana couldn’t believe how
cool Alice was being about her spying. “Besides, I wouldn’t want
butchy-Bette coming after me.” Alice jerked her head sideways to look
at her, surprised to find that such witty banter could possibly be
hiding underneath the shy girl’s exterior.

“No, no… you’re right, we wouldn’t want that.”

Remembering Heather’s remarks earlier, Dana innocently asked Alice
about her last comment. “What did Heather mean, Alice? What’s so
special about going south…? Here, lemme check my map.”

Alice stopped her before she unfolded the big-assed Berkeley map again.
“No, no, Dana.” She held onto Dana’s hands to stop her actions. She
tried her best to keep a straight face, hoping Dana won’t implode after
hearing her explanation. “She’s not talking about a place… it’s more
like an area.” Alice moved
her hands to her hips and tapped her fingers on her waist. Dana
followed her eyes down and realized what she was gesturing at.

If someone had reminded Dana that she was standing in the middle of a
hallway, it would not have mattered to her. The information Alice just
told her rocked her brain. Anything referring to ***** and sexual
orientation had always been taboo to her – at home, in high school,
among her friends. It was never something she became comfortable
discussing, except with herself. Alice talking so freely in a public
place about certain body parts caused Dana to get just a little bit
unnerved and uncomfortable.

The double-doors of the lecture hall they were standing in front of
suddenly burst open as the dismissed class inside chose that moment to
come out into the hall. Dana and Alice were surrounded with students.
Dana still stood there, dumbfounded, oblivious to the people pushing
& shoving around her. Alice had to pull her into a corner beside a
pillar so they wouldn’t get squashed.