Bette didn’t return Tina’s calls because she didn’t want to confront the rejection. She threw her phone off the roof one angry Tuesday morning after her lessons, having just spoken with Shane. With every day, she seemed more and more certain that there was no hope in anything. She was angry.

Molly didn’t say a thing to Bette until one evening when the girl was quiet and alone in her dark room, reading a book by candlelight.

“I’ve never loved anyone like I loved my old best friend from my teen years,” Molly started, just leaning in the door to look at Bette with the same hopeless look on her face. “Did I ever tell you that?”

Bette chose to hear her out, and Molly chose not to ask about the picture she saw Bette tuck away as she spoke – a picture of Tina.

“Don’t tell me you think this is puppy love,” Bette sighed, slipping the book (and picture) under her covers. She sat up in her bed and ran a hand through her messy curls.

“On the contrary,” Molly smiled gently, walking over to sit on the bed. Bette was like a daughter to her, and she felt just as concerned. “No, I didn’t love her the way you love Tina, but I think that when you’re so youthful … so curious and free … that you can feel things you sort of lose in your old age. You know, like me.”

Bette finally cracked a smile, quickly hiding it in her hand.

“Yeah, I know a few things. Like love. I don’t think it’s foolish, and I don’t think it’s something you learn. I think it’s something you can let yourself feel, or you can protect yourself from it.” Speaking to her hands, Molly smiled a little. “Sometimes I don’t know which is better … but I do know that you can ruin a bond like that with something as simple as a misunderstanding.”

Paying more attention than she had planned, Bette pulled her eyes up to cautiously look at the woman she’d always felt closer to than her own father.

“Yeah, I see that look. And good. I want you to pay attention to this advice, because I’m not always this wise.” Molly smiled again and leaned on her hand to be honest with the girl who would always be a girl to her. “I’m not telling you what to do, but I’m telling you to think. Do you understand?” She didn’t wait for Bette to answer. “There’s a lot going on in here – this prison, I’m sure you’d say – but there’s more to here. There’s a world outside this place. I want you to remember that. Remember what your father taught you to believe through his own arrogant ways long enough to forget it.”