“Holy shit,” I say as Carmen walks away, “I did not see that coming.”

“Damn Shane you totally just got BURNED!”

“Fuck off guys,” she says watching Carmen.

“I honestly can’t believe she didn’t fall for it. I have never seen anyone turn Shane down,” I say and sip my coffee.

“Don’t count this one as a fail, she’s just playing hard to get. Trust me when I say, she will be mine,” she says and gets up, “I’ll see you guys later.”

Alice and I finish our breakfast, and she starts working on her side project, Alice In Lesboland. It’s in its beginning stages; it’s like a gay tour guide of Los Angeles highlighting clubs and various hot spots for gay activity. At the moment she’s currently working on “The Chart” a web with names of women and who they’ve dated and how we’re all connected. It’s kind of disturbing, but interesting at the same time.

I continued to read my textbooks and work on my homework, with Alice interrupting me every once in a while asking me if she could attach her name to mine. I was really adamant on saying no, but eventually I gave in, everyone would find out at some point. Shane had come back, girlfriendless, but vowing to keep on with her pursuit of Carmen De La Picas Morales. She had gotten that much out of her.

A few hours later, we decided to head out. Shane headed home with me to pick up her Jeep, and Alice went to see her band mates. Alice had joined a band in college and they still hung out and played shows every so often. I waved at Shane as she drove away and I faced my empty house and the silence weighed heavy on my heart.

“Hey Bette,” I heard and turned to find my neighbor, Tim, calling me.

“Hey Tim, what’s up?”

“Do you mind if I use your pool? I need to get some laps in before my meeting, get my stress level down.”

“Sure, go right ahead.”

“Thanks Bette.”

I smiled as he went through the fence. Tim was the assistant swim coach for UCLA, his old swim team. He lived alone in his two bedroom house, but had been talking about moving his girlfriend from back home out here once she graduated college. He was a very nice man and was very accepting of his surroundings. I wasn’t his only gay neighbor; we had John and Zachary, a cute gay couple across the street. I sometimes had them over for a drink and we met at The Planet often.

I walked into my house and looked around, there were empty beer cans and a couple disposable cups in the living room and I proceeded to clean up. I could see Tim in the pool making his laps and I felt the need to do my exercises. After I cleaned, I opened the back door to let the sun and cool breeze in. I rolled my yoga mat out and started to stretch then do my exercises. I cleared my thoughts and continued, my stress level coming down and my breathing normal. After about twenty minutes, I noticed that Tim had left and I shut the back door. I rolled my mat back up just as I heard a light knock on the door. I opened it and found Tina standing at my door, her eyes bloodshot. I closed my eyes and looked down, as I opened them again, my eyes confirmed it. My head wasn’t playing a trick again; Tina really was standing in front of me.