„Hey Bette, what’s up? Is something wrong?“

When Shane said that everyone looked at Bette as she took a seat next to Alice and Kit.

She wasn’t sure if she should tell them about Helena. If there was nothing wrong, she would have worried her friends for nothing.

„Nothing is wrong. I’m fine.“

Everyone looked at each other, not believing her in the least.

„Bette, I know you. I spent a great amount of time of my life with you and I can see that you’re not fine. Something’s bothering und upsetting you.“ Tina said trying to make Bette talk about what was on her mind.

„Nothing, really.“

„Bette, look at you. Since you sat down, you didn’t even bother to remove your jacket plus you’re looking at your cell phone every 2 seconds as if you were awaiting an important call and be ready to ran off, should the need come to. I don’t call that ‘nothing’“ Kit said persuasive in her I-am-your-sister-and-I-know-you voice. They all nodded in unison.

Bette leaned forward and held her head in her hands. She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to cry. Finally she took a deep breath and looked up. She saw the concern in her friends eyes and she decided they had a right to know if one of her friends was or is in danger.

„You know that you can tell us everything. We are your friends and we love you. If you tell us what’s wrong, we could help you.“ At the same time Alice said that, she rubbed Bette on her back with her hand in a circling motion.

„It’s not me you should be worried about. It’s Helena…“

She told them about what she had witnessed in the prison while she was sitting together with Helena and about her phone call with Peggy. When she had finished, a shocked silence had settle over the group of friends. Each tried to cope with the informations Bette had just told them about their friend in jail and what could have happened to Helena.

Alice was the first to break the insufferable silence.

„You mean, Helena could haven been….?“ She asked in a voice thick with emotions, not able to speak out the last word.

„I don’t know. I…I can’t be sure. I have to wait for Peggy’s phone call to know more. I could be wrong. God, I so hope I’m wrong“ Bette couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She cried silently and Kit hugged her in her arms.

Alice was too shocked to do anything. She just sat there, her eyes blank, but filled with tears. Her best friend was probably being abused while she had been living her life happily. She felt guilty and she couldn’t bear the thought to go on with her life while she had to wait for news to come.

Shane, Tina and Kit had that thought too. Everybody knew what an awful fate it was to go through this. People were reminded of that everyday. But it was a whole other story, if something like that might happened to someone you love. You could see it in the news on tv and you could read about it the newspaper and it’s awful, but when it’s not close to you, you can’t even begin to imagine how much pain it brings with it. But when it happens to someone that is close to your heart, the hard reality of life slaps you across the face at full force.

That’s what was happening to the little group of friends right now. They consoled each other and did the only thing they could do at the moment; wait and hope.