Previously~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tthe article said that I was single and that I was bisexual and that I was looking for love. I didnt tell Alice those things, T. I swear I didnt. Please believe me, baby., said Bette.

Tina felt all the air rush out of her and she whispered, Oh my God.

Tina, please believe me. I had no idea she was gonna do that. Please dont be angry with me, baby. Im so sorry, T, said Bette.
.
This isnt how its supposed to be. This isnt it at all., thought Tina.

Tinas silence was terrifying for Bette. She felt the tears rise in her eyes and chewed her lip nervously. Tbabyare you okay? Are you still there?

The hot, heavy tears rolled down Tinas cheeks. II have to go, Bette.

Tina…please…dont go. Please, talk to me. I want to know youre okay., said Bette.

II have to go., Tina repeated.

T?

Tina sniffed and said, Bye, Bette. Ill see you later.

Bette heard a click and couldnt believe her ears. She looked at her phone and saw that the call had ended. Oh my God. What have I done?, she asked herself.

****

Hey girl, Im Namon. I hear you like to walk both sides of the fence, if you know what I mean. I love a girl that doesnt mind bending the rules. Why dont you let me, he began.

Bette stared angrily into his dark eyes and hissed, Get the ***** away from me!

Namons eyes opened wide in surprise. Whats the problem? The article said.., he started.

***** the article! The article is a lie. Get away from me!, said Bette.

Dana looked at their unwanted guest pleadingly. Please leave. Shes not in a good mood and shes too angry for me to hold her back. Just give her a break.

Namon rolled his eyes and moved away, muttering under his breath as he went.

This is crazy, Bette., said Dana.

Yes, yes it is. And you know what?, asked Bette.

Dana looked at her, questioningly.

This is only the beginning., said Bette, feeling someone tap her on the shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TINA

Tina turned off her phone grabbed her things as quickly as she could and raced away from her room. She didnt want to face Bette. She didnt want Bette to try and smooth this situation over. Tina felt so responsible for it that she didnt want Bette to waste any time and energy trying to make her feel better. She wiped at her eyes as her legs carried her across the campus to her Calculus final.

Tinas mind started to shut off the painful parts of her existence. She needed to be focused in order to perform well and excel on this exam. Unknowingly, she locked away the worry and hurt she felt at this new situation into her emotional lockbox and put the box on a shelf. By the time she slid into a seat and got herself settled, this situation with the paper was no longer in her thoughts. Tina Kennard numbed a part of her mind and began to work feverishly on her exam, deftly solving integrals and derivatives with the other part.

Hours later, she sat in a group study room at the library with Kara, waiting for David to join them. As they sat there, sharing small talk, David burst through the door. His eyes were bright behind his blue contact lenses as he shook the paper in his hand.

Tinayour roommate is just too fierce in this paper! Girlfriend is slammin honey!, he said.

Tina felt a lump rise in her throat. Here we go., she thought.

David closed the door behind him and sat down, showing his friends the paper. This dance marathon is going to be the bomb! Everyone is gonna be there. There is so much hype about it., he said.

Kara studied Bettes photos, She looks great in these pictures. Im not into women, but I could be if it was with her., she said.

Karas words struck Tina very hard. The aching in her chest continued to grow as her eyes flowed across the typewritten words.

Certain words stood out to her, her heart racing as the reality of this nightmare dawned upon her. Bettecurrently single.bisexual…looking for a meaningful relationship with the right person, regardless of gender relationships remain hidden and closeted.

Kara and David continued to discuss Bettes fabulousness and the expected success of the upcoming event. Their words were lost on Tina. She couldnt see them, couldnt hear them, she could barely breathe. Alice had essentially prostituted her girlfriend out to enhance the visibility of this event, and Tina had let it happen. Tinas amber eyes studied Bettes features, the crinkle in her eyes, her high cheekbones, the beauty in her smile.

Shes beautiful. Shes my heart and shes absolutely beautiful., Tina thought.

So, Tina…did you know Bette was doing this? This article is great., said David.

Tina still hadnt heard him. She mumbled something unintelligible and quickly left the room, racing to the restroom. Once inside, she found a stall and closed the door, leaning back against the wall, letting the tears flow down her cheeks. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

I need Bette. I need to feel her arms around me. I need to hear her heart beat. I need to hear her voice., thought Tina.

This moment was tearing her apart. She needed Bette, but she was mired in her own guilt. She needed the woman that owned her heart, but she felt that her mere presence would cause Bette more pain. Bette would try to comfort her, swallow Tinas pain, reassure Tina of their love. All of these efforts taking up the little strength and stamina Tina knew Bette needed at this time. Tina didnt want Bette to give up part of herself to soothe Tinas wounds. Especially when she was so unsure as to how to end this confusion.

She knew that in order to help alleviate some of Bettes turmoil, she needed to be more open with their relationship. Bette was a beautiful girl. It was only a matter of time before she was tagged as both beautiful and available. With no apparent partner in her life, everyone would assume she was fair game. This article and fabrication of Alices was simply an accelerant to an inevitable outcome. If Tina didnt claim her, someone else would try and take her place.

However, Tina was still tormented by the two sides of her spirit. She knew what she needed to do, but she also realized the potential consequences of outing herself on campus. Tinas world was not Bettes world. Melvin left Bette to exist in her own independent universe while he conquered and commanded in his. Their universes only collided when it was absolutely necessary. Bette had free reign at UCLA, with little chance of Melvin actually being aware of her comings and goings. He was content to be distanced from his daughter. However, Tracy and Steven Kennard were not so hands-off. Tina talked to her parents regularly. They wanted to know what was going on in her life, they took active steps to be involved in Tinas world. Whether she was at home in San Francisco or in school in LA, they made it a point to be informed about their little girls life.

Tracy had even taken it upon herself to check the UCLA website from time to time, reading the Daily Bruin online, staying up to date on the universitys latest happenings. It was entirely possible that Tracy would pull up the Bruin and see Bettes smiling face on the cover. If that were to happen and Tracy were to make the connection between that beautiful smile and Tinas roommate and spring break tripper named Bette Porter, Tina knew that her life would be turned upside down. Her parents would probably forbid her to go on spring break in addition to demanding that she change rooms in order to avoid Bettes ***** influence. This was exactly what she didnt want to happen.

The pressure Tina felt was crushing her spirit. She was really torn between her needs and her parental dependencies. In a perfect world she could throw caution to the wind and follow her heart. In that perfect world she would announce to the world that Better Porter was her girlfriend, best friend, lover, and soul mate. In that perfect world, Bette Porter and Tina Kennard would hold hands, kiss, and lovingly caress each other in pubic; tastefully expressing their love for each other without a second thought. But this was not a perfect world. This was a world in which she was sure to be distanced from the woman that owned her heart, if any hint of hers or Bettes sexuality was made known to the Kennards. It was a world in which shed be disowned and destitute if her parents found out she and Bette were actually a couple. A world in which her parents would cut off funding for her education and shed be forced to figure out how to pay for 3 years of college on her own, with no job and no skills. This outcome would effectively drive her away from Bette anyway, since shed be forced to leave school and find some means by which to support herself.

It was a world in which she was forced to make a choice between her heart and the life she had become so accustomed to living. How could she continue to keep hiding her love for Bette when so many people seemed to want to take her place in Bettes heart? How could she continue to pretend that she didnt see the pain in her girlfriends soft brown eyes? How much longer could she make Bette endure the pain of their hidden relationship? How many more times were people going to flirt with her girlfriend or comment about her beauty in front of Tinatotally unaware that Tina was the caramel womans other half? How much longer could she do these things?

But how could she out herself and risk the total upheaval of her world? How could she throw caution to the wind, only to have the wind knocked out of her and her reality come crashing down? How could she risk losing everything, her family, her education, her lifestyle, her Betteall in one fell swoop?

And how could she make this choice? How was she equipped at age 19 to have all of these answers? How could her young mind possibly know enough about life and the world and human nature to have the knowledge she needed to make an intelligent decision? How was she expected to make such a life-altering choice at this point in her life?

The answershe couldnt.

And so Tina did the only thing she could do. She locked her emotions away in the all-too-familiar lockbox and placed the box on her top shelf. She washed her face, made herself presentable, and headed back to her friends to tackle the problems she could actually solve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After cursing out her third admirer in 5 minutes, Bette whipped out her cell phone and called Alice.

Alice answered cheerily, Hey there movie star!

Alice, what the ***** have you done to me?, asked Bette. She was trying not to yell, but she wasnt doing a very good job of keeping her voice down.

What do you mean?, asked Alice.

Single? Bisexual? Looking for love? What the ***** is this? Why did you set me up?, asked Bette.

Hey, I didnt set you up. I just wrote a compelling story. The event is going to be a huge success. I thought youd be happy., said Alice.

Happy? How could I be happy? My girlfriend is so angry with me right now, I probably am going to be single. Weve been through so much and you manage to take it away in a few sentences. You were supposed to sell the eventyou sold ME!, Bette yelled.

Other students were starting to stare at her, but Bette didnt care and neither did Dana. Dana watched on, protectively watching out for her friend.

Bette, calm down. I really didnt mean any harm. Im sure youre overreacting., said Alice.

Bette was so furious, she couldnt even think straight. Angry tears slipped from her eyes and she was shaking as she spoke through gritted teeth. You.areafuckingnightmare. Do yourself a favordont come around me anymoreever. I could literally kill you right now. I finally found what Ive been looking for and you find a way to ***** it up. Shes the most important thing in my life and she wont even speak to me. If you see me coming, turn the other way. If Im somewhere you want to be, turn around and get the ***** out. Dont speak to me, dont call me, dont email me, dont even ***** look at me. I hope youre happy with yourself. I really, truly do. Bette closed her phone as the sobs shook her body. She collapsed into Danas embrace and prayed that she would make it through the next few days.

Bette spent the rest of Wednesday, fighting off the advances of both men and women, worrying about her relationship, tying up loose ends for the event, and trying to get some studying done in between. When she made it back home at nearly 10pm that evening, she found 3 teddy bears, 4 boxes of candy, and 7 greeting cards. For a moment, Bette just stood in shock, staring at these objects, hoping they werent part of this new university-wide initiative to woo Ms. Bisexual Bette Porter. She was wrong. Most of the items came complete with intentions to date and fall in love with Bette, as well as complete contact information. Bette made 2 trips to the hallway trash receptacle, dumping these tokens into the garbage, before entering her room. Again, shed been hoping to find Tina, but she would be let down for the second time that day. She walked around the room and checked the answering machine. They had 15 new messages. Bette sat down and listened to them. They were all from new suitorsboth male and female. Each one more ridiculous than the next. Bette deleted the messages, her heart still aching for the one message she hadnt heard all day: Tinas declaration of love.

Bette hoped that her girlfriend was out studying and working on last minute details for her Audio Video project. She prayed that Tina was not sitting around contemplating the end of their relationship or seeking some sort of revenge against her for the erroneous Bruin article. At 12:30am, she called Tina for the 6th time and left her 3rd message.

Tinababy. I just want to know that youre okay. I havent talked to you all day and Im so worried about you. Would you please just call me, T? Please come home. I love you so much., said Bette, the emotion heavy in her voice.

Bette wiped at her heartfelt tears and wearily made her way to bed, leaving a light on for her girlfriend.

At around 2am, Bette awoke from a restless sleep and noticing the emptiness in her bed, she looked at the clock. Her stomach dropped. Oh my God, its so late. I hope shes okay. Tina, why are you doing this?, thought Bette. Bette pulled out her phone and called Tina again, hoping she would finally pick up.

As Bette waited to leave her 4th message, she realized the light shed left on was turned off and she noticed the lumps across the room in Tinas bed. Slowly, she moved the phone away from her ear and closed it, her eyes fixed on what she assumed was Tina. Bettes immediate relief that Tina was alive and well was soon overshadowed by fine details that troubled her.

Why didnt she wake me up? Why isnt she in bed with me? We havent slept in separate beds since.I cant even remember., thought Bette.

Bette stared at Tinas form and decided she had to talk to her. She hadnt seen Tina since 8:30 that morning. She needed to talk to her. She needed to touch her. Even if it meant Tina would end their relationship, she had to hear her voice.

Bette walked across the room and sat down on the side of Tinas bed, staring down at her girlfriend, watching her as she slept. Sadness and longing filled her spirit and she felt broken inside. Tina had been gone all day. The love of her life had refused her calls and blocked Bette out of her life. As she sat there in the darkness, the dark-haired beauty couldnt silence the doubts that sounded loudly in her mind.

What if she breaks up with me? What if she decides this is too hard? What am I going to do without her in my life? This is the only place Ive ever truly fit in. In her arms is the only place I truly feel loved. T, please dont do this to us. Please stop running from me., she thought, as large, hot tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

She finally shook Tina lightly and watched as wakefulness slowly washed over her girlfriend. Tina blinked sleepily, her head turning to find Bette in the darkness.

Bette?…Whats going on?, asked Tina, not fully cognizant of what was happening.

Bette sat with her back to Tina, her shoulders shaking with sobs. She looked down at her feet, unable to meet Tinas eyes. There was so much Bette wanted to say, but she could only manage a few words. Her voice coming out as a hoarse, trembling, tear-soaked whisper. Twhy are you doing this? I missed you so much today. You wont even take my calls.

Tinas heart sank at hearing Bettes words, her amber eyes watching Bettes defeated stance. Her girlfriends head was bent low and she could even feel Bette shaking. Tina sat up in bed and her hand automatically started to lovingly rub Bettes back. Tina rested her head against Bettes shoulder, inhaling her scent, enjoying their closeness.

Tinas touch seemed to have a healing effect and Bette stopped sobbing, however, the tears continued to slip from her eyes. Im sorry, T. I didnt mean for this to happen, Bette whispered.

The minute shed heard the emotion and pain in Bettes voice, all of the turmoil shed felt that day suddenly seemed to vanish. The only worry on her mind was Bette Porter. All she knew was that Bette needed her and that she needed Bette. Tina had no answers or quick solutions. She didnt know what would become of them or how they would make it through the chaos of their current reality. However, Tina Kennard did have a loving embrace and a tender caress.

Shh. Come here, Bette. Get in bed with me, babe., she whispered, stopping the unnecessary apology she knew her soul mate wanted to divulge.

With her head hanging low and tears dripping from her chin, Bette turned around and climbed into bed with Tina. In this moment, all of their problems, uncertainties, and anxieties were suspended; lurking around them, but seemingly frozen in time. Tina held Bette closely to her and for the first time all day, both women were able to truly exhale. Bette snuggled close to Tina and felt her emotions begin to settle down. Tina lovingly kissed Bettes forehead, enjoying the comforting feel of having her lover in her arms.

I love you so much, Bette., Tina whispered.

I love you too, T. I needed you today. Ive been so lost without you., Bette whispered.

Im sorry, baby. Im here now. I needed you too., said Tina. She kissed Bettes forehead once more and said, Lets get some sleep, Bette. You have an exam in the morning. You need your rest.

I know. Ill be able to rest now. Good night, T., Bette whispered.

Night, Bette. Sweet dreams, baby., Tina whispered in return.

TBC (To Be Continued)