“Afraid so. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy you flirting with me, Bette. I always did.” She says smiling a thoroughly pleased smile at Bette.

“Told ya.” Alice chimed in. “You guys want to ditch these hetros and go get a drink? First rounds on me.” The two women agreed and separated from the couple.

After a few hours in the good company of old friends, Bette headed back home. She knew that her father wouldn’t approve of her drinking and coming home late, so she climbed in through her bedroom window just as she done hundreds of times in high school. Seeing Ginsberg tonight was thrilling, but a little disappointing that she couldn’t continue what she had planned on when she called her up earlier in the day. The fact that Ginsberg didn’t mention her girlfriend until Alice said something meant to Bette that something could have happened. The two would call it a homecoming and leave it at that. And Alice. She seemed a little different than when Bette saw her last. She still told off-color jokes and suffered from an inability to keep her mouth shut. But she had also grown into it and had a self-assuredness that Bette never noticed before. It was a pretty attractive quality and she wondered how she missed this in her friend.

After some time went by, Bette heard the faint sounds of Eric’s record player switching on and the band The Jam playing softly. Upon looking out, Bette saw that his light was on. Taking a blanket from her bed, she headed to her brother’s room to have a long talk. It had been so long since they were home together and she wanted to take advantage of the time.

When Bette opened the door, she saw Melinda alone lying on Eric’s bed with headphones on and her eyes closed. She was clearly enjoying the music playing. The long night shirt that she wore lay just above her knee and the hair that usually remained in a tight bun, hung loosely around her shoulders. She didn’t notice Bette right away and it wasn’t until Bette had laid her hand upon her shoulder that Melinda became aware of her presence.

 “Jesus” Melinda hissed in a frightened tone, at the same time remaining mindful that Melvin’s room was a few doors from Eric.