Ashley Davies sat listening to her girlfriend on this ongoing topic.

Erin: “Why do you want to keep this a big secret? I don’t understand… Are you ashamed of us or something?”

            Ashley quickly shook her head and hurried to reassure her.

Ashley: “No. God, that’s not it at all…”

Erin: “Then what is it? Huh? Because I’m getting really tired of keeping us a secret.”

            Sitting down on her bed, Ashley placed her head in her hands. She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Ashley: “Look Erin… You don’t understand ok? This isn’t easy for me.”

            Erin’s mouth dropped open as she looked at Ashley in amazement. She threw her arms up in exasperation.

Erin: “And this is easy for me? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly out and proud yet either.”

            Ashley looked up at her with an apology written on her face.

Ashley: “I’m sorry Erin. I didn’t think…”

Erin: “That’s exactly it. You don’t think… about me or my feelings. The only person you care about is yourself.”

            Ashley knew that Erin was right. She only thought about herself most of the time. No one cared about her, so why should she care about anyone else? Her mom didn’t care about her enough not to put her in this lame boarding school and her dad didn’t care enough to get her out. She listened as Erin continued.

Erin: “Why don’t you just go run to Aiden like you always do? That’ll make everything so much easier.”

            She winced as Erin said it. That was a sore spot for Ashley.

Ashley: “You know that I only like Aiden as a friend.”

Erin: “Oh yeah. I know that. But does he know that? Does everyone else know that?”

Ashley: “No, but he’s just a…a.”

Erin: “A cover?”

            Ashley stared at her hands.

Erin: “A cover so everyone won’t know how gay you are? Here we go again with you only caring about yourself. Do you know how it makes me feel to hear everyone talking about how cute a couple you guys are? You’re supposed to be mine.”