"She can play basketball, that's for sure," Crystal replied. "I can't believe she made that one shot."

"The one where it kinda wobbled there on the hoop for a few seconds before it went in?"

"Yeah."

"That was a good shot," Laura agreed. "She was back past the half court mark when she threw that one."

"They're not going to win at this point. There's only two minutes left in the game."

"You're right. I'm sure Peter will be disappointed. He always has some money down on them." Laura leaned forward and picked up the remote. "So what do you want to do now? I think there's a late movie on ten."

"I have to get to bed," Crystal said before giving a long yawn. "Hopefully Michael has something else for me to do. We're almost done with the demolition."

"I'm sure he does," Laura said, pressing the red button and shutting off the television. "I didn't realize how late it was. You're going to be dragging tomorrow."

"Naw, I'm used to being up late and having to work without a lot of sleep." Crystal stood up and gave a cat like stretch, drawing her hands high above her head. "Are you going to bed?"

"I don't have to be up early. No, I'll probably turn the computer on and get back to work on my never ending story." Laura stood up as well and walked over to the light switch. "I need to do some research online for the next part."

"You think tomorrow you can show me that GED site you mentioned?"

"Sure. I'll find it tonight and bookmark it so we'll have it right there for you."

"You'll do what to it?" Crystal shook her head. "Never mind. It must be computerese or something."

Laura flipped two switches, shutting off the living room lights and turning on the ones over the stairs. "One of these days I'll get you so you're not afraid of computers."

"Yeah right," Crystal said dubiously. "Right after I win the lottery."

Laura started up the stairs behind her. "I hear that works better if you buy a ticket once in a while." When they reached the upper landing she reached out and touched Crystal's arm. "Wait a minute." Laura finished climbing the stairs and stood face to face with her roommate. "I just wanted to say good night," she began, pausing to choose her words. "You know if ever you want to hang out and watch TV with me, you're more than welcome."

"Thanks." Crystal looked away uncomfortably, then looked back. "I don't want to"

"Don't worry about it," Laura said, cutting off the younger woman. "You're good company and we had a nice chat." She seriously doubted Crystal ever had a close friend she could relax and just talk about everything and nothing to. Probably no one since her sister, Laura mused. "I'll find that GED site and we'll look at it together tomorrow night." She gave Crystal's arm a friendly squeeze. "Don't you worry. We'll get you through it with flying colors, I promise. I used to tutor my friends when I was in school and I helped them all raise their grades." Not releasing her hold on Crystal's arm, Laura stepped forward until they were only inches apart. "How do you feel about a hug goodnight?" Sensing Crystal's ambivalence, Laura took the initiative and wrapped her arms around the younger woman. Unlike the first time they had hugged, this time Laura was aware of the feminine body pressed against her own. Crystal was warm and soft, her shirt smelling faintly of sweat and cigarettes. "Sweet dreams," she whispered softly, smiling when she felt Crystal's arms go around her to return the embrace. See? It's okay to let someone in, Laura thought, giving one last squeeze before stepping back. "Sleep well."

"You too," Crystal said, reaching for her door handle. "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't," Laura promised. "I just have a few things to care of and then it's off to bed for me."

The 'few things' turned out to be not only finding the GED site but printing out all the different practice tests on each subject. While waiting for each page to print, Laura looked over the different questions. Oh that's easy. Everyone knows a triangle with all equal sides is an equilateral. This will be easy for her. Another test came out of the printer. Ugh. I forgot about history. I never could get those dates straight. She looked at the printed list of dates the exams would be given locally and felt certain that Crystal would be able to pass the test by the Spring. Hmm, six months to learn three plus years of high school stuff? Maybe by summer. The printer made one last pass before a beep announced that the print job was finished and the last page fell into the tray. Laura picked up her empty cup and stared at it as if that would make it suddenly fill with tea. Oh well, it's too late to bother making any more, she thought, setting the cup down and looking at the screen. Okay Laura, you've spent the last two hours printing out just about everything there could possibly be on this site. She looked at the nearly half a ream of paper neatly stacked next to the printer. Better not show Crystal that whole stack at once or she'll go screaming the other way. Heck, if I saw a stack like that of stuff to study I'd run the other way too. She absently clicked on the search icon, bringing up her favorite search engine. There was another matter involving her roommate that might be solved via the internet and despite the late hour Laura felt compelled to research it.

"Come on, let's see just how much information is out there," she said as she typed the words Finding Missing Persons and clicked the send button.

Chapter Tenth

"Good to see you," Jenny said as she held the door open. Crystal stepped through and into the therapist's office.

"How ya doing, Doc?" she asked, heading for the recliner.

"I'm well, Crystal. You seemed to be enjoying yourself at the game Saturday. Where do you want me to sit?"

"Uh," Crystal looked at the couch, then at the bean bags. "I dunno." Shrugging her shoulders, she looked at the therapist. "Wherever you want, I guess."

"You don't like to make decisions, do you?"

Crystal watched Jenny take a seat on the couch, the ever present clipboard on her lap. "So what are we gonna talk about today?"

"Is there something you feel the need to talk about?" Jenny asked. "You said last week you weren't sure what you were going to do about your job at the strip club. Have you made your decision?"

A smirk came to Crystal's face. "Oh yeah," she said. "I'm not there anymore and Michael showed me how to screw drywall into place and he told me he'd show me how to use a paint sprayer when it came time."

"Sounds like he has confidence in your ability to adapt to change and learn new things." The knowing smile on Jenny's face caused Crystal to frown. She hated that look because she knew what it meant.

"I dunno. I guess."

"That's what it looks like to me. You're very good at adapting, aren't you?"

"So you tell me, Doc," Crystal answered in a bored tone. She looked down at her fingernails. "I need the job so I learn how to do things. It's not a big deal." Feeling stiff, Crystal moved out of the chair and flopped down on the floor, her back pressed up against the red beanbag. "I do what I have to."

"It's one of your survival skills," Jenny pointed out, moving forward until she was barely on thee.g.of thee.g.of the couch. "You've learned to adapt to what's going on around you."

"Yeah, whatever," Crystal said, staring up at the ceiling. "I did what I had to do in order to get by. This time it's something useful. I can always put down on a job application that I know how to handle a screw gun. That'd look a lot better than saying I'm a stripper."

"That is true but you have gained skills from all your experiences, good and bad."

"It all goes back to that, doesn't it Doc?" Come on, give me a break. Crystal allowed her eyes to follow the jagged pattern of the acoustical tiles. "Everything we talk about goes back to my rotten childhood and the shit that happened to me."

"I didn't say anything about your childhood this time," Jenny pointed out. "You know what tells me? It tells me something is on your mind." "I dunno."

"I told you no excuses, no bullshit in here." Setting the clipboard on the couch, the therapist pulled the blue beanbag over and settled herself on it. "You can stare at the ceiling all night if you want to."

Great, Crystal thought to herself. You're a real pain in the ass, Doc. Fine. "I told Laura." She knew Jenny was waiting for elaboration. "I I told her what happened when I was a kid."

"And how did telling her make you feel?"

Crystal didn't have to turn her head to feel the therapist's eyes upon her. She continued to stare at the ceiling. Shrugging her shoulders, she used her familiar defense. "I dunno."

"I dunno is not an answer. Try again. When you first began to tell her, how did you feel?"

"Nervous," Crystal admitted, shifting her position to put her hands behind her head. "When I started, I was worried she'd freak out and not want to talk to me anymore or something."

"And when you realized that wouldn't happen?"

Crystal swallowed, wishing now she had made herself something to drink when she arrived. "It felt

I dunno, good I guess. She didn't look at me weird or anything. I don't think she did anyway. I didn't really look at her too much when I was talking." She looked over at Jenny, thinking back to what Laura had told her about their breakup. "She talked to me too about things." Crystal paused. "I guess that made me feel good too."

"How did it make you feel to share your story?"

Crystal looked at the ceiling again. "It was scary at first. My heart kept pounding, like I was worried he'd come in and catch me talking about it or something." Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly and gathered her thoughts. "She just let me keep talking and talking, no matter how stupid I sounded. You know what the best part was?"