“Oh my God, Shannon!” she exclaimed causing several people to look their way. “Is it really you?”

“Marci, how are you? You look great,” Shannon managed to say when her ex-roommate finally turned her loose.

“I’m fine, and thanks. After three trips to the fat farm, I finally got

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it right. Bernard promised me if I lost the weight and kept it off for two years he’d buy me a new pair of boobs.” It was obvious that Marci had accomplished her long-term weight loss and was proud of it.

“Very nice.”

“Shannon, you look great too. What’s your secret?” Marci asked in a co-conspirator tone.

“Nothing as exciting as you, Marci.” Shannon knew she looked like hell. She wasn’t sleeping, the circles under her eyes were darker on her now pale skin. She had lost weight, her naturally lean body was painfully thin. A glass of Chivas more often than not was her evening meal. When she first returned from Australia it was her lunch and sometimes her breakfast as well. She looked for the passing tray of alcohol. Marci grabbed her arm and practically dragged her across the room. Marci’s voice was far more animated than Shannon remembered.

“You have got to come see Beth and Courtney. They are going to crap when they see you.”

Approaching the women in question, Shannon steeled herself to face two of the biggest snobby, self-righteous, bigoted, girly girls at MHA. One look at them and Shannon knew they had only refined those traits as the years passed.

“Girls, look who’s here! Shannon Roberts. We were just talking about whether or not she’d be here tonight and I looked up and there she was. Can you believe it?”

Taking the high road, Shannon held out her hand first to Beth Hardel. “Hello, Beth.” Beth took one look at her outstretched hand, then back to Shannon. She saw the look of disapproval Beth didn’t even bother to hide as she passed judgment on Shannon’s choice of wardrobe for the evening. More out of politeness and good breeding, Beth finally took her hand. Shannon repeated the same greeting to Courtney.

Marci filled the awkward silence. “Shannon, what are you doing with yourself? I didn’t see your profile on Facebook.” The reunion committee had encouraged all alumni to create a Facebook page so that they all could reconnect even if they weren’t able to attend the event.

“I didn’t know until the last minute I was coming. What about you, Marci?” Shannon switched the topic without answering the question posed to her.

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Shannon listened with half an ear to Marci drone on about her husband and kids and when the talk between the women turned to the trials of braces and puberty, she tuned out all but the essentials and merely nodded when she thought it appropriate. Her name brought her attention back to the women in front of her.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” She hadn’t heard whether she was asked a question or simply was supposed to respond to a statement.

“I asked if you were married or had any children?” Beth said too sweetly.

Shannon knew Beth was intentionally trying to embarrass her with the question. Beth had hated her in high school and obviously still did. She thought Shannon unworthy of a school like Mount Holyfield and had told her so on more than one occasion.

“No, I’m not. They don’t allow lesbians to get married in the state I live in.” Shannon let the statement hang in the air. She had nothing to hide, especially from these people. She didn’t care what they thought.

Never had and never would. That same apathy clouded her judgment more and more every day. She knew she was depressed, but like everything else lately she didn’t seem to have the energy to face it, let alone tackle it. With a wicked sense of perverted pleasure, she watched the color drain from Beth’s perfectly made up face to be replaced by an unattractive shade of green disgust. Shannon continued looking her straight in the eye while she waited for what would come next.

“That’s disgusting. You’re disgusting, Shannon Roberts. I always knew you were a pervert. You were always looking at me that way.”

Beth emphasized her last two words.

“Actually, Beth, I never gave you a second thought. I prefer my lovers to be passionate and alive. You never did fit the bill. Still don’t, I see. If you ladies will excuse me.” Shannon left all three women standing with their mouths open, one laughing, the other two speechless.

A prickling along the back of her neck made her pause. It was the same feeling she always got just before she caught Caroline staring at her. Her heart beat against her chest and she suddenly felt lightheaded.

She maneuvered around several couples laughing loudly and past the buffet table. She knew that unless she left now, she wouldn’t be able to avoid Caroline all night. She didn’t think Caroline would come. She had said as much at the race and when Shannon couldn’t help herself

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and had Googled Caroline last week, a press release from NASA stated that she had accepted a position and would immediately be entering the astronaut training program.

What would she see when she turned around? More precisely, who would she see with Caroline? It had been a little more than two months since she had seen her in Australia and Caroline had been celebrating with Fran. That was one of many images that kept her awake at night.

Finally ready to face Caroline and whoever she brought with her, Shannon turned around.

It was about goddamned time, Caroline thought. She had been nervously following Shannon around the ballroom for fifteen minutes before she turned her way. She was stunning in her faux tuxedo, deep red shirt, and shiny black loafers. Her hair was a little longer, but not much. She looked tired and thinner but still wore that same cloak of edgy confidence and looked totally at ease in this crowd.

She had scoured the room when she first arrived for any sign of Shannon. Even though her name was on the list of attendees, Caroline didn’t know if Shannon would actually be there. She had tried and failed miserably during the past week not to get her hopes up lest she be disappointed.

Caroline knew there was music playing but didn’t hear anything except the drumming of her heart and the pounding in her ears. When their eyes met, her stomach flipped several times and her hand shook so bad she almost spilled her cocktail. It was that same look. The same intense gaze as if Shannon could see right through her and into her soul and know what she was thinking. If that were true, Shannon would know that Caroline had thought about her often in the last few weeks.

She had relived their one night together in Austria more times than she could count, remembering and savoring each taste and touch of her. She had shed a million tears in the last two months over losing her again.

Especially after realizing she was hopelessly in love with her.

She approached Shannon and watched the expression on her face. There was a spark of joy that was quickly covered up with steely reserve. Caroline wet her lips nervously as she closed the distance between them.

“Hello, Shannon. It’s good to see you.” Caroline was surprised

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that her voice sounded normal. She was outwardly calm and restrained but what she really wanted to do was throw herself in Shannon’s arms and never let go. Her heart threatened to stop when Shannon didn’t immediately reply.

“You too. I didn’t know you’d be here. I didn’t expect a renowned astrophysicist, soon-to-be-astronaut, would come to a small town class reunion.”

Caroline’s chuckle came out sounding more like a strangled cry.

“Hardly. I just got my Ph.D. and I haven’t even started work yet.”

The fact that she had postponed her start date with NASA she kept to herself. Somehow she had made it through defending her dissertation, and just barely at that. She was an emotional mess and knew that if she didn’t get her shit together before starting at NASA she would fail and fail miserably.

“Maybe I wanted everyone to see what a swanky private school can produce?” Caroline continued trying to lighten her mood. “Maybe I wanted to relive my youth?” Shannon laughed. Caroline jumped off the cliff of her emotions. Her love for Shannon gave her the strength to take the first step. “Maybe I just wanted to see you.”

Caroline said it so quietly and calmly it caught her off guard. She knew what she wanted to say to Shannon, had practiced it dozens of times, but she hadn’t expected to say it within the first three minutes.

Her world was spinning, and she was being carried along for the ride.

“I’m sorry. That didn’t come out quite as I had planned.” Her heart jumped back in her throat and for a moment she thought she might be sick. “Can we go somewhere and talk?” Caroline glanced around at the noisy crowd. She heard the faint pleading in her voice. She desperately wanted to talk to Shannon. No she needed to talk to her. To explain, to ask for another chance, to beg if she had to.

Shannon lowered her eyes and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Then she looked at Caroline as if deciding if she would say yes or no. Caroline got very nervous.

“Sure, how about outside? There’s a nice patio across the courtyard.” Shannon motioned in the direction of the exit doors.

Caroline led the way feeling Shannon’s eyes on her bare back.

She had chosen her dress carefully for just this occasion. She was the