Emily was smiling as she looked back and forth between Ashley, sitting next to her, and Paige, on the other side of the table. Their dinner was going better than she could've hoped. She was elated that her best friend and her girlfriend were able to get along.

Things between her other best friend and Ashley weren't quite there yet. Actually, Emily and Hanna never really talked about Ashley anymore. They both knew how the other one felt, and they both knew that, no matter how much they talked about it, they weren't going to resolve anything. So, they agreed to disagree.

That made it a little more significant to Emily that Paige was making an effort with Ashley. And that things were going well. Emily was convinced that, if only Hanna were to make an effort, she and Ashley might find that they got along well, too.

But, for the evening, she was content to enjoy her dinner with the two of them, and to enjoy the anticipation of future get-togethers: the Three Amigas – or, even four, if Hanna could get over her hesitation.

"Whoops!" Emily exclaimed through a laugh, startled when the phone in her back pocket started vibrating. She pulled it out and scowled at the screen. Mouthing the word, "Sorry," with a sad smile, she explained, "It's my lab partner. I really need to talk with him." With a squeeze of Ashley's shoulder and a wink towards Paige, she set off for the restaurant's designated cell phone area.

"So, what was the life-event that made you realize that you wanted to devote your life to being a nerdy bio major?" Paige asked, smiling pleasantly as she picked up the thread of the conversation that the three of them had been having.

Ashley's eyelids narrowed and her expression went sour. Paige, defensively, sat back a little, immediately regretting the "nerdy" comment. She hadn't meant anything by it; Ashley herself had called it nerdy, in so many words - but Paige realized that she didn't know Ashley well enough to joke with her about it.

"What are your intentions towards Emily?" Ashley asked, her voice heavy with threatening accusation.

"Excuse me?" Paige smiled nervously.

"Do you think you're going to take her from me?"

Paige put her hands up. "Ashley, I..."

"I know you're Miss Hotshot-jock-swimmer, and I may just look like some brainless Barbie doll bimbo to you, but what Emily and I have is real, and, believe me, I'm not going to let you ruin it."

"I... believe me, I... " Paige was stammering, still trying to catch up with the Jekyll-Hyde scene that she had, somehow, become a participant in.

Ashley's face softened in an instant, and she affected a laugh, as if they had just shared a joke. Paige turned her head and took a quick glance over her shoulder, confirming her suspicion: Ashley had switched back to her non-psycho personality because Emily was heading back to the table.

"So, what'd I miss?" Emily said, giddy over the fact that the two had gotten along and were laughing even when she wasn't around.

Paige chuckled in shock and looked down at her lap. She had no idea what it was that Emily had missed. Whatever it was, it was definitely creepy.

"Oh, you know," Ashley said, with the the cool, jovial ease of someone who was used to lying. "Just the usual, 'Never would've guessed that someone with a body like that would be a biology major!'"

Emily's mouth opened wide in playful shock, and she squeezed Paige's shoulder. "Paige!" she said, chiding her for buying into that kind of stereotype. Paige just dipped her head with an embarrassed smile. She knew that Emily would interpret it as an admission of guilt, but she had no idea what to say.

"And, believe me," Ashley added with a seductive wink in Emily's direction, "I definitely know what I'm doing, when it comes to biology!"

"What do I do, Pru?" Paige was pacing around the living room. "Do I tell Emily that she's dating a schizo?"

"What does your gut tell you?" Pru wasn't disinterested, but she was pretty sure that Paige wasn't asking because she wanted advice. Not yet, at least. Right then, the only thing that she wanted was a sounding-board.

"What if I tell her," Paige continued, not having registered Pru's response, "and she doesn't believe me? I mean, what if she thinks that I'm just trying to split them up? If she confronts Ashley, you know that Ashley's only going to deny it. And you know whom Emily's going to believe..."

"But that's not the question, though, is it, Paige?"

Paige let the hand which she had been rubbing her forehead with drop down to her thigh. "Then what is the question, Pru?" she asked impatiently

"The question is, if it were you, would you want to know?"

Paige sighed, pacing again. "I don't know, I don't know..."

Pru tilted her head. "Maybe you should ask Hanna."

"No!" Paige said emphatically. "I'm not going to put this burden on her! Her relationship with Emily has already been strained by this... Ashley... thing!"

"Okay - okay!" Pru put her hands up apologetically. "Don't get mad at me, Paige! I'm just trying to help!"

Paige sighed, sitting down on the couch next to Pru. "I'm sorry," she said, softening her tone. "I'm not mad. I'm just frustrated." She raised her hands up above her head. "Extremely frustrated."

Pru rubbed her back. "I know, Paige. I wish I knew what to tell you. Do you want me to..." Pru let it drop. She didn't know what she could even offer to do.

"No," Paige said, managing a smile as she patted Pru's thigh. "I'll just have to wait and let it play out. People can only hide who they really are for so long. Eventually, their true colors show."

"Aren't you worried that Emily will be mad at you if she finds out that you knew about this psycho and didn't say anything."

"Yeah," Paige said. "I am. And I'm worried she'll resent me if I tell her before she's ready to hear it. I'm just going to have to play it by ear - stay in Emily's life, be a good friend to her, and, if I sense that she's ready to hear the truth, tell her the truth."

Pru squeezed Paige's shoulder, to let her know that she was on her side. Paige patted her leg in thanks, and got up to head to her room.

"Paige?"

"Hmm?"

"She didn't really try that line about knowing biology, did she?"

Paige scoffed, shaking her head, hardly able to believe it herself.

Emily's vision of the Three Amigas never came to pass. Paige wasn't too eager to risk another one-on-one encounter with Ashley. She worried that she might say or do something that she (or Ashley - or Emily) would regret.

Emily assumed that the reason that Paige kept politely declining opportunities to get together was that she wasn't as comfortable being around her and her girlfriend as she wanted Emily to think.

For her part, Ashley couldn't have cared less what Paige's reasons were. She had successfully defended her territory. She was more than happy to have Emily all to herself.

Emily increasingly felt trapped. She didn't like having one life with her girlfriend and another with her other friends. The few times when she brought it up with Paige and Hanna, they insisted that there was nothing wrong; that they didn't have a problem hanging out with Ashley. Ashley, when Emily brought it up, just got all defensive and offended, so Emily let it drop.

That didn't mean that she gave up on the idea.

One afternoon, she headed to the cafeteria with Ashley, knowing there was a good chance that they'd run into Paige there. When she saw Paige, she waved and tugged Ashley in the direction of her table.

Ashley hung behind at the table when Emily headed over to the cafeteria line to get her lunch. "Do you want some company?" Paige offered, starting to stand up, but Emily waved her off.

"Don't let us interrupt your meal," Emily said pleasantly. "You can keep Ash company. I'll be right back, and then she can go." Emily smiled and twisted around, heading for the service area, satisfied that her plan was working. She knew that, if she could get them together again, they would hit it off again and remember how much fun they had together.

Left alone with Ashley, Paige focused her eyes on her plate and kept eating her lunch. She wasn't going to start anything.

"I might've figured," Ashley said bitterly.

Paige shook her head once and scoffed, but she remained silent.

"I know that you're still seeing Emily."

Paige rested her fork and almost looked up, but, instead, she shook her head again, determined to stay under control.

"You're not going to deny it?"

Paige jerked up, giving Ashley the evil eye. She took a breath, but the anger was still evident in her voice. "Okay, I don't know what your problem with me is, Ashley, but..."

"My problem is that I've got something good with Emily, and I don't need some skank..."

Paige leapt from her chair, and whatever Ashley was going to say next got stuck in her throat. Paige saw the terror in her eyes and backed off. "Wow. Okay... Wow. Ashley, you have a great life. Good luck with it." Paige grabbed her water bottle and downed it in a single gulp. She shrugged her jacket onto her shoulders and picked up her tray just as Emily made it back from the food line.

"Paige?" Emily was confused. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's good," Paige said, unable to mask her hostility. "I just forgot that I have to be somewhere, so..." Paige nodded at Emily and at Ashley and headed for the conveyor belt with her tray of mostly untouched lunch.

Emily turned to watch her go and then turned back to Ashley, who had a look of purest innocence. "Ash? What happened?"

"She... has 'to be somewhere,' " Ashley said, acting just as confused as Emily.

"Okay..." Emily said sliding into her seat. "I mean, it's just weird. We sat down, and everything was cool, and, I come back, and everything's...tense."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know - I just don't know what could've happened."

"Why are you blaming me?" Ashley spat.

Emily recoiled at the venom in her voice, but resisted her natural instincts to fight back. "If it sounds as if I'm blaming you," she said, keeping her tone even, "I apologize. I'm only trying to figure out why Paige ran out of here so upset all of a sudden."

"So, why are you taking her side?"

"I..." Emily groaned. Loud. She was beginning to attract attention. "You know what? Just forget it, Ashley. Let's just get out of here."

"But... but, we haven't eaten yet!"

"Fine." Emily slid her tray into the empty space in front of Ashley on the table. "You stay and eat." She was visibly shaken. "I'm finished."

"Emily!" Ashley grabbed Emily's wrist, but Emily gave her such an icy look that she let go. "I knew it," Ashley said bitterly, with her eyes narrowed. "I knew that woman was going to come between us!"

"No, Ashley," Emily said firmly. "You came between us! You are the most insecure, needy person..." Emily took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. "You need to learn to love yourself. You find someone and you latch onto her, hoping that she'll complete you, and then you squeeze the life out of her like a boa constrictor. You're never going to find what you need in somebody else if you can't find it in yourself. And I can't hang around waiting for you to find yourself any longer. I can't do this anymore. I can't breathe. You're suffocating me."

"You're breaking up with me?"

Emily's body relaxed. She sat next to Ashley. "Look, Ash. There's a lot that was good about us. But you're not ready for a relationship. And I... I can't keep doing this."

Emily was a jumble of emotions. She felt horrible for telling off Ashley in public like that. And she felt a sense of loss over the end of their relationship. At the same time, though, she felt relieved. But the feeling that dominated the others was concern – concern for Paige. Before she was out of the door, she had tapped in Paige's number and pressed her phone against her ear.

Paige's impulse was to ignore the call, because she didn't know how she could explain herself to Emily without hurting her. But she knew that she had to say something about lunch, starting with an apology."

"Hey, Em, I'm sor..."

"Paige! Are you okay?"

Paige wasn't expecting that question.

"Yeah, I just had to..."

"What happened?"

"I... um..." Paige's voice dropped, and she dropped her cover story. "You should really ask Ashley that."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at like..." Paige took a quick look around her. "38th and Market."

"Can I come by and..." - Emily took a calming breath - "can we talk about what happened?"

Paige was silent for a moment, torn between what she wanted to do and what she felt was better for Emily. When she responded, her voice came out slow and deep. "Emily, I don't think it's my place to..." Quickly switching gears, she added, her voice speeding up, "I mean, I don't want to keep you and Ashley from your lunch. We can talk later, after you..."

"I just dumped Ashley."