"Who's the girl?"
Nancy slowly looked up from her sociology textbook to blink blearily at Joe Hardy, standing over her with disheveled hair and an irritated look on his face. Once his question registered in her (admittedly exhausted) brain, she looked around the library and then back at her friend.
"You're gonna have to be more specific, Hardy."
Joe blew out a breath and took his hands out of his jean pockets to gesture wildly.
"The Girl! Who is the girl!? The girl who is obviously the reason Georgie isn't showing up to band practices, the reason she skipped our coffee date this morning. She skipped Tuesday morning coffee, Nancy, Georgie never does that!"
He looked so indignant, it was almost comical.
"And you think this is related to a girl because…why?" Nancy leaned her head against her hand and closed her eyes. The headache that had been building for the past 8 hours of cramming for finals appeared to be reaching its peak.
"Because… Because what else could it be?" Joe sputtered. "We do everything else together, band stuff, protesting, activist meetings, getting high… I mean…"
"Did you ever think that maybe now that she and Bess have reached an understanding regarding the activism stuff, that they might be spending cousin-time together again? Getting caught up?"
Joe stopped fidgeting, put his hand back in his pockets, and looked embarrassed, "I had not considered that option, no."
"Hadn't considered what option?"
Nancy and Joe both turned to see an irritatingly awake and cheerful Bess Marvin walking toward them.
"I had not considered that you might be the girl Georgie's been ditching me to hang with."
Bess snorted, "I mean… yeah… she's definitely been spending cousin-time with me again, but she schedules it around her gay friend time with you."
Joe frowned, "Then who is she ditching me for?"
Bess took in Nancy's bleary-eyed confusion and Joe's frustration and grinned.
"Seriously? She hasn't told you yet?"
"Told us what!?" Nancy and Joe snapped in unison. Nancy was beginning to consider heading to bed, finishing her sociology study guide be dammed.
Bess laughed and shook her head, "Oh no, I'm not saying anything. She'll tell you herself."
Two days later, when George Fayne introduced her new girlfriend to the gang, Joe leaned over and whispered in Nancy's ear, "I feel like I should be insulted that I wasn't told first."
Nancy smiled and glanced over at Bess' beaming face, "I think this time; you should just be happy. For both of them."
Joe sighed. "I know," he said grudgingly, "I will yield to her cousin-hood gracefully. This time."