Conner was trying to listen to Alanna as she told some story about this guy from her school who had gotten suspended. He tried to tune out her chatter but felt bad. She was his girlfriend and he was supposed to pay attention to her. Not ignoring her and thinking about his ex-girlfriend. He and Elizabeth had broken up two days ago and yet he was still trying to figure out what had gone wrong. They had gone from total passion to Jerry Springer in less than two weeks. He still cared deeply for her but he and Alanna had this connection. But he and Elizabeth had one too. "I ended things with Elizabeth," he blurted out.
Alanna looked taken aback but quickly recovered. "That's great Conner. Now we can truly be together."
Conner sighed, "But I didn't end it very well. You know how she came up to us at the dance?" Alanna nodded. "That was Jessica. So Elizabeth and I got into this huge shouting match because we both thought the other was lying, then we figured out that it was Jessica."
Alanna shrugged. "So what? You ended it. Who cares how just as long as we can be together," she said snuggling up to him.
Conner pushed her away, "Alanna, she's my friend and even though we aren't together, I don't want things to be bad between us."
Alanna sneered, "You guys can't be friends. You can't really be friends with someone who you used to kiss."
"That's not true," Conner argued. "Look at Ken and Jessica. And me and Maria. I know all my relationships have ended badly. But Liz is different."
"How?" Alanna protested. "Just because you stayed together with her for more than five seconds?"
"Alanna!" Conner said sharply. Alanna looked at him shocked. She had never heard him raise his voice before. "Listen, can we just not talk about this right now?" Conner commanded. Alanna nodded, unsure of what to do or say. She hadn't meant to put Conner in a bad mood, but he was being selfish. But the last thing she wanted to do was push him away again. She leaned in and started kissing his neck and was relieved to feel some of his tension melt away. She had Conner physically, now she just needed him mentally. But he would come around. That she was sure of.

"Have you talked to her yet?" Melissa asked opening a tube of lipstick.
"Who? Jessica?" Elizabeth answered lying on Melissa's bed. "Of course not."
"What are you going to say to her?" Melissa asked curiously.
"I have no idea," she said examining a bottle of nail polish. "She's been through a lot, with breaking up with Jeremy, our fight and she had some huge fight with Tia as well. I feel horrible about causing her anymore pain, but there's no nice way to do this. I just can't ignore it. But I've got to do it soon before I snap."
Melissa nodded but didn't say anything. Elizabeth selected a bottle of pink nail polish and began to paint her nails. "How's Jeremy?" Elizabeth asked smiling after a while.
Melissa's eyes lit up. "Great! Things are wonderful."
"That's so great. But have you guys talked about college and stuff?"
Melissa nodded. "Yes. We both applied to UCLA and I think that's where we're going even though we haven't officially declared it."
"That's weird," Elizabeth mentioned offhand. "UCLA doesn't have an archeology program. Jeremy's dream is to go into archeology. Why would he pick a college that doesn't even have that as a major?"
Melissa shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. But we're going to college together and we didn't apply to any of the same places except UCLA."
"You don't have to go to the same college," Elizabeth stated reasonably. "You can still be together even if you aren't at the same place."
"No you can't," Melissa argued. "How can you trust someone when you can't see them? They could be out all the time and you would never even know."
"That's the thing," Elizabeth pointed out. "You have to trust them."
"It's easier said then done." Melissa said softly. "I want to be with Jeremy."
"But are you willing to take away his dream," Elizabeth asked gently.
Melissa looked down at her hands. "No, but I will do what I have to, to keep us together."