"Call her up." Ajax insisted from her room.
"What if she doesn't want to talk to me?"
"She gave you her number now you choose what to do.
"What if-"
"What if what if what if," Ajax sighed walking into the kitchen. "Call her or don't she gave you her number, she wants to talk."
"Fine." She sighed.
"Good, I'll be back by… about 8."
"I'll probably head over to The Planet, so text me what happens when it all ends. Good luck, dude."
"Thank you."
"Hopefully her beer goggles weren't too strong." Shane joked.
"Fuck you," she quipped back.
As her roommate left, Shane dialled up Carmen's number. It had been two days since their run in and it was the first time in, seemingly forever, that Shane felt like she had a bit of hope. She hesitated on the last digit before finally pressing six. She heard ringing for a good ten seconds before a smooth Spanish voice answered.
"Hola? Esto es hablando Carmen Morales."
"Carmen? It's Shane."
"Oh hi, Shane," Carmen answered back in an American accent.
"So you said that we needed to talk?"
"Oh shit, yeah. We need to talk. Look, I know that last night was fun. I enjoyed seeing you, but I was wondering, can you please not try anything on me? I just can't tak-"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Thanks. I just don't want to get your hopes up. I've moved on, and I just wanted to let you know that I don't want you to get any mixed signals."
"Yeah. That- that makes sense."
"It was nice talking to you, Shane."
"Bye." She whispered into the receiver.
"Bye," Carmen said and hung up before Shane.
Shane placed her phone back into its holder. She walked back to her room to grab a pair of sunglasses before she left to go to The Planet. Shane locked up the house as she left out the front door. She drove past the old familiar buildings. Bette and Tina's old house, the old skate park (which was now a new restaurant named The Red White and Blue), and HIT. She rounded the corner where The Planet was. Shane saw Tasha's motorcycle, so she parked next to her. She hopped out and walked to the front door, where she was greeted by Carmen, Alice, and Tasha.
"Hey, Shane." Alice greeted while she cuddled with Tasha.
Carmen turned around, and smiled, combing a hand through her hair. "Hi."
"Hey guys," Shane said in a smooth voice as she walked to the table and sat across from Alice.
"Okay, so Shane, you'll never guess what happened."
"I might, but go ahead."
"Bette and Tina are coming back to visit for a while," Alice stated trying not to scream.
"Awesome. So when are they getting here?"
"In about a week." Alice turned to the latino. "They'll be so happy to see you again Carmen."
"I'll be glad to see them, too," Carmen added.
"So Carmen, where are you staying these days?"
"My mom's. She has let me stay there since-" Carmen stopped, quickly looking down at her coffee.
"Okay well, it was nice talking to you guys. See you later Al." Shane finished, walking out.
Once Shane was out of view, Alice quickly glared at Carmen, but looked at Tasha. "Hey Babe, can you get me a little pastry?"
"Yeah. Sure. What do you want?"
"Croissant, donut, a bagel, I don't know just something."
"Okay," Tasha said walking away.
"What was that about Carmen?"
"I forgot who was in the room." She answered bitterly.
"Just like that night at The Planet?"
"Sorry. It's just that I couldn't look at a girl for a year after Shane left me at the altar."
"What about Papi?"
"That was a mistake."
"Oh come on! She's practically the latino Shane."
"I didn't have any friends to turn to."
"Shane left us in the dirt for 5 months. We tried to call, but she wouldn't answer."
"Shane es un niño irresponsable!" Carmen yelled. "Ella me dejó en el puto alterar!"
"Okay, calm down Carmen. Sorry."
"Fuck, I have to go Alice."
"Carm-"
"What was that about?" Tasha asked looking at Carmen, who storming away.
"Nothing," Alice answered regretfully until she saw the pastry Tasha got her. "Oh, thanks, babe."
"No problem."
Carmen drove home, adrenaline still pumping in her veins. 'Fucking Alice, what does she know. She has a girlfriend, and friends who go through the same things that she goes through.' Carmen thought racing through the L.A. traffic. 'All I had for those six years where straight family members and friends. Alice doesn't understand.' Carmen's phone rang, the caller ID read A text from Shane M. Carmen sighed and picked it up. She glanced up from her phone to see if there were any cars and unlocked her phone. The text said 'Carm its Shane. I'm sorry for just leaving the planet like that. I hope I didn't offend you. I-' Carmen looked up from the phone angry tears forming in her eyes. She didn't know why she was angry, nor why she was crying. Shane did what she always did when things weren't right, she'd freak out. Carmen wiped away the tears and texted back, 'It's ok Shane. I made the thing at the planet awkward.' As Carmen pressed send, she ran into a white truck. This sent her phone flying as her head hit the wheel. Her dark green beetle crushed forward.
Shane jutted awake as her phone rang. The caller ID was blank, but she answered anyway. She flicked the phone open, and asked, "Hello?"
"Is this Shane McCutcheon.?" A soft and calm voice asked.
"Yeah."
"Okay. This is the Kaiser Permanente Hospital. We would appreciate it if you came here as soon as you could."
"Yeah of course," Shane answered putting her shoes on.
"Thank you."
Shane ended the call and sped out the door to her car. She started it up and drove fast to the hospital. As she drove, there was a call from Alice. She answered it and put it on speaker mode.
"Yeah Al?"
"Hey, Shane. You sound a little on edge, you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Great, because I was wondering if you were free."
"Why?" Shane asked in a strained tone.
"I was wondering if you and Carmen could come over to my house, Tasha and I are moving into a new flat. We already invited Ajax, Kit, and Helena, But I haven't heard from Carmen yet."
"Maybe, let me just… Sorry Al, I'll talk to you later. Bye."
"Is that a ye-"
Shane ended that call as she entered the parking lot of the hospital. She locked up the car and hopped out. There were about twenty other cars in the area which was less than usual. But Shane didn't care about usual and unusual, all she cared about was about the call she got from the hospital. As she entered, there were paramedics rushing around, talking to a redneck looking man who held an ice pack to his head, a girl who was bleeding from her nose, and a few other characters. Shane walked up to the front desk and waited for the woman who was working there to look up. The woman looked up at Shane.
"Sorry, we're a bit busy."
"Umm, I got a call from here, I'm Shane McCutcheon."
"Oh, sorry, I'll have a nurse lead you to the room."
"Thank you," Shane said walking to a chair. She sat for no more than two seconds before a nurse called for her.
"Shane McCutcheon?"
"Yup," Shane muttered standing and speed walking to the nurse. "What happened?"
"A woman named Carmen had you on her emergency contact list."
"Carmen? Carmen Morales?"
"Yes."
"Is she okay?"
"Well, she was in a car crash." The nurse stopped at the door. "She's lucky to have left with the minor injuries that she had."
"Can I see her?" Shane inquired, feeling a bit antsy.
"Yes." The nurse answered opening the door.
Carmen was on the bed sitting down, she had pieces of fabric holding her right shoulder in place. She was bleeding from her nose with minor cuts and bruises on her arms and face. She looked up, but back down out of shame. The nurse walked past Shane wiping the fresh blood from Carmen's nose and arms. Shane walked closer still in shock. She quickly stopped, waiting for the nurse to leave. Once she was gone, Shane walked up to Carmen placing a hand on her thigh, but the wounded girl pulled her leg away wincing. Shane looked to find a chair and sat down. There was silence for 5 minutes before either of them spoke.
"They made me wait until you got here." Carmen broke in. She still didn't look up.
"Sorry...I saw those people in the lobby who had minor injuries. Were there any others?"
"Yeah, one girl broke her arm."
"Oh. Is- is that it?"
"Yeah... I didn't mean to hurt anyone." Carmen whispered tearing up.
"I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone," Shane said still looking at Carmen. "It's not in your nature."
"Shane, I just want to go home. That's all I want to do." Carmen said finally looking at the green-eyed girl. Shane didn't answer but simply looked at Carmen. "I guess we have time to talk about that night?" She glanced down and back to Shane. "You remember ri-"
"Yes, I remember Carm. I was confused." Shane said not looking away from Carmen. She had a serious look on her face. "I saw my Father hitting on another woman. He was doing what I do. I was afraid I would do the same thing to you. I didn't want to lose you, but I knew that I wasn't good enough for you."
"Shane, I love you even with all of your faults. I love so many things about you." Carmen said leaning towards Shane.
"Well, I did something terrible. I went to Jaffe and stayed there never answered my phone. I did drugs with names I can't even remember how to say. I drank like there was no tomorrow so I could forget you." Shane scratched her wrist with the letter K on it. "Gabriel's, now, ex-wife dropped her son, Shay, on my doorstep and left. I had to take care of him for about two months. I then dated a woman named Paige, but I cheated on her after dating her for about 5 months. I was celibate for about 2 months. I met a wonderful woman named Molly, but her mother threatened me, so I broke up with her. I broke Jenny's heart, but I dated her soon after. During the night of Tina and Bette's leaving party, Jenny was found f-face down in the pool. I jumped in to get her, but I was crying so much that Bette had to jump in and helped me. The police questioned us, but they decided to close the case." Shane started to bite her nails, trying to hold back her emotions.
"Jenny died with people who cared about her," Carmen said reaching out to grab Shane's hand.
"But she was alone like Dana."
"All of you cared about her. No matter where any of you were, you cared about her."
"Yeah," Shane muttered.
"After you left me at the altar, I moved back with my mom. About 4 months after the wedding, I had sex with a girl named Papi. I was unsatisfied. She reminded me of you." Carmen said looking away from Shane again. "I then worked for a cafe run by the same people who made Shebar. After they closed down their restaurant and nightclub, I worked in San Francisco at a record store, and a lesbian bar. I was there for about 3 years before I came back home. Kit saw me at The Planet, and asked me if I could work for the nightclub that she and Helena ran." Carmen said rubbing Shane's ring finger with her thumb.
"Carm, I'm sorry that I caused you so much heartache. I thought about my dad, and then seeing his wife, broken. I blame myself for everything that went wrong that year. I'm a narcissistic person who has dreams and thoughts that shouldn't even be from a little tramp like me."
"Even with all of the stuff that happened, I'm really glad that I got to talk to you."
"Same. I'm guessing you need a ride home, right?"
"Yeah, I'd like that."
"So, what should we do while we wait?"
"I guess we should…" Carmen said not knowing how to finish her sentence. But before she could, Shane took Carmen's face in her hands and pulled the Latino close until their heads touched. "Shane, I- I don't want this," Carmen mumbled pulling away.
"Sorry, Carm. I didn't mean that what happened there- I didn't mean it."
The nurse walked in, with a clipboard, and smiled. "She's good to go."
"Thank you, miss," Carmen said sliding off the table.
"Thanks," Shane muttered standing to give the nurse a slight smile.