"Holy fuck, Paige! I told you that this was going happen! She totally turned you!"

"Jesus, Pru! First of all, nobody's turning anybody. Well, first of all, that's not even how it works. Would you read a pamphlet, or something?"

"She turned you, Paige! She turned you, and you don't even know that you've been turned! She's like a vampire! She sank her teeth into you, and you don't even know that you've been bitten!"

"Second of all," Paige continued, trying her best to remain rational, determined to get through her well-thought-out argument despite Pru's ranting, "I can assure you that Emily doesn't even think of me that way. The whole point of last night was that she's in love with Maya."

"Yeah, yeah. That's what you say! Let's see what facebook says."

"Pru, I'm not going to facebook-stalk my roommate. And you're not, either."

"Too late! I already checked Emily's facebook. Relationship status is still 'In a relationship' and she still has their prom picture up. Moving on to Maya's – holy shit!"

"What?"

"Well, her relationship status hasn't changed, but her profile picture is now just a selfie in a car. And she posted this status." Pru read it in a wooden monotone. "'People dont see wutz right in front of them. If u dont cherish what u got n u think somethin betters coming u gunna lose it all otr.'"

"Otr?"

"'On the reals,' Paige. God, try to keep up!"

"Shit, Pru!"

"What?"

"Emily's got so much on her plate right now. She's totally overwhelmed by this whole college transition. And she feels so alone. If she sees that status – if she's already seen it – it's going to break her!"

"And you just want to take her into your big, strong arms and protect her, don't you?" Pru asked melodramatically.

"Oh, fuck you, Pru! I always feel so much better after talking to you!" Paige was baffled by how well Pru was able to read her thoughts. She hadn't even told her about all of the dreams from the night before and how they each ended with Emily in her arms. But she wasn't falling for Emily, was she? How could she? She was in love with Ben. And Emily was in love with Maya. They were both just going through a rough time, and it was only natural that they should lean on each other. They were bonding. As friends. And roommates.

"Um – HELLO! Paige? Are you there?"

"Yeah, Pru, I'm still here."

"So, are you going to do it?"

"Uh… Do what, again?"

"Damn it, Paige! How long have I just been in Paige Land? You do this all the time – call me up because you want to talk to yourself, and you don't even listen when I dole out all this expert advice!"

Paige laughed into the phone. "Yeah, you love me, Pru!"

"And don't you forget it, McCullers! It's just too bad that you love Emily!" Pru teased.

Paige laughed nervously. Her best friend knew her entirely too well.

But even if she allowed herself to think that she had feelings for Emily, and, even less plausible, that Emily had feelings for her, what then? Paige could give a shit about the whole gay/straight/bi thing. She may not ever have felt attracted to a woman before, but it wasn't as if she had ever closed off that possibility. No, what was bothering her was the implications on two established, long-term relationships. It was just so cliché: Two people go to the other side of the country and end up finding each other, leaving their heartbroken exes in their wake. Everyone tells the love story, but no one tells the story of the broken hearts.

Paige was getting caught up in her thoughts again. She texted Pru:

Paige: Hey, Dr. Drew – I mean Dr. Pru. What was that excellent advice that I totally zoned out on before you hung up on me, anyway?"

Pru: haha. I just said that you have to talk to her. You have to find out what you're dealing with here.
Pru: But you already know that.

Paige did know. What she didn't know was how. She didn't know even what she was feeling, and it wasn't fair for her to use Emily as a sounding board while she worked it out. And she was really worried about how Maya's status update would affect Emily, on top of everything else that Emily was dealing with. But how could she bring that up without admitting that she was creeping around on Emily's girlfriend's facebook? Her phone buzzed with another text from Pru.

Pru: Turned you! :P

Paige was pulled from her introspection when she heard Emily outside the door. Paige quickly got up and grabbed her shower gear. Emily smiled tentatively as she entered, feeling somewhat awkward about having spent the night cuddled up next to her roommate in bed. Paige was becoming intoxicated by the scent of mango that washed over her as Emily entered the room - the same scent that she had been inhaling in Emily's hair earlier that morning. She spat out, "I'm heading off there, now," gesturing to Emily's shower kit. "We'll go find some brunch when I get back?" Emily nodded and ducked past Paige into the room.

Brunch was normal. It almost seemed too normal. No mention was made of last night's drama and sleeping arrangements as the roommates talked swim times, training schedules, and study and homework plans. There were no awkward pauses where either of them could bring up what had happened. Their meal was drawing to a close, and Paige felt her opportunity slipping away. She knew that it was just going to eat away at her if they didn't at least acknowledge what had happened, so she decided that she had to say something. Before she could, though, Emily's phone buzzed. Paige caught the look of concern – fear? – that crossed Emily's face when she slid her phone unlocked. Once she opened the text, her eyes brightened. That's good, Paige thought, At least she's happy. Paige figured that Emily was afraid when she saw that Maya had texted her, but that whatever Maya had texted had made her feel better.

Emily turned her phone around to show Paige a picture of a woman whom Paige recognized as Emily's mom with her arm around a man in Army fatigues. "That's my Mom and Dad. Apparently, my Dad surprised my Mom by showing up at home on temporary duty back in PA." Paige took the phone from Emily's hand and smiled at the picture before she handed it back. Emily texted something in reply and said, "My Mom never texts. When I saw that it was from her, I panicked. I mean, my Dad's not deployed anymore, but he's still on an Army base, and you never know what can happen." Emily wiped away a tear that had begun to stray down her cheek. Paige reached across the table and took hold of Emily's other hand. Emily smiled, shaking her head. "Sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. I can't imagine what that must be like."

"My Dad means everything to me." Paige squeezed her hand. Emily continued, "Listen – thanks for being there for me this morning when I came in. And thanks for not being – you know… well, thanks. It really helped."

"Hey, Em." Emily couldn't help smiling as she heard that name and looked up to see the sincere look that Paige was giving her. "I'm always going to be there for you. That's what friends are for, right?" Emily's heart broke a little, but she didn't let it show. Of course. Paige was just being a good friend. Emily knew Paige that was straight and in love – if you could call it that – with Ben. Of course, Paige thought that letting her cry herself to sleep on her shoulder and holding her all night long was just something that friends do. Emily pulled her hand away from Paige's and gave her a genuine smile. At least I have a friend, she thought. God, how stupid am I, falling for a straight girl?

"So, how stupid am I, Hanna? Falling for a straight girl." Emily was sitting on a bench in the open quad behind the dorm. She didn't want to call from her room, for fear of having Paige walk in on her as she talked things through with Hanna.

"You can't control what your heart feels, Em."

"Then how stupid am I, thinking that the straight girl would like me back?"

"Are you sure that she doesn't? I mean, what kind of 'friend' lets you sleep in her arms all night?"

"Come on, Hanna. I've done that with you!"

"Yeah, but you've known me all your life. You've know Paige for all of five minutes. Not the same."

"I know, Hanna," Emily whined with a sigh, "But..."

"But nothing. Look, Em, you're not going to be able to get over this until you talk it over with her. I mean, you and I can speculate from now till eternity, but you and Paige are the only ones who are going to be able to work it out."

"But what if there's nothing to work out? I'm under a lot of stress here, and everything's falling apart. So, Paige is my one safe place. What if that's all she is? What if it's not love, just comfort? Is that worth risking her relationship with Sean – my relationship with Maya – our relationship with each other?"

"Ooh – your relationship!"

"God – grow up, Hanna! I'm being serious!"

"So am I, Emily. Look – it's obvious that you have feelings for her, and it sure as hell seems that she has feelings for you. I don't know what's going on with her and Sean, but I do know that you and Maya haven't worked for a long time. I'm sorry, but you know that it's true."

Emily sighed. She knew that her friend was right. "I can't promise you," Hanna continued, "that things will work out with Paige. But I can promise that you'll regret it if you don't at least give it a chance."

"That's easy for you to say. If I pour out my guts to her and it turns out that she's not even close to thinking about me that way, I'll lose the one safe place that I have here at Stanford. And I'll still have to live with her for the rest of the year!"

"You have to take a risk, Em," Hanna urged. "And, besides, she sounds pretty chill. I don't think that she'll freak out on you. I mean, think about if it were the other way around. If she were crushing on you and you didn't have feelings for her, you wouldn't freak out, would you? You'd be flattered."

"Yeah, but she's not gay."

"Emily, if she were going to freak out about the gay thing, she would've freaked out long before now. She fucking let you spend the night in her arms – in her bed, for Christ's sake!" Hanna almost yelled, adding, under her breath, "She sounds pretty gay, if you ask me!"

Emily took in a deep breath, ignoring that snide comment and trying to build up her nerve. "So, talk to her?"

"Talk to her, Em. And let me know how it goes."

Emily ended the call, feeling much better. Hanna always had a way of doing that. Deep down, she had known all along that she would have to talk to Paige. Hanna had given her the push that she needed.