Love is made by two people in different kinds of solitude. It can be in a crowd, but in an oblivious crowd.
- Louis Aragon

"Can we, please, not have this conversation again," Emily pleaded. "You don't have to make it your personal mission to get me laid."

"I'm just saying, Em. It's been four months. Maya's obviously moved on; there's no reason for you not to move on, too!"

"And I will, Hanna. When the right person comes along..."

"Oh, please, Em! The right person has already come and gone, I bet. Several times. You just won't give anyone a chance!"

"Excuse me, Hanna, but I don't exactly see people lined up outside my door!"

"That's because you're walking around with your eyes closed! Trust me, I see girls checking you out all the time!"

"Hannah - you think every girl is checking me out. Just as you think every guy is checking you out!"

"Well, duh! That's 'cause they are," Hanna countered, running her hands down her sides and posing to make her point, "And, really - how could they not?"

"Whatever, " Emily sighed. "Let's just get our coffee and find a booth. We've got a lot of studying to do."

But Hanna wouldn't let it go. "What about that girl from our sociology seminar? I always see her sneaking glances at you. And she's freaking HOT!"

"Hanna, this isn't fan fiction. Not every hot college girl is a lesbian."

"Yeah, I know! I'm a hot college girl who's not a lesbian," Hanna shot back in a mocking tone. "But I'll bet she is, though! And I'll bet I could find out for you!"

"Yeah - because that's a good idea," Emily sighed, rapidly tiring of this conversation.

"I know! Next Wednesday, when we're bored out of our minds in class, I'll draw a picture of you and her making out! She always sits behind you - she's sure to see it!"

"Hanna!"

"What? If she smiles, you'll know she's into you! It's a great idea!"

"It is not a great idea, Hanna, it's insane!"

The two friends grabbed their coffees and headed for a less crowded area of the coffee shop, where they'd have room to spread out their notes and study. Out of the corner of her eye, Emily spotted two girls wrapped in a hug. When she recognized who the taller one was, her eyes went wide for just an instant, knowing what Hanna was liable to do if she, too, caught a glimpse of the girl from Sociology. Emily tried to hide her surprise as she set about attempting to turn Hanna around and get her out the door before she could see the girl. "You know, Hanna, it's kind of loud in here - let's just go study in the lounge back at the dorms!"

"What do you mean, loud? It's half deserted in this section. Besides, you know I can't study in that lounge! It always smells like wet - OH MY GOD," Hanna screeched out in recognition.

Emily cringed, knowing that there was no way that the girl would leave now, not until she had totally embarrassed herself - and Emily.

"See, Emily? It's a sign!" Hanna was clapping her hands in excitement. "We were just talking about her, and here she is!"

"It's called a coincidence, Han! Come on, can we just go, please? before you do something I'll regret!"

"See this is what I'm talking about! You never give anyone half a chance!"

"Oh, come on, Hanna - she's obviously taken! Did you see the way she was just hugging her girlfriend?"

"Nice try, Em! But I hug you with more passion than that, and we're definitely not dating," Hanna mocked. "I'm going to go talk to her!"

"No!" Emily commanded, grabbing Hanna by the arm and spinning her around into the nearest booth. "You're going to sit down, and we're going to do what we came here for, without making a bigger spectacle of ourselves than we already have!"

"I know what I came here for," Hanna intoned, sing-songy, to herself.

Across the room, Pru sat back down in her seat and saw the two girls over by the window engaged in an animated conversation. "Oh my God - don't freak out! Oh my God, don't freak out," she kept repeating, her eyes suddenly as wide as saucers.

"What's going on," Paige smiled, thinking that the Lit professor on whom Pru was inappropriately crushing had just walked in. She spun her head around in the chair and caught sight of Emily. Her heart raced from zero to sixty in an instant. "We've got to get out of here! NOW," Paige whispered as loud as she dared, "This is not a drill!"

"Paige, relax! She doesn't even know that you have this major crush on her! And, even if she did, would that be so bad? Go talk to her! At least you'll know. Do you want me to go over there with you?" While Pru tried to think of plausible excuses for them to go over to Emily and Hanna's table, Paige sat silently imploding. When Pru finally looked up and saw what was happening, she took pity on her friend. "Okay, little buckaroo," she soothed, putting her hand on top of Paige's across the table and adding sadly, "Let's get you home. You can live to fight another day."

From their booth by the window, Hanna was able to see Paige's shoulders heave up and down rapidly while she fanned herself with her hands, looking as though she were in the middle of a full-on panic attack. Hanna watched as Paige's friend at first tried to calm her and then started gathering their garbage so that they could leave. Hanna knew that the two of them would have to walk past her and Emily to get to the door. She knew that she had one shot - and Emily couldn't know what she was up to.

Sure enough, Paige and Pru headed in the direction of their booth, Pru with her arm around Paige's shoulder, rubbing circles with her palm on the girl's back; Paige hunched over like a celebrity who was trying not to be recognized. When they got just within hearing-range of the booth, Hanna shouted out, as casually as if she were asking what time it is, "Excuse me, but, if you were gay, would you let my friend here kiss you?"

Paige gasped sharply, dropping her empty cup and half-eaten muffin, turning one shade of bright red after another.

"HANNA," Emily reprimanded, "Not okay!" Moving her anger-filled eyes from her giggling friend over to where Paige was still doing a good impression of a lipstick, she saw the effect that Hanna's reckless words had had on the poor girl. She ran over to her, stooping to pick up the fallen cup and food. "Please excuse my friend," she pleaded. Standing to her feet, she reached comfortingly for Paige's forearm with one hand, gripping Paige's garbage in the other, and continued. "She doesn't have a filter, and that was WAY out of line," those last words delivered with a glare in Hanna's direction. Paige was still frozen in place, causing Emily's maternal instincts to kick in. Moving two fingers under Paige's chin, tilting the girl's head up so that she could look her in the eye, Emily asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

Pru swooped her friend up, replying to Emily's question as she mercifully moved Paige toward the exit, "Oh, don't worry about Paige! She'll be fine once she gets out of here and starts breathing again!" And, before the door swung closed, Pru tossed her head back towards Hanna and responded to the question that had ignited this whole firestorm: "And, by the way, she definitely is, and she definitely would!"