Alex stood on the living room chair staring at the door that Slater had disappeared behind. Then, she turned toward Kelly and Leslie who stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. Her head dropped.

"He ran out on me," she pouted. Her bottom lip drooped as she slid down to a seated position on the chair.

"What did you expect?" Kelly asked crossing her arms in disapproval. "You invaded his privacy and then, embarrassed him in front of all of his friends!"

"Wait a minute," Leslie interrupted, "You're actually taking up for Slater?" Her brows were furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah!" Kelly exclaimed. "Of course I am. Alex had no right to get into his mail!"

"She has every right! She's his girlfriend!" Leslie defended.

Kelly looked at her with disbelief. "I thought you of all people would realize how wrong that is."

"It isn't wrong when your boyfriend gets mail from some strange female!"

"Yes, it is! And that's no strange female, that's one of my best friends!"

"Must've been one of Slater's best friends, too," Alex added with a pitiful tone.

"Well, yeah," Kelly softened as she turned toward Alex who sounded as though she had just discovered this bit of information. "You mean he's never talked to you about Jessie?"

"No," Alex said in a whiny voice.

"Alex, look, Slater and Jessie dated in high school, but it's been over since he's been at Cal U. They both decided to see other people. I guess there really isn't anything for him to talk about, it's over."

"It didn't sound over."

"Well, all you heard was Jessie's end. You didn't even give Slater a chance to explain his side of things," Kelly reminded her.

"What if it isn't over between them? What if we're over instead? I mean, he had four years with her. We've had four months."

Kelly sat on the arm of the chair and put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Don't you think it would be better to let him decide? Would you really want him to be with you while he is wondering what life would be like with her?" Unintentionally, she and Leslie exchanged glances as she asked the question. "Would you really be happy with that?"

"No," Alex whined in a nasally voice. "I've got to talk to Slater," she said through sniffles.

Leslie was lounging on her bed reading through her anthropology text book while Kelly folded her laundry.

Unable to focus on her reading, Leslie broke the silence, "So," she began, putting her book down on her lap, "that was pretty good advice you gave Alex. I loved your spin on the famous, 'If you love something set it free' quote."

"It's one of my favorites," Kelly replied still folding clothes.

"I guess, I've never really put much stock in words. I only put stock in Wall Street." She could see Kelly halfway smile. Nervously, she strummed her fingers on her book. "It's just," she was unsure of how to ask, "I was wondering…" she hesitated for a moment to come up with the right words. "Have you put it to practice, that quote?"

Kelly paused a moment while folding a shirt. "What do you mean?"

Leslie was sure she knew exactly what she meant, but was looking for a way to get out of answering the question. "When you asked if she could really be with Slater while he always wondered what it would be like with her, I couldn't help but feel like you were talking about—"

"You."

"Me," Leslie looked down at her hands for a moment. There was an awkward silence in the room.

"Is that why you backed off at the beginning of the semester? Because it seemed like Zack was into you as much as he was into me."

"Halfway love," Kelly smiled softly.

Leslie returned her smile. "And he came back."

"Like I said, it's one of my favorite quotes."