Jo made it back inside. Most of the gym go-ers still seemed to have no idea what was going on. But, Jo didn't care. She went over to the bikes.

Some guys were standing around Ambali.

"Alright, guys. Give her some space." She pushed one of them to the side and was standing right next to the bike. "Hey, the dude is gone now. He's…" She trailed off.

Ambali was just looking forward. In fact, she was determined to keep staring forward. Judging by her look, she wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around her. The only thing Jo could see moving was her bottom lip, which seemed to be shaking.

Jo had an idea what was going on, but didn't know how to react. Damn, she must be terrified right now. But, come on, the guy is gone. And I'll mess him up if he shows up again. But she looks so…scared right now. I…how do I make her feel better?

She looked at her own hand, then to Ambali. Slowly, she placed it on her shoulder. "Are…you alright?" Jo said calmly.

This seemed to break Ambali's focus and she gasped and looked around in a panic. "Oh…oh my goodness, I'm sorry…did…did that guy leave?"

Jo nodded.

Ambali let out a sigh. "Oh…okay that's good." She then noticed everyone else looking at her. She soon realized why. "Oh, was I…" She groaned to herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Scare…us?" Jo questioned. "What?"

"Sorry, this kind of thing has happened before. I probably should've warned you."

What are you talking about?! Warn me?! Jo was trying her best not to explode. "Um…I-It's okay?"

Ambali looked at Jo and smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

And, once more, the jockette found herself staring off into space. She had not realized her hand was still on Ambali's shoulder.

"Hey."

Jo turned around. Rick was now standing by her side, looking at Ambali. "Hey," He said calmly. "I just heard what happened and I wanted to-"

"Rick. Get out of here." Jo interrupted.

This went ignored. "If it's alright with you, I-"

"She doesn't need this right now."

"Jo, I-"

"She's getting over it. If anything, you being here is just going to-"

"Jo, shut up for a second!" Rick snapped.

The jockette faltered. Rick just told her to shut up and her mind had to process this new information.

Rick turned back to Ambali. "If it's alright with you, I can wait outside until you leave. Just to make sure that guy doesn't come back. You can finish your workout that way."

The black haired girl looked at Rick, then at Jo. "Umm…" She thought for a moment. "Y-Yes please. That…that would actually be really nice of you. Thanks." She smiled sweetly.

Rick nodded and went outside.

Jo had finally come to her senses and watched him exit. She had heard everything. Rick was trying to help Ambali by making her feel safe. And Jo was trying to stop him.

She heard a light chuckle. "You'd think…you'd think that just because I'm pan, I'd instantly fall in love with the first guy who hits on me." She chuckled nervously.

Jo turned. Her initial dismay was now replaced with confusion. "Pan? Are you saying guys hit on you because you're a kitchen appliance?"

Silence followed.

Ambali stared blankly at Jo…before bursting out into laughter. "...kitchen appliance." She said through her fits of laughing. "That's a good one."

Jo stared, unsure. She had no idea why Ambali was laughing. She hadn't meant to say anything funny and, yet, she was laughing. But, the jockette joined in with her.

While she had no idea what was supposed to be funny, hearing Ambali's infectious laughter gave her a much needed sense of relief.

The rest of the day was mostly quiet. The gym go-ers had returned to their workouts and Jo had gone back to her desk.

Ambali had also returned to working out, albeit, a bit quieter and definitely looking on edge.

The jockette couldn't help but stare. She didn't know what to do. She had kicked the creep out, but that clearly wasn't enough. Jo felt awful. Had she been focusing more, Ethan never would've made it inside and none of this would've happened. And now, all she could do was hope Ambali would feel better.

Meanwhile, Rick…

Jo had occasionally walked over to the door to see Rick standing by the entrance. He had lived up to his promise and was standing guard in front of her building. He had taken the initiative to keep the black haired girl safe. And she…

Jo sighed to herself.

Soon enough, Ambali was finished with her workout. She went to the reception desk, signed out and left. Jo watched her walk out the door.

She saw Ambali walk up to Rick, who turned to face her. They both talked for a minute. Jo wished she had super hearing or, at the very least, could read lips. But even she could tell how much Ambali appreciated what Rick had done. Maybe even more so than what she did.

Then, to her dismay, they walked off…together.

Despite her denial about having any feelings towards Ambali, Jo felt her heart sink.

"I'm really proud of you for what you did today." Jane said, on the car ride back home.

Jo didn't respond, instead choosing to glumly look out the window. Truth be told, she wasn't proud of herself at all. There was some sense of pride in her kicking the creep out, but it didn't mean much when she wasn't able to stop the creep from coming into her building. What do I have to be proud of? She thought. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Jane must've read her mind. "You did what you could to get him away from Ambali."

"And had I been paying attention in the first place-"

"He probably still would've gotten inside." Jane cut off. "Believe me, I've dealt with creeps like him. It happens to a lot of pretty women." She smirked.

"Ew." Jo said, as her mom laughed. She went back to being quiet.

When they got home, Jo was still sulking to herself.

"Hey, Jo." A somewhat portly man, sitting on the couch in front of the TV, called. He was wearing a blue, white and gold football jersey. "You're just in time. The game's about to start."

Jo didn't answer. She sadly went up the stairs to her room.

Jane frowned.

"What's wrong with Jo?" The man said. "She loves watching the game and yelling at Burke for his terrible coaching."

Jane sighed. "She's…dealing with a lot, honey."

Jo plopped down onto her bed and just stared at the ceiling. She sighed. Ambali deserves a place where she doesn't have to worry about creeps. She should come to a gym where she won't get hit on by creeps and weirdos. And… She sniffed. …maybe it shouldn't be my place anymore. Yeah…yeah, if she doesn't want to come anymore…I wouldn't blame her.

Jo felt something on her cheek. She touched it and felt something wet.

She was crying.

Next day, Jo hadn't changed her mood. She kept a more vigilant eye on the people who came in and out, but she still didn't feel good. She would give a minimal greeting to the people who came in and just sit on the desk, not doing anything else.

Jane still felt bad for her daughter. But, at the same time, she was frustrated. Jo was still in denial about having any feelings towards Ambali, despite how depressed she was at the thought of letting her down. The best hope for her daughter was for Ambali to show up and tell her how ridiculous she was being.

But…that never happened.

Ambali never showed up. Jo waited, but she didn't walk through her door. With only an hour left until they closed, it seemed unlikely she was actually going to show up.

Her mind started racing. Well, I guess I should've expected this. She obviously didn't feel safe coming here, so why would she? But…she did say she'd be here today. Then another thought struck her. Oh no. What if she ran into another creep? What if this one was worse than Ethan? Panic began building in the jockette. She…she isn't coming back because…someone get to her. She said she's dealt with this before, so why wouldn't it happen again? What if-

A pair of hands touched her shoulders.

Jo broke from her trance and regained her sense of surroundings. She had been sweating and was trying to slow her breathing down.

"Hey…" Jane whispered. "You need to calm down. Everyone's staring."

Jo exhaled deeply. Then she pushed her mom's hands away. "I don't care what they think."

"Fine. But, you're not doing yourself any favors. Something must've come up and she couldn't make it."

"What if something worse happened?" Jo said darkly. "What if I couldn't protect her…again?"

Jane's frustration was growing. She wanted to scream at her daughter to just admit she was in love with Ambali, but also knew it wasn't the time. Then an idea hit her. "Hey, she's a vlogger, right? She probably has a social media account. You can see what she's doing there."

Jo looked at her mom. "Isn't that…a bit creepy?"

"People post stuff online for everyone to see. It's not our fault for looking."

The jockette seemed to like that idea. She pulled out her phone and began looking. "Umm…" She quickly realized something. Embarrassed, she looked at her mom. "I don't have a social media…anything."

Jane sighed and pulled out her own phone and handed it to Jo.

Alright, her name is Ambali. The jockette began typing. It might take me a while to…oh, wait. There she is. She tapped the phone and was now on Ambali's account. She looked at her latest photo. An immediate sense of relief washed over her. "She posted an hour ago…and it doesn't look like she was kidnapped by anyone."

Jane smiled and put a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Just give her time. She'll be back."

Jo admittedly felt better, but her sadness over yesterday's incident was still very much on her mind.

It was still there on the car ride home. Jo was, once again, staring sadly out the window, not saying anything.

Jane had kept telling herself not to interfere too much. She didn't think her daughter would come to understand her feelings. She couldn't help her daughter with blaming herself for what happened, but maybe she could make her realize she didn't need to deny those feelings.

In fact, that's what she was going to do.

Jane suddenly swerved, catching Jo off guard. Her mom turned the car and veered it…into an empty parking lot. She stopped it immediately and pulled out her phone.

"Mom?!" Jo shrieked. "What are you-"

"I'm tired of this, Jo." She was aggressively scrolling through her phone.

"Of what, me living?!"

"I'm through being patient." Jane shoved the phone directly in her daughter's face. "Look at this."

Jo took the phone and stared at it, still slightly unnerved. "It's…is this your wedding photo?"

Her mom nodded. "Now look at who's next to me."

She did so. "Isn't that dad?"

"No. To my left."

Once more, Jo looked. It was a slightly buff woman with curly orange hair and freckles. "That's…that's auntie Roxie, isn't it?"

"Yup. She's been my best friend since high school and she was my maid of honor at my wedding." She paused. "Also…my ex-girlfriend."

Jo raised an eyebrow, as she looked at her mom. "Your ex…girlfriend? How?"

"We thought we had a deep connection and…tried dating. It was really nice for a while…" As Jane was talking, Jo was swiping through the photos, discovering more instances of Roxie and her mom. "We were already best friends, so it seemed like a good idea. We'd travel, talk about everything and…well, a lot of make out sessions."

"Ew." Jo said. She found more photos. One of her mom and Roxie at the beach, at an arcade, hugging and even one of them kissing.

"But, eventually, we realized it wasn't working out. I still loved her, but only as a close friend. She felt the same and we broke up."

The jockette put the phone down. "But, I thought…" She didn't know what to say.

Jane put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Look, kid. I know you think men are only allowed to date women, and women only able to date men. But just because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean men can't date men and women can't women. It's different for them. Some people, like yourself, are still discovering themselves. Or, if they already have, they might not be ready to be open about it. And, even if I'm wrong about you having a crush on Ambali, I want to let you know that it's okay, and completely normal, if you do." She gave a warm smile.

Jo began processing what her mom had said. It was a lot to take in. But, even then, she still had questions. "So…if you like girls, why did you marry dad?"

Jane chuckled and gave a light punch to Jo's shoulder. "I like both. And yes, you can do that too. I met your father not long after I broke things off with Roxie. And that's when I realized I was bi."

"You were…what?"

"Bi. As in bisexual." Jane clarified. "It means I like men and women."

Jo didn't say anything more after that.

Jo still felt bad about what happened to Ambali the day before. But, now it seems to be on the backburner. Her earlier conversation with her mom was still on her mind.

She lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was late at night and she wasn't tired in the slightest.

Mom dated a girl before she met dad. She thought. If she's ba….be…dang it, what was it? She grabbed her phone and typed into it. What are you if you like boys and girls and you're also a girl? She clicked search. Alright, so if she's bisexual, does that mean…so am I? How can I tell?

She thought to herself. Then an idea hit her. She got off her bed and went over to a desk. She opened a drawer and pulled out a book. She sat at her desk and turned on a lamp. It was her high school yearbook. She flipped the pages to where it showed rows of the students. She went to the first one.

Alright, Andrew's up first. He's…no he's got the personality of sandpaper. Would not date.

Drew? Eh, he's on the football team. That means he'd probably see me as his personal cheerleader or something.

Emily. She plays softball. Oh, we could probably play together. That'd be cool. Plus she's hot…oh.

She sat on that for a moment before going to the next one.

Carl? Ew, I would never date someone named Carl.

Carol? Oh yeah, his twin sister. She's nice, but looks way too much like Carl.

Sydney. She's really tall. Hmmmm…yeah, sure. Tall people are kinda hot.

Tyson? Nah, he's way too tall for me.

She paused and considered what she just told herself.

Then she continued.

As she went on, making mental notes of every student, Jo had come to a realization about halfway through. With the exception of a few, almost every girl she had listed wound up in the 'would date' category. The ones who didn't were either ones she already knew and didn't like or just weren't her type. She even said she would date herself because of how "humble and awesome" she was.

Meanwhile, nearly every guy had landed in the 'wouldn't date' category.

Actually, no.

Every guy made it into this category.

Either because they were too big, wouldn't be able to keep up with her or she just did not see herself dating.

At that point, the evidence seemed irrefutable.

She sat in silence for a while, allowing herself time to process this new information. Was she happy with this? Could she actually see herself dating a girl? Did she like the idea of having someone in her life? Who could make her feel good? Who she could make feel good? Who she could protect and…shower with affection?

Then her mind landed on Ambali.

Yes She smiled to herself. I know what I am. I'm…She stopped. Wait, hold on. I'm not bisexual. I don't like men. I'm…what am I? She typed into her computer.

What does it mean if you like girls and you are a girl?

She hit the enter key and soon got her result.

A smile crept across the jockette's face. She stood up and raised her hand high in the air. "I'm a lesbian!" She shouted.

She was immediately showered with a huge sense of pride and relief.

It was very quickly interrupted when she realized she had just screamed that out loud, in the middle of the night, while her parents were still asleep. She froze, waiting for something to happen.

Silence.

She cautiously lowered her hands and sighed quietly.

"We're proud of you, honey!" She heard a muffled yell.

"Now, go to sleep!"

She's a lesbian! Rejoice and celebrate! What happens next?

Let me know what you think. Ciao.