"Not Amy."

"I'm not a lesbian. I want to get married, and have a family, and have a normal life, ok?" Ellen pleads. A tear trails down one cheek and falls onto her ample breast. She squeezes your hand through your interlaced fingers.

"Ok. I'm not judging you," you say. "But you are bi, right? Is Amy your lover?"

Amy looks towards her roommate, leans back against the booth and takes a sip of water from her glass before setting it back on the table.

"Well, Elle, what do you say?" the redhead says. She leans forward, her unbound breasts moving inside her pink barbed-wire-and-skulls t-shirt.

Ellen meets Amy's eyes, then looks back at you. She swallows. "No. Not Amy," she says.

Amy raises her eyebrows. She takes another sip of water, then nods. "I think I know who," she says.

For the first time you see Amy look uncomfortable.

Ellen sniffles and looks down.

"Fuck, Elle, and after I bust my butt to fix you up with Lorraine Easterly-Smith?" Amy protests. "How could you?"

Your food arrives. Your cheeseburger and fries basket smells great. Ellen looks blankly at her grilled chicken.

Amy stands up. "Um, Madge, could I bum a smoke?" she asks the waitress.

"Sure, honey, I understand," the round-faced brunette says. "Follow me."

"Don't worry, I'll be back," Amy says.

Amy and the waitress head toward the back.

You take Ellen's hand again. "You can be whoever you want, Ellen. You'll always be my friend." You give her hand a squeeze. "My good friend."

Ellen looks up and blinks tears away. "My mom always told me there weren't many problems that were worth waiting dinner on." She laughs softly.

You laugh. "With everyone at your table, I can see why." Dinnertime at Ellen's was always a big production, and often a madhouse. Ellen's ten-years-older sister had moved back in, two children of her own in tow, and there always seemed to be some other family members or guests there when you came for dinner.

"I guess you can see why I never turned down an offer for dinner out, even if I had to get back for homework," Ellen says.

"Yeah," you say. "You didn't exactly lack for invitations." Ellen hadn't waited for college to come into her beauty.

Ellen laughs again. "Hey, I played fair," she says, "I always went Dutch."

You nod. Ellen always paid her share, the times you'd managed to get your invitation in first. Ellen seems to be feeling better now. You take your arm back.

Ellen sips from her drink and blinks. "Hey, this is regular, and I ordered diet."

You try your drink. "Mine's regular. What I ordered."

Amy has an iced tea at her place which couldn't be mixed up for your sodas.

"Could you go find the waitress and get me a diet?" Ellen asks.

"Sure," you say. You slide out of your seat and step round the corner of the booth.

You think back on the little scene with Amy. You wonder what the deal is and why Amy's tense at Ellen over whatever girl she thinks is Ellen's lover. Though Ellen was kind of easy to embarrass, maybe it wasn't as big a thing as Amy thought.

You scan the diner. Neither Amy nor Madge has returned.

You head toward the back.