They are here for a variety of reasons, but only one is here out of sheer boredom.

She rests at her friends' table, sipping an Alabama Slamma, brown eyes darting to and fro, looking for something to lift her sense of ennui. She finds it depressingly amusing that, for all their individuality, everyone looks the same; the boys all spout goatees, the girls sport bare midriffs, yatta yatta. Same shit, different day.

Then why do you come here, Ms. Dawn Trydaliso? a little internal voice chided her. She has no answer ready.

The torturous screeching fades; the music worshippers all return to their tables to rest up for the next dance, talk to people they see all day, or proceed to descend into an alcoholic stupor.

Just another night at Babel, Dawn thinks wearily, hoppingest club in Chcago...at least this week. Goddam, I wish something would just happen.

Careful, the voice warns her, you know what they say.

Oh blow me, she told it with great satisfaction.

Tina and Rocko sat back down at her table, glimmering with perspiration and building lust. "Hey, girlfriend," Tina chided, "how come you were dancing out there? Seen some fine lookin' fellas by the bar if you're lookin' for a partner.

"Some real honeys too," Rocko smirked. Dawn's bisexuality was well-known to the two.

She shook her head, dark brown hair swishing gently. "Not into it tonight, guys."

"Need a pick-me-up?" Tina said. "Got some speedies on me."

"Nah," she said. "Not crashing, just....dunno."

* * * * * *

Sometimes, just sometimes, Eve wished she believed in swearing.

"I'm a beash, Ms. Delm, an abshlute beash," declared the reclining individual to the park in general, shoshing Wild Turkey all over himself, the bench he was sitting on, and her shoes.

"Mr. Trellis," she said, fighting to keep her anger in, "I thought you started your new job today; you know, the one at the bank?" The one I had to work my derriere off to get you, she wanted to say next, but her conscience sat on her tongue.

"Deshided to have a li'l celebrashen," he said, beaming at her. When she had come in to the homeless center after classes, a message had been waiting for her from First Chicago about the absence of one Harold Trellis. She'd explored Mr. Trellis' old haunts fearing he'd be at one of them.

Carl Young, another volunteer at the Angels Of Mercy Shelter, shook his head without comment. She liked Carl; he'd been working in the center for four weeks now and seemed a very dependable sort of person. He'd certainly revamped the shelter's computer system from the ground up. Since her car was in the shop, Carl had offered to drive her around looking for him. "Need help getting him back to the shelter?" He asked, spectacled eyes showing real concern

"No, I can handle him, thanks," she said, helping Mr. Trellis to his feet. I just wish..."

"What?"

Eve sighed. "I don't know....sometimes, I worry about God's plan."

Carl glanced down at his scrawny, toothpick body ruefully "You're telling me."

"No not that it's just...I don't know sometimes. I really don't."

She didn't notice the speculative look Carl gave her, nor would she have understood it if she had.

Dawn's watch said it was almost 10 PM. She knew this because she'd been staring at it for the last hour.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore; the stagnation and boredom suddenly became too much to bear. "This blows," she said to Tina and Rocko who were playing touchy-feely with each other's feet. "I'm outta here."

"Goin' somewhere in particular?" Rocko said.

Of course it would help if I had anywhere interesting to go to, she thought as she walked out into the warm June night. Of course, I could always go home for the night, pack it in....nah. I'm not that bored.

Her feet had been unconsciously walking her to her car, where she noticed a flyer attached to the windshield. Helloooo, she thought, picking it up.

LOOKING FOR FUN? it blared. COME TO RIPPER'S WILD RAVE 18 CHESTER STREET, NO COVER CHARGE. ENTER IF YOU DARE!

Well, now, she thought. She got into her old beat-up clunker and tried to remember where Chester Street was. Whaitaminit, she thought with amusement, that's a wealthy neighborhood - ha! Hey, this could be fun!

She checked her look in the rear view mirror and freshened her black lipstick and eye- liner before heading off. Finding Chester Street was not a problem for her; she could practically smell the increase in property values the closer you got to it; a definite improvement from the beat-up apartment building she and her mother lived in.

She could have a lot of fun playing freak-the-mundanes here.

It was with a smile on her lips and a goth melody in her heart when, of course, her car died unexpectedly

"Thanks for the ride home, Carl," Eve said.

He shrugged. "Hey, no problem. Sorry it's so late, but Jed really fu....I mean trashed the system, and it took me longer to fix it than I thought."

Eve ignored the verbal slip. "Mr. O'Leray never did like computers. He says they're the tools of Satan."

Carl shuddered. "I know; he sounds like he means it, too."

"He has a good heart, though," Eve countered.

"Jed's a jerk,' Carl countered. "He's bad-tempered and makes everybody's life hell; no offense, but if that's religion I'll take atheism."

"Carl!" Eve said, shocked. "Please tell me you don't mean that!"

Although he's very right about Jed, an internal traitorous voice observed, but she shushed it.

Carl glanced over at her. "Eve, there are other ways to live, you know. Roman Catholicism doesn't have all the answers."

"I know that."

"Then why don't you act like you believe it?"

Eve opened her mouth for an impolite retort but the same voice interrupted her. Yes you do, it accused. Admit it.

"I'm just trying to set an example," she said, keeping her voice neutral.

"Look," he sighed. "I'm not trying to insult you; I think you're a very nice person. I just don't want you to turn into another Jed, someone who uses their beliefs as a club. Lately, it just seems that you're drifting that way."

It's the questions, she tells herself. Every day I see families with no homes, addicts not old enough to vote, girls selling their bodies for enough food to starve slowly and I ask myself how can this be God's plan? How can he not care?

She didn't say that aloud, as much as she wanted to open up to Carl, so she settled with smiling at him. "It's okay, Carl. I....thank you for your concern. I'll try to be more careful in the future okay?."

Carl gave her a quick dubious look and decided to change the subject. "Nice neighborhood you live in"

"I suppose," she sighed. "Daddy's a merchant banker, makes more money than any ten people could spend. He doesn't skimp when it comes to 'rewarding himself' either. Or me, for that matter."

"Must be rough."

Eve looked at him askance. "I...don't think that comment sounded sarcastic."

He shook his head. "It wasn't meant to be. See, I believe that a person's existence in this world is balanced. For everything in your life that you like, there's something you hate. Everything's just a matter of dichotomy." He paused, squinting ahead. "Hey, what's that?"

Eve followed his gaze and saw a beat-up looking car with its hazards on. "Looks like someone broke down. Can we stop and see if they need help?"

"Um...Hello? You need some help?"

Dawn broke off in mid-curse and peeked out from underneath the hood to behold a nervous cute-looking blonde with green eyes. Hey, things are looking up, she thought. Dresses like a grandma, though. Then, aloud. "Sure do. Think my battery's flat, fuckin' piece of junk. Could you give me a jump?"

From Eve's point of view, a young woman who would have been attractive if she hadn't been wearing such ghastly make up - black lipstick, HEAVY eyeshadow - came out from in front of her car and gave her an obvious once-over. Take it easy, she chided herself. She's a fellow human being and she needs help. "Sure. I think Carl has some jumper cables"

Dawn shook her head. "Got those; just need another battery to hook 'em up to."

Uneasily - -something Dawn grinned inwardly about - Eve smiled. "Well, fortunately we have one working. We'll pull alongside to make the connection easier."

I'd love to make a connection, Dawn thought, ogling Eve's behind as she went back to the nicely-reconditioned Pinto. Yummy.

"What's the problem?" Carl said as Eve came to his window.

"Flat battery," she said and, in a whisper, "and I think she's trying to hit on me!"

Carl looked amused. "Really?"

"It's not funny!"

He sobered up. "Sorry."

While Carl pulled his car into position, Dawn got the jumper cables out and affixed them to her battery. Carl popped his hood and took the other ends from her.

Hmm; he looks familiar, Dawn thought, then shook her head to dismiss it. No way she'd ever met such a skinny geek like that. "Signal me when you're set, okay?"

"Will do," he nodded. "Hey, Eve? Mind starting her up?"

Grateful to put some distance between herself and the strange girl, Eve got into Carl's car and turned the key.

"All set, Dawn?"

"Yup," she said, getting into her own car. Shit, you'd think I was going to jump her bones right here, Dawn thought with amusement.

She tuned the key

Hey, how did he know my na-

Patrolmen Robert DeFalco and Michael Bechilde were not expecting an eventful evening, because it never was. Their beat included the Chester Street and Parkway Avenue areas - rich, quiet and in bed by nine. So it was with great surprise when a bright flash, like an explosion, came from a few blocks away.

"Let's roll," Mike said to Robert, who gunned the squad car's engine and flipped the siren.

"Car 42 to Dispatch," Mike barked over the radio.

"Dispatch, what's up?"

"Got a disturbance, possibly fireworks - least I hope it's fireworks - on Chester Street, looks like. Checking it out now."

"Roger, Car 42."

His prediction of fireworks, as it turned out, was wrong.

What the...? Mike thought as he saw two burned-out car chassis. No other signs of a fire or accident so far.

Robert looked equally bemused. "Okay, this one's got me stumped."

Mike spied a young man getting to his groggy feet across the street from the cars. "Hey, look, a witness. Can't wait to hear this -" he suddenly noticed a pair of naked legs sticking out from between the cars. "SHIT, call an ambulance!."

"Right," his partner nodded, coming to abrupt stop. Rob didn't even listen as Mike called it in, every sense focused on the figure between the two wrecks. He prayed, as the entire body came into view, that there was something he could do.

He stopped.

He gaped.

"Jesus Christ," he whispered.

"Officer?" A shaky voice called behind him.

He couldn't tear his eyes away. "Yes?"

"Um, I'm Carl Young...me and Eve were driving along, there was this girl who was broken down by the side of the road and we stopped to help."

"Could you come forward a bit, son?" Mike said in slow, casual tones.

"Sure, officer, what..." Then Mike heard him gasp.

"Either one of them look like that?"

"My god....no, no, they didn't....oh my god, what happened...."

"I don't know, son. I just don't know."

Dawn was having a very good dream. She was dancing - she didn't know where, and really couldn't make out faces very well - but the music was Sarah McLaughlin and Bjork and similar artists, the ones she really liked and would've gotten her laughed out of the goth movement if anyone knew.

"God," Eve prayed, please let this be a dream..."

* * * * * *

Eve came awake with a start.

Her neck seemed to be in a brace. She could feel an IV in her right arm, and hear a heart monitor in the background.

I'm in the hospital, she thought. What happened? Last thing I remember I was starting Carl's car up and...I don't remember!

Eve did a quick internal audit. Nothing seemed to be hurting her yet, but her eyes felt strange, like she was seeing through closed lids. Worry about that later, she told herself.

She could feel everything, no parts seemed to be missing; that was good, at least. She wiggled the fingers of her left hand experimentally and tried to do the same for her right; except she couldn't; her right foot wouldn't respond either. She didn't understand how she could feel like she had them yet not be able to move them; and, with her head in a neckbrace, she couldn't look at them.

Eve felt a rise of panic spread through her. "Nurse?" she called out hoarsely, then louder. "Nurse!?"

She heard something moan beside her. "Could you keep it down?"

RIGHT beside her.

Normally, Eve tried to keep a calm frame of mind but recent events were just too much. She screamed.

"Shit!" it - she - swore. "Can't a girl get some sleep in her own hospital bed?"

She felt her own right hand, seemingly of its own accord, raise itself and touch a forehead not her own. Stranger still, she could feel both sides of the contact.

"Oh my God!" Eve shrieked. "What's happened to me?"

"Eve, right?," she said. "Um, how come we're sharing the same bed?"

Eve recognized the voice of the woman she'd stopped to help. "I don't know! Help me call a nurse!"

"Way ahead of you," the other woman said. She felt her right hand raise itself to a pair of lips and felt her lungs take a deep breath that she wasn't ready for, making her choke; almost on cue, the woman also choked. Monitors began to klaxon and Eve at least had the satisfaction of seeing a virtual squad of medical personnel come barreling into her hospital room just before she lost consciousness.

* * * * * *

The two girls awoke amidst a forest of doctors. The one on Eve's side, seeing her awake, gave a shaky but reassuring grin; the one on Dawn's side, however, looked positively bleak.

"How are you feeling?" Eve's doctor said.

"Scared," she whispered.

"That makes two of us," Dawn cut in.

He went to the foot of the bed so that both girls could look at him.

"This isn't going to be easy," he said, "so I'm going to come right out and say it. Something happened to the two of you, and we have know idea how it was done, let alone how to cure it."

"So what did happen to us?" Dawn pressed.

"You've....well, the two of you share a body."

A very long silence stretched out as the impossibility of the statement sank in. Both girls wanted to call him a liar, but one look at his face forestalled both actions. This man spoke in utter seriousness.

Dawn broke the silence first. "You're shitting me, right?"

"God, please," Eve said through tears, tell her - me - us - this isn't happening."

* * * * * *

"Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke."

Taylor Delm, Eve's father, was dressed in a three-piece business suit, his black hair elegantly styled, and his piercing blue eyes shot angry daggers. Officer Bechilde did not feel lucky to be in the same room with an furious parent looking for someone to take it out on. Faith Trydaliso, Dawn's mother, was handling things much better. She was in old but well-kept jeans, wore a blouse with flat-heeled shoes, and her blonde hair was done up in a bun. Mike got the impression that she was saving her hysterics for later.

Mike shook his head. "I'm sorry. I wish it was."

The attention of all three was at least in part captured by a closed circuit monitor - or to be more specific, what it was showing; Eve and Dawn's hospital room. Currently there was two doctors, three nurses, a counselor and a priest all trying to calm down the two girls. They didn't look like they'd be calming down soon.

Mike didn't blame them. It's not everyday that one wakes up to find you're sharing a body with a complete stranger.

Even covered by bedsheets, it was clear that there was a single figure underneath. Once you got to around chest level, things began to get strange. It broadened out more than was normal, to accommodate the wide shoulders which sprouted a pair of heads. Eve's head was on the left side, and Dawn's head was on the right. Had both not been hampered by neck braces, they could have turned and looked almost directly into each other's faces.

Mike had the sound turned off; the last thing that these girls' parents needed to hear was their daughters pitiful begging for someone to make it better.

"So why the closed-circuit security camera?" Taylor asked.

"Hospital wants them, initially, on a 24-hour watch in case there are any more complications," Mike said.

"And you have no idea...?" Faith asked quietly.

"You two read my report, ma'am. That's all we've got to go on."

"What about this...Carl Young kid?" Taylor snapped. "Have you questioned him?"

"Yes, we have. He knows about as much as we do now."

"Let me talk to him," Taylor begged.. I'm sure I can..."

"That's not a good idea, sir. He's with the police psychologist right now; he seemed pretty shaken up about it."

"What can be done?" Faith said.

This was the question Mike had been dreading. "The doctors are doing all they can, but....I'll be honest; I've been listening to them and they don't even have a clue how this happened. I would suggest talking to them; they probably have better answers for you."

"If they don't?" Taylor pressed.

Mike looked back at the screen, not saying anything.

* * * * * *

The two girls spent the rest of the day - and another besides - being poked, prodded, poked, examined, poked, questioned, and poked some more for good measure. In exchange, they were allowed to remove their neck braces, their questions were ignored, their meals were too synthetic to be believed, and they were forced to buzz the nurse if they wanted to do ANYTHING, even go to the bathroom.

Their first latrine experiment sparked a fight between the two.

"God, you're disgusting!"

"What? What's you're problem?"

"You were ogling my private parts!"

"I wasn't ogling, and it's my pussy too, y'know!"

"For goodness sake, can't you say anything without using foul language?"

"Oh, what, now I need miss holier-than-thou's permission to speak?"

"That isn't what I meant!"

The attendant nurse have been glancing bath and forth between them, obviously having trouble. "Please, girls, let's just get through this, okay?"

Eve was chained to a horrible beast that spewed toxic waste. It followed her everywhere, making people laugh and point. She tried to run, to escape it, still it followed her, always right beside her -

Eve woke up to a most peculiar sensation. It felt like -

"What are you DOING?" she screamed at Dawn

"Nothing," the other girl said in a guilty tone.

"You were feeling me up!"

"I was not! I was staying on my side!"

"Your side IS my side! We share this body, remember?"

"Look," Dawn said, trying to sound reasonable and failing. "I was just touching the breast on my side, okay?"

"Yes, I know, I felt it!"

"Look, I wasn't touching our pussy, okay?"

"Masturbation is sinful," Eve intoned.

Dawn rose to defend one of her favorite hobbies. "Says who?"

"The Bible, of course. You should try reading it sometime."

"A book written by women-hating hermits? I'll pass."

The fight reached an impressive volume after that. It might have gone on for some time, but the girls' shared pair of lungs couldn't take the sudden rapid shifting in breathing and eventually seized, sending both girls into unconsciousness.

* * * * * *

It took a week of practicing breathing before the doctors deemed safe for them to relearn walking. At least they didn't need an attendant to go to the bathroom anymore. Showers were quite a trial; Eve insisted on a curtain between them so she could have some privacy. Dawn didn't see the point, but anything was better than the constant fighting. She'd tried a number of times to break the ice but Eve seemed to snap at her for any comment she made, no matter how innocent.

Okay, maybe not so innocent, she thought. Privately, Dawn thought that this being conjoined had a certain erotic appeal to it and hoped - - despite evidence to the contrary - - that Eve would loosen up so they could have some fun with it. After all, Dawn thought, since they were stuck like this they might as well enjoy it, right?

Fun, however, was in very short supply. Dawn was as amicable as the next person, but this constant wrangling was getting on her nerves.

It all came to a head the first day they were scheduled to relearn how to walk. Dawn had been looking forward to it - - being wheel-chaired around was such a drag - - but on that day Eve was very sullen. Dawn ignored her as best she could, only talking to her when they needed to coordinate movements, but couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

The nurse who had taken them to the physical therapy area had positioned their wheel- chair in front of two railings, standing about waist level. The physical therapist, a Hindu woman in her thirties, stood on Eve's side with a smile.

"Ready?" she said.

Dawn returned the smile nervously. "All set."

"Sure," Eve answered in a depressed-sounding tone.

"Okay, now put your hands up on the bars and use that to pull yourselves up; I'll be right here in case you fall."

Cautiously, Eve and Dawn followed his instructions until they were standing, braced by the railings.

"Good, good," the therapist urged, "now Eve, I want you to lean into Dawn and use her to step forward. Dawn, you bear her weight."

Slowly, carefully, the girls took their first cautious step as a conjoined entity.

"Great!" The therapist clapped. "Now Dawn, you do what Eve just did and Eve now you bear her weight."

Another step, less tentative, was managed.

"We're doing it," Eve whispered. It was the most positively charged thing she said all day.

"Now again! Do a few in a row, but take it easy; if you start to fall, I'll be right behind to catch you."

Eve and Dawn repeated the process, managing to approach a slow walk. Eve's mood seemed to improve dramatically with each step. By the fourth, Eve's triumphant laughter echoed Dawn's own.

"We'll be running the marathon in no time, eh partner?" Dawn grinned, glancing sidelong at Eve. The girl didn't answer but did actually smile back. This, Dawn thought, was progress. So what if Eve had been snappy for the past week? Dawn was perfectly willing to let bygones be bygones.

Unfortunately, it was that moment of inattention that cost them; Dawn stepped forward a little too soon and threw Eve off balance. The two girls fell but the therapist was right there to catch them.

"That's okay," she soothed. "That was very good."

It was at that point, in the woman's warm embrace, that Dawn realized it had been a while since she had sex, and the therapist was quite attractive. She felt something inside want to respond but decided now was not the time.

Unfortunately, she forgot for a fraction of an instant that her body was not her own anymore.

Eve was no stranger to the pull of sexual attraction, and recognized what the faint feeling deep in her/their loins was. Since there were no attractive men present and Dawn had not been shy about her bisexuality, the conclusion was obvious.

The therapist saw the slap as it landed. "Hey, what...?"

"You slut," Eve hissed at Dawn.

Dawn, with the slap-mark stinging her face, had officially Had It. Never mind that Eve had felt that slap as much as she had, it was time to teach that bitch who was boss. She bunched up her fist and with as much force as she could muster, punched Eve in the nose.

"You fucking skank," Dawn shrieked. "I've had it with your bitching!"

Eve screamed like a siren and the two went at it, punching and scratching everything of the others' head and face that they could reach. The therapist decided that now was not the time to be gentle and settled for coming up behind the two girls and getting them in a hold. She had to improvise a little - after all, there were two heads to worry about - but she pressed their two heads firmly together instead of applying pressure to the neck as would be normal. She held it until satisfied that Eve and Dawn had gotten the message, and the relaxed it.

She gave them as warm a smile as she could manage. "Why don't we try this a little later, okay?"

* * * * * *

"So who won?"

Mike smiled mirthlessly down at the two girls as they lay in their hospital bed. Dawn's right eye sported a shiner, Eve's nose was bandaged, and both sported a number of red slap-marks on their cheeks.

Both girls answered him with a ferocious double-glare.

"Actually," he drawled, "it looks like you both lost - - no point really of fighting when you feel any blow that you land on your opponent. But hey, that's just my opinion."

That got an even fiercer glare.

Inwardly, Michael steeled himself. He'd been stopping by on occasion, talking to the doctors during the course of the investigation into what exactly happened to the two, and he'd heard an earful. Not to mention what he'd heard from Taylor and Faith. Everyone was walking around these two like they were made of glass - or, more appropriately, stuffed with dynamite.

It was time, Michael, thought, for a little tough love.

"You two feel like talking about it?"

"No , thank you officer," Eve said, icily polite.

Dawn's response was to snort and cast a glare in Eve's direction.

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Mind an opinion?"

No response, but they at least looked at him. Good. "Well, you're going to get it anyway. Now I'm not saying that the two of you haven't been dealt a brutal hand, but you both seem hell-bent on making it worse!"

The two exploded at once in denials and accusations, but he never gave them a chance to get fully worked up. "Yes I said BOTH!" he snapped, letting anger show on his face. They both sat back in the bed, looking startled. So far, so good, he thought. Then, aloud. "First of all - - and, ladies, both takes turns speaking, okay? - - from what I hear Dawn did try to make friends with you, Eve."

"Ha!" Dawn snapped, looking vindictive.

"HOWEVER," he said, cutting Eve's comment off before it left her lips, "it was done poorly. Dawn, I know this is a news flash, but the question, 'so, which way do you swing' is NOT considered socially acceptably by most of the global population!"

Dawn began to look sheepish as a triumphant smirk began to appear on Eve's face. "Don't look so smug with me, missy," Michael snapped, and the smirk disappeared. "With that fundamentalist crap you've been spouting - - don't deny it, I've HEARD you - - Mother Theresa herself would be hard-pressed to like you!"

Good. Now he had BOTH their attention, form the looks they were giving him. Part of Michael hated what he was doing - - based on the report, they really weren't bad girls - - but he knew what was in store for them if they couldn't care for themselves; institutionalization at best, a lifetime of being glorified lab rats at worst. This was for their own good. Yet he let no concern for their welfare show on his face as he continued. "If Carl could see you two now," he mused aloud, " I wonder what he'd think?"

"What about Carl?" Eve said sullenly.

"Who? Oh, the guy she was with," Dawn said. "Never stopped by once; some friend Eve's got there."

He put on a fake puzzled expression. "You mean nobody told the two of you? That's right, they wouldn't have wanted to upset either of you anymore, so..."

"What? What's wrong?" Eve said.

"Nothing really....now. He was released this morning."

Dawn turned white. "The...he didn't..."

"....experience the same thing as you two?" Mike finished. "Nah, it was just a failed suicide attempt."

"WHAT?"

Inwardly, he smiled at Dawn and Eve's reaction. "Yeah, 'some friend'. I mean, here he is, eaten up by guilt, thinking that this is his fault - - after all his car was involved - - so what does he do? Takes a razor blade to his wrists. Fortunately his parents got to him in time, but hey no loss, right?"

He saw guilt replace the girls' shocked expressions. In a more serious tone, he said, "He's going to a psychologist once a week; he's not suicidal anymore, but he is depressed. He seems to feel responsible for the situation that the two of you are in. Personally, I wonder why," and at this point Mike allowed a sneer to crawl around his lips, "it's not like the two of you give a shit. Hell, you girls don't even TRY to get along with each other."

He turned his back on them and as a final touch, before leaving the room, said. "A lot of people are pulling for you. I don't know why they make the effort. I really don't"

He maintained his composure all the way back to his squad car before self-disgust tied his stomach in knots.

* * * * * *

The rest of the day was spent very quietly, with Eve and Dawn eating, undergoing more blood workups, and more assessments of their condition. The nurses and doctors were more than a little worried; the girls didn't fight with each other the rest of the day but neither did they speak with anyone else. It was decided to leave them alone for the rest of the day and hope the two girls were in a better mood tomorrow.

Dawn spent the time brooding and the evening in serious thought as the police officer's words continued to haunt her. True, she never new this Carl guy, but the thought that he could feel guilty about a stranger reminded her of her mother Faith, who she had never really gotten along with. Faith had been by the hospital to visit every day, just to talk and offer support. None of Dawn's so-called 'friends' had even bothered to call, yet her own mother - - whom she'd had more than one argument with - - had sat with her, endured her bouts of weeping and cursing, and held her hand.

She felt herself starting to cry, something she hated doing, and made no effort to stop. How could I have been so stupid? she thinks. No wonder why Eve doesn't like me; I'm a real piece of shit, aren't I?

Eve's thoughts that evening were remarkably similar, except she was thinking of her father, a man she thought was only concerned with money. Yet he was here as often as Dawn's mother was, and just as uncom- plaining. He never seemed to say much, never dropped out of that formal persona that she hated, but when she thought back on it his hands were always tightly clasped as if he were afraid they would start shaking. Carl she'd only known for a month, but the fact that she could drive someone to consider the unthinkable upset her greatly. More to the point, she remembered the last conversation she had with him; the one about not using her beliefs as a tool of hate. She'd been doing exactly that to Dawn. True, Eve found some of the girl's outlooks on life very unsettling, but she didn't' seem like a terrible person.

As the two got ready for bed, Eve decided to apologize to Dawn when she heard a sob from the other girl. "Dawn?"

She felt their right hand lift to wipe tears from Dawn's eyes. "I'm so sorry Eve. I've been a real bitch, and I don't blame you it you hate me."

Eve turned her head to look at the other woman and found her own eyes begin to turn dewy. "Dawn....it's my fault too; I've been a pretty rotten person throughout this whole thing."

Dawn turned as well and, for the first time, the girls looked into each others' eyes. They didn't see this hated other that they were forced to live with, nor did they see a trial to be overcome. They saw just another person, equally as scared.

Had Michael been there, he would have been proud of them.

"Could I have another chance to be your friend?" Eve said as her own tears fell. "Please?"

Dawn sniffled. "Sure. Does this mean that I can try to be yours, too?"

"Of course," Eve smiled.

Clumsily at first, the two girls put their arms around the others' sides and hugged. It wasn't much of a hug, but they made the best of it that they could.

It was a start.

END....FOR NOW