Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 05:01:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: Me
Subject: "A Minute Without You"

you're always on my mind...
you're always in my head...
and I can't live....I can't live another day
without you!

A Minute Without You
Part I

	Racia and Inch have been friends since they
were high school kids. Inch has been open about her sexuality to Racia.
Racia had seen Inch try to become straight and see her stumble back to
a lesbian again. Racia hadn't mind that Inch was close to her, she
didn't care what other people say or think, she and Inch are close
friends, no more, no less.
	Inch on the other hand has been madly in love with Racia for over a
year now! She had contemplated more than a couple of times to tell
Racia but she figured that their friendship is too precious too lose.
Even if it meant that she  would have to suffer by hiding her true
feelings.
	When their college life started, a lot of things have changed. Inch
had to adjust with Racia's  hectic schedule  and try to take a back
seat. Racia on the other hand, felt that Inch was slowly giving her the
cold shoulder. Both had to admit that they felt the gap that was slowly
coming in between them. The two haven't had a descent conversation for
a few months and Inch felt the end coming.
	Inch called a few friends and  tried to seek their advice.
Surprisingly, she wasn't alone regarding Racia. A friend told Inch that
Racia changed and that Racia was taking her for granted.
	Inch didn't know what to do and finally told Racia about what she
thought was happening between them. Inch, with all the emotion she was
feeling was able to control her tears while talking to Racia. Inch felt
that Racia wasn't as affected about the situation as she was. Although
Racia did "change" back to her old self.
	Things ran smoothly after their talk. Their communication was
restored, and the gap was slowly beginning to be bridged. Inch was so
happy  that during the summer vacation, she and Racia  were once again
together almost everyday. Both wanted to lose a couple of pounds and
went to the gym to workout. Their workout was cut short though when
Racia's dog gave birth. Racia had to stay home to watch over her dog
and her pups.
	Still determined to lose weight, Racia asked Inch to come over their
house so Inch could teach her how to play basketball at the village
basketball court.
	"Thanks for coming. I could really use a work-out.", Racia said.
	"It's nothing. Come on, I'll show you how to dribble the ball.", Inch
replied.
	"I'm not interested in dribbling, just teach me how to shoot."
	Inch shot a couple of jump shots to demonstrate how it should be done.
It was now Racia's  turn to shoot the ball. Her shot, more than a few
times ended up short, so Inch had to position Racia's arms and knees
properly. Racia's shot was now able to reach the ring but it didn't
have a follow through.
	"Now all you need is a follow through. Just flick your wrists as you
throw the ball. The form of your throw should be caused by the fingers
and not the palm. The force of your throw should come from your knees
and not you arms.", explained Inch.
	"I don't know what you're talking about Inch. Just show me.", Racia
asked.
	Inch showed Racia the movements but she still couldn't get it. So this
time Inch stood behind Racia, placed her hand over Racia's and placed
them to the side of the ball. She gently pulled Racia's hands downwards
and then pushed them upwards again. They continued this motion until
Inch thought that Racia got the idea of the follow through.
	"Now, let's see you shoot.", Inch commanded.
	Racia shot the ball and it went in.
	"Nice shot! Now just continue practicing,", Inch said.
	After a few shots here and there, Racia grew tired and sat beside
Inch. Inch was observing Racia and thought how lucky she is to be
spending a lot of time with Racia. A lot of guys and girls would die
just to spend half the time they were spending together.
	"Hey! Can I hold your hand?", asked Racia.
	"Why?", Inch answered back..
	"Your hand felt real soft when you showed me the follow through. It's
so soft. It seems that you're hand isn't the typical hand of an
athlete."
	"Yeah well...it's just stored fats. So now that you know how to shoot,
what do you want to do next?"
	"I don't know. I know, you've been watching me play for a while now,
why don't you start playing and I'll start watching."
	Inch started to play and shot some hoops. Racia noticed that Inch paid
more attention to shooting three's and dribbling. Once in a while, Inch
would try different moves driving in. Racia thought that Inch was quite
good with the three point territory. She wondered why their high school
coach didn't notice it.
	"I think I had enough exercise for the day.", Inch said as she tried
to catch her breath.
	"Yeah, what do you say we go back to our house and freshen up?", Racia
said as she stood up.
	While walking, Inch reviewed what happened that day and felt thankful
for spending another day with Racia. She was surprised when Racia wiped
the sweat off of her face.
	"You're dripping wet!", Racia smiled.
	Racia, on the other hand thought about how her friendship with Inch
was and is making a lot of eyebrows rise. A lot of people think that
they are lovers or at least have a mutual understanding. They didn't.
Racia wasn't into girl-to-girl relationships, although she thinks that
if a girl was into that kind of a relationship, she would be crazy if
she turned down Inch.
	Inch is kind, understanding, thoughtful, caring and gentle. She treats
others with respect. Racia  is almost sure that Inch would give
everything she could, to the girl she loves.
	Racia and Inch took advantage of the summer vacation and spent most of
their time together. Inch however, doesn't know if she would like the
school to start or the vacation to continue. She had met a pretty girl,
 Floremi, in  school and would like to know her better. Inch have
already introduced her to Racia and Racia said that she's cute. She
could be the one Inch had been looking for to let her forget Racia.
	School started anyway and Inch found out that she and Floremi would be
classmates. Inch also have her friends as her classmates, but Floremi
was all alone. To Inch's delight, she and Floremi might be always
together due to the fact that the class they were in, was full of
people they don't know.
	As Inch had predicted, she and Floremi had gotten closer. They sat
together during classes, they hang out together after school and they
call each other on the phone. Inch decided to tell Floremi that she was
a lesbian. At first, Floremi thought that Inch was just kidding. Then
realizing that Inch was dead serious, she told Inch that it was okay.
	"It wasn't really a shock though, I mean, the  way you dress...it's
quite obvious but then I didn't really know.", Floremi said.
	"Yeah, I guess I was sort of weird when it came to clothes.", Inch
replied.
	"Not really, I think you're cool.  Sometimes, I find you really cute,
like when you wear those baggy jeans and large shirts."
	"Really? I thought I was cute all the time!"
	"What I mean is, you're cuter when you wear them. It's like, everyday,
yeah you're wearing your usual clothes, you're cute....then one day
you're wearing the baggy jeans and large shirts, but then, you seem to
be cuter than usual. Sometimes I catch some lesbians looking at you
like, telling themselves that they should wear clothes like that to
impress some girls or something."
	"You mean some girl is actually impressed by me? That girl must be
blind."
	"Hey! I am that girl!"
	"You? Come on...."
	"Believe what you want to believe."
	Inch couldn't really believe that Floremi wasn't affected by the fact
that she was a lesbian, and the fact that she had impressed Floremi,
was even more unbelievable. After telling her about her sexuality, Inch
started to flirt with her, not that Inch haven't done that before, it
was just this time, it has gotten a little bit physical.
	Inch started to hold Floremi's hands longer, put her arms around
Floremi, hug her more than usual and the likes. Floremi didn't seem to
mind, sometimes, Inch could feel that she flirted back.
	Inch felt that it was time for her to tell Floremi that she love her.
	"Flo, I have something important to tell you.", Inch started.
	"What is it?", asked Floremi.
	"I love you, not just as a friend, but more than that. I am actually
falling in love with you. I am not asking you to reciprocate the
feeling, I just want you to know how much you mean to me."
	"Inch, you have put me in a tougher spot than you think. I felt that
you were sort of flirting with me. I think you also felt that I flirted
back. I am feeling something for you too Inch, but I'm not really sure
what it is. I like flirting with you, but I think I just have to think
this over."
	"It's okay  Flo, I'm not pushing you to like me."
	"I do like you Inch, I like you a lot. It's just that I don't know if
I'm ready for this kind of a relationship. What I know is, I like being
with you, I enjoy your company, I like being with you. I also know that
I also have feelings for you Inch. Let's just have a mutual
understanding for now. Is that okay?"
	"It's more than I have hoped for."
	"Okay. Let's put it this way. We both can go out with other people,
provided we tell it to each other."
	"It's fine with me."
	"I really hope that  you can wait until I can make up my mind."
	"I will...I promise."
	Inch and Floremi have gotten off on the right track. They have dated a
couple of times and they both always have lots of fun and a ton of
flirting around.
	Floremi goes wherever Inch goes, that includes Racia's parties. Racia
knew that Floremi and Inch have a mutual understanding, she was happy
for Inch. Inch deserve to be happy. Racia started hanging out with Inch
and Floremi. She and Floremi have become friends because of Inch.
	"So Floremi, have you ever kissed Inch?", Racia asked one time.
	"Nah! We're wholesome kind of people.", Floremi replied as she hugged
Inch.
	Racia could tell that Floremi is very much in love with Inch, she just
haven't realize it yet and it was just a matter of time.
	One day, Inch and Floremi was watching a scary movie. When a scary
part played, Floremi hugged Inch, catching her off guard. The
half-empty, big sized cola can that Inch was holding spilled on both
their laps. They dried themselves off  with  their handkerchiefs, then
Floremi noticed that Inch had some drops of cola near her mouth. It was
dark so she had to look closer to find the exact location of the drops.
She put her hand behind Inch's neck and pulled her closer. When Floremi
finished wiping Inch's face, she glanced at Inch and saw that Inch was
looking at her.
	"What are you looking at?", asked Floremi.
	"You're beautiful face. I was just thinking how wonderful your hand
feels on my face.", Inch explained.
	"Well, how would this feel like?"
	Floremi grabbed Inch's neck and pulled her forward and kissed her on
the lips!
	"How did that feel?", asked Floremi.
	"It feels wonderful.", Inch replied.
	This time, Inch initiated the kiss. It was longer than the first one
and gentler.
	"I guess you know what this means, huh?", asked Floremi as she ran her
fingers into Inch's hair.
	"What?", Inch asked back .
	"I am falling in love with you  Inch. I don't care what others would
say. I love you and  that's all there is to it."
	Inch and Racia are now officially lovers. They decided to keep their
relationship hidden, except to some people. They agreed that they can
only tell close friends. Of course Inch told Racia. Racia was very
happy to hear the news, although she realized that it would mean that
Inch would now be spending most of her time with Floremi.
	Inch and Floremi's relationship was smooth as a silk. Racia took a
back seat to Floremi. Then again, Racia had gotten close with Floremi.
	One day, Racia was supposed to meet somebody at a mall when she came
across Floremi.  Both decided to stroll together until Racia's friend
arrives. Both really didn't have anything in common, except knowing
Inch. Expectedly, they talked mostly about Inch, how Inch gets angry,
how she cries, and how she lives her life.
	"Inch really do care about you Racia. Most of the time, like 60% of
the time, we talk about you.", Floremi informed Racia.
	"Really? And what does she tell you about me?", Racia raised her
eyebrow.
	"She said that you're the greatest friend she had ever had. She likes
you a lot that sometimes it makes me jealous! No just kidding! But
sometimes I also wonder why she didn't come on you. She does like you a
lot."
	"Well, Inch knows that our friendship is special, and we both think
that it would just be destroyed by things like that."
	"I was straight before I knew Inch. I didn't expect that I'll actually
fall for a girl. But Inch is different I really don't know what is it
in her that charmed me."
	Racia thought about  what Floremi told her at the mall. She tried to
sleep but all she could do is toss and turn. She asked herself the same
thing Floremi asked her. Why didn't Inch come on to her?
	"It's not that I wanted Inch to come on to me, I'm just wondering why
she didn't. Do you get me?", Racia asked Katie.
	Katie is a close friend of both and she just wanted to ask Katie's
opinion.
	"Maybe Inch just didn't like to ruin the friendship or maybe she just
isn't attracted to you. It's as simple as that.", Katie replied.
	"I guess so, I don't know Katie, why am I being bothered by that
fact?", Racia again asked.
	"I don't know, but maybe you should reflect, I mean meditate."
	"I don't know ."
	"Okay, let me ask you a few questions, answer them truthfully or else,
you won't realize anything."
	"It's okay with me. Ask away."
	"Let me see, how long have you and Inch been friends?"
	"Uhmm... more than 3 years."
	"And in those 3 years, has Inch ever had a crush on you, show signs of
such things or ever admitted about it?"
	"Well, she did have a crush on me about 2 years ago, but she forgot
about it already. She just sort of used me to forget somebody else."
	"So, did you ever felt sorry that she wasn't really purely attracted
to you? That she just used you to forget another girl?"
	"Let me think about it. Uhmmmm, now that you mention it, sort of.  I
felt like I wasn't good enough for her."
	"So now, do you think that Inch is paying way too much attention to
Floremi?"
	"Not really, that's supposed to be what lovers do, pay a lot of
attention to the each other."
	"Did Inch ever give you such attention before?"
	"Just a little bit. I mean we were close but  not that close with each
other."	
	"So now, Racia, you could trust me you know. Please answer this
question honestly. Why are you bothered by the fact that Inch didn't
come on to you?"
	"I'll have to pass at that one. I'll answer it when I figure it out.
Thanks for your help. I promise I'll tell you the reason if I figure it
out."
	Racia  thought about Inch. Why did all of a sudden she felt she was
being neglected by Inch? Is she actually jealous?