Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 03:27:55 -0500
From: Stephanie Thornhill <oceanandsteph@hotmail.com>
Subject: To Hell and Back, Chapter 1

What had started as any other ordinary day for most people, was a day
that Bethany would never forget. Well, at the time, she didn't think
anything was so extraordinary, but looking back, years later, she'd know
it. Tomorrow was the day her life would go to hell and then eventually
come back to heaven. Today, though, was the day of first day of finals
at her college.
Sitting up from her bed and slamming her hand down on the blaring alarm
clock on her bedside table, Bethany groaned. "Today I've got to take
my Spanish final AND my chemistry final. THIS SUCKS!"
Hearing a knock on her door brought another groan from Beth. She was
sure it was Mandalia. That girl was WAY too hyper WAY too early on.
"Just a second. Lemme get dressed," Bethany yelled through the door.
Throwing on a nice pair of jeans and a semi-tight t-shirt, Bethany
considered herself more or less ready to face the day. She opened the
door to the smiling face of Mandalia.
"Hi Manda. What's up?"
"Well, you know how you said that you weren't wanting to date Jason?"
Manda said barely able to keep her grin under control.
"Vividly."
"So... well, I've found you someone else!"
"Manda! You came all the way over here, acting like chipmunk on speed
just to tell me that you've found a guy for me?"
"Not just any guy. THE guy. You know that really cute guy from your
geo class? The one that sits behind that girl with the frizzy red
hair?"
Bethany thought back to all the people in her geometry class. For the
life of her, she couldn't remember a cute guy in the class at all. But
then again, most of her time was spent staring at one of the girls a few
seats across from her. She didn't have a crush on the girl or
anything... she was just pretty and made for a nice way to pass the time
in class.
"Manda... sweetie, I know you mean well. Honestly, I do. But there's
just one little problem with this guy."
"What? I mean, it's not like he's got a mole or anything like the
last guy I picked."
"A mole? Umm... no. That guy had a mole AND hair growing on it."
"Well how was I supposed to know? I never paid any attention to his
hands."
"Besides, the mole. The same thing was wrong with that guy as there is
with the guy in my geometry class. THEY'RE GUYS!"
"Ugh! When are you just going to admit that you have at least some
inkling toward the opposite sex?"
"The same day God comes down and tells me that I'm gonna be the rock
in an everlasting game of paper-rock-scissors."
After a moment of giving Bethany a blank stare, Mandalia finally said,
"what the hell are you talking about?"
"In other words, I'm a lesbian. That means I like chicks. Not guys.
I feel the way about girls that you feel about guys. And besides that, I
have a girlfriend."
"Okay then, how come I've never seen you get that far away, dreamy
look over a girl?"
"First off, I don't get that way over anyone. And second, it's way
too early to try to teach you about lesbianism again."
Shaking her head as if her Bethany would never get it, Mandalia flopped
back on the bed to wait for her best friend in the world to finish
getting ready for class.
*****
"You know," Manda popped out all of a sudden, "you don't technically
have a girlfriend."
They were walking slowly toward class after they'd finished their
breakfast in the campus lunchroom.
"Technically, I do. She wants to be with only me, and I want to be
with only her. We're dating."
"Yeah, but you've never even seen her. I mean, for all you know, it
could be a really effeminate guy."
"Manda. I know you're worried about me, but you gotta chill. It's
not like I'm gonna just pick up and leave one day to move in with her.
I just want to be with her. Get to know her better. Then see where
things go from there." Inside though, Bethany felt a great deal
differently. She was smitten. Badly. She knew it was just a crush at
this point, but oh well.
*****
Walking back into her room after taking tests all day, the only thing on
Bethany's mind was to flop down on her bed and sleep for the rest of the
night... or at least pretend to be comatose for a couple of hours. Just
as she was about to drift into a peaceful dream, her phone rang.
"Damn it," she whispered as she shifted to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi!"
"Hey baby! What're you doing?" Beth could feel a smile spread
across her face at the sound of her long-distance girlfriend's voice.
"Not too much. Just sitting around. I have some good news!"
"What's that sweetie?"
"I'll be there tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow? How?"
"I bought a plane ticket! I can't wait to see you!"
"Wha... well... okay. Where do you want me to meet you?"
"Well, my plane gets in at 9:30."
"No problem. After I finish dinner, I'll come pick you up."
"Not at night. In the morning."
"Oh." A long pause filled the static between the lines. "Baby, I'm
not finished with finals yet. It'll be two more days till I'm done."
"Oh... okay. Well, don't even worry about that. I'll just grab a
taxi at the airport and meet you someplace on campus."
"Sounds great! How about we meet at the library. It's easy enough to
find."
"Great! I'll see you then. What time do you get out of class?"
"My only final tomorrow ends at 11:00."
"Then it's all set. I'll meet you at the library at 11:00
tomorrow!"
"I can't wait sweetie! I love you."
"I love you, too!"
After a few more minutes of talking, Bethany finally hung up the phone
and tried to keep calm as images of what tomorrow would be like ran
through her mind. Immediately, she ran to Mandalia's room. Tomorrow
was going to be a big day.
*****

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. The second should be
out before too long. If you want to say anything good orbad, you can
write me at oceanandsteph@hotmail.com or southern_chyld2000@yahoo.com.
I'll write everyone back. It may take a day or two, but I'll write
back. Lol. Hope to hear from everyone! And I hope you all enjoyed the
story so far!!