“It’s not that interesting,” I say, then slurp up the remainder of my whiskey and Coke. “Does anyone need another?”

“Dawn set her girlfriend’s car on fire,” Steph says, “after she looked through her phone and saw her flirting with someone else.”

I can’t believe Steph is doing this to me. I was about to get laid.

“Holy shit,” says Erica, the most animated she’s been all night.

My cheeks heat and my skin starts to sting.

“Wait, Dawn …” Lily says. “Did you date Jen Strati?”

Uh-oh. The Southern California lesbian scene is way too small.

“That was Dawn’s first girlfriend,” Steph says. “It was wild.”

I am so angry I want to punch Steph. I get that blood-boiling feeling again, the one I always get before I do something bad. I wish I had more to drink. I try to steady my breathing.

“Jen is my neighbor,” says Lily. Her body language is changing. She backs away from me. “I know all about you, Dawn.”

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. Lesbians all know each other. Jen is popular and always cockblocking me, pussy-blocking me, whatever, even though we haven’t spoken in over ten years.

“I hope it’s not all bad,” I say, trying to keep my voice cool.

“It’s all pretty bad,” says Lily. “Erica, you wanna head?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” says Erica.

“But we aren’t done with our game,” Steph says like the dumbass she’s been all night.

The girls ignore Steph and get up. “Have a good night,” Lily says weakly, and they walk away.

“What the fuck?” I say to Steph as soon as they’re gone.

Steph cowers, looking afraid. She knows how scary I can get when I’m mad.

“I’m sorry, Dawn,” she says. “I really messed up. I thought they would think it was funny.”

I throw my glass of ice in her face.

EMILY.

Beau is the first thing I see when I walk into Subtropical. I feel calm, like everything is how it is supposed to be. Just like Beau’s planets. Exalted. Everything in its right place, like that Radiohead song I loved in high school and never stopped listening to.

I sit in my normal spot by the door, and the hot waiter gives me coffee without me even having to ask for it. He knows by now not to address me or ask me any questions. I am starting to like it here. They know their customers. It is much better here without my cousin Rachel.