Sherri’s mother had loved that soap. It wasn’t like the other soaps; it was modern. It had mood lighting, a gorgeous soundtrack, lesbians, sex, women having breakdowns. “My friend Roberta calls it The Young and the Rest of Us,” Sherri said. Roberta, Roberta. She was probably in her bedroom getting ready for the show at that exact moment. There was still time for Sherri to ditch Mitch, although she knew she wouldn’t. That afternoon, she gave herself credit for merely having the intention to do the right thing.

Sherri snuggled into Mitch’s side as if they’d been together for years. He was the kind of boyfriend she’d always dreamed of: handsome, popular, fun. Sherri giggled and bit his earlobe. “We had a good time in Galveston, didn’t we? Remember how soft those sheets were?” She ran her finger down the side of his golden face and down his chest. “How about next time I come visit you in California? A bunch of girls have been to the Playboy Mansion in LA. Hef says any Bunny is invited.” She said “Hef” the way the girls at the club did, as if they were old friends, even though she’d never laid eyes on the man. Still, his name had currency. “Bunny Lisa and Bunny Karen went there and stayed a whole week.” She didn’t tell him that they seemed changed from the experience. Damaged. Lisa took money from the gift shop to buy drugs and was fired; Karen just stopped coming to work—who knew what had happened to her. “Maybe I could take you there for a party.”

“Yeah,” Mitch said. “You should come out. That would be great.”

Sherri nuzzled her face in his neck. His jaw was smooth and soft, nothing like the scratchiness of Arthur’s face. She pictured herself in the passenger seat of Mitch’s car in LA with big sunglasses on, cruising down some road with palm trees lining both sides, the sun high in the sky.

Motorboats zipped around them, and the air smelled of gasoline. Mitch asked Rye to teach him how to water-ski. Sherri was surprised that a stuntman didn’t already know how, and surprised that it took him so many tries before he got up. She clapped and cheered for him like a real girlfriend over the sound of the motor. After his last effort, they stopped in the middle of the lake, a lake so big that she could hardly see the shore. This, she thought, must be what it was like to be out on the ocean. She could feel her face and shoulders burn from the sun.