Things were different now. They were exclusive after all, and the jersey thing had pushed it.

She’d been on the phone with Sydney for a while now. He seemed to think she should just ask Angel straight out, what was up with him and Dana. From everything she’d told Sydney so far about Angel even Sydney knew there was no way Angel would’ve kept quiet if the tables were turned. Sydney had even jokingly started referring to Angel as her badass husband. Then unexpectedly Sydney asked. “Hey, Lynni, what’s Angel think about us being so tight?”

She stopped and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to lie but she had no choice. She wasn’t about to hurt his feelings.

“You know...” She hoped to sound convincing. “He really hasn’t said much about it. I guess ‘cause I really haven’t gone too much into it.” That was true wasn’t it? Technically she hadn’t lied.

“Hmm,” Sydney said. “Maybe it’s better that way.”

There you had it. As usual she and Sydney were on the same page. She smiled triumphantly. Her reasoning on not clarifying things about Syd to Angel held a little more validation now. Then as if someone had pushed the slow button on her, making her thoughts warp, he continued.

“I mean, be honest of course, you don’t wanna start things off by keeping things from him. Just don’t tell him more than he needs to know. Last thing you want is for him to think your rubbing our friendship in.”

And just like that, she was back to feeling deceitful. This shouldn’t be so complicated. She plopped down on her bed. Up until last night she hadn’t really thought about the seriousness of the relationship, and the real effect Sydney might have on it.

She looked up to see Valerie standing by her door, in her sleep clothes as usual for this time of the morning, holding a plate loaded with food, and a glass of milk. She had a big silly smile on her face, “Is that Angel?” she mouthed.

Sarah shook her head and mouthed back “Sydney.”

Valerie frowned and walked over and set her food down on Sarah’s desk. She sat down facing Sarah.

Sarah cut her conversation with Sydney short telling him she needed to finish getting ready. She’d been done getting ready for a while now, but she could tell Valerie wanted to talk. She saw Valerie shake her head disapprovingly as she hung up. She hadn’t even flipped her phone shut when Valerie started in on her.

“You know, you’re gonna blow it with Angel because of this guy,” she said. “I mean have you not noticed how possessive Angel acts around you? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s cute; he’s not rude or anything. But it’s so obvious he wants everyone to know you’re off limits. Something tells me he doesn’t know just how much you talk to Syd.”

The knot that had formed in Sarah’s stomach during her conversation with Sydney was still there, and it was getting bigger.

She swung around sideways on the bed and brought her feet up, so that she could lean on her knees. She exhaled loudly. “I know.”

“Thank you,” Valerie said. “Finally, you’re listening.” She put a spoonful of eggs and food in her mouth and took a swig of milk, holding up a finger for Sarah to give her a second. Apparently she wasn’t done.

Sarah looked at Valerie’s plate. There was enough food for two people. It’d always amazed her how much Valerie could eat, being that she was so tiny. She smiled, thinking Valerie could probably give Angel a run for his money in an eating contest.

“Look, Sarah, I get it. Okay? Sydney’s been your best friend since you two were kids, and his family is the only family you had growing up. He’s like a brother to you and you’re very close, blah, blah, blah. But this whole needing to talk to each other every single day, is a bit much, don’t you think?”

Sarah grimaced. “That's so unfair though. If it was a girl that was like a sister to me and we talked every day, it would be just fine, wouldn’t it?”

Valerie shook her head as she downed more of her milk. “But that’s the thing Sarah. Fair or not, he’s not a girl, and I can guarantee you, if Angel knew how much you two talk he’d be pissed.” She paused to eat another spoonful, and then spoke with a mouthful. “You never did tell me what he thought of your best friend being a guy.”

Sarah winced and hugged her knees tighter. “He thinks Syd is a girl.”

Valerie’s eyes popped wide open. She took a quick drink of her milk, hurrying to wash her food down.

“Sarah Lynn!” Her tone was reminiscent of Sarah’s childhood, when she’d been caught being bad. ”Please tell me you’re kidding.”

Sarah put her hands on her face and groaned. “I’m not.”

She brought her arms down, crossing them over her knees, leaning her head against them. She looked at Valerie who was still staring at her shaking her head and shrugged. “He assumed Sydney was a girl when I told him about my best friend and I just let him go with that. It didn’t seem so bad at first, but then when we were in Old Town that first weekend he told me he didn’t believe guys and girls could be friends.”

“He did?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah, and he was pretty adamant about it.”

“Not surprising. I’d expect nothing less from a Moreno,” Valerie said. “So, what are you gonna do when he finds out Sydney’s a guy?”

Sarah put her legs back down on the side of the bed and sat up straight. She put her hands under her thighs.