Diamond Dance

(Really don't know what i was going for with this. But, it's a story nonetheless. So enjoy.)

Cheyenne pulled the rubber bands from her pigtails  and shook her hair out. Long, blonde waves covered her shoulders. Kayla had always been jealous of Cheyenne's hair.

"If it makes you feel better," Jeff said, "he didn't appear to be kissing anyone."

But Cheyenne just cried more and Robin reached over to the end table to grab another wad of tissue. "I shouldn't have left him. I could have waited. I didn't think he'd stay and flirt with all those girls."

Kayla crossed her legs beneath her as she sat on the couch. "That's just what Eric does. You know it's just an act. You don't really think he's actually cheating, do you?"

While Robin sympathized with Cheyenne-with both of the girls'-she couldn't relate because she'd never had a flirtatious boyfriend who was always surrounded by horny women. Let alone one that stuck around for two years. It wasn't for a lack of good looks. She had a heart-shaped face, wide, caramel-colored eyes, and platinum blonde hair.

All of her friends said she was a rare beauty. She was just too concerned with work to show it off and meet anyone special. Maybe they were right, but while physical attributes were easy to change, introverted tendencies were not.

Having no boyfriend in this household was like getting picked last in gym class. She felt like such a loser. She was at home every day after work, alone, while her friends were with their boyfriends. And feeling like a loser only made her less confident and shier.

Cheyenne grabbed a tissue and blew her nose, which was red and raw from too much wiping. I should have bought the lotion tissues, they were on sale anyway, Robin thought to herself.

"Look Cheyenne, if Eric was really cheating on you, he would have told you about it. Well, not exactly. But if he wanted to be with someone else, he would have broken up with you first. Don't worry about it, okay? If you want, i could call him right now and ask him what's up without saying you're here, listening."

Cheyenne shook her head. "No thanks, Jeff."

Robin shrugged and then rubbed her stomach as if she felt sick. Probably she ate too much ice cream. "You should just call him later."

Cheyenne wiped at her face again, the tears slowing now. "Are you serious? Why would i do that? He'll know i was crying and i'll feel stupid."

Robin wanted to feel for Cheyenne, but her boyfriend was worthless. They all thought so, but the only one honest enough to speak her mind was Kayla, which lessened the overall effect."Eric"-Kayla said his name like it was a piece of spinach stuck between her teeth-"is a total jerk. Not to mention he's a sucky bass player who doesn't deserve all those 'fans'." That had nothing to do with the situation, really, but Kayla hated that Eric acted that way around the women at the clubs when he knew how easily Cheyenne gets jealous.

Cheyenne curled into a ball on the other couch. Her usually clear, peachy-toned skin looked splotchy.

Maybe it was time for Robin to back Kayla up. She ran through Eric's imperfections. "Now you don't have to put up with him when he rolls his eyes at you for whining. 'I ordered this with ketchup. Not mayonnaise. What, do you want to give me a heart attack?'" This made Jeff laugh.

Cheyenne was silent, not sure if it was an insult to Eric or to herself. "I wish i were you right now," She said, giving Robin a serious stare.

"Why?"

"Because you're happy and not nursing a broken heart."

"That makes me lucky?" Robin raised her eyebrows in question. "I think i'd rather be heartbroken than alone."

Jeff shrugged, slouching farther into the couch.

"you guys!" Tom said, walking into the living room. "Have you forgotten that women cannot be defined by their men? You're letting your state of mind suffer because of something a guy did to you. You need to stop." His face was serious.

"Where did you come from?" Robin said, turning toward the kitchen to see if Tom had come in through the back door.

"It isn't...that...easy," Cheyenne said, sniffing. Usually Cheyenne was big on women authority in a relationship. But she seemed to let that go once she got with Eric. Kayla wasn't sure if it was because she was so in love that it didn't matter because she knew Eric wouldn't take advantage of her, or because she gave up on it entirely when it wasn't working in her favor.

"No. It isn't," Kayla agreed. "And you need a coping mechanism."

Kayla was interested in psychology after high school and was planning to take it as a major in collage before Cheyenne convinced her to move to Birch Falls. Since then, her plans have been set aside. One thing she learned in her high school Psychology class was to create a coping list. She used this method when her cat, Gypsy, ran away. Instead of laying her in head in Gypsy's old cat bed and crying, she donated the bed to a pet charity. And when she saw a cat, she stayed away for a while, until she got over Gypsy, because playing with another cat would just make her miss her cat even more. Thinking of the coping list gave her an idea.