Jenny unlocked her apartment, dropped her gym bag, and headed straight for the scale in the bathroom. She sighed heavily. An entire month of careful eating and trudging on the elliptical three times a week, and she had only managed to lose two pounds. What was she doing wrong? What was wrong with her?

She kicked the scale aside, ready to throw a tantrum. Ready to eat a quart of ice cream.

Damn. She just remembered she didn’t keep ice cream in the freezer anymore. A quick trip to the supermarket could fix that, though!

She grabbed her keys. Froze mid-step.

What was she doing?

Failing. That’s what she was doing.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Go away, self pity! She had no time for that nonsense. She had to take a shower and get ready for class. After that, she’d work on the assignments until collapsing into bed. In the morning, she’d study some more before rushing off to work. Gym visits were only recently squeezed into her schedule. She should thank Danielle for the membership, but couldn’t bring herself to be so magnanimous just yet.

Even if she had the energy.

She plunked onto the couch. She just needed a moment. Life wasn’t supposed to be this tiring, was it? She missed her carefree days of living at home with her mom and working at the store. So few responsibilities.

So little respect.

Danielle had said she couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t going anywhere in life. That she was done waiting for Jenny to grow up. Until that moment, Jenny hadn’t realized she had to go somewhere in life. But her ex had been right. It was time to grow up. Earn a respectable place in the world.

Become a person that someone would actually want to stay with.

Would Danielle have stayed if she’d started all this sooner? Proven that she wasn’t a pointless lump on the couch? Jenny winced at the memory. She’d wanted to do a Netflix marathon with Danielle once. Nothing sounded cozier to her than snuggling up with popcorn, a remote, and a beautiful girlfriend. But the response she’d received was far from amenable.

“I’m not wasting time being a pointless couch lump,” Danielle had said.

They’d gone hiking instead, which was nice even though she’d gotten bitten by mosquitos, but why couldn’t they do what she wanted once in a while?

She wondered what Danielle was doing these days. Dating someone more fabulous than Jenny, most likely. Maybe a fellow law student.

A wistful sigh escaped her lips. Dating Danielle had been nothing short of amazing. The fact that she had been her first probably had something to do with it, but the woman had charisma. Knew what she wanted and went for it. To this day, Jenny still marveled over Danielle wanting her, even if only for a few months.

She glanced at the clock. Her body liked being a pointless couch lump. Maybe she would forgo the shower today and just hope no one noticed the smell in class. It was night school, so a lot of people went directly from work anyway.

She closed her eyes and let her body relax. What would Danielle think of her new life? Would she be proud?

Her mind wandered to the day Danielle walked into the sporting goods store where Jenny worked at the time. The woman was tall and imposing, her dark brown skin smooth and flawless. Her hair, though coarse, had been straightened and styled perfectly. Her nails were painted a bright shade of red. And her dark eyes were flashing with anger because the store clerk wouldn’t give her a refund for the tennis racket she was bringing back.

“Ma’am, store policy requires a receipt for us to issue a refund,” the young cashier had recited.

“Don’t ma’am me about store policies. How many receipts do you have lying around your house?”

“I, er-”

“That’s right. Nobody keeps those damn things because nobody expects they’ll need to return the shit they bought!”

Jenny had heard the ruckus from all the way across the store. The woman definitely had a commanding voice. As shift leader, she went to see what the problem was. She had arrived at the counter just as Danielle was demanding to see the manager.

“How can I help you?” Jenny asked calmly.

Danielle turned her attention to Jenny, a little surprised that someone had gotten there so quickly. She squinted at Jenny’s name tag. “Jenny, let’s hope you have more sense than this fool over here.” She glanced at Jenny’s name tag again. “You’re not a manager, are you?”

Jenny squirmed inside, but maintained a calm exterior, pasting on a smile. “Not yet.”

Her response made Danielle grin, and some of the tension seemed to dissipate.

Jenny turned to the red-faced cashier. “Kevin, go ahead and continue the inventory you started this morning.” Obviously relieved, he scuttled to the back of the store. She faced Danielle again. “I’m sorry, he’s only been here a couple of weeks and gets nervous. What is it you needed?”

Danielle explained about the tennis racket and lack of receipt, which to Jenny seemed like an easy case to solve by offering her store credit.

“Do I look like I shop here all the time?”

Jenny blinked. Most people were okay with store credit.

The woman tapped a red fingernail on the counter. “Well?”

“Um.” Jenny looked the woman up and down and replied honestly, “You do, actually. Look athletic.”

Danielle’s full lips quirked. “Well thank you, I do appreciate that. But the fact remains I’d prefer to get my money back instead of some store gift card I’ll never use.”

“Hmm.” Jenny thought about what the right response would be.

“Look, Jenny, you seem like a reasonable person. I’m not usually one to go into personal details, but the truth is I got this thing as a present for my gir—my ex-girlfriend. I found the bitch making out with one of the coaches. Tennis practice my ass. If I keep this damn racket, I might club her in the head with it. I can get a refund, right?”

Jenny didn’t respond immediately. She’d never met a lesbian before. She’d seen a few holding hands, and she thought Ellen was the funniest thing on earth, but she’d never actually spoken to one. It was a bit of a novelty to her, though she wasn’t sure why she was so curious. After all, they were people just like everyone else.

She cleared her throat. “Well… let’s see, did you use a credit card to pay?”

“Yes, this one.” Danielle pulled the plastic out of her purse.

“Oh thank goodness,” Jenny breathed, then realized she’d said it aloud. “I mean, good! We should be able to look it up on the computer.” After tapping in some codes and swiping the card, the transaction came up on the screen. “Good, here it is. Now, I’ll just do a bit of whiz-bangery and… there. It should be credited back to your account.”

“You certainly are a doll. I do appreciate this a lot. How about I take you to dinner?”

“W-what?” Jenny stared, dumbfounded.

“Dinner, you and me, as a thank you.”

“Oh! Oh, that’s not necessary. This is my job.”

“All right then, how about dinner so I can get to know you better?”

Jenny wasn’t sure how long her mouth had been hanging open. Was this woman… asking her out?

“I’ve got sixty bucks back on my credit card,” Danielle waved her MasterCard back and forth. “It’ll be my treat.”

“I… I…” Was this a date? “Okay.” The word flew out of her mouth before she could second guess herself.

“Great! When do you get off?”

The rest had been a whirlwind of dates and phone conversations. Jenny simply rode the tidal wave that was Danielle, carried by her enthusiasm and energy. She marveled at Danielle’s interest and wondered what it was she saw in her. Their first kiss had been spectacular. Women’s lips were far softer and fuller—and more erotic—than men’s. It was a major turning point for Jenny.

Not that it mattered now. Jenny was far too preoccupied with being a productive human being to worry about relationships these days. Danielle had moved on, so Jenny would too.

Speaking of moving on, Jenny’s eyes jerked open and flitted to the clock. It was late. Time to haul her ripe self to class. Smelly or not, that business degree would be hers.

Eventually.