Sarah called Erin and Pam Sunday morning. The friends talked for over two hours. Sarah told them about her date with Kurl, and then she revealed she’d kissed Bent. It had taken Erin and Pam a very long time to respond after she’d said that. “Are you actually being serious?” Erin asked. Her voice sounded pinched. “Because, while I love you as a friend. I just. Well…it’s just really hard to believe. You’re talking about that perfect specimen of a dude, Bent Prince!” Sarah sighed, holding the phone closer to her ear. “Yes. But he was drunk. He wasn’t in his right mind.” Pam was doing what she did best. Taking a million years to say what she wanted to say. “I’m thinking…” Pam finally said. “I mean, if Bent didn’t like you, Sarah. He would not have been over at your house, right?” Sarah squeezed her pillow to her chest as she sat on her bed. “Yeah, but…after he kissed me…he left. He was all confused and kind of angry.””She’s right, Pam,” Erin said. “We can’t overthink this. As wonderful as it sounds. We have to be rational.” Her voice now became serious. “Look, Sarah. I’m not going to deny it. I’m outrageously jealous or envious or whatever you want to call it. While I adore Trevor. Probably too much. He’s no Bent. And, you know, that’s okay. He’s great for me. But is Bent great for you?”Pam interrupted. “Come on, Erin. You’re sounding a bit mean, don’t you think? You should be happy for Sarah.” Erin groaned. “I AM happy. I’m just saying, Sarah. Trevor told me Bent has LOTS of girls in his life. Do you really want to be another one?” Sarah started to cry. She knew Erin was right. “Oh, sorry. Don’t cry, Sarah. We just want the best for you,” Erin said. “And frankly, Kurl doesn’t sound too terrible. At least compared to Bent. Kurl wants to date you. And hopefully just you.” The three girls laughed at that. Sarah dried her eyes on her pillow. “I know. I don’t completely trust Kurl. At least, not yet. But I definitely would rather be the only girl in a relationship and not the tenth.””Or fiftieth if we’re really going to try and keep track of Bent’s frequent conquests,” Erin said. Pam groaned loudly. “I’m hanging up now. Unfortunately, I have the privilege of now walking the mega hunk’s four dogs.” Sarah and Erin laughed. They heard Pam click off. “I feel like I’m always warning you about boys,” Erin confessed. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Sarah. Getting hurt really sucks. It’s better to go out with a guy who won’t hurt you.”Sarah nodded, although Erin couldn’t see her. “Yeah, but Kurl and Bent are so cute.”Erin cracked up. “Yeah. Guess you’re right. You know what? I take it back. I take it ALL back. Who am I to stop you from dating the guys you want? You should have your fun.” Sarah couldn’t decide if Erin was teasing her. “How about this?” Sarah said. “I’ll give Kurl a chance. At least for awhile. If he stays cool, I keep him. If not, I dump him. Sound good?””What about Bent?” Erin asked. Sarah sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do about him!” Erin was quiet for awhile. “Ignore him. See what he does,” she said. ***Later that day, Sarah went to the country club. She recalled her father mentioning that Bent played tennis there on Sundays. But she didn’t see Bent anywhere when she casually strolled by the tennis courts. Not that she was looking for him. She was really just looking for an opportunity to start ignoring him. And she couldn’t ignore him if he wasn’t around to see her ignoring him. Right???Sarah approached the sign in counter and quickly skimmed the tennis lesson sheet. The name, Bent Prince, was typed out in formal print. She saw his lesson was at one in the afternoon. She checked her watch. It was only one-fifteen. That’s when she noticed that the column with ‘No Show’ was marked farther to the right on the form.