August 1980
"Oh! Demi, hello," Sam's mom, Sheila, stood in the doorway, her hand still on the knob.
"Hi, Mrs. Conners. Is Sam home?"
Sheila stood there, looking at Demi, then looking over her shoulder at something Demi couldn't see from where she stood by Sam's front door.
"Uh... sure. Just a minute, okay?"
Demi smiled and nodded, her hands clasped in front of her. She'd tied her blonde hair back in a ponytail and wore what she considered conservative clothing. She adjusted the short sleeve button-up shirt and smoothed her cotton shorts as she waited.
"Come on in," Sheila said as she backed up and waved her in. Demi stepped into the house and waited in the foyer. Sam's mom closed the door and led Demi toward the hall.
Demi turned and saw Sam standing in the living room, a few feet away. Demi's breath hitched as she looked at the friend she hadn't seen in almost two weeks. Her hair was limp and looked like it hadn't been washed for some time. There were dark circles under Sam's beautiful eyes, and her clothes were baggy and rumpled.
"Hey," Demi said, taking a step forward.
"Hi." Sam looked at Demi, then dropped her eyes.
"Thanks for letting me in."
Sam shrugged, still looking at the carpet.
Demi waited. After several heartbeats, Demi sighed. "We need to talk about this."
Sam shrugged again, her eyes still down.
Demi sighed, the sound filling the room, making Sam look up.
"Enough!" Demi said and closed the distance between them, taking the taller girl into her arms.
Sam stood still for a heartbeat, then relaxed and pulled Demi to her. A soft sob escaped Sam's lips as her forehead rested on Demi's shoulder. Demi made soft shushing sounds as her hands rubbed Sam's back.
Sam sniffed loudly right next to Demi's ear, making her giggle and let go. "Hey, that was loud!"
"Sorry," Sam said, a small smile on her face. Demi smiled back.
"Can we talk?" Demi asked, looking around the large living room. They could hear activity in the kitchen.
"Sure, let's go to my room." They walked down the hall and into Sam's room, closing the door behind them. Demi sat on a chair by a desk, while Sam sat on her bed.
"How are you?" Demi asked as she looked around the room, noting the various posters on the walls, and the collection of stuffed animals on the bed.
"Eh, okay, I guess," Sam said, looking down at her lap.
"You don't look okay."
Sam looked up at Demi, her eyes red. "I'm not, alright? How do you think I feel?"
"I don't know. Why don't you tell me."
Sam nodded slowly. "Okay, I will. I just lost my boyfriend to a girl who's way better looking than me and gives the world's greatest blowjobs." She stared at Demi, her head tilted to the side. "How do you think that makes me feel?" Sam almost spat the words at Demi.
Demi sat back, her brows raised. She took a breath, then tried to smile. "You think that's what happened? Mick doesn't want you because Lois sucked him off? And now he and Lois are going around and fucking?"
Sam's eyes flew wide open. "Ah... well... kinda?"
"Seriously?" Demi asked her, frowning.
"I don't know! Dan told me what he saw." Sam looked off to the side and sighed. Still looking at her bedspread, she said, "I can't blame him, I guess. Lois is gorgeous, and I'm just this..." Sam's hands moved down her sides.
"You're just what?"
Sam looked Demi in the eye, her brows furrowed. "I'm fat, okay? There! I said it. Not like you'd know what that felt like. Or Lois. You two should be models."
"Oh, shit," Demi whispered.
"And I know you two are experienced with guys." She searched Demi's eyes. Patting her chest with her palm, she said, "I'm not. I had a couple of boyfriends before Mick, but nothing serious. I'm no virgin, but I haven't done lots of stuff, either."
She wiped her eyes, then said, "Mick's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I thought he loved me. Wanted me, even though I look like this."
Sam chuckled sadly. "I couldn't believe it when he told me you and he dated before. Why he didn't stay with you blows my mind. You're perfect! You're sexy and fun."
Sighing, she looked away. "And now he has Lois doing him. Oh, my god! That girl is pure sex! The curves on that body, and you've seen how they get when they're together. I can't believe they haven't been fucking for months!"
Demi held up her hand, palm out. "Okay! Stop right there. First of all, you're full of shit."
Sam gasped, then opened her mouth to speak when Demi continued. "Second, Mick is totally in love with you." Sam shook her head. "Yes, he is!"
Demi leaned forward. "Third, Lois is totally, sickeningly in love with Gus." Sam's eyes looked away, and Demi noticed Sam nod to herself.
"Fourth, you already know all this, right?" Demi's eyebrows went up as she looked into Sam's eyes. The fire that had been in Sam seemed to flow out of her.
"And fifth, they tried to explain what happened, and you wouldn't listen to either of them."
Demi sat back, her hands on the arms of the desk chair. "Have I missed anything?" she asked, her head nodding, one corner of her mouth raised.
Sam looked at Demi, then away. She took several deep breaths, then looked back. "Then you tell me why they were making out in his car, just the two of them, days after she gave him head."
"Alright, I will." Demi told Sam what had happened. How Lois hugged and kissed Mick to say thanks.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked in a quiet voice.
Demi nodded, smiling. "Yes. I went over to her parent's house to see how she was doing the next day. She told me that it was so nice that Mick took Lois to see her at the hospital."
Sam leaned back against the wall, her stuffed animals on either side. She sighed, a sad sound. "Oh, no. I messed up." She put her palms to her face and cried.
"Mick's falling apart without you, and the rest of us are all moping around because of this misunderstanding." She looked right into Sam's eyes. "We all miss you. We're a family, and you're not there."
"I said terrible things to all of them."
"Well, not to Bob or me, we weren't there. You probably would have, though."
Sam laughed, and the tension drained away. "Oh, man, what do I do now?"
"I'm gonna call Lois, get her over here, and we'll straighten this thing out."
Sam nodded, and Demi called Lois from the princess phone in Sam's bedroom. After hanging up, she held the ornate, faux old receiver out and grinned. "Cute."
"Yeah, what can I say?" Sam shrugged and smiled. "I saw that when I was like ten and had to have it."
In less than fifteen minutes, they heard the doorbell ring three times, then the sounds of people talking in the front. Demi got up and opened the bedroom door and leaned out into the hallway.
