To salute MissTer's rising popularity, the girls and their entourage threw a little celebratory get-together. Nothing too fancy, just a little poolside relaxation. Sun, drinks, snacks, laughs and good friends.

Carol was trying to convince Jin she knew water ballet. Jin laughed as her tipsy friend sputtered and shouted out step counts ("Six! Seven! Eight!"). Catching sight of the spectacle, Chris and Chiao ran over to try to imitate Carol's "moves" on land. Lots of laughter ensued, but never get a rowdy Chris near a pool. In minutes she had pulled Chiao and herself down into the water.

Carol's splish-splasing met head-on with mega-splashes as the three smallest but feistiest MissTer members played like teenagers. Jin soon tired of this and wandered off.


After the water-babies returned from their romp, some party-goers chose to chill out on lawn chairs, others engaged in loud drinking games. Milk produced a deck of cards which she and Chiao played away from the ruckus. Shaded by a large tree, the two took turns matching pairs. Milk sat with her back against the thick tree trunk. At some point, not entirely clear when, her mind drifted. She played her cards robotically but her brain was now stuck in a groove. A repeat-pattern of Chiao. Maybe she imagined it but when she looked at her deck, all her cards seemed to be in the suit of Hearts. She threw down her cards and unexpectedly stood up. She lit a smoke as if she needed it to keep herself from falling back down.

Chiao stared up at her, slowly put her deck of cards down in the grass, and stood to accompany her friend. Rather than asking questions, she just waited for Milk to divulge. She wondered how she could get so moody during a nice afternoon in the sun with good people all around her. Yet there she stood, brow furrowed, frantically swallowing nicotine as if it was her life-force.

"Chiao, I...really REALLY, um..." Milk started to speak with enthusiasm but then hesitated.
"Really what?" Chiao asked.
Milk bitterly tossed her cigarette , and losing all her strength of the year past, uttered "Really...want to kiss you."

(Silence)

"...ok, nevermind. I guess I was naive to imagine you'd be interested," Milk's words tumbled out of like a waterfall.

"Wait, what?" Chiao shook her head in disbelief, "Maybe now's the time to tell you - when we first met four years ago, I totally had a crush on you."

Milk stared at her friend in disbelief, then said, "Oh? So then...why didn't you say so til now?"

"I was younger and stupider? Or wait - you had a girlfriend. And then there's that whole tomboy thing..."

"What "tomboy thing"?" Milk gawked.

"You know, tomboys don't hook up with each other," Chiao clarified.

"Pffttt...right - who cares about that?" Milk looked away.

"Well, YOU I thought. Judging by your past choice of girlfriends." Chiao said.

Milk felt criticized, and retorted "Hey, Louise was no tomboy either."

It was the first time either of them had dropped the L-Bomb in ages."Never said she was! But I guess I've also grown up a bit since I met you. Maybe my tastes have broadened."

"Ha! You said you already liked me back then! Bull, your tastes changed!" Milk laughed and poked Chiao in the shoulder. It was still clammy from the earlier dip in the chlorinated pool.

"Um, okay, whatever! I don't know, I've just always found you cute, i guess. It's not like I'd forgotten over the past few years, but I suppose I just didn't find it realistic, so I dated other girls and was content to be your buddy," Chiao reasoned.

"Li'l buddy," Milk smirked.

"Yeah?" Chiao's throat was dry and tight.

"I need to kiss you. Now," Milk tilted Chiao's chin up with one finger. The taller girl bent her head to reach the shorter one's face with her lips. She first aimed for Chiao's cheek, lingering just long enough for Chiao to step away if she wasn't interested. But Chiao's heart was now in , and really, she couldn't have moved had she tried. So there she stood, immobilized. Milk's full lips were soft and warm. Chiao closed her eyes and felt a small tingle at the back of her neck.

Milk swung her friend by the shoulders until she had her pinned against the tree. Chiao felt feverish as Milk's tongue stud grazed her own tongue. Milk felt a bit overwhelmed and stopped. Dizzily, she gazed into Chiao's semi-closed eyes and whispered, "Three years."

Chiao oxygen into her lungs and asked "Three years what?"
"Three years I've kept this under lock and key," Milk explained. Her wide eyes brimmed with tears but she fought stealthily to keep them from overflowing. Chiao sympathetically touched Milk's cheek, gently rubbing the skin below her eye with her thumb.

The out-of-place sound of someone calling "Pssst!" startled them. MissTer's manager and long-time friend to both Milk and Chiao appeared out of thin air. Clad in cut-off shorts and bikini top, Jobby stood there pointing a water pistol at them. Jobby was a gender b(l)ending activisty lesbian that loved the mix and match of male and female attributes. Though she preferred wearing jeans and t-shirts, she had no qualms about throwing on a party dress and patting glitter onto her eyelids. She was neither surprised nor offended at the sight of two tomboys embracing one another.

"Freeze, or I'll shoot!" she barked at the stunned pair. Milk released her grip on Chiao's shoulders and took a step back. Water came spitting out of Jobby's gun, hitting both girls around shoulder-height. As they flinched, Jobby flung the watergun from side to side, causing droplets to spray into the girls' faces and hair. Chiao grabbed Milk by the wrist and ran. Jobby ran after them, into the pool area, constantly spraying water in their general direction. As the scene interrupted the drinking games and chill-time, several friends got in on the action, eventually landing Jobby in the pool (thank you, Jin), and Chiao and Milk crumpled together in a giggling heap nearby.

If most of their friends hadn't been watching this summer frolic, Milk would have placed a sweet lingering kiss on Chiao's laughing mouth, as they lay there in the grass. This was a good day after all.