Justin and Aislinn sat on the couch, munching away at their dinners. After their basic hunger had been satisfied, Justin turned to Aislinn.

“Now, I think you were about to tell me your life story before the food arrived…”

Aislinn swallowed a mouthful of noodles before speaking. “Uhh, you’re right I was. But, y’know, come to think of it, my life is nothing compared to yours. I feel inferior. You need to give me time to adjust, Justin.” Aislinn spoke quickly, her words tumbling over one another.

“Un-uh. You promised, Aislinn…um, I don’t know your last name, do I?”

Aislinn giggled. “Anoki. Aislinn Anoki. How’s that for alliteration?”

“It’s a beautiful name. How’d you get it?” Justin asked. He figured that the right questions would lead to some back round information on his roommate and stage partner.

“Well, my mother is Irish and my father is Native American. Aislinn is Gaelic for A Dream and Anoki is Native American for Actor.” She explained.

Justin smiled. “Actor, how fitting. Well, that heritage certainly explains your looks.”

Aislinn nodded. She had long dark curly hair, her skin was the color of someone who spent a lot of time tanning, and she had blue eyes shining out of her freckled face.

“So, do your brothers or sisters have the same looks?” Justin asked, prodding.

“Don’t have any, I was an only child. And look, you can either keep asking questions, or just shut up and let me talk.” Aislinn glared at him.

“Okay, okay, floors all yours.”

“Okay, so I was born in this small town, and I lived there all my life. My parents were the only family I ever knew, since their parents disapproved of their marriage, they were pretty much disowned from their families. I’m currently 23, almost 24. I’ve been living in New York City for 5 years, here and there doing some acting.”

“Is that why you moved here?” Justin asked.

“Yeah. I was going to NYU, but I had to drop out after…well, after a friend of mine died. I was very close to him, and I moved back home when he died 4 years ago. But I had to get out of that town. It was too small, everyone knew everything.”

“Was he your boyfriend?” Aislinn nodded.

“How’d he die, if it’s not too rude of me to ask?”

“He was just really sick, and respiratory failure is what ultimately killed him.” Aislinn said, feeling the tears well in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Aislinn. That must have been hard for you. I can understand why you had to get out of there.”

“Yeah, it was hard. But I’m doing better now.” Justin looked satisfied, and Aislinn had told him part of her life while still keeping private matters private. She felt a little relieved to have been able to gloss over certain things easily.

“Well, I guess we better get to sleep.” Justin said, stretching.

Aislinn looked at the clock. It was almost midnight, and they had rehearsal at 9 am tomorrow.

“Sounds like a plan.” Aislinn said, yawning. “I hope my muscels aren’t dead tomorrow from moving everything. I have a feeling this cororgapher is going to want to get right into it, and she already doesn’t like me.” Aislinn said, rolling her eyes.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it now. She’ll get over it once she gets to know you better, Aislinn. Just take it one day at a time.” Justin said, pulling Aislinn to her feet, and right into a hug.

“It was nice talking to you tonight, Aislinn Anoki. I’m looking forward to more talks.”

“Me, too, Justin Timberlake. Sweet dreams.”

“You, too.” Justin said, as he closed his door behind him. Aislinn went into her own room, shutting the door softly. She sat on her bed, and began to take her shoes off, and thought about what Justin had said. Just take it one day at a time. Aislinn remember the last times she had heard that phrase, a little over four years ago, at her doctor’s office.

“Now, Aislinn, I’m sure you already know what these results are, as well as I do.”

“I’m pretty sure, Dr. Goldworth. It came back positive, didn’t it?”

“Yes, it did.” Dr. Goldworth put a hand on Aislinn’s shoulder. Now, you have plenty of treatment options available to you. I know you already know that right now, there is no cure for AIDS, but with all the advancements being made in medicine, infected people have a much longer lifespan now.”

“Thank you Dr. Goldworth.” Aislinn mumbled. He gave her a few bottles of pills and some pamphlets as she left. He didn’t know what to do, nothing like this had ever happened in their town before.

Aislinn fingered the bottles of pills she kept hidden in a bad under her bed. Paul had contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion as a small child, and had given it to Aislinn. They had never used condoms, because Aislinn took birth control pills and neither of them had slept with anyone else. They thought they were safe. Paul didn’t realize he had AIDS until he started getting sick after graduation.

Aislinn remembered getting the phone call from Paul’s mother, telling her Paul had died from AIDS that afternoon. He didn’t want Aislinn to know he was sick, he didn’t want to ruin her life.

And Aislinn had made a vow to not let the disease take control of her. After the whispers started to get to her, she had packed up and moved to New York in the dead of night. No one knew where she was right now. Tarika had tried to be there for her, but no one really understood. She left her parents a note saying she couldn’t take the whispers and stares anymore, and left. Ever since, she took her medication, lived her life the way Paul would have wanted her to, and told no one about her burden. They would just start whispering and staring, and Aislinn didn’t think she could live through that again.