Back from school for the winter break Zahra was excited to meet up with Tia again. She was back barely an hour before she made her excuses from her family and went off to see her friend.

Turning up at Tia's door she was a bit stunned by the enthusiastic greeting she received. Opening the door and seeing Zahra, Tia had squealed and thrown her arms around her friend and hugged her for a full minute before letting her go and inviting her in.

Up in Tia's room the two girls exchanged stories about how miserable their lives were without each other, as well as what they had got up to.

When Zahra got to the winter formal and meeting Oliver, she saw a little burst of jealousy flash across Tia's face. A look that quickly passed when Zahra explained Oliver being gay and turned inquisitive when she mentioned his accusation of her orientation.

"Well?" Asked Tia. "What did you say to him about that?"

Trusting her best friend even more than Oliver, she admitted the truth. "I did admit to him that I prefer girls over boys."

"Oh, I see. You tell a stranger before you tell me." Tia teased. "I thought you loved me"

"Of course I do. You know that."

Tia hesitantly asked. "How much?" Before leaning in and kissing her friend. Zahra paused for maybe half a second before kissing her back.

The rest of the break swept by in a blur, with Zahra spending almost all of the time with Tia. With Tia being an only child and having both parents working full time this left them plenty of time alone. Evenings were also mostly spent with Tia's family who were quite happy for the girls to be close. Whether they knew how close, they never let on.

One evening the two girls went to the cinema, to watch the latest chic-flic. Not the local cinema, where they could be spotted by people who knew them, but one across town. The two came out of the cinema, holding hands, and discussing the parts of the film that most appealed to them. On the way to the taxi rank to get a cab home the two decided to get something to eat. Opting for a burger and fries they got a take away to eat it in the small park opposite the cinema.

Pulling out a particularly long fry Zahra looked at her girlfriend. "We could do that scene from Lady and the Tramp." She suggested.

Each taking an end the two worked their way to the middle, before sharing a passionate kiss. Laughing the two finished their food before catching a cab back to Zahra's home. Tia making her own way home from there.

Next morning Zahra got up to find Leader Joe Carson (Holy Joe, behind his back, especially amongst the teenagers in the congregation) sitting in the living room, clutching his Good Book and looking serious.

"Good morning, Leader Joe." She greeted him. "Is everything Okay?"

"Sit down, child." Was his reply. "We need to talk."

Worried about what could have caused him to make such an early house call, she sat down.

"Can I get you a drink, or anything?" She asked. Wanting, desperately to know what was up, but politeness had been drilled into her from an early age, to the point it was automatic.

Just then her parents came into the room, her father looking angrier than she'd ever seen him, while her mother had the red eyes and smeared make up of a woman who had been crying.

"Is this you? " Her father demanded, turning on the vid screen to a still image of her and Tia sitting in the park the previous night.

"Of course, father." She replied, as realisation sunk in.

"And this?" He continued, pressing play on the handset. The still became a video of her and Tia picking up the fry between them and munching their way to the middle kissing each other.

"Is this you kissing that slut, Tia Green?" He all but growled.

Up until then Tia had been a welcome guest in the house. Being from an influential family, her father was hoping to profit from their closeness when he retired from the Planetary Guard and entered politics.

Zahra got the feeling that even his ambition was going to take second place to his bigotry.

"Yes, father. We're dating." Was her surprisingly calm response. Knowing that this day would eventually come was no defence for when it did. Her calmness however did surprise her, as both her parents were deeply into the New Reconstituted Reform Faith, her mother being one of the assistant leaders at their temple.

An amalgamation of the three dominant religions, at the time, and borrowing from all three, the NRRF had appeared a couple of hundred years ago. Initially springing up from an attempt to get the proponents of the three religions to realise their similarities, rather than their differences, a small group of triumvirate believers had decided that as all three worshipped the same god, all three must be right and that the true faith was the common ground between the three of them. More popular in the outer colonies, the founders scoured the progenitor faiths and set up the rules. If all three agreed on a point then it was a Primary Point of Faith. Definitive and Inviolate. These Points of Faith were the cornerstones of the belief system, and could not be challenged.

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Two agreeing could be either a Secondary or Tertiary, depending on how much the third disagreed. While any rule that only one of them demanded was a Tertiary Point of Faith.

Different sects appeared based on their views of the Secondary and Tertiary PoFs, but the strict adherence to the Primaries meant that differing views on the others were officially parallel paths to enlightenment

This prioritising of the Primaries was designed to hold the wider religion together. Unfortunately the strong emphasis on those following the Primaries PoFs being right, regardless of their views on the others, became a "If we are right, they are wrong!" situation. Those who had not found the light were to be converted, peacefully. Those who strayed from the path were the "Fallen" Those Fallen under eighteen were to be brought back, if possible, with a strict diet of religious indoctrination and shielding from outside influences.

Her parents being adherents of a particularly holier-than-though sect they were outwardly very pious, though not always practicing it in private.

Sadly sexuality was covered by the Primary PoFs, and was a major concern in their particular sect. Bigotry against any sexual deviancy from the 'One man, one woman' was in. Same sex relationships, along with adultery and sex before marriage were considered a major deviancy, even qualifying for expulsion from the temple.

"Tia and I are in love!" Zahra declared. There was no way her parents would even try to see things from her point of view, let alone accept the fact that she was a lesbian.

Her mother burst into tears again. "How have we failed Him, to have raised such a wicked creature?" She sobbed.

"Get. To. Your. Room." Her father ordered. "No wait! Give me your mobile phone and go to my office. We need to discus your future, and pray for guidance."

Normally nobody, even the cleaner, would be allowed in here without one of the adults supervising. Even then, nothing was to be touched, without specific permission.

Having no such permission Zahra just stood in the centre of the room for an hour while waiting for the sentence. On the walls were her fathers memorabilia from his distinguished (in his mind) life. Campaign and service medals shared a display with the folded flags of both the Empire of Humanity and the planet of Carsus IV, which she called home. Not expecting much in the way of mercy, she was nonetheless taken aback when she was recalled to the living room.

Called back in she found the three adults lined up facing her, with Leader Joe in the middle, her father on his right and her mother the left. Her mother looked like she had been crying again but was now as steely faced as the men.

"We have our answer." Began Leader Joe. "You are no longer one of the Faith. You are Fallen." He all but spat the last word, his contempt visible.

"These are you new living arrangements." Added her father. You will leave this house only to go to school, work or temple."

"You are to have nothing more to do with that girl!" interrupted her mother.

"We will not be wasting any more money on your education." Her father continued. "You will not be returning to Saint Ruth's, we will enrol you in whichever public school will take you."

"You will get a job, as you will now be paying rent for the privilege of living in our house."

"You will accompany us to the temple every week where you will sit at the back, on your own, contemplating your sin, and praying for His forgiveness. For we cannot forgive you until He does!"

"Leader Joe will arrange for your computer system to be locked to only access information necessary for your studies - both school and religious."

"Yes, you will get religious homework, from Leader Joe. To be completed and handed in on time."

"We, of course will not be funding any college for you. In fact the day term starts for your first year of college you will no longer be a part of this family and will not be welcomed back here." Her father continued.

"You may not talk to our children at all, for any reason without one of us present." That struck home, and stung. Zahra loved her siblings and to be banned form having anything to do with them really hurt.

Having been withdrawn from the St. Faith's and returned to a day school she was only allowed to leave the house for school, work and church. Moreover, with no access to entertainment systems, Zahra had plenty of time to study. So study she did. A keen student of history, specialising in pre-space flight Earth, Zahra read everything she could on that period, from literature to the many atrocities. Which is how she found the terrible book that had become her lifeline. Not quite literature and not quite a crime against humanity.

Tia had become a regular at the diner Zahra had worked at, tipping all the staff well, especially her girlfriend. This prevented the owner, Mike, from complaining too much about the state Zahra returned from her breaks in.

Away from her family and the pressure her parents had placed on her, Zahra came out of her shell and enjoyed being around other people. Her naturally vivacious personality resurged and combined with her professionalism (when Tia wasn't around) helped boost the number of customers on the nights she worked. Mike, being a lot more liberal than her family, and seeing a notable rise in profits, had taken a liking to the girls and had no problems helping Zahra and Tia, even going so far as hiding Tia in the walk-in chiller when Zahra's parents had made a surprise visit to re-enforce their mistrust of their eldest child. Secretly Mike had hoped that circumstances would conspire to allow him to adopt the young woman as a foil to the two boys in his own family.

Mike was a tall thick set man with a slightly receding hairline, in his late thirties. He loved working in the diner and considered the staff and regulars as being part of his family.

Ironically, this had been the happiest time of her childhood. She had parental love from Mike and romantic love from Tia. Neither of which she had really known before.

Her mother had taken half her wages as 'rent' but had left the tips alone. While not overly happy at having to hand over half of her wages Zahra was, at least, allowed to keep all the tips. The wages, and some tips, went into the bank account her parents had set up for her. The rest of the money Mike kept for her, so she would have options when she turned eighteen and left home.

Wary of damaging his planned political future Jacob Wellson had not thrown Zahra out of the house when she turned eighteen, though he made it abundantly clear that his support was effectively over.

Her mother sided with her father, while her siblings sided with their sister. Zahra had to persuade them at least to go along with their parents. Zahra loved her siblings even more for this and talked them into acting neutral in the fight. Her parents' cruelty towards her could easily be reproduced onto them, and she did not want to see that.