Downloading Girls On The Run
In the middle of the night, 23-year old Jennifer Halston speeds west on I-70. A phone call had warned her to flee from Pittsburgh. Now she does not know what to do and just keeps driving her faded Chevy Nova—while her blue eyes search the rearview mirror with fear that she is being followed.
At a truck stop in Ohio, Jennifer notices a young woman climbing down from a truck cab. Later she sees her again standing by the roadside with a thumb up. After hesitating a moment, Jen decides to offer her a ride. And thus she meets Stacy Stevens, a short, stocky ex-soldier with spiky hair and a duffle bag over her shoulder. Stacy, 26, angry and running from rejection by her family and the Army, is openly a lesbian.
After Jennifer recovers from her initial shock, she realizes that Stacy is a decent person and that she doesn’t care about her being gay. Soon Stacy reassures Jen that the toughs pursuing her in Pittsburgh, after an altercation in a bar, are not likely to be chasing her now that she has left their turf.
Jennifer gradually calms down but continues driving west. Stacy and Jennifer form a tentative alliance and forge a path across the United States. Jennifer has limited funds; Stacy knows how to camp, so they sleep under the stars. Brought up in a large farm family, Stacy exudes confidence; Jennifer, an only child whose parents died when she was a teenager, is fearful.
Yet comfort gradually grows between them. Stacy finds the tall blonde very attractive but knows enough to keep hands off. She also wonders aloud if maybe their being on the run was not an accident but instead some kind of destiny. Reaching Stacy’s chosen destination, San Francisco, the two remain together to find housing and jobs.
Trained as an Army mechanic, Stacy has an agenda—locate work and then explore ’Frisco’s famed gay community where she hopes to find fun, love, and ultimately a partner. Jen, having abruptly left behind her job, her friends, and her home, is at loose ends. Stacy encourages her to do what she’s always dreamed of doing, and Jennifer tries to figure out what that is.
Always fond of writing, she decides to keep a journal and finds, surprisingly, that her thoughts and feelings often revolve around her mysterious friend Stacy. They are very different, but Stacy and Jennifer gradually become quite close—until Carrie Dozier arrives and turns their world upside down. A friend from Pittsburgh, Carrie now finds Jen living with a lesbian—something that makes Carrie very uncomfortable.
After moving into their tiny apartment, she introduces Jennifer to eligible young men, thrusting her into a social world that Jen has always avoided. And sensing the tension among them, Stacy gets serious about exploring the local gay scene. Although good things happen for Stacy on the job and with her estranged family, her relationship with Jennifer seems to be on the skids—until Carrie’s constant pressure leads Jen to an emotional crisis.
Jennifer suddenly learns more deeply who she real is and what she wants from life. . . .