The Changing Face of AIDS : 'I Sat at Home for the Next Three Years Waiting to Die' : Lynn Chamberlain, 25, Los Angeles

Then I went straight to my boyfriend's place and told him I'd tested positive. He did not act surprised or shocked. In fact, we argued and I left because he refused to go for a test.

A week later he called me, crying, to admit he had known for two years he was HIV-positive and that he was, in fact, bisexual. I have never seen him since.

I didn't go back to college. Basically I sat at home for the next three years, waiting to die.

Then I felt a need to go public. I'd heard about many young women becoming infected the same way I had been. I'd joined Women at Risk for counseling and support, and I started speaking for them.

I look healthy. It shocks people to learn I have HIV. Makes them realize they can't tell anything by looking at someone. I want to stress this for everyone, and the African American community especially: Men with HIV look healthy. Many won't say they have HIV because they have not yet accepted or dealt with their diagnosis. They can kill--even the nicest of them.

For a long time there was nothing I wanted to say to my former boyfriend. Now I really want to ask him: "Why did you do this to me?"