Having returned to the cabin a while ago, the two women have finished washing the dishes and are half way through a game of "Kings Corners". Both women are seated across from each other at the one table in the cabin. Jamie is taping her fingers lightly on the tabletop as she waits for Jenny to finish her turn.

Jenny (still looking from her hand to the cards laid out on in front of her): That's not helping my concentration, you know.

Jamie: Huh? Oh, sorry. Bad hand?

Jenny: Yes. I think you stacked the deck.

Jamie: No, my cards are shitty too. Do you want to play some other game?

Jenny (throwing her cards down with the others): Sounds good to me! What do you wanna play?

Jamie: Ummm...how about poker? Though I don't think they have any chips around here. And I'm out of change.

Jenny (raising her eye brows as a thought occurs to her): How about "Kiss and Tell"?

Jamie (deer caught in the headlights expression): What?

Jenny (her green eyes sparkling devilishly): "Kiss and Tell" poker, the ante is some secret or escapade that has to match the other person's bet and if you lose, you have to tell the highest bet you made.

Jamie (a look of apprehension crossing her features): Okay. You wanna cut the deck to see who deals first?

Jamie has just finished up dealing after both women have removed their throw away cards. As the two arrange their respective cards, they glance at each other across the table.

Jamie: Okay, so, you make a bet and I have to see that bet with something that equals it? How do we determine what equals what?

Jenny (putting her elbows on the table, her cards folded face side down in front of her): A bet needs to be in the same category as the other person's bet. If I make a bet of telling you some stupid thing I did in my childhood, then you need to make a bet of some stupid thing you did in your childhood. If you can't make a bet, the ante goes to me and I win the hand. If it's the first round and there is nothing in the ante, then the hand goes to who ever went first, no one needs to say anything though.

Jamie: Sounds good. Go ahead.

Jenny (grinning): I bet you that I tell you about the time I had to be in a play about a pageant.

Jamie (eyebrows drawing together): What category does that fall under?

Jenny: Stupid childhood things. What do you bet?

Jamie: I bet you the time I organized a chariot race.

Jenny: Are you kidding me?

Jamie: No, are you going to raise the bet?

Jenny (going to put her cards down on the table): Naw, this one will do just for practice. What do you have?

Jamie (spreading her cards as well): Straight flush beats your four of a kind.

Jenny: Uh, yeah it does, doesn't it!

Jamie (smiling): Spill it!

Jenny: Well, this was when I was like in fifth grade. Mrs. Van-Heusen was the director, she was always so up tight about everything and I'm pretty sure she had it in for me. I had to be this lady who was supposed to be a very rich countess or something, I think she was called Marcessa. It was a long time ago, I don't remember everything that well. Anyhow, she was sponsoring one of the contestants in the pageant. My mother made my costume for me; she did that a lot since I liked to be in plays at school and all. Unfortunately she wasn't a very good seamstress and the outfit didn't quite fit me....

Jamie (shoulders shaking as she chuckled): How long was your cast on?

Jenny: About a month, thankfully my ankle had healed enough that it was only sore for another week and a half or so. I swear; Mrs. Van-Heusen must have turned purple before she fainted. I really didn't mean to grab the front of her dress when I fell off the stage.

Jamie: Baby dyke then huh?

Jenny: Oh no, not till college. Took me a while to figure it out. What about you?

Jamie (grinning): Thirteen. And before you ask, don't. I need something to bet against you with.

Jenny: Fair enough, my turn to deal.

The two women have played several hands now, the stakes raised only as high as college pranks. Jamie has learned quite a lot about her blond haired friend. Jenny has leaned that Jamie is a rather good poker player. Jamie: Umm...let see. Let's make this interesting shall we? How about I bet you the time that Jessan's love spell went awry?

Jenny: Ooooh! Getting into the hot and heavy or is this another childhood prank?

Jamie: Hot and heavy category.

Jenny (pausing for a moment): Okay, I'll bet you my first time with a woman.

Jamie (one eyebrow raising to her hairline): That's a bit higher than what I was betting you, I think.

Jenny: Yup, that's why it's a bet and a raise. So Wolfie, what's your bet?

Jamie (under her breath): Wolfie? (Then louder) I suppose I'd have to bet you the same.

Jenny: Same as what?

Jamie: Same as "my first time with a woman".

Jenny: Hmmm...I'd like to stay with that theme and go with "in detail, my first time with a woman".

Jamie (the other eyebrow raising): I'll see you that and raise you "sound effects, in detail, my first time with a woman".

Jenny: Uh...okay. I'll see that. What do you have?

Both women place their cards on the tabletop in front of them. Jenny's head pop's up with a smile after she has looked at the dark haired woman's cards. Jamie's head is still down, staring at the cards with a frown as if trying to change them by sheer willpower.

Jenny (smirking): A Royal flush beats a straight flush, queer's the better!

Jamie (sitting back a bit in her chair but still looking at her cards): Uh...yeah. Guess so.

Jenny (suddenly not wanting to make her friend too uncomfortable): Hey, if you don't want to go through with the bet that's fine. It's just a game. We could play another game; I think they have Monopoly here.

Jamie (now looking up with determination): No, I'll go through with the bet. I was just surprised that's all. Where do you want me to start?

Jenny (trying to appear non-pulsed): Uh, anywhere you want to.

Jamie: Okay, I'll start at the beginning. I was not quite sixteen. (At this she got an incredulous look from her friend) I'm not lying; you can ask Jessan since he knew the girl too. She went to our school and she and I had the same gym class together. We were also both on the softball team after school that year. Her name was Karen and she and her family had just moved to town when her father had transferred jobs from another state. She started tenth grade with us midway through the year.

Jamie paused for a moment trying to recall all the details. Jenny shifted in her chair a bit, the noise causing the dark haired woman to snap out of her retrieve.

Jamie: Sorry, where was I? Oh, Karen had strawberry blond hair and hazel eyes. She was muscular, but in that trim way, you know? The way that runners get looked good on her. As I told you before, I knew I was gay when I was thirteen. I had been keeping it hidden for the most part. I think Uncle Jacob knew though I had only ever told Jessan since he and I were best friends, like brother and sister. No one at school probably thought I was gay; I dated this friend of mine, Marcus off and on. Some probably suspected something, it's hard to hide your feelings when you're a kid, but no one ever said anything. I don't think they'd dare. People didn't pick on me; I sort of had a reputation for being tough.

Jenny (smiling slightly): I can't imagine why.

Jamie (wryly grinning): Well, anyhow Karen was the new girl and so of course she was "different" (Jamie made quotation gestures with her hands). There was something about her that made me keep looking twice at her whenever we were changing in or out of our gym clothes or uniforms though. Took me the longest time to figure it out till one time I glanced over at her while we were changing and saw that she had been watching me. She gave me a sort of knowing smile and laced up the rest of her shoe before heading out to the field. I was sort of shaken since none of the other girls I had ever watched had ever done that.

Jenny (letting out a whoop): "Other girls"? Geez! You sure no one ever said you were gay in high school?

Jamie: No one. I was pretty covert by then and my glances down to an art. But, yeah, Karen caught me and I don't know how I made it through practice. I kept thinking about that look she gave me. That knowing look that at the time seemed pretty come hither to me. At least that's what I analyzed over and over in my head during practice.

I dawdled for the first time in my life to not have to be in the changing room with her when practice was over. And when I thought most people were out of there, I headed in and changed as quickly as possible to make it to the after school bus in time.

It was when I got on to the bus and sat down that I noticed a note in the outer mesh pocket of my backpack. I took it out, thinking that Jessan had left it there or something. Instead, Karen must have slipped it in after practice. I fought turning around since she and I rode the same bus. Matter of fact, we had the same bus stop for the after school bus too.

Jenny (leaning forward): You're kidding? That's got to be awkward!

Jamie: Yes, it was. I though she was going to yell at me for looking at her. I hadn't read any of her note yet and we pulled up to our stop. I shoved the note back in my pack and got off the bus, determined to walk home as quickly as possible. But, Karen got off pretty quickly too and when the bus pulled away, she asked me if I had read her note yet. I said I didn't get a chance to and she sort of cocked her head and smiled. She asked me if I knew how cute I was when I was being shy and I about fell over.

Jenny: So, she did like you?

Jamie: That's an understatement. I think I stuttered something just before she kissed me. It wasn't the first time a girl had kissed me, but it was the first time one had gone after me before I went after her. Her lips were the softest things that I had touched in my life up until that time. Some where in the back of my mind I figured "why not keep kissing her" so I put my arms around her and pulled her closer to me. We must have looked odd standing out there on the road holding each other with our lips locked.

At some point she pulled back and said something about going to her house. I think I just nodded and followed after her. She and her parents lived at the very end of our property in some of the condos that a lot of executive types like to rent when they stay in town. I always guessed her family had money since she had once mentioned something about her father once being transferred over from a German location.

When we got to her house, she told me her parents weren't at home. They had gone out to some swank place for the evening and we had the house all to ourselves. I did have enough presence of mind remember to call home and tell Uncle Jacob that I was at a friend's house and not to send a search party out after me.

Jenny (and odd look on her face): Am I missing something here? This chick wants you to go to her house and you don't know her that well?

Jamie: We weren't really friends. More like acquaintances, and teammates. Though at that time it was early on in the season and our team hadn't gotten to know each other that well yet. But yes, I didn't know her very well and she didn't know me very well and she was inviting me over to her house to hang out without her parents around.

Actually, it turned out that she wanted to do more than just hang out. When we got to her parents' house, she started to run her hands up and down my back, tugging my shirt out of my jeans at the same time. She kissed me more, harder this time and sucking on my tongue and lower lip. My hormones sort of took over and decided that this was a nice ride and that they were going to have one hell of a time even if I had no idea what was going on.

Somehow we got to her bedroom, losing a lot of clothing along the way. I had managed to pull her shirt off, but was having a hell of a time with the clasp on the bra. She was moaning into my mouth when I pushed her onto the bed and saw that the clasp was one of those front jobbies.

I know that I was growling, it's sort of hard not to do that when you're part wolf, and I think this was definitely turning her on. She had managed to push me over on my back and had undone the clasp to my jeans when I almost howled as she put her hand against me. I could smell myself and I could really smell her and it was driving me nuts. I needed to get closer somehow to the source of her very wonderful smell and I needed to do it now...

Jamie sits back in her chair, breathing a bit quicker while her blue eyes glow with a primitive light. Jenny is still sitting across from her friend, stock still, as her ears burn from the last few parts of the dark haired woman's story.

Jenny (wondering how it would look if she fanned herself): Oh, my!

Jamie: Yeah, so that's my "first time with a woman, in detail, with sound effects". Umm...I need to take a walk. I'll be back in a bit.

Jenny watches speechless as Jamie gets out of her chair and walks calmly out of the cabin. Staring after the woman for a while Jenny snaps out of her daze and shakes her head. Wincing slightly at the pain in her back that a pulled muscle from canoeing brings on, she decides to take a hot shower.

Outside of Cabin

Jamie has decided that running around the lake is a good distraction from the story she has just told. This is her second time around and the exercise has done nothing to curb her out of control hormonal surges. Remembering a small beach at the bottom of a rise a little ways over the next ridge, Jamie decides that maybe a swim would be better.

Pulling her shirt off ahead of time the dark haired werewolf fails to see some small roots coming out from a bush on her right.

Inside of Cabin

Jenny has just finished her shower and is now sitting in her pajamas on the couch in front of a roaring fire. Rubbing the last of the kink out of her neck she looks up wide-eyed as a dripping wet Jamie comes in the door.

Jenny (mouth hanging open in surprise): Wha?

Jamie (pulling off her wet shoes and making her way to the bathroom): I fell in.

Jenny (regaining her composure): What do you mean you fell in?

Jaime (standing by the bathroom door): I fell in the lake.

Jenny: You fell in the lake?

Jamie (before entering the bathroom): Yeah.

As the door closes firmly behind her friend Jenny turns back to the fire in wonder over her friend.

Sunday October 17^th, 1999