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Subject: {ASSM} Lupe and Dana Naked in School (4/5) (mf ff, exhib, voy, naked, NIS,   rom, 1st, silly, fant)
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Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 05:10:01 -0500
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
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A fairy and a werewolf are partners in the Naked In School Program.  Is
it twue wuv or will he bite her ditzy wings off first?  And will anyone
from House Sparklypoo show up -- or is a second cousin to a succubus
enough already?

The NIS collection is at /~NIS/Naked.html; the plush
werewolf is available at
http://www.rpgshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=36464.

P. Random

---

-- 
http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and
                          love email again

<1st attachment, "FairyNIS-4.txt" begin>


Lupe and Dana Naked in School 
(mf ff, exhib, voy, naked, NIS, rom, 1st, silly, fant)
by pseudoRandom

4. Thursday

Lupe

I woke up in human form curled on my side in a chill, dark shelter, on top 
of a worn blanket -- a SMELLY, worn blanket, stinking of unwashed bodies.  
The ground beneath was hard and flat -- concrete.  But I wasn't cold -- 
Dana was nestled against my back, arm wrapped over me, legs and body 
pressed against mine, her gauzy wrap draped over us.  Her breath curled 
against my neck.  It was nice to be still, after running so much last 
night.

	Her breasts pressed on my shoulder blades, and as she breathed, 
her pubic hair moved against my ass.  I knew I should remember what 
happened last night, before it faded, but I lay in Dana's embrace.  Just 
feeling her.

	She shifted, and the hand across my chest rubbed my nipple.  Very 
odd feeling -- erotic, but odd -- and I held her hand still.

	"Mmm," she breathed, a good morning hum.

	"Mmm?"

	"Mm hmm!" she confirmed.

	"Hmm."

	"You're just saying that," she murmured sleepily, "because you 
can't remember the words."

	If she was making sense, I was too bleary to figure it out.  "I 
thought you didn't need words."

	She reached down and wrapped around my morning erection, and 
stroked it in a parody of her gesture last night.  Or in the gesture she 
had parodied.

	"I guess not," she said with a smile in her voice.  She shifted 
up, to nuzzle my neck.

	I turned my head, and her mouth was there.  We kissed.  Good 
morning.

	Her lips trailed back along my cheek, to the corner of my jaw.  
Had I known how erotic it was, to be kissed there?  Or to have my earlobe 
nibbled?  Her hand continued to stroke me slowly, as her body moved 
against mine with a slow beat.  When she licked the base of my neck, where 
it met my shoulder, I gasped.

	I started to roll over, to face her, but she caught my shoulder.  
"No," she said, "hold still.  I want to."  And she kissed the base of my 
neck again.

	I strangled a "But -- !" before it became a word but not before 
the sound escaped.

	Dana sealed my lips with a finger.  "Trust me."  Her voice wrapped 
the words around an unspoken promise.

	And thing was, I did.  I did trust her.  I submitted, and in 
reward, she nibbled my neck, lips and light nips of her teeth.  I gasped 
again.  Yes, it was touching -- but for this, I could keep still.  I could 
keep control.

	Dana nibbled her way back, to my spine, and down it, shifting as 
she went.  She explored my body, with kiss and caress, teaching herself my 
human form.  Teaching ME it -- that the base of spine is another hot spot, 
as is my hip.  That licking behind my knee is Too Much, but kissing my 
ankle is not, nor is a trail of kisses up my leg.  By the time she was 
done with my backside, my skin tingled like it was on fire -- I thought I 
couldn't take it any more.

	Ha.  Dana held me still, and I stilled.  For her to explore my 
front -- to teach me I could take more.

	She fondled and licked my aching cock and balls -- girls had been 
doing to me all week, in quick gropes, but Dana took the time to do it 
slow.  I wanted inside her.

	When she tried to blow in my bellybutton, I squirmed away -- again 
Too Much -- and sat up.  No more.  I had to have her.  Almost as much as 
her eyes said she wanted me.

	Before I could speak, again she pressed a finger to my lips.  She 
shifted and straddled my lap, facing me.  She wrapped her other arm around 
my neck, and I put my hands on her hips.  She wriggled, and the head of my 
cock slipped into her slippery warmth.

	"Slowly," she breathed, still pressing my lips closed.

	I lipped her finger, bit it lightly, and kissed inside her wrist.  
She smiled, and slowly settled down, till I was halfway inside her, as far 
as we could go in this position.  And then held it while we kissed.

	Dana moved, up and down, very slightly.  An incredibly erotic 
feeling, for how small the motion.  Control, I realized -- controlling the 
sex.  It made it more intense, holding a tight rein like this.  I reached 
behind Dana's back, arms flat upright beneath her wings, holding her 
close.  And she moved, with the rhythm of slow breaths instead of 
heartbeats.

	After several exquisite minutes, I came without warning, orgasm 
washing through me like the flood from a broken dam.

	In its wake, my cock was even more sensitive than before.  It was 
all I could do to not squirm as Dana rose and fell.  She smiled at me, a 
lock of hair plastered to her face.

	Enough.  With one hand, I reached between where we joined, and 
found her clit, wet and swollen.  She came quickly, hard and sharp and 
short, without time for more than a muffled cry.  Her wings beat hard, 
swallowtails batting my thighs.

	Dana relaxed against me, smiling.  We kissed, languidly.

	"Where ... ?"  Where had she learned that?

	She shook her head with an impish grin.  "I was thinking, last 
night, about what you said about keeping a hold on yourself, and thought 
I'd try it."

	Oh.  Shows what I know.

	When we stood up, I finally recognized where we were -- a baseball 
dugout.  I remembered squirming into the locked field through a gap under 
the chain link fence -- Dana, of course, had flown over it.  We'd come 
here a couple hours before dawn, to curl up in a hideaway.  We'd done a 
lot of running.

	Getting out wasn't as easy for me -- naked and barefoot, climbing 
over wasn't a good idea.  I shrugged and shifted back to wolf -- out was 
as easy as in, in this form.  I followed Dana to the tree with my clothes, 
and changed back as she retrieved them.  Which, of course, deserved 
another kiss.  Several.

	Finally we broke.  "See you in school?" Dana asked me.

	"Out front," I agreed.

	She smiled, and took off again.  I thought for a moment, then 
started jogging for home.  After lying on that smelly blanket, getting the 
stink of homeless men on me, I needed clean clothes.  Besides, Caesaria 
would notice if I wore them again.  Maybe I could get in and out before 
anyone noticed me.

*

Dana

Mom and Jim waited in the living room when I got home, wearing You're In 
Trouble looks.

	"Danaradriel," Mom said.

	Full name -- that meant Big Trouble.  I hadn't known my good mood 
could get zapped so quickly.  They sat on the couch together, a united 
parental front.  They'd been there long enough the air tasted annoyed.  
"Yes, Mother?"

	"Where have you been?" my stepfather said.

	"Flying," I said.  "I do that at night, you know."  Trying to play 
it light.

	"You haven't been with Kaidlearnien for two nights," Mom said.

	Oh.  That's what this was about.  "We got separated," I said.

	"Yesterday night," my stepfather said.  "You skipped entirely, 
last night."

	My teacher must have talked to them.  He NEVER does that.

	Mom went on, "Not only are your studies important, he's worried 
sick about you.  Did you think of that?"

	Um.  Well, no.  I flushed.

	"Where have you been?" Jim repeated.

	"I don't have to -- " I started to say, before stopping myself.  
Oh, drat was I in trouble.

	"Yes," Mom said, "you do."

	I swallowed and sat down.

	"We're worried about you," Jim said, in that oh so concerned 
parent voice.  "You could have been in danger."

	"Oh, no, I was completely safe with -- " I hesitated a bee's 
wingbeat, but it's not like I could lie, and went on, " -- my boyfriend."

	"You spent the night with your boyfriend?" Jim said, hard voice 
incredulous.

	And because I was in for it anyway, I started talking, as fast as 
I could to get over their objections.  "It's not what you think -- we were 
OUT all night, not in, so it's not like I had sex with him all night -- 
not that I COULD have, 'cause he like wasn't human most of the time anyway 
-- except at the end, but that's beside the point -- he just needed 
someone with him as he ran -- so I was perfectly safe."

	They looked at me.

	"Danaral," Mom finally said, "what is he when he isn't human?"

	I had to tell the truth.  "A wolf."

	Jim blinked, then shook his head.  "This must be some new 
definition of 'safe' I was previously unaware of."

	Mom crinkled her nose.  "That's a kind of dog isn't it?"

	"A wild dog," Jim said absently.

	"Lupe isn't wild, though -- he's my boyfriend," I explained.  
"That's why I was safe."

	"Are you telling me," Jim said, voice rising, "that you're going 
out with a WEREWOLF?"

	"Uh huh."  He got it -- though why the shouting?

	Jim pinched the bridge of his nose.  "Nina," he said to Mom, "when 
you told me about Elfland, why didn't you mention werewolves?"

	"Because I've never heard of them before!" she protested.  "What 
are they?"

	"Oh for -- !"  Jim got up and stomped across the room, stopping in 
front of the window.  Mom and I both rose to watch him.  My stepfather 
stood for a moment, hands flexing, before turning back to us.

	"You," he said to me, "are so grounded."

	"What?!" Mom said, as I cried, "Why?!"

	The next seconds were SUCH the chaos, as we three talked over each 
other -- complaint, defense, protest.  I realized, though, we'd get 
nowhere like this, and stamped my foot.

	"STOP IT!"  I pointed at Jim, "Just CALM DOWN a sec!"  To my 
surprise as much as his, he shut up.

	I spun to face Mom and pointed at her in turn.  "Which means you 
too."  Because it was easier, I continued my turn 360 and pointed back at 
Jim.  He looked confused.  Behind me, a protesting noise from Mom, and I 
spun to her again -- she looked at me wide-eyed.  She held her peace, 
though, so I twirled back to Jim.  "Got that?"

	Jim took a deep breath.  "I will try to be reasonable."  Then he 
threw up his hands.  "Though how to be reasonable about something 
irrational, I don't know."

	"Dear!" Mom said, and he shut up.

	She turned to me.  "Flitter, both of us were worried -- " she 
glanced at her husband, promising more questions to him in private, "-- as 
was Kaidlearnien."

	I drew breath.  "I'm sorry -- that I ditched lessons without
telling him.  But I'm NOT sorry I have a boyfriend."

	"Well, no," Mom said, with a small smile I didn't understand.  
"You shouldn't be."

	Jim made a strangled noise.

	"I think, though," Mom went on, "we should sort this out later -- 
we all need to get ready."

	I glanced at the clock -- eep!

	Jim grumbled deep in his chest, then said, "Go on -- get dressed."

	I nodded and hurried out the room -- though why bother dressing in 
human clothes, if I was just going to take them off again, I didn't know.  
Well, except that meant leaving my girdle in the box all day, and I wasn't 
sure it wouldn't get stolen.

	In the hallway, Brian was hanging onto the end of the banister, 
half-hidden behind it.  He looked at me, troubled.  "What's going on?"

	I knelt in front of him.  "Nothing, Bug -- your father's just mad 
at me for frightening him."

	"Oh."  He seemed to understand that -- he shifted a bit from 
behind the pillar.  "You in trouble?"

	"A little, but don't worry about that.  Now got get your shoes on 
-- we're leaving."

	"'K."  He scampered into the den.  I took a deep breath, then 
stood and went upstairs.

	I don't like the feeling of having messed up, yanno?

*

Lupe

I met Dana in front of school, as she walked from the corner.  She again 
had a large coffee, but today munched on a danish in her other hand.  She 
wore a thin-strapped top just large enough in back to cover her wings and 
matching a short skirt -- kinda hot, actually.  She looked pensive, a lot 
more than we'd parted.  Then she saw me and smiled, and her antennae 
perked up.  Something must have happened at home.

	Family.  I knew how that could go.

	"Hey, partner," she said.

	"Hey."

	We stepped close together -- not touching, but closer than I let 
most people get.  In wolf form, I remembered, I thought of her as my pack 
-- and wolfpacks are physically close.

	Her antennae brushed my forehead, featherlight.  "You showered."

	In the gym again.  I nodded but said nothing: Babs came up to us.  
She wasn't smirking, quite, but her smile was definitely smug.

	"Interesting date last night?" she asked.

	As in, assuming we'd had sex.  Well, we had, but little did she 
know.  No one was close enough to hear, yet, so I said softly, "Full moon."

	Her eyes widened.  "Oh."

	"Exactly," Dana said.

	Babs recovered quickly.  "That must have been interesting."

	"It was fun!" Dana said sternly.

	Which tripped Babs up again -- I could almost see the bestial 
thought pass through her.  Well, I suppose a girl like her usually has her 
mind in the gutter.

	Dana went on, "If tiring."  She smiled at me as she rotated her 
shoulders, stretching stiff muscles.

	Tired from flying, that is, though I was sure Babs put another 
meaning on it.  I'd led Dana on a game of chase for several hours, because 
of --

	"There you guys are," Tatja called out.  She hurried up to us, 
slightly breathless -- which for a jock like her meant a lot of running.

	The girls greeted each other.  I nodded absently to Tatja -- I was 
trying to track down that memory she'd interrupted.

	To Dana, Tatja said, "I wanted to ask -- were you in Bridger Park 
last night?"

	One antenna went up, alert, while the other quirked down in 
perplexity.  "Y-y-yah."

	And if my human ears moved, they would have perked forward.  Had 
Tatja seen us?  When ... ?

	"Be careful there, eh?  Enough wild animals come down from the 
mountains -- could be dangerous."

	"Hello -- wings," Dana said.

	Tatja turned up her hand -- point.  "Still, we -- there's been 
reports of a wolf in the park."

	Babs's eyes widened, and she glanced at me.  Dana carefully DIDN'T 
look at me.

	And all the hair on my neck and back and arms stood up -- I 
remembered now.  We'd spent most of the night running, because I'd spotted  
the Hunt in the park.  They hadn't been close, just a faint scent on the 
wind and a distant call through the trees, but I'd still led Dana away -- 
quickly, with a game of chase.

	Just thinking of the Hunt mades me shudder, man.  I didn't know 
what they were, but they'd almost caught me a couple times.  Not only were 
they good -- they had magic.  Magic is the only thing more dangerous than 
a rifle, as far as I'm concerned.

	And that "we" slip?  Tatja had been part of the Hunt -- and seen 
us.  I was certain of it.

	"What are you?" I said softly.  Not growled, but it was a close 
thing.

	"What?"  Tatja glanced at me, then looked again.  "You're as 
twitchy as a ... "  A wild animal, she didn't say.

	Tatja didn't move, but her stance shifted -- onto alert, poised to 
fight.  Or to hunt.  I did the same.

	Dana stepped between us, pointing her danish at me and her coffee 
at Tatja.  "Hey, whoa."

	"I'm chill," I told her, though I wasn't.  But I wasn't going to 
attack through her.

	"Tats?"

	Tatja nodded, not looking away from me.

	"What are you?" I asked Tatja again.

	"What are you?" she countered.

	"He's my boyfriend," Dana said, "and I'm tired of people ragging 
on him just because he's -- "

	Babs suddenly grabbed Dana's arm, splashing coffee, and started 
walking.  "I think this should be done in privacy," she said, just loud 
enough for us to hear.  She headed for the meeting tree -- the one with a 
bench around the base -- pulling Dana in her wake.

	I bit myself mentally -- confronting this whatevershewas in 
public, when she'd figured out who I am.  I smoothly slunk after them, 
keeping Dana between me and Tatja.  She followed.

	Under the tree, Dana turned to Tatja and said, "Now what's this 
about?"

	Tatja pointed her sharp chin at me.  "You're the wolf we glimpsed 
last night."

	"You're the Hunt that's tried to kill me," I counted.

	Her eyes widened.  "You're the wolf that keeps getting away."

	"Not a wolf," Dana said.

	Tatja corrected herself.  "Werewolf."

	"I know I am," I said, "but what are you?"  Third time's the charm 
-- isn't that what they say?

	Tatja chewed her lip, then glanced at Babs.  Babs raised her 
eyebrows -- she'd known about me.  Tatja blinked, then after a moment, 
nodded to herself.

	"I'm a nymph," she said.  "A follower of Diana."

	Of who?  Then I remembered, from that Greek myth unit back in 
eighth grade -- goddess of, among other things, the hunt.  A Hunt that was 
still alive and well, it seemed.

	Dana screwed up her face.  "Huh?"

	"Diana is the goddess of -- " Tatja began, but Dana waved her hand 
-- the remains of her danish went flying behind the tree.  "Yes yes yes -- 
but what's a NYMPH?"

	"A nature spirit," Babs said.  "A minor divinity of the 
wilderness."

	That made it sound almost innocent.  I wanted to know more about 
this Hunt, or whatever she called it -- this "we."

	Dana seemed to read my mind.  "And what about last night?"

	"We go hunting, in service to the goddess," Tatja said.

	"For?"

	Tatja looked at me.  "Wild beasts."

	I hissed through my teeth.  "By the Silver Mistress, I am no wild 
beast."

	She reacted strongly to that.  "I ... heh."  She made a 
disbelieving sort of smile.  "I guess we do both follow Her."

	Oh, right -- Diana was also the moon goddess.  Though the idea of 
this Huntress and me being aligned, that was ... uncomfortable.  For both 
of us.

	"Well that stops now," Dana said firmly.  Off Tatja's surprised 
look, she added, "Hands off Lupe."

	Tatja snorted, and gave me an amused look -- so glad to entertain 
her.  "No offense, but he's not my type."

	I was trying to come up with a comeback for that when Babs
suddenly clapped her hands to her mouth -- and the color drained from her 
face.  She stared at Tatja with something like horror.

	"What?" Dana asked.

	Babs swallowed.  "You're supposed to be chaste, aren't you?"

	"Well, supposed to, yeah," Tatja told her.

	"But I -- but I -- !"

	I frowned at that.  Then I got it -- Babs must have used her houri 
mojo on Tatja.  Just as on everyone else.

	Tatja nodded.  "Yes.  It was fun."  She smiled, as if at the 
memory.

	Babs shook her head, disbelieving.  She was still pale.  "You 
didn't get in trouble?"

	Tatja chuckled.  "It's one thing to sleep with someone -- it's 
another to be seduced.  Why do you think so many nymphs have had succubi 
and incubi as friends?"  As if she'd known what Babs was.

	Babs swallowed.  "Peri, actually," she said faintly.

	"You're a -- ?"  Tatja raised her eyebrows.  "But you -- "

	The bell rang, starting school.  And Dana and I hadn't undressed 
yet.

	"Shit," I muttered.

	"Drat," Dana agreed.  She caught my hand -- making me sticky from 
her danish -- and we hurried to the door, followed by the two girls.  
Spirits.  Whatever.

	Which meant, on top of everything else, the principal was Not 
Amused at our tardiness.  At least he just shook his head as we stripped, 
then gestured us in.  And the day had started so well.

*

Dana

I was late to homeroom and was marked tardy.  I wished I could have 
claimed it was because of Program business, but well, it wasn't.  Not that 
I really noticed, what with my head whirling around, thinking about Tatja.  
I didn't notice announcements, either.

	One thing was clear -- if Tatja was supposed to be chaste, no 
wonder she'd a hard time in the Program.

	Lupe met me on the way to English, looking even more worried than 
I felt -- which was sweet of him.  "Lupe," I said, squeezing his hand, 
"it'll be alright."

	He snorted.

	Ooo-kay, what was this about?  I pulled him aside, against a wall 
of lockers.  "Lupe."

	After a moment, he whispered, "I don't trust her."

	Not trust Tatja?  Then I realized: he'd said her Hunt tried to 
kill him -- to him, she was still a predator on his tail, one who'd be 
sitting with us in class.  Predators are bad juju -- I understood that -- 
but how to convince him Tatja was safe?  That she was no owl or bat?  It 
was as hard as convincing my stepfather that LUPE was safe.  "I'm sure it 
was a misunderstanding."

	He raised his eyebrows.  "They kill wild beasts -- and I was one."

	"Yes, but they didn't know it was you."

	"And now they do."  He took a deep breath.  "Look, I know she's 
your friend, but how do I know she won't go after me now?"

	What, here in school?  "You don't know that -- you don't know 
anything about the H-- them."

	"Exactly," Lupe said.  "That's why I don't trust her."

	The bell rang, starting first period.  We looked at each other.  
And I didn't know what to say.  It was the worst sort of conflict, the 
kind I don't know what to do about.  I mean, I couldn't MAKE them trust 
each other.  It made me uncomfortable.

	When the bell finished, Lupe tugged my hand and we started for 
class.

	In English, Tatja was back in our old place, instead of up front 
with Lupe and me.  Talk about a boyfriend getting between you and your 
friends.  I was pretty sure that wasn't a good sign.  Nor was the steady 
looks she and Lupe shared.  Which only made me feel worse.  I'd already 
had one scare about losing my friends this week.

	"Dana, Lupe," Ms Emerson said, "relief?"

	We both shook our heads.  Not when I was feeling this bad.

	Which meant Emerson started us straight out on the dratted DREAM.  
Today, act three, scene two, and act four -- the four lovers get further 
mixed up before Oberon demixes them all like a sort of fairy reverse 
blender.  Again, I read Hermia aloud, that acorn and bean and minimus, and 
Selina, the painted maypole Helena.  Emerson had to explain the maypole 
thing to everyone.  Lupe again read Lysander as such the stuffed shirt -- 
made me really wonder what Hermia saw in him.

	As we read and talked, I couldn't help comparing the four 
Athenians to my friends, though yeah, I know, there's five of us.  Even 
aside from this morning's latest complication, Lupe and I had straightened 
ourselves out -- not that we'd been tangled -- but what about Fritz?  If 
he felt anything like what I did for Lupe, then he must be like feeling 
really BAD.  And then there was whatever Babs had done with Tatja.

	I glanced at Tats.  Was she really supposed to stay a virgin for 
her goddess?  I thought a nymph was, like, a sort of nymphet -- but now I 
wondered if that was the other way around.  And what did nymphomania have 
to do with anything?  I'd have to ask her later.

	And then the four Athenians woke up, re-sorted into their proper 
pigeon-hole pairs, and the whole thing seemed to be a dream.  I wondered 
whether Demitrius meant that as in unreal or as in Lupe's memories of 
being in wolf form.  I couldn't ask that directly, of course -- not 
without giving Lupe away.  But it bugged me.  I mean, the point's 
obviously important, given Shakespeare named the play after it.  Maybe I'd 
write my essay on that, instead of Puck's gender issues.

	Near the end of class, Emerson showed us a clip from a movie 
version, of Theseus discovering the Athenians waking up.  What she SAID 
she wanted us to focus on was how Theseus and Hyppolyta interacted, which 
was not in the play because, yanno, she has no lines in that scene -- but 
what everyone looked at was the four naked actors.  Lupe and I glanced at 
each other, and shook our heads.  Some teachers.

	When class ended, Tatja finally approached, for going to our next 
class together.  She raised her right hand, palm out to Lupe: peace.

	Lupe looked at her a moment, then pursed his lips.  Then he looked 
me in the eyes, with a flick at Tats -- watch myself.  I raised three 
fingers of my right hand, pinkie folded under my thumb, like I'd seen 
people do when they make promises -- I will.

	He blinked twice, then with a nod to me, hurried out.

	Tatja shook her head, though at what I didn't know.  As we left 
the classroom, she said, "Thing is, Danes?  You're not a Boy Scout."  She 
did the three-fingered pledge.

	"Only boys do that?"

	"Yeah."

	"Oh."  After a moment, I asked, "Then what do girls do?"

	"Kiss and make up," Tatja said, distracted.  Which puzzled me for 
a moment, till I realized she was looking past me.  I turned, and saw Babs 
-- looking for once not at me, but at Tatja.  She bit her lip.

	"It's okay," Tatja said to her.  "Really."

	"It's just -- "  Babs stopped.  Tatja caught her hand.

	"Now you know to be careful in how you seduce people," I said, 
"and you'll watch out."

	Babs looked at me, startled.

	I took her other hand and started hurrying to bio.  "I mean," I 
said between breaths, "that's the thing about powers -- you have to use 
them only for good."

	"Or else?"

	We skidded to a stop in front of the door.  Both my friends looked 
at me expectantly.  "Or bad things happen.  'Cause after all you made bad 
things happen, so they do."

	After a moment, Tatja said, "I'm not sure I follow that."

	One day, I was going to have to talk to them about the Great 
Circle.  But first, we had biology.  Except, no -- Babs didn't.  What was 
she doing here?  She still had to run across the school to drama class.  
I should have remembered.  She twiddled her fingers and ran off.

	Fritz again was already inside ahead of us, sitting at his lab 
bench.  I turned down Ms Leyden's offer for relief, aware of his owlish 
glasses watching me.  "Tomorrow then," she told me, "which works out 
better, anyway."

	I made a face.  She and her fairy sex fetish.  What-EVER.  But it 
wasn't like, without Lupe here, I was much in the mood for it.  Even with 
her naked body near mine.

	Once again, I sat on the stool up front, and talked.  This time 
about fairies and other non-humans in this world, and what we do here.  
Thank the Spirit Leyden never once asked about a non-human I hadn't 
mentioned already -- if she'd asked about peris and nymphs, I'd've had to 
tell her.  As it was, I had to carefully not look at my friends, the whole 
period.  Well, except when Tatja asked about what sort of flowers I
opened, if I flew at night -- I listed all the night-bloomers here and 
outside the city, even the yuccas (which I know ALL too much about, 'cause 
they are SUCH the tedious), but said I didn't do much of that yet 'cause I 
was still working under my teacher.  But otherwise I ignored them.

	Just as well.

*

Lupe

I spent calc not listening to the review of what would be on our AP test.  
Not because of boring -- because of Tatja.  I'd managed to Not Watch her 
all through English only because Dana'd been with me.  But next period was 
P.E., and we'd be alone together.

	That's a joke, man.  I meant ASIDE from everyone else.  Ah, forget 
it.

	Dana was right about one thing -- I didn't know what the Hunt was, 
or Tatja's part in it.  Dana assumes the unknown is safe until proven 
otherwise.  But I'm not a cheerful, optimistic fairy.

	Like Tatja, I'm a hunter.

	When I got to the locker room, I was wound up in more ways than 
one: two Program girls (I think the freshman and sophomore) had stopped me 
for a reasonable request.  For meanings of "reasonable" that include 
fingering them together, to orgasm.  And if you think getting off naked 
and willing girls doesn't turn a guy on, well, you need to get laid, man.  
Seriously.

	I spotted Tatja easily -- she's tall enough to see over the 
lockers -- and avoided her.  Which meant I walked right into the hands of 
Luisa's posse.  For meanings of "hands" that included the rest of their 
bodies.

	Ah, hell -- they jumped me.  And me too horny to resist, even with 
my skin crawling from being womanhandled.  Before I knew it, I was on my 
back on a bench with Luisa riding me.  She came quickly and was replaced 
by another.

	At the end of ten minutes, when a coach chased us out of the 
locker room, I'd had sex with three girls -- and the only reason the 
fourth hadn't screwed me was she'd been on my face.

	The thing of it was, at the start of this week, I would have felt 
smug at getting a triple zipless fuck.  Like I said, shows what I knew.  
Now, I just felt ... used.  Now that I knew what sex COULD be like, with 
Dana.  Used and a little guilty.

	And wobbly.  I asked Coach Suarez if I could work out again, 
rather than run outside.  I think I wobbled too much -- he asked if I 
wanted to go to the nurse, but when I said no, he told me to take it easy.

	I had the weight room nearly to myself -- the football players had 
some mandatory drill, I think.  Sweet.  I wasn't feeling up to company.  
After three reps of ten leg crunches, I got up -- and came face to face 
with Tatja.  I didn't back away, but I did crouch a little, ready to dodge 
any magic.

	She held her empty hands up.  "Spot me?"  She nodded towards the 
free weights.

	I clamped my jaws shut before I snarled.  That just may have been 
the only way to get me to trust her long enough to talk -- a spotter's got 
all sorts of ways to hurt the lifter.  I licked my lips and nodded.

	We said nothing through her first ten bench presses.  Which suited 
me.  As she rested her arms, she looked up at me.  Finally, I couldn't 
resist asking her just one thing about being a nymph.

	"One question," I said.  "Sports?"

	Tatja grinned.  "Hunters were the jocks of ancient times."

	I opened my mouth, then closed it.  All those myths of hunters in 
the woods?  Most of them had been princes, the alpha males of mythology.  
It made sense.

	Tatja went on, so quietly I could barely hear her, "Lupe, do any 
other werewolves roam Bridger Park?"

	I shook my head.  "None I know of."

	"Any wild wolves?"

	Heh.  "Nah -- even if they wanted to be near humans, they're 
scared of me."

	She nodded.  "I'll tell the others not to hunt wolves, when we're 
in the city."

	I blinked.  "You serious?"

	"Of course," she said.  "Ready for ten more."

	I helped her get under her weights, and waited for her to finish.  
When she stood up, she asked, "You?" gesturing at the bench.

	I shook my head.  "I'm a runner only -- don't need to shoot or 
spike."

	"I guess so."  She looked at my legs with a critical eye.  "Not 
bad legs, I must say."

	"And yet I'm not your type?" I said, deadpan.  Yeah, that comment 
of hers had needled me a little.

	She smiled wryly.  "No offense, but I really am supposed to remain 
a virgin.  And even if I wasn't, I wouldn't poach my friend's boyfriend."

	Wait, boyfriend?  What made her think -- ?  I quickly reviewed 
yesterday's and this morning's conversations.  Dana HAD called me her 
boyfriend -- I'd been too focused on Tatja as a threat to notice.  It made 
me feel odd, that.  I mean, not that I minded being Dana's novio, and for 
all practical purposes I supposed we were going out -- but we hadn't 
actually, ya know, talked about it.  Nice to be asked first.

	"Fair enough," I finally said.

	We worked out together for the rest of the period.  For the 
record, Tatja's pretty damn strong.  I didn't know if that meant she was 
supernatural, though, or if a "nymph" was a girl in really good shape.

	We broke off early, to shower before the rest of the girls did.  
Not that Luisa's gang was likely to be ready for another round, but I 
didn't mind.

	As we went into the showers, I finally asked, "So what is the 
Hunt, anyway?"

	"The -- ?  Oh, you mean the rite."

	I didn't snarl.  Really, I didn't.  "From the business end of a 
spear, it sure looks like a hunt."

	"Fair enough, I suppose."  She turned her back to me -- more 
trust.  "I can't tell you much -- it's for initiates only."

	I couldn't help asking, "Even though I follow the same Mistress?"  
I bit my tongue -- I really was losing my grip.  I started soaping up her 
back.

	"Maybe not," Tatja answered, "but I have to ask my priestess 
first."

	I guess that made sense.  I'm not used to working with anyone but 
myself.

	"I can tell you," she went on, "that every moon's quarter, we 
sacrifice to the Goddess in the old way."

	By hunting the sacrifice.  It gave me chills.  "Only then?"

	In the locker room, shouts and bangs as other girls came in.

	Tatja turned around.  "Only then.  I swear by Her sacred name."

	Hmph.

	Tatja took the soap and looked me in the eyes, waiting for me to 
turn around.  The first girls started into the shower.  It was as much 
protection from them as trusting Tatja that I turned around and let her 
start doing my back.

	Or that's what I told myself at the time.  Really, if I hadn't 
trusted her some, I wouldn't have done it.

	We got out of the shower before the others, and without anyone 
stopping me for a request.

	In the locker room, as we dressed, I checked whether anyone was 
close -- nope.  In a bare whisper, I asked, "So are you human?"

	Tatja glanced around.  "No -- I'm immortal.  Until I leave the 
Goddess's service, that is."

	Then two damp girls came in, holding hands, and we could talk 
no more -- just when I'd worked myself up to asking about the magic.  Nor 
could we in the halls on the way to lunch, nor in the cafeteria line.  The 
others arrived, just as we reached the trays -- Dana fluttering ahead of 
Fritz and Babs to reach me first.

	"Hey, partner!"  She was smiling silly, clearly delighted to see 
me -- the perfect image of an cheerful, innocent fairy.  Who happened to 
be naked.

	"Hey."  I had to smile back.  At my self-described girlfriend.

	The next couple minutes were a confusion of greetings and seatings 
and mystery dishes.  Finally we were settled at a four-person table in the 
middle of the Commons.  This time, Dana was the one at the table corner, 
beside me.  Which I think amused Babs, on my other side.  Not that I 
wanted Babs to give me a hand-job in front of Dana, like earlier in the 
week, any more than I wanted Dana to give me one now.  But still.

	In any case, Dana was too busy chowing down to spare me a hand -- 
"barely had breakfast," she confided to me -- and Babs and Tatja were too 
busy sounding out each other's ancestry and nature.  Which took work, 
given they couldn't ask directly, not in front of Fritz.  Though asking 
Tatja about her magic would have been nice.  I watched Fritz with half an 
eye as Tatja explained her great-great-grandmother had come to America 
from Russia, but the family had been in Greece before then -- and Babs 
that she had a Jordanian biological father and an American step-father, 
whom she called Dad, who'd adopted her when she was a year old.  And 
because they couldn't keep him out, Fritz said his family came over from 
Germany shortly before WWI.  Not something I was particularly interested 
in.

	To Dana, he said, "What about your fam-- ?" before stopping 
himself.  "Stupid question."

	To my raised eyebrows, Dana said, "I came to Earth six years ago."

	Oh, right.

	Fritz looked at me.  "So when did your family come to this 
country, anyway?"

	I was ready for this one, and was feeling cranky enough to say, 
"We didn't."  More than a little smugness, there.

	At least it caught him by surprise.  "Say what?"

	I lifted my chin.  "Think about it, eh?"

	Babs looked puzzled.  "What, you're Native American?"

	I just looked at Fritz, irritation slowly rising.  Then Tatja 
suddenly snorted -- had she gotten it?

	Dana looked at her.  "What?"

	"We covered this in American history," Tatja said.  After the 
others puzzled a couple moments, she asked me, "Treaty of 
Guadeloupe-Hidalgo?"

	I nodded -- she was a sharp one.  "The Garza de Vegas owned an 
hacienda outside of Albuquerque.  We lost most of the land in the 
Mexican-American war, and the rest of it during the Civil War.  But we 
stayed in our new country."

	"So you came to this country in 1850," Fritz said.

	What had Dana said once about bopping bunnies with clue-bats?  
"No, the country came to US."

	And with the look on Fritz's face, I knew either he had to leave 
or I did -- or I'd lose it.  I stood up.  To Dana, I said, "I still have 
homework to finish.  Catch you in history?"

	To her startled nod, I walked off.  No one followed me.  Not even 
my supposed girlfriend.

*

Dana

I would have followed Lupe, but Babs put her hand on my arm.  "Let him 
cool off," she said softly, earnestly.

	"But -- !"

	"Trust me," she said, "after all ... "

	After all, sex and relationships were her magic, I think she was 
trying to tell me.  Either that, or after all, I was going to see him 
sixth period.  Hard for me to tell.

	"What brought that on?" Fritz asked no one in particular.  Said as 
if he hadn't been needling Lupe.  Then he muttered something that sounded
like "running away again."

	I would have snapped something about Lupe being driven to snap, 
but then I realized Lupe hadn't.  He'd walked off BEFORE he snapped.
Before he wolfed out on Fritz.  So Babs said something sharp instead, and 
Tatja something sarcastic.

	"This is so not helping," I told the girls before Fritz returned 
fire.  I looked around the table, meeting eyes variously abashed and 
defiant and startled.  Startled?

	"Settle down, girl," Babs said.

	I looked at her -- well, glared at her.  What?

	She looked down her finger at me.  "You were throwing off rainbow 
sparks."

	I was?

	"That's better," Fritz said.  He'd edged away.  To move away from 
him before his chair toppled over, I slid into Lupe's empty seat -- it was 
nicely warmed, too.

	"Anyway," I said.  But before I could turn on Fritz to ask what 
was up with him today, he looked at me, startled.

	"Wait, he has U.S. history with you?  I thought you were in AP."

	"Don't look so surprised," I told him.

	"It's just," he said, "I didn't expect it of him."

	Huh?  "Why not?"

	"Because of who he is."

	My first thought was, What did being a werewolf have to do with 
what classes he took?  Except, of course, Fritz didn't know about that -- 
or did he?

	"Look," Tatja said, "he's in AP history with Dana and Honors 
English with her and me.  We've seen him with both AP physics and calculus 
textbooks -- "

	"Calculus?" Fritz said.  "But he's in 11th grade!"

	Tatja looked at him sternly.  "He had it with him Tuesday, during 
lunch."

	"He had -- " and Fritz paused to think.  "He had a math book, but 
I didn't recognize it."

	"And you assumed it was remedial math."

	Fritz blew out a breath through his lips.  "Yeah, I did."

	"And I'm saying, he's not what he looks like," Tatja said.  For 
just a moment, I worried she'd mention Lupe's secret -- as though I hadn't 
almost spilled it.  "He's taking at least three AP classes, including one 
a year ahead of the honors track, as well as another honors class.  He may 
be poor, but he's very bright indeed.  It wouldn't surprise me if he was 
one of the top students in our class."

	"Fourth," Babs said.  "I looked it up."

	Tatja turned up her hand, as if to say, "See?"  I almost felt smug 
for Lupe.  Though it wasn't like I didn't know he was smart.

	"Why?" Fritz asked Babs.  Meaning, why'd she look it up.

	"I'd noticed he was smarter than anyone else was noticing," she 
said.  Like when my boy'd sussed out Babs's secret.

	"Is Lupe poor?" I asked Tats before I could stop myself.

	"Well, his track shoes are worn out and should have been replaced 
months ago.  I heard a coach give him a hard time about getting new ones, 
but he hasn't -- I think because he can't afford to."

	I felt a spurt of anger -- why in Spirit's name was the coach 
RAGGING on Lupe, instead of HELPING him?  Maybe HE needed a bushel of 
goblins in his shorts.  But at the look in Tatja's eye, I nipped that 
thought in the bud.

	And she was right -- counterproductive.  If satisfying.

*

Lupe

A dozen Hail Maries in the bathroom, I was calmer.  Even about the magic 
thing -- or things.  Worrying about Tatja and what she could or couldn't 
do, finally reminded me about seeing sparks trailing from Dana's fingers, 
yesterday at lunch.  Her magic, if that what it'd been.  With all else 
happening, I'd forgotten to ask her about it.  Or tell her.

	And like I said, magic freaks me out.  Especially when it's used 
to trap me.

	So I didn't go back to them.

	Or back to the Commons -- I took my history book to the library 
instead, and worked on my weekly essay.  My last weekly history essay of 
the year.  I was so looking forward to end of those.  To the end of the 
year.  To the end of the week.

	In physics, we had a practice test, preparing for the AP exams.  
And me without having reviewed mechanics -- or anything else from last 
semester.  I always have catch-up to do, after a full moon.  Tonight, I 
told myself: essay and physics and hang the rest.

	By the end of class, I was actually looking forward to history -- 
to seeing Dana again.  I, well -- I missed her.  After only an hour, I 
know, and me still annoyed at her telling people we were going out, but I 
did anyway.

	So of course as soon as we left the classroom, Madeleine stopped 
me with a request: let her give me a hallway blowjob to match the one 
she'd given me Monday.  Not that she could get me off in the five crowded 
minutes we have between classes -- even as talented a cheerleader as her.  
It still got her the attention she wanted.

	A minute before the bell rang, she stood, still holding my hard 
cock.  "Doing anything after Saturday's meet?"

	To which, yes, my cock twitched -- I knew what that tone of voice 
promised.  Being asked out by a cheerleader is nothing to discard lightly.  
So it took me a moment before my honesty made me say, "I don't know."

	Madeleine raised her eyebrows.  "You don't?"  More promises in her 
voice.

	I took a breath.  "We haven't made plans yet."

	"We?"  She looked down at me; I met her eyes, trying not to give 
anything away.  Then, finally, she nodded and let go of my cock.  "Let me 
know if things fall through, eh?"

	And with that she slipped into the crowd.  The thinning crowd, as 
the bell starting next period rang.  I shook off my shock and hurried to 
class.  At this rate, Dana would be there before me.

	Except, no, there were her green wings, just ahead, flapping as 
she ran while she fumbled with her messenger bag.  I arrived at the door 
just as she did.  When she looked at me, her face was ... pissed was the 
only word for it.  For a moment, I actually feared she was mad at me for 
walking out on lunch.

	Then she recognized me and smiled.

*

Dana

Art was ... well, maybe I was just cranky from lunch.  But I wasn't happy 
about Ms Andrews's ideas for modeling.  She made me put on a worn leather 
jacket about three sizes too large for me, with its back cut out for my 
wings -- then pose as a punked-out fairy.  I didn't see how that was going 
to work.  I mean, hello -- NOT a wasp fairy, let alone a leprechaun.

	I had no idea how the motorcycle backdrop was supposed to work, 
either, what with my pretending to lean on it.

	Still, I had the chance to think while posing.  Specifically, what 
was up with those sparks anyway?

	Well, yes, obviously magic.  I mean, I'm not a like total ditz -- 
though sometimes I feel like it.  But WHOSE magic? and doing what?  Was it 
mine?  I'd always assumed, the first time I did magic, I'd KNOW -- 
because, yanno, ME doing it.  But if it was mine, I had no idea what I'd 
been doing WITH it.  For all I knew, what my friends had seen could have 
been a tracking spell Kaidlearnien put on me.

	Not that I was sure he could do that from a distance.  Or, yanno, 
cast one at all.  But you know what I mean.

	Maybe, it occurred to me during my second pose (sitting on the 
ground against the "motorcycle," one knee up, jacket open), it was 
something from the Hunt Lupe saw last night.  Only then, wouldn't Tatja 
have said something?  Well, not with Fritz there.  Yet she hadn't even 
tried signaling me, that I saw.  She'd been as startled as anyone.  So 
probably not.  Who else, though?  Babs's magic didn't sparkle, at least 
not the times I'd seen her spooning with Tats and Fritz.  And Lupe, I 
knew, didn't sparkle -- he *shifted*.

	Third pose, I pretended to spraypaint a wall.

	Round and around, getting nowhere -- like that pet Babs used to 
have, the one with the running wheel.  Gerbster?  Something like that.  I 
really needed to talk it through -- preferably with Lupe.  He's good for 
bouncing things off of.  He's smart that way.

	I finally decided I'd have to ask Kaidlearnien about it tonight, 
if he was still speaking to me.

	One good thing came out of my spinning thoughts: practically 
everyone in class got the surly punk fairy look down.  So I guess that was 
for the better.

	I didn't meet Lupe on the way to history, like usual -- which was 
a pain, 'cause I got like four requests in a row, too.  I hoped that 
didn't mean he'd skipped ahead to class without me.  But, no, he was 
behind me -- catching up just as I reached class.

	My boy.  I smiled, just seeing him.

	He turned down relief, even though his member was looking pretty 
hard and bouncy -- so I did too.  We sat down together.  For once this 
week, I actually heard something of the history lecture -- and was even 
able to answer a question about the first President Bush.  Maybe Lupe's 
right about the whole relief thing being counterproductive.

	Not that Lupe spoke, but that was normal -- when he sat in the 
back, he hardly ever said anything.  But he was quiet afterwards, too, 
barely looking at me -- or anything but the notebook he put away.  
Finally he looked up and met my eyes.  I nodded -- off to last period.

	As we started down the hall, I slipped my hand in his.  He glanced 
at me, faintly troubled.  I was starting to worry about him.

	"About lunch," he said softly, privately.

	"It's okay," I quickly told him.  "You needed to cool off.  I 
really need to talk to Fritz about it."

	"About ... ?"

	Didn't he know?  But then, he hadn't been there, after he left.  
"It doesn't matter how he feels about me -- if we're going out, he needs 
to just Deal With It and stop ragging on you."

	His hand shifted its grip in mine.  "About that if," he started to 
say, but then Babs bounded up to us.

	"Ah," she said, with a knowing look.

	"Ah?" I asked.

	"Ah see yaw'l be doin' mutual relief again," she drawled.

	"No," Lupe said.

	We weren't?

	Off my look, he said, "I'm still cooling."

	Oh, I thought.  And then, OH.

*

Lupe

This time, I saw as well as felt it: not just noticing that Babs was hawt, 
but Dana's antennae swiveled straight at her, responding to the same 
*pull*.  I will say this -- I was truly starting to appreciate Dana's 
feelers.

	"Stop that!" I snapped, scowling down my finger at the damned peri 
or houri or whatever she was.  I wasn't going to be hoaxed into taking 
relief with Dana, either just us or a threesome, not until Dana and I 
could talk.

	"Babs," Dana said, sounding of all things disappointed.  "Powers 
for good, eh?"

	Which so started Babs, she let up.  Or at least, went back to 
being just sexy.  "Sorry," she said, sounding as much confused as 
contrite.

	"OUR thing to work out," Dana told her.

	And that was the moment I realized that I could have a far less 
sensible girlfriend than Dana Partlow.  That may even have been when I 
realized I was falling for her, but since I was trying to deny it, I don't 
remember exactly.

	The bell rang, and we hurried to class.

	Again, I turned down relief.  Which may have been a mistake -- I 
was close to aching, with Dana beside me and me so attuned to her and yet 
us so dissonant.  If you know what I mean.

	Look, I'm not good at this writing thing, let alone writing about 
emotions.  So just leave it, man.

	We got through Spanish, somehow.  Even though our teacher isn't 
one of those who writes off Program participants as useless that week.

	At the end of class, Dana and I looked at each other, and had one 
of those silent communication moments: we needed to talk.  In the hallway, 
I nodded at the boy's bathroom, the same one we'd talked in yesterday.

	"Catch up with you in the offices?" Dana said to Babs.

	After a moment, Babs nodded, accepting the dismissal.  She gave me 
a Look, probably intended as a warning.  But I don't intimidate easily.  
Not unless you're Tatja.

	The bathroom was clear, if smelling of stale piss.  In the far 
corner, we faced each other.

	"What is it?" Dana asked -- simply, plainly.  Her antennae were 
... worried.

	I looked down at the white tile floor, then forced myself to meet 
her eyes.  "Are we going out?"

	"You mean, tonight?  Will you need to?"

	I wrinkled my nose, then scratched it.  One part of the Dana 
Experience is never knowing when she's on the ball or flaking.  This makes 
it interesting, most of the time.  "I meant, like, as in GOING OUT.  
Together."

	"Aren't we?"  Not so much surprise-shock as surprise-worry.

	"That's what I want to know," I said.  "We haven't talked about 
it."

	She opened her mouth, then closed it.  Her antennae dithered a 
second, then stilled.  "You're right -- not in words."

	Which was all I was asking for.  Silent communication can lie.  
Both of us spent years hiding who we are.  We, of all people, had to 
confirm our impressions with words.

	"Lupe de Vega," she said solemnly, "will you go out with me?"  
And then, before I could answer, she went on quickly, "I'd really like to, 
and not just because it would be like totally embarrassing if we don't -- 
to my family, I mean -- my friends would understand.  I like you a lot."

	"Your family?"  What did they have to do with us?

	She grimaced.  "We fought this morning about my seeing a 
werewolf."

	I kept my voice calm.  Somehow.  "You told them ... ?"

	"Well, I had to explain why we hadn't been having sex all night!"

	I was completely lost.  I stuck with the trail I'd been following.  
"You.  Told.  Them."

	After a moment, she caught on.  "I know what it sounds like, but, 
well -- fairy family.  We know from secrets."

	Which almost made sense.  I took a deep breath.

	She went on, "Look, I'm sorry -- really I am.  I, um -- .  I 
didn't think.  I'm sorry.  I'm REALLY sorry.  I was in trouble for not 
telling them where I'd been -- so I had to say something, but it got out 
of hand -- and then I go and not tell you, or talk to you -- which just 
made it all the worse -- which just means a bigger dratted mess than 
ever."  She ran out of breath and gulped.  "My bad," she said in a wavery 
voice.

	I nodded -- though for what, I didn't know.

	I wasn't angry.  I was more numb than anything.  I remember 
thinking it odd at how calm I was, how I didn't have to struggle to keep 
hold of myself.

	"Lupe, I would never do anything to hurt you."  And she believed 
it, upset as she was -- her antennae strained towards me in earnestness.

	Never try to, maybe.  "On purpose."

	She made a face, a sort of worried grimace.  "Um.  Yeah."

	"Any more than I would," I said.  And to remind her, I shifted the 
nail of my right forefinger into a claw.  After looking at it a moment, I 
turned it human again.

	We looked at each other.  Out in the hall, lockers banged, kids 
joked, someone shouted.

	Finally, I said, "I'll see you tomorrow."  And turned to go.

	"Lupe," she said -- a simple appeal for an answer.

	I stopped, but didn't turn back or look at her.  "I'm not saying I 
won't go out with you."

	"But you need to think about ... it."  Her voice was small.  
Smaller than even my stomach felt.

	I nodded, then left the bathroom.

*

Dana

Okay, now I was feeling REALLY bad.  Like hungover keplies were ralfing in 
my stomach.

	You know the saying, irony has the sharpest teeth?  Except you 
wouldn't -- that's a fairy proverb.  But it's true -- the irony of
fighting with my parents over going out with Lupe truly bit.  It didn't 
hurt as badly as betraying him, but it hurt sharper, if you know what I 
mean.  Not that it'd been a betrayal -- I KNOW they can keep secrets like 
that -- but Lupe didn't.

	When I got to the newspaper office, the staff meeting had already 
started -- Thursday afternoon, we brainstorm the next assignments, for the 
Weekend and Wednesday editions.  Some are a given, like my Yours Truly 
column or Chris's student council report.  But the other things.

	If I sound unenthusiastic, that's because I was.  I sat through 
the meeting in a funk -- no ideas or anything.  At least Jimbo didn't give 
me any assignments.  I do remember Fritz promising photos from both 
basketball games as well as Saturday's track meet -- Suze was going out of 
town and couldn't cover them.

	And to think a couple hours ago I thought Fritz was the worst of 
my problems.

	After the meeting broke up, Babs showed me something online -- a 
plush werewolf.  In one form, it's a lumberjack, but turn it inside out, 
it's a wolfman.  Nothing like Lupe -- he's a full wolf when he changes -- 
but it was still cute.  I wanted to get it for him, as a peace offering or 
something.  As if that could make up for anything.

	Babs looked at me.  "Want to talk about it?" she said softly.  I 
could almost taste her concern.

	I thought a moment, then glanced across the room at Fritz, sitting 
on the couch with Chris.  "No," I said.  And then, "It's just, I really 
hate the feeling of messing up, yanno?"

	"I hear ya," she said.  After a moment, still quiet, "Did you 
apologize to him?"

	"Yeah.  He needs to think it through, though -- he's that kind of 
person."

	"Ah," she said, in the sort of way you're not sure whether she got 
it.  "Just be sure, in the end, he admits what he did wrong too."

	"Well, that's the thing -- " I started to say.

	"Eh eh eh! -- Danes, don't go blaming just yourself.  It takes two 
to tango."

	Huh?  "Babs -- when I told my parents what he is, he wasn't even 
on the dance floor."

	"You -- !"  Babs looked around -- no one near enough to listen, 
but still.  More quietly, "As in ... ?"

	"Woof."

	Babs blinked.  "Okay, but aside from that."

	"Yes, aside from that, it was both of us, but still mostly me."

	"Danes -- "

	"I know what I'm talking about here," I told her.

	Babs took a deep breath.  "It's just, a girl's got to be careful.  
Starting out with a pattern of blaming yourself for everything that goes 
wrong is a bad habit.  That's how abuse happens."

	Thing was, I could kinda see that.  But still, "But I haven't -- 
when he was wrong, I called him on it."  Like about whether it was up to 
me to risk myself.

	Babs blinked at me.  "Did he agree?"

	"Eventually."  I smiled, thinking about the resolution of that 
debate.

	Jimbo came over.  "Babs, you sure you're okay with covering for 
Craig?"

	"I tell you three times," Babs said, "and what I tell you three 
times is true."

	Whatever that meant.  I stood up.  "I gotta go."

	"Call me this evening?" Babs said.

	"If I can, before I go out."

	"Out?" Babs said, startled.  I could almost see her wondering why, 
if I was on the outs with Lupe, we'd be on a date.

	"Flying for the night," Jimbo explained.

	To Babs's blank look, I said, "Hello -- moth fairy."  Hadn't she 
read my interview in the paper?

	"OIC," she said.

	I twiddled my fingers to them, waved to Chris, and went down to 
the office to collect my clothes from Mrs. Romanov -- feeling, I might 
add, very odd.  I'd always thought of Babs as the relationship expert, of 
my friends -- and here she was jumping to the wrong assumptions all over 
the place.

	Shows what I know.

*

Lupe

It was slow day at work -- slow enough, Caesaria noticed how preoccupied I 
was.

	"Mooning over a novia, yes?"

	I flushed -- I couldn't stop that -- and she cackled.

	"Have you asked her out?"

	I shook my head.  "She asked me."

	Caesaria gave me a measuring look.  "Trying to decide?"  She made 
an impatient sound.  "You and your responsabilidad.  Boy, that's the whole 
point of the game -- to let go, to have fun."

	"This isn't just for fun," I said.

	Her eyebrows raised.  "Ah, bueno."  The door chimed.  To me, she 
said, "Just be sure of what's important," before turning to the customer.  
I retreated to the storeroom.

	What's important?  That was clear.  I stopped shifting a box.  Or 
was it?

	At the beginning of the week, exactly one person knew my true 
species -- me.  Now, at least six did, assuming Dana's family meant only 
her parents -- and that no one had told.  True, all of them had a secret 
identity to hide, usually their own.  But after sweating years of 
self-control to keep ANYONE from learning, it was hard to trust this.  To 
trust Dana.  

	And then there was the magic.

	Here I'd been worried the worst thing about Program was being 
noticed.  Okay, and being touched.

	And even there ... hadn't I trusted Dana to touch me all over, 
this morning?  How was magic any different?  I knew what SHE was like -- 
sweet and happy, incapable of harming another on purpose, or even wanting 
to.  How could her magic be any different?

	I shook my head to clear it, and toted the box out to the shelves.

	My thoughts went round and round, biting their own tails, the rest 
of the afternoon.  Finally, as I was about to leave, I saw the Mini Fairy 
Land set again.  I looked at it, reached out -- then caught myself and 
left it on the shelf.

	If Dana was willing to risk my self-control, why wasn't I willing 
to risk hers?  But when I'd turned my fingernail to a claw, I'd been 
demonstrating just that, that I HAD it -- and when she told her parents, 
hadn't she shown she didn't?

	I chewed my lip a moment, then left.

	Walking home, I detoured through the park -- I wanted to think 
things through, separate out the threads that kept tangling up.  I don't 
know about you, man, but normally I think best on my feet -- but I'd been 
on the move all week.  So I found a bench half-screened by a tall hedge 
and sat down.  Resting was good.  So was making a list.

	I came up with three things: her assumptions, her telling her 
family, her possible magic.  The last I couldn't do much about, so I set 
it aside for the moment.  The first -- well, she'd owned up as soon as I 
pointed it out.  She apologized -- lesson learned -- we move on.  The 
middle one, though.  It'd been an inadvertent slip, just as with Babs and 
Tatja -- and for them, I'd done as much as Dana.  A slip to someone she 
trusted.

	Just working that out helped.  I got up and started home.  Only to 
realize I'd been on the outside side of the hedge from where we'd first 
had sex, yesterday morning.  Which was random luck, had to be.  Even if 
the memory made me smile.

	And the thing of it was, Dana had a point about fairy families and 
secrets.  I didn't exactly TRUST Babs and Tatja, but I had ... an 
accommodation with them.  The key question with her family was, just as 
with her magic, how much did I trust?  I didn't know, but at least I'd 
reduced it to a more easily solved problem.  The key was, I didn't know 
her family -- or her magic.

	Which conclusion I reached just before getting home -- and getting 
in trouble with MY family.  It was bad enough I was home from work late, 
but I'd stayed out all night -- Paco had snitched, the co�azo.  If I'd had 
the excuse of a girlfriend, that would have helped -- I think my 
stepfather would have liked that, though my mother would have flipped (or 
rather, flipped more).  But of course I didn't, even though it was true.  
Claiming it would have been better than my no excuse at all.

	Especially given how much trouble I got into, back when I started 
changing.  I still haven't lived down the temper I had then.

	My stepfather yelled at me some about gangs, my mother accused me 
of not loving her, and they both threatened to ground me -- though they 
couldn't keep me away from work and it wasn't like I ever went out or used 
the phone or had friends they could prevent me from seeing.  Paco looked 
smug, but I didn't bother with him.  No point.  I said I wouldn't do it 
again (as though I had a choice, next month) but generally stood there and 
took it.

	And the stupid thing?  I found myself thinking that having Dana 
there would have helped, to calm things down -- she was good at that, just 
being her bubbly self.  Which thought freaked me enough, I stuffed it 
aside.

	Eventually, a stepsister came home -- the supposedly grounded one 
-- and the yelling was aimed at her instead.

	The less said about dinner that night, the better.

	It wasn't till I sat down with my metric dump-truck of homework, 
that I brought that thought out about Dana again.  Or rather, it came out 
again, as a worry.  Not the thought itself, but why had just thinking 
about Dana's good nature made me freak?  It wasn't like it was magic --

	Wait.

	Oh.

*

Dana

Mom was waiting for me when I got home: way early for her.  I guessed I 
was still in trouble, though the house tasted much calmer, without Jim 
there.

	"Kaidlearnien will be here early," she told me.

	Definitely trouble.  I nodded glumly.

	"He didn't want to test you, but I think I convinced him."

	Test?  Was I in that much disgrace, that I needed to be retested 
to be reinstated as his student?  Not that my initial tests wouldn't be 
easy -- I was a pretty good flier now, if I have enough airspace.

	"In fact," Mom went on, in a confidential tone, "I kinda pulled a 
few strings, to get him to agree -- so if you could pass the first time, 
it'd be for the best."

	I nodded.  Though it didn't sound right.  What first time?  Or had 
she meant LIKE the first time?

	"Just remember your control -- you don't have to be strong, just 
consistent."

	"Pass it the first time?" I finally asked.

	"Well, yes, you'd have to retake it until you get your wand."

	I was totally confused.  "That's why I'm studying under 
Kaidlearnien -- to earn my wand."

	"Exactly!" Mom said, as if that explained everything.

	I paused for a moment, then said, "Back up a sec.  What test?"

	"For your wand."

	Two seconds later, I heard a thump -- my bag, dropping on the 
floor.  No, on my foot.  Ow!  I grabbed it and started hopping.

	"Flitter?  You okay?"

	It took several minutes to straighten things out.  Mom said she'd 
seen me do magic this morning -- SEEN, as a sparkly trail as I gestured.  
The same sparklies my friends had seen.  Which wasn't enough for 
Kaidlearnien on its own, not without witnessing himself, but that it 
coincided with my first real (well, any) boyfriend convinced Mom's uncle, 
and he talked Kaidlearnien into at least testing me -- tonight.  As soon 
as he arrived.

	Which meant it wasn't the best time to admit that Lupe maybe 
wasn't my boyfriend.  So I said nothing about it.  Nor that I hadn't 
realized I was DOING magic -- or what my magic did -- so had no idea how I 
well I control it.  If at all.  I was SO not ready for this test.

	Though it was kinda heartening to know that my magic coming out 
meant that Lupe cared for me as much as I did for him -- but I didn't get 
the chance to think about that, what with Jim and Brian arriving, and 
explaining everything to Jim over Brian's insistence that he tell us about 
daycare, and the rushed dinner, and all else.  Before I knew it, 
Kaidlearnien clapped at the back door.  He was way early.

	I answered it.  He scowled at me, wings held rigid.

	I pressed my palms together and bowed deeply, wings flattened -- a 
formal fairy apology.  After shaking my wings five times, I stood.  "For 
the last two nights," I explained.  "It was needful."

	After a moment, he nodded -- _Understood_.  But not accepted.

	I bowed my head.  "If you wish to put off testing me, I would 
understand."

	He snorted, and gestured out with his finger -- _Come_.  We were 
getting this over with.

	I called out, "Bye!" to my parents and left the house.  A command 
like that from your teacher, you obey.  He took off, though the sun was 
only just down.  I swallowed, and followed him into the evening.

*

Lupe

Oh, I thought again.  I stared at my open history book.  So that's what 
her magic did.  I thought of calling Dana to tell her, or to ask her if 
she knew.  Or even just talk.  But aside from not knowing her number -- or 
that of anyone who'd know -- I knew she would be flying already.

	I looked out my window at the gathering dark.  There'd be time 
enough in the morning, before school.


[concluded in part 5, Friday]

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