Curiosity, on the other hand, Selena had in plenty, as Mel found the next morning when the two girls sat together carving the soft wood away from the beautiful hardwood pattern of their walking sticks.

"I have to know all about it. Where did he kiss you first?"

"In that patch of thin willow we had to go through on the riverbank."

"While I was finding our wood. I just knew something was happening then. I could feel it inside."

"Selena, I kind of felt bad though, leaving you alone."

"No! Don't feel bad at all. I'd be mad at you if you hadn't gone off alone with him at least sometime during the date. How could I feel left out when you and I made magic to get him for you together? But I want to know details now. Did he say anything?"

"No, I don't think so. There was just this... feeling of understanding between us that now we were going to kiss."

"Okay. He turned around and faced you, right?"

"I guess so. Yes."

"Where did he put his hands?"

"Um. His arms were around me. One hand was here, on my shoulder-blade, and the other was here I guess."

Selena gave an adolescent squeel of delight. "Did he pull you roughly to him?"

"No. It was all smooth and gentle, but I could feel his strength. In a way it was like being in a strong current of water. My heart was like lub-dub lub-dub, you know, and I remember saying to myself, "It's really happening for me." I let myself be swept away by the current. Were we very long?"

"Maybe ten minutes. Tell me about what his lips felt like on yours. Was it a soft or a hard kiss?" Selena's dark eyes were wide with excitement. Her high cheekbones and long neck made her look like a young model.

"Soft at first, well, kind of soft. Not as gentle as dew falling on a leaf. More like a steady rain."

"And then it got harder?"

"Stronger, yes. Insistent, like a driving rain that forces the leaves from side to side, a torrent. But it wasn't just him, I was kissing right back just as hard, and our mouths did twist back and forth a little, so it was like leaves in a summer storm." Melissa's heart had begun to quicken as she relived the memory.

"We have to find a guy for you now Selena."

"No. I want to share Trevor."

That sounded pretty funny. Melissa didn't know what to say. For a moment there was an awkward silence as both girls worked with their wood.

Mel put the point of her short blade against a crusted place in the centre of one of her stick's diamonds and slowly applied pressure until the gray scab crumbled under the blade. Selena was wearing a shirt she had tied at her mid-rift. Her lower rib cage, her perfect torso, and her sculpted tummy button, all covered in flawlessly smooth coffee-coloured skin, would certainly appeal to most boys.

"I don't mean that next time I want to go into the bushes with Trevor and glue my mouth to his until we are like two leaves twisting in a torrent of rain. I mean I want to share your experiences this way. With you telling me all about it."

Melissa felt sort of guilty. She'd worried about Selena being jealous and here she was, feeling jealous of Selena for no reason at all.

"So tell me more. Did he say anything at all? Ever?"

"I told him thank you for the thing he did on the bus. Um. He said something. I don't remember just what."

"Melissa, this is your first kiss. How could you forget?"

"I think he said something about me being beautiful."

"Ahh."

"I said we should catch up with you."

"No. Don't ever cut a moment like that short for me. Just live it and tell me later."

"Then he said my mouth was like a rare tropical fruit and we kissed again."

"Yes. What a great line."

"That was all."

"For then."

"Yes. For then." Melissa couldn't help smiling.

"So then you went to explore further up river. And?"

"Well, yes. We kissed again."

"Details!"

"It was quite an open space. You could see there wasn't any good wood around for quite a ways. You should have seen how the sun glowed in the little hairs on his legs."

"That's a detail I was able to notice for myself a couple of times. He's gorgeous. Go on."

"He said he wanted to do it again. Kiss."

"I'd hope so. So what did you say?"

"Nothing. I just shyly walked up to him."

"Where did he put his hands this time?"

"He was a perfect gentleman. He put his hands on my hips. Lightly."

"Show me." Selena stood up. She'd left her knife and stick on the ground. Shavings dropped from her lap and more fell as she lightly brushed her hands over her legs. She had long slender fingers. Even her thumbs seemed longer than usual. "Come on. I'll be Trevor. Walk up to me and show me how it was."

Mel put aside her own stick and knife. Hers was borrowed from her father; Selena's was a small Swiss army knife that Trevor had left her.

Mel brushed the chips and dust from her own bare legs and slowly approached Selena, stopping in front of her as she had done with Trevor yesterday. Behind them she saw Trevor's magic rock.

"Put my hands where he put them."

She took Selena's slender brown hands and placed them on the flare of her hips.

"Now what should I do?"

Mel guided Selena's hands to show how he had moved his hands, lightly tracing the line of her waist until he had held her about at the middle of her back.

Selena's dark eyes were serious as the demonstration continued. Mel felt a little uncomfortable but showed her how Trevor had drawn her close to him then, and held her in his arms.

Selena didn't try to move her face close to hers like Trevor had, but being held like this by a girl felt funny anyway, so Mel stepped back and away. "He kissed my cheeks and eyes and forehead and nose and chin with little tiny kisses and then he kissed me on the mouth."

"And."

"And what?"

"And then...? Did it build from there?"

"Sort of. Yeah. It, um, was quite passionate."

"Did his hands... start to roam?"

"No. But from his breathing, I could tell, um. Well, we were both in the same place, emotionally, that we'd been when we were in the willows."

Selena sat back down with her stick and Mel returned to her place also, then shifted over a few feet to be close to the Trevor rock. Before she resumed carving, she ran her hand lightly over the ripples on the stone. She had a comforting sense of being close to Trevor from it. She needed that sense because reliving their closeness yesterday had made her crave his touch; the subtle smell of him as she'd buried her face in his chest before he had left.

She'd not held back at all. Did he think she was easy now? After all, she'd certainly acted easy hadn't she?

"Then there was the goodnight kiss."

"Yes."

"Did that get just as hot?"

"No. It was a good hard kiss, but it was sad."

"Because you had to part."

"Mmm hmm."

"Was it a deep kiss?"

For a moment, Mel didn't get it. Then she remembered reading in a magazine about it. It had been in an advice column, and the writer had said deep kissing or French kissing was when one or both partners inserted a tongue in the other's mouth. It had not sounded appealing, but the writer said it was a matter of individual taste, that it didn't make you a slut if you did it or frigid if you didn't.

"It was, wasn't it? Melissa, admit it."

"No. It wasn't."

"Then why did you hesitate?"

"Because I didn't even know what you were talking about at first."

"Are you sure? Maybe I should ask Trevor myself for the details."

"Don't you ever hint to him that I told you anything about what we did, or I'll never tell you anything again."

"Don't worry. I promise I will keep your secrets in my heart til I die."

They worked on quietly for a little while. The curves seemed to come naturally out of the wood. When Melissa used the lightest touch, she seemed to see the best results.

"If he wanted to deep kiss, would you do it?"

"Probably. I'd try to, if that's what he wanted." She was quiet for a moment more, working smoothly around one of the diamonds. "Oh Selena, I'd probably do anything he wanted. I didn't put up any resistance yesterday. He's going to think I'm cheap and easy."

"He only did what you hoped he would, Stupid. Don't worry about losing him by letting him kiss you. Remember, it was magic that got him for you in the first place. All we have to do now is keep it up."

"What should I do?"

"I saw you touch his stone a little while ago. That was good. Stretch out and put your cheek against it."

The rock was smooth and cold against her face. In her imagination though, she felt closer to Trevor. She turned and kissed a ripple in the rock. A little way off, she heard Selena's voice chanting quietly, "Tre-vor. Trevor."

"Oh Trevor," she thought, "I want to be with you. Think of me my love." Then she pressed her lips to the cold stone again.

When she got up she saw that Selena had been using her stick to draw a pentagram in the dust in front of her while she chanted. It was comforting to think of magic helping her. She had told Trevor he was the only boy she ever wanted to kiss. He hadn't said anything like that to her. She was just something soft for him to squeeze. Probably no more than a plaything to him. He might have kissed her only because he knew she wanted him to, after the first time. He couldn't have known she wanted him to kiss her that first time could he? He was such a nice boy, he'd kiss her because he felt sorry for her. But he was honest too, so he wouldn't tell her he liked her. Wouldn't tell her he wanted only her.

A bluejay flew to the ground a few paces away from where the girls were sitting. It cocked its pointy head at a yellow butterfly fluttering by and jumped-flew after it. It missed, landed, flew up again and missed again. The third time though, it picked the insect out of the air, landed, then took off with its prize in its beak.

"Aren't those birds neat!" Selena exclaimed. "They're cheeky and quick, and they don't give up till they get what they want. You know, I'm going to make the bluejay my spirit animal."

She stood up.

"Mel-is-sa. Look."

"What?"

As she stood she saw a red car pull into her yard across the road.

"Oh God! It's Trevor. I need lipstick. I haven't washed my hair yet. Just look at me."

"You look great. Tie up your shirt like mine and undo a button.
Another one."

"No." She looked down at her shirt. "One is enough. My mother and father are going to see me you know."

She did undo three bottom buttons and tied her plaid shirt up calypso fashion though. "God. I have to go on a diet."

"Don't be silly. You look juicy."

Selena was being a friend, but she didn't know about Melissa's celulite problem.

"Well, don't stand there looking beautiful. Go see him!"

"You come."

"No. He didn't turn in at my driveway. I don't want him thinking I'm a pest any more than he probably already does."

The thought flashed in Mel's mind that she didn't want him to see Selena in the radically short cut-offs she was wearing. They showed very clearly that Selena had no celulite problem at all.

"But."

"Now don't forget any details. You have to tell me all."

"I guess I'll take my stick and knife."

"You don't want me to look after your things all the time do you?"

When Melissa left, Selena was on the ground somberly working on her stick.

Trevor was walking toward her, with his own stick, when she got to her yard.

"Hi. Do you mind if I keep you company? My stick here is starting to look pretty decent in places, and I kinda wanted to be near Selena in case I started to screw it up now."

Selena.

"Um. No. I wouldn't mind. That is, we wouldn't mind. We, ah, were just working on our own."

So she turned around, and they walked back to the magic fire-circle where Selena was waiting for them. Melissa, aware of Trevor's presence beside her, was in a mixture of joy and agony. He wanted to be near Selena when he carved.

When they got to the circle, Selena was sitting and working on the tortuous convolutions of her walking stick, but Melissa noticed a fresh leaf sitting in the dust before her. On it were ranged six smaller, serrated leaves. She must have picked them only seconds ago, then sat down where she had been when Melissa had left her.

Selena's dark brown hair shone cleanly in the sun as she tossed it over her shoulder. Her dark eyes were beautiful and mysterious; her eyebrows arched so gracefully.

"Welcome Trevor," she said, a little deeply.

"He wanted to work with us." You.

"Wonderful. Sit. I've been using this great knife you lent me all I can. I'm hoping to get a knife of my own for grade seven graduation.

Melissa noticed that an extra button on Selena's shirt was undone. As they sat down together, Mel noticed too that Trevor was missing nothing of the girl's beauty. It was true that Trevor was sitting closer to her than to her friend, but that might be so he could get a better look.

"My Dad had a look at my work so far and he was pretty impressed. He said that this was how he remembered the old time walking sticks, the valuable heirlooms."

"The sun is warm," Selena said, like some wise Indian medicine woman. "But I have refreshing mint for us. Take a leaf or two and chew it as you work." She bent to hand the leaf to Trevor and Melissa was afraid he might be able to see quite far down the front of the girl's shirt. Her finger played at the button of her own top, but she didn't undo it.

Industriously, the three of them worked on their woodcraft. The mint flavour brought wetness to Mel's mouth.

"My Dad said that after these are carved we could oil them. But he said the best ones are rubbed by hand for hours. The natural oils work in."

After a few more minutes, Selena passed the leaves again.

"These aren't halucinogenic are they?"

"No," Selena giggled. "Are you seeing visions?"

Trevor looked at Mel then and his face blushed.

"Where do you buy these things? They're good."

"You don't buy them. Girls know where to find them." After a pause: "Melissa, why don't you show Trevor?"

'Oh Selena,' Mel thought in a rush, 'you are so nice.' Trevor was looking at her. "Sure," she said, her heart quickening again, "Wanna go for a walk?"

He got up and offered her his hand. God he looked big from down where she was. She took his hand and he pulled her up. She brushed her seat off and smiled. Just by the feel of it, she realized that she hadn't smiled for a while.

"Come on."

He spanked his own pants to get rid of the dust from where he had been sitting and started to walk with her.
"If you feel like it," Selena said, "you could get some wood for a fire too."

Melissa's emotions were like a tiny whirlwind, shifting directions at a second. Did Trevor like Selena more than her? Didn't Selena deserve him? Wasn't it their right? But she was with Trevor and Selena had taken the initiative to put them together. She was such a good friend.

"Selena is such a good friend. Don't you think she's beautiful?" Without her willing it, her mouth had started. "Her skin is so... flawless."

"I haven't been able to think of anything but you."

"What?"

"I was afraid today that you'd think I was getting to be a pest, but I had to see you. To hold you."

They were down at the water level of the slough now almost. Out of sight of the house. There was a sense of excitement, then impatience when nothing happened. Then Melissa stepped forward into Trevor's arms.

Although their kisses were not deep ones, they were strong and Melissa felt a funny fluttering in her tummy after a few moments. It was delightful to weld herself to his hard body and to hear, in his quickening breath, evidence that Trevor was moved by the kisses too.

After a couple more kisses, Melissa was starting to be afraid Trevor was going to do what she secretly wanted him to do, so she broke away. "Let's gather firewood, okay?"

It was only after Melissa saw the circle of white and red wood-shavings that she realized how long she and Trevor had left Selena alone while they had supposedly been gathering fuel for a fire. It was obvious Selena had not moved from the spot, but had continued to work quietly and industriously.

"Miss us?" she had said lightly.

"Mmm hmmm," Selena said and it was hard to tell if she was upset or not. She kept on working while Trevor and Mel laid a fire. Trevor lit it and they all worked on their carving.


"Are you going to be able to ride the bus tomorrow?" Selena asked, and if she had been mad at all she was covering it up pretty well or else she had let it go. Melissa's eyes rested for a moment on Trevor's rock, not that Trevor would ever know its significance. She was surprised at how clean it seemed.

"Yeah, Mr. Oswald doesn't want trouble. Besides, he knows that I behave myself usually. I was thinking, though, that maybe it would be a good idea if you sat with me, Melissa. I could tell Roger to go back and sit with Selena."

There was an awkward pause. To sit by Trevor would be glorious. How would her friend feel about it though. "Um. What do you think, Selena?"

"It sounds like a good idea." There was a funny burr or buzz in her tone that brought a lump to Melissa's throat. Was Selena hurt or mad?

"Maybe you and Roger will get to be a thing," Trevor added brightly.

"Selena smiled at him. "I don't think so. I'm not going to get involved with boys for a while."

"Not interested yet?"

"Oh I'm interested all right," Selena said, looking over at Trevor so intensely that it was easy to imagine she might be undressing him with her eyes. "I'm very interested. But I'm into a kind of magic right now and the fact that I'm... let's say: 'unattached' gives me a lot of power of the spirit to work with. It'll be nice to talk to him but don't get your hopes up about some 'thing' developing like it obviously is with you guys.

The fire snapped and crackled. In moments, most of the thin, dry wood had been changed to glowing charcoal. Trevor pushed four more sticks into the embers. Fresh flames burst from around them almost immediately.

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