{For those interested, I have posted a guide to all the currently active Moon Lake stories in the Forums section of CYOC.net.—tmw.}
BACKTRACKING...
The Ben Twist taxi service, also known as everyone needing a ride to school carpooling with him, left the Twist household's driveway promptly. Eric Anderson sat upfront with Ben, while his older brother Nate and Nate's boyfriend Alex Ramsey sat in the back, but the couple knew from past experience not to do more than hold hands in Ben's car.
Driving along, the topic of conversation was the fact that tomorrow was the last day of school before the Winter/Christmas holidays break.
"So, any plans?" wondered Ben, throwing the question out to whoever might want to answer.
"No. We were going to spend our first Christmas together in Moon Lake this year. Just the four of us," recalled Eric sadly, while thinking of his deceased father.
"It's still the four of us. Wilma just can't join the party yet," said Nate, trying to cheer him up.
"My folks were talking about going to see relatives, but I don't know if that's still going to happen or not. Dad says he's starting to get swamped at work," revealed Alex Ramsey. Then he leaned over and whispered in Nate's ear, "Which gives us more time together, Stud," before kissing him on the cheek.
"Well, mom invited some friend of her's over for dinner Friday night, because the lady might wind up becoming a border," revealed Eric, which was a development Ben knew he would have to tell his mothers when he privately could do so. "Then there's also Cassie's birthday party Saturday," remembered Eric, as a smile came to his face. "Afterwards, she wants to spend the night in the woods together."
"Just make sure she either takes a spare werewolf birth control pill with her for Sunday morning, or times Saturday's late enough so she doesn't have to worry about coming back home for it the next morning," said Ben, sounding like another big brother before Nate could speak. "I know a few places in the woods where you can den and not be in violation of the public were laws after dawn."
"Really?" asked Eric, looking at him. "That sounds pretty romantic."
"It can be, if you play your cards right," agreed Ben, not mentioning that the real reason he was helping Eric and Cassie out was that so he could spend more time having sex with Cassie's mother while they were away after the party ended.
"Say. How come you never told me and Nate about these places?" asked Alex.
"Because you two do well enough in your folks' basement, from what I hear," chided Ben. Then he asked Eric what he was giving Cassie for a birthday present.
"Mom ordered a stuffed toy tiger for her. Since her mom's a vet at a Seattle Zoo, Cassie gets to go there regularly for free and loves the tigers, but they can't stand to be around her because of being a she-wolf."
"Yeah. I had a friend once who owned a German Shepard. This was before you guys moved to Moon Lake. But I could never go to his house because the dog freaked out whenever I was around."
"What happened?" asked Eric.
"They were a family of normals just staying in town temporarily because his dad was helping with the remodeling going on at the hospital back then, so mom Samantha just had them sign a lifetime nondisclosure agreement about Moon Lake. He thought being a were was cool, but wasn't old enough to be initiated into were society before they left. Wanted to be one of the big cats if he could ever do so, but hadn't made up his mind about which one when I last talked to him. We still exchange e-mails from time to time though."
"Say Ben. You never told us what your holiday plans are," Nate pointed out.
"Stay home and be with my family, just like you guys, although I'll be at Cassie's birthday party Saturday afternoon too. I promised Mrs. O'Sullivan I'd help her out and keep an eye on all you young pups," answered Ben, while winking at Eric.
Soon Ben's car was pulling into the student parking area of Moon Lake High School.
Because Cassie lived just a couple of blocks away from the school, too close to even qualify for bus service, she walked to school most days and was already waiting for them as they approached the building.
"Hello boys," she said with a smile, but only kissed her boyfriend Eric.
"We were talking about our plans for the holiday break on the way over here. What are yours, besides turning 15 Saturday, my sexy she-wolf?" asked Eric.
"Other than spending as much time with you as I can?" asked Cassie in return, before kissing him again. "My mom's promised me a day at the zoo sometime during the break. Otherwise, my agenda's wide open honey," she revealed, just as the bell rang that indicated students had 10 minutes to get to their first class of the day or be considered late once school officially started.
Ben Twist wanted to talk to Nate more about this potential new border that might be moving into his house, but didn't get the chance. Guess I'll have to wait till lunch, he thought, shrugging his shoulders and entering the school with the rest of his friends.