Jasmine wasn't having a good time. It was so frustrating being with Mike when he wasn't really paying much attention to her. He was so focused on those stupid deer butting their heads together! It might be interesting if you had someone to root for, Jasmine thought, but she barely knew any of the male bucks and couldn't have cared less about their internal politics.
She thought she might have been able to distract Mike, but that brought up the other problem, mom. (Jasmine seldom thought of her as "Laurie" anymore, even though they were technically still married--there was no legal setup for divorce in the park.) Everytime Jasmine tried to get any closer to Mike than handholding, she could see Laurie tense up and prepare to intervene. Jasmine wondered how much of Laurie's protectiveness was a mother looking out for her daughter, and how much was a jealous wife. She wondered if Laurie herself knew.
*I guess dealing with all this is part of being a teenage girl* Jasmine thought. *It can't all be beautiful prom dresses and making out under the stars* She sighed. *I don't think they even make prom dresses for foxgirls* Jasmine worried about the future. As difficult as it was sometimes dealing with her new life in the park, difficult and wonderful, it was going to be a hundred times harder in the real world. Being a human girl and dealing with her and Laurie's friends, all of whom, she thought, would be freaked out by their new relationship. Trying to deal with teenagers as a teenage girl--would she be going back to high school? Should she move somewhere to start a new life? And what about Mike? Would he be going back to his old body? Would he still be interested on the other side of the fence? Sometimes it seemed better to stay in the park forever, but that didn't seem like a possibility--Mom was dead set against it and she doubted if the park would allow it anyway.
Mike's attention seemed riveted on the clearing where the bucks were, as they began to prepare for the next contest. Suddenly he turned to Jasmine, flashed her a big grin, and licked her throat with his big, flexible tongue--foxpeople's version of kissing. "Thank you " he whispered.
"For what?"
"Everything."
Jasmine flashed her mom a quick look *stay back, Ma* then snuggled closer to Mike. Suddenly she felt a whole lot better about the future.