Roses and Fangs: ch. 2. Broken Paths pt. 4.

***
A couple days later, as their last class of the day let out, Kara caught up to Sam and grabbed his arm pulling him aside. “Look, I’m not ready to make up my mind yet, but I was thinking about heading over to Sugarcreek Reserve for a bit. If you want to come along, I wouldn’t mind. As friends I mean.”
“I’d love to,” Sam smiled. “Right now, or?”
She looked him over a minute. “I was kinda thinking now, unless you wanted to change to a different pair of jeans.”
“Nah, I’m good. Wanna take your car or mine?”
“Mine’s closer, if that’s okay?” She looked up at him as they watched. He was glancing at her but looked away quickly.
“Makes no difference to me. Lead on.”
As they pushed through the front doors of the humanities building, they saw Jacqueline sitting on the plaza. She was off to the side by herself plugged into an mp3 player looking a little dejected. With a silent glance to each other they both walked over and sat down on either side of her.
It took a moment for her to sense the people next to her, but then she took out her earphones. “Oh, hi,” she said hesitantly, brushing her dark hair out of her face.
“Something wrong?” Kara asked, noting the girl’s demeanor.
“I don’t think I fit in here very well. My afternoon classes are cancelled today and most of the girls on my floor went off together, and I wasn’t invited. As usual,” She finished softly to herself, probably not realizing that both Sam and Kara could here it.
Kara looked over Jacqueline to Sam and caught his questioning expression. She nodded ever so slightly. “Well, Kara and I are going to a park. You’re more then welcome to come along if you wish.”
“I don’t want to be a third wheel,” Jacqueline said softly.
“You won’t be, I promise,” Kara answered and Sam nodded. She grabbed Jacqueline’s arm and pulled her up. “Come on, it’s too nice a day to sulk.” Jacqueline looked about to protest a bit but then shrugged and allowed herself to be lead away.
They walked to Kara’s car, with Sam and Kara joking around and trying to cheer up Jacqueline. By the time they reached the silver sedan, she was starting to relax slightly, but still seemed a bit on edge. As they loaded their backpacks into the trunk Sam breathed into Kara’s ear. “She’s scared.”
Kara mouthed back, “I know,” as soon as Jacqueline was looking away. She noticed that Jacqueline immediately went for the back passenger side seat, and sat looking out the window. She slipped the car in gear.
A little over twenty minutes later they were hiking one of the loops, Sam and Kara pointing out favorite spots and noteworthy plants to Jacqueline. Slowly, she started to come out of her shell, asking questions, offering opinions. Kara and Sam were starting to think she was pulling out of her shell when she suddenly blurted out, “So did you invite me because you were feeling sorry for me, or is this a way to get me on my own or?”
Sam stopped in his tracks a little taken back. Kara frowned and grabbed Jacqueline’s shoulders and spun her around so two girls were face to face. “Okay, lets get something straight, okay?” Cringing slightly at her repetition of the word she went on, “I’ve never been one to choose my friends based on who I felt sorry for. Nor am I the type of person that goes around eating people. To my knowledge, Sam has never done either of those things either. We invited you because we like you.”
Sam chuckled lightly as he stood a bit behind Kara, “I don’t really feel like talking about my eating habits out here, but I don’t go around just biting people. It’s bad manners, and really not very hygienic.”
Jacqueline looked between them, a look of confusion. “Then why did you invite me?”
Sam sighed, “Look at it this way, yeah I’ve had human friends, some I like allot and consider good friends, but although there’s some I think I could trust with knowing what I am, I still can’t risk it. You already know. You seem nice. And you seem like you could use a friend.”
Kara nodded. “It’s pretty much the same for me. Not many close human friends. As a were, you’re pretty much brought up to really only stick to your own kind. You’re taught to never get to close to other races.” She looked back at Sam with a wry smile, “Especially, vampires.” She turned back to Jacqueline, “but, that’s not the only reason. You offered to be someone I could talk to. Aside from Sam, and my Mom, I never really had that. And for the longest time I still hid that I was a were from Sam.”
“So you just invited me because you want to be friends?” Jacqueline’s expression and tone suggested she was both hopeful and afraid to get her hopes up at the same time.
“Yes!” Sam and Kara said in unison.
Jacqueline turned off and headed along the path. For the rest of the hike she remained quiet, and when they returned to the commons area by the parking lot she sat in the grass watching a bunch of kids play with a couple of dogs while their parents prepared a picnic and Kara and Sam tossed a Frisbee they retrieved from Kara’s car.
Jacqueline noticed the dogs seemed a little uneasy if they got too close to Kara and Sam and tended to avoid them. She watched with envy as the kids wrestled and played fetch with the dogs. For a few minutes she didn’t notice that Sam and Kara were sitting on either side of her again.
She blinked. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if you liked dogs.” Kara stretched out beside Jacqueline.
“Yeah, I do. I always wanted one, but I wasn’t allowed to have one as a kid. Mom said they were too much work and dad… well lets just say dad didn’t like dogs much.” She smiled sadly. “Sometimes, I envy the kids I see playing with their dogs. Selfish, I know, but sometimes I just wish I could have had a dog growing up.”
Suddenly, she went red and looked at Kara as if just realizing something. “No offense, Kara.”
Kara smiled broadly and let out a light laugh. “None taken.” She leaned forward toward Jacqueline and Sam. “You two want in on a dirty little secret?”
Sam arched his eyebrow, “Oh?”
Jacqueline nervously shifted, “Sure?”
Kara giggled. “I’ll be right back!” She sprinted off to her car and returned with an almost empty duffle bag. She pulled a collar out of it and fastened it very loosely around her neck. “I used to enjoy shifting and wondering the neighborhood in wolf form and play with some of the neighborhood kids. Used to drive my parents nuts. But because of my coloring I could get away with it. Eventually, they broke down and got a license for a German Sheppard.” She giggled a bit then headed to the restrooms.
A couple minutes later a large canine with golden coloring peeked out from the entrance then sprinted over to Sam. Kara gave her tail a couple of saucy wags as she swiped the Frisbee from him, teasing him with it then dropping it into Jacqueline’s lap.
Wide-eyed Jacqueline scrambled to her feet and tossed the Frisbee. Kara chased it and snatched it from the air in a way that showed she was well-practiced. She brought it back to Jacqueline, wagging her tail heavily.
Sam joined in and the three of them played fetch with the Frisbee for a while. When Sam and Jacqueline started to tire, Kara snuggled up between them letting them scratch her ears for a while. Even in her wolf form Kara could see the change come over Jacqueline as she relaxed and finally truly enjoyed herself. She let the girl hug her and pet her to her hearts content.
When seven rolled around, Kara snuck back into the restroom and emerged looking both human and dressed. She slipped the collar and Frisbee into the bag meeting Jacqueline and Sam’s smiles with her own. “We should start heading back.”
As they walked back to the car Jacqueline leaned over suddenly and gave Kara a big hug. “Thank you.” She kept smiling the whole way back to campus.