#-.-#
	Red drifted in and out of sleep, occasionally taking note of the sunlight coming in through the curtains near the foot of his bed. His dreams were vivid and superficial, and every so often he grasped that he was dreaming, and tried to take control of them. But that invariably resulted in being pulled back to consciousness, much as he wanted to live out some vivid adolescent fantasy in his mind. He went through this cycle of shallow slumber several times before his bladder forced him to crawl out of bed.
	Once vertical, he realized he was also very hungry. He squinted at the digital clock, trying to see the red numerals despite the sunlight reflecting off the plastic. On his way to the bathroom he learned that it was well past two in the afternoon. 
	Significantly late Saturday start, even by his standards. Well, considering how late he was up...
	The memory of the previous night came back full force while he tried to urinate through a stubborn "morning" erection. The recollection did not help matters. Once finished he sat down at his desk and checked his messages. Nothing in his inbox, and the chat window still showed the last thing Megan said to him last night before she signed off. She had not signed back in since.
	He and the skunk had spent most of last night and well into the early morning chatting, then using each other as life drawing models for their shared art elective class, then eventually watching each other masturbate on their respective webcams. Red wished he knew how to record video from the messenger application, but the need had never arisen before to learn that particular trick. He'd just have to remember the sight of Megan's chubby dark-furred pussy, being frantically worked by her paw. 
	On instinct his own paw had travelled down to his still-rampant erection, and was lightly stroking. He went to his browser and was about to go searching for some skunk pornography to help visually when he stopped to consider.
	Maybe Megan would want to do it again? It wasn't a school night. He should hold off. Save up for her. He closed the browser and stretched up with his arms. Yawned. Shook his tail out and got up from his desk. He was hungry anyway. He threw on some tattered gym shorts for the sake of decorum and headed out of his room.

#-.-#
Trudging down the stairs he perked his tufted ears, trying to get a feel for who was about in the house, and where. Obviously he missed whatever breakfast may have been available. Probably lunch too. No one was in the living room so he shuffled into the kitchen, yawning once more. His mother was there, reading a book at the dinner table. 
"Well, good morning, sleepyhead," she said brightly, giving him a buck-toothed rodent smile. 
	Red smiled back and turned to the refrigerator, opening the door and staring at the contents in an unfocused manner. He asked, "What was for lunch?"
	His mother tsked. "Nothing fancy. Just whatever you can find. You know, you really shouldn't stay up so late. How late *were* you up, Eddie?"
	Red grabbed a block of cheese from the refrigerator and closed the door. "Oh, I don't know, mom. I lost track of the time." He began slicing the cheese up and arranging the slices on two pieces of wheat bread.
	"Those games of yours are bad for you. I read an article..."
	Red cut her off before she went into the speech. "And I can show you articles that claim they improve reflexes and problem-solving. Anyway, it's the easiest way to hang out with my friends since I don't have a car yet. Plus! Plus I was doing homework for some of the time last night." He figured that would take the weight out of her argument.
	"Oh really? What sort of homework?"
	"We're supposed to practice sketching for that art class. So that's what I was doing."
	"May I see?"
	Red set the time on the toaster oven and flickered his tail nervously. He said, "No, I'd rather... uhm... the sketches are really pretty bad still. I got discouraged and that's when I started playing games." True enough, he thought, as it goes.
	"What did you use as your models?"
	Red's mind stalled. He had to admit, his mom was pretty sharp. He stammered, "Uh... well, that is... I worked from... photographs. Artists do it all the time!" He looked back at his mother, who was giving him a knowing look.
	"Photographs, huh?"
	Red could not meet her eyes and his face felt really warm. He stared at the toaster, willing the cheese to melt so he could escape.
	His mother sighed. "I suppose it would do no good to try to filter your internet. However, I think it's time you learned to do your own laundry." She let the implication hang in the air like the scent of stale semen. 
	Red could read between the lines. She must have come through his room looking for laundry and found the hand towel he had used last night. Though "ruined" might be a better term. He was mortified. He said in a small voice, "Yes, mom."
	Thankfully his mother went back to her book and he could watch his cheese melt in relative peace. He didn't wait for the timer to expire- once the cheese was melted enough he just opened the door and slid his cheese-toast onto a paper towel and retreated quickly back upstairs.
	Sure enough, the towel was gone. He tried not to think about his mom picking it up, still wet. At least now he wasn't the least bit horny. He decided to actually play some of the games he claimed he had last night and fired up Faction Wars.

	A knock on his bedroom door hours later managed to pull his attention from the screen slightly.
	He said, "Come in!" and then turned his gaze back to the screen. He was involved in a rather chaotic battle.
	His father opened the door a crack, peered inside, and then opened it wider. He looked around the room, wiggled his whiskers, and then said, "Uhh..."
	Red looked back at his father and assumed there was a discussion coming, or something. He said, "Sorry. I'll uh... I'll tell the guys I gotta go." He typed out rapidly in team chat and then disconnected from the server.
	Red spun his chair around and asked, "What's, uhm... what's up, dad?"
	His father looked distinctly uncomfortable. His tail flickered and he rubbed the back of his neck with a paw. He did not actually enter Red's room. He began, "So your mother told me she had to... deal with some uhh... that is, she's worried that..."
	Red looked down at the carpet, away from his father's face. Just as he had feared. He could tell his father didn't want to be here either. He interrupted, "Look, I'm sorry about the... the mess. I forgot."
	His father picked up that thread eagerly. "Just be more discreet, ok? I know, that is, we know you're... getting older and there are... that is, boys your age... I mean, heh when I was your age..."
	Red couldn't listen to his father fumble around any more. He held up his paws and said, "Stop! Dad, please. I'll... I'll do my best to make sure mom never has to know about it, ok?"
	His father looked relieved. "Good. Thank you. It's just har... difficult for her to adjust to your... impending adulthood. Anyway, we're planning to go out for dinner. Something Eastern style, I think. Interested?"
	Red asked, "She's not going to give me the third degree too, is she?"
	His father shook his head. "No, she told me it was my job. Father-son conversation."
	"All right. I feel like I haven't eaten anything all day!"
	"Might want to actually put on some real clothes first."
	Red had forgotten that he was still just wearing a pair of gym shorts. "Right! I'll be down in five minutes."

#-.-#
Red ate enough for at least two normal people at dinner, and upon returning home went straight back up to his room and fired up his messenger application. To his surprise, the little icon next to Megaskunk995 showed that she was online! He immediately began typing in the input box.

	Dragonsqrl: Hey Megan! Just got back from dinner. It was awesome. How's it going?

	He waited for a response. He watched the status bar, waiting for it to say that she was typing a message. But it never did. After several minutes that he filled with aimless browsing as he waited for the messenger window to chime, her status changed to "idle". Eventually he heard the clicking door sound that indicated that she had logged off.
	Red frowned. What did that mean? She could have been away from the keyboard and just timed out. She'd see his message next time she logged back on. Or she could have seen his message and just not wanted to reply. That worried him. Had he done something wrong last night? Said something that had upset her? He recalled how quickly she had signed off. 
	He decided to send her an email. This proved to be incredibly difficult, now that he had convinced himself that he had somehow screwed up. He didn't want to sound angry, or desperate, or like he was stalking her (he had had enough experience with that after sending girls flowers and cards in the past). And if she was already upset, would hearing from him at all just make it worse? He considered calling her house, since she had given him her phone number. But it was already 8:30, and it might be a little late to get a call from a classmate, especially a male one. Her parents had sounded pretty protective, judging from what she had said on the webcam the previous night. 
	After composing and deleting several emails, he decided the best course of action was to leave her alone for now, and hope that he could get to talk to her tomorrow, or Monday at school at the latest. He'd see her in 210, surely. 

#-.-#
Normally, Sundays seemed to go by far too quickly to Red. There was a limp sort of melancholy to the day. Despite the freedom of waking up late and not having to go to school, the looming mortality of the weekend usually colored everything Red enjoyed doing. It didn't help that he normally left all his homework for Sunday evening.
	Now that he had something on his mind bordering on an unhealthy obsession, the hours crawled. He woke up early, which he hadn't done since he was a little squirrel. His dreams had been tortured and anxious, though he could not recall them in any detail. Checking the computer screen as soon as he got out of bed showed no change in Megan's availability status. 
	That would be the case all day. He resorted to doing his homework around lunchtime to distract himself from the nagging, swirling thoughts and worries that chased each other in his head. That finished, he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He tried to calm himself down by asking himself questions. 
	"Ok, ok, what do I do? What can I do? I can call her. I can let her call me. If she wanted to talk to me, she would have checked the messenger and seen my message. Why doesn't she want to talk to me? Maybe her parents found out what she and I did? Maybe she's in trouble? Maybe she is just worried that they will find out? Maybe she didn't want to have... camsex? Is that a word? Maybe she didn't want to do that with me, and I pushed her into it? I don't remember having to convince her."
	Ultimately, he had no better answers, as well as the beginnings of a stress headache. He wished he had someone he could ask for advice. He dismissed his parents out of hand. He couldn't even imagine how to frame the question without getting into some uncomfortable details. If only he had Pam's number! 
	He sat up suddenly, and bounded over to his computer, tail flickering. He had the entire internet here, surely he could find one raccoon's phone number. She was a professional agent, after all. And if that failed, he bet the local gallery that was hosting (or hosted, he wasn't sure how long those things lasted) the show he had helped set up with Pam would have her contact information.
	He didn't have to resort to posing as an interested art buyer, as Pam's agency web page was easy to find. He checked on his parents' locations as hunted down one of the wireless phones. His father was outside mucking about in his garden and his mother was washing dishes. Returning to his room he dialed the number.
	It was picked up on the third ring. "Hello, Pam Piper speaking."
	"Pam?"
	"That's me! How can I help you?"
	"It's me- Red."
	There was a pause. The raccoon woman's tone was cautious. "...hi, Red. How are you?"
	"I uhm... I need some advice, and I didn't know who else I could talk to."
	"Thinking of a career in art? Because that's my area of expertise! I'm not sure what else I could help you with..."
	"No, I mean, maybe. But that's not what I wanted to ask you about."
	"Red, there are some things we probably shouldn't talk about on the phone, you understand?"
	Red realized suddenly that Pam thought maybe he was calling her to arrange another sexual encounter with her. Which he probably would have enjoyed, but he found himself not really even thinking about that, much to his own surprise. He laughed into the phone, chittering, "Chchchahaha! Nono, it's not about that at all. No I met a girl at school and we uhm... did something on Friday night and now she won't talk to me and I don't know what to do! I'm worried that she'll never talk to me again and I don't even know what happened." The panic in his voice rose as he babbled on.
	Pam waited for him to finish and then said in a somewhat relieved trilling voice, "I'm sorry to hear that Red. What did you do with her? Did you two have sex?"
	"No, we were uhm, we were chatting online, using our webcams, right? And we were sketching each other because we're in this life drawing elective together, and so we were using each other as models and..."
	"Nude models, then?"
	"Yeah. And then it got late and I was telling her that I couldn't help having a hard-on because she was really pretty and she said she didn't mind and then somehow we were playing with ourselves, at the same time. Like I was watching her rub herself on her webcam and she was watching me and we both came and it was pretty awesome."
	"And then what happened?"
	"She said she had to go to and signed off and that was the last I heard from her. I saw her online yesterday evening and I sent her a message but she never replied and then either logged off or idled off. So I don't know if she's avoiding me on purpose or... or... I don't know. And I don't know what to do! I want to call her, but I'm worried that might make it worse."
	"That's wise of you, Red. How old is she?"
	"She's a freshman. So I guess 15."
	"And how long have you known her?"
	"Well, I've known her for a few months, ever since she started hanging out with the 210... I mean the group of people I hang out with. But we started being closer when we took this life drawing course together. That's only been a couple weeks now."
	Pam sighed on the other end. "Red, I don't have any easy answers for you. People your age... are still sorting themselves out. I hope I... I hope my visit didn't... didn't do any damage."
	Red interrupted, "No! It was awesome!"
	Pam laughed, and continued, "I guess I'm glad you feel that way, but please, please know that I should not have... done that. My point really was that your friend is still trying to figure herself out, and while it doesn't sound like you forced her to do anything, she may have gone further than she meant to, and may be panicking herself, right now, in her room. She probably likes you, because you are really very likable, Red. But what you two did together may have been more intimate than she was ready for. She may not trust her own feelings. She needs time to sort it out. Do you know what that means?"
	Red's voice was hollow, but resigned. "Yeah. I should leave her alone until she figures out what she wants to do. Do you think she'll ever want to talk to me again?"
	"I'm sure she will. But she's going to feel ashamed, I think, especially if she said some really private things in the heat of the moment. See if you can think of a way to put her at ease, Red. Make her laugh, is the best advice I can give you. It... it worked well for your father."
	"Thanks, Pam."
	"No problem, Red. Good luck, ok?"
	Red thanked her again and they said their goodbyes. Well, at least he probably didn't do anything really stupid wrong. He felt some measure of relief, but the inability to change the situation still rankled. He headed downstairs to replace the phone in its charging cradle and turned on the television. He hadn't zoned out to random TV in a long time, but this particular Sunday seemed to call for it.

#-.-#
In contrast to Sunday, Red woke up late the next morning. He had gone to bed early, in an unusual effort to bring the weekend to a close more quickly than normal. He could not recall the last time he had wished for Monday morning to come. Somehow his alarm had not gone off and his father had to wake him up when it was clear the young squirrel was not ready on time.
	"C'mon, Red! I can't wait around forever!" he called through the door.
	Red moaned and rubbed his forehead. His head pounded, right behind his eyes. His sleep rhythms were off. He looked over at the mute red numerals of his clock and cursed, loud enough for his father to hear.
	"Watch your mouth, there. I'll be downstairs waiting on you."
	Red crawled out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. He drained his bladder and took a minute or two to try to brush his fur into submission. No way he had time for a shower this morning. He rooted through his dresser for some clean clothes and pulled them on, still in a half-daze. He had packed up his homework yesterday after finishing it, thankfully. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed out and down the stairs. The entire process had taken barely ten minutes. In his feeble mental condition, he had failed to even look at his computer before leaving his room.
	 His father was reading the newspaper in a chair by the door. When he saw Red coming down the stairs he folded it up and set it in the chair, nodding. "Overslept, eh?" he asked.
	Red nodded and followed his father out the door.
	"Up late again playing games?"
	Red mumbled, "No... went to bed early. Alarm musta gt flrmbvl."
	He father said, far too perkily, "Well, you should be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed then! All that extra sleep." He whiffled his own bushy red tail as if to punctuate his assertion. 
	Red's tail was drooping, almost dragging the ground. He managed to keep it just elevated enough- no sense having to brush a bunch of leaves and dirt out of it, after all. He climbed into the back seat of his father's sedan and yawned, curling his tail around himself. 
	On the way over to the Kazans' house his father kept trying to engage him in conversation, asking about his classes, about his friends, about everything, it seemed. Red couldn't tell what was up with him. Sure, his dad was disgustingly energetic in the morning, but usually he was content to listen to the news radio. Maybe his mom had told his dad to try to get more info about what Red was doing with his time. Knowing her, she probably imagined all sorts of awful scenarios. Red did his best to answer as briefly and sullenly as he could, but eventually he had to tell his father that he had a monster headache and could please we have this discussion later?
	His father had given him a look in the rear-view mirror but nodded and stopped the interrogation. Luckily they pulled up to the Kazans' house soon after. His father beeped twice and the jackal siblings came out the front door and climbed into the car. Jason had a blank, stony look on his face, which was fairly normal. He rarely spoke at all in the mornings. Beth, on the other hand, looked a lot like she woke up on the sunny side of the bed, much like Red's father. She fairly bounced into the back seat.
	"Morning!" she heralded.
	Red's father seemed pleased that there was at least one other morning person in the car. "Good morning, young lady. How was your weekend?"
	Beth launched into a narrative that outlined two shopping trips to the mall, one with her mother and one with friends (pointing out that she was wearing a new blouse that she had bought), one victorious soccer game, and one hike through the local nature park because wasn't Sunday just the most awesome day?
	Red curled up and tried to flat his ears a bit to partially block the bubbling voice of the 12-year-old jackal. Beth noticed, inevitably. 
	"What's with you?" she sneered.
	Red closed his eyes, tight. He said, "I have a headache, and you're being kinda loud."
	Beth recoiled. "Eww... don't spread your germs on me!"
	Red protested, "I'm not sick. I just had a lousy weekend, ok? Didn't sleep too good."
	His father heard that. "Huh? What happened that was so lousy? We went out to eat at one of your favorite places, I remember you ate more than your mother and I combined!"
	Beth snickered at that, and Red realized he had to come up with something to explain himself now. "I uh... I had an argument with one of my friends. I dunno if she... I mean they'll speak to me again." 
	Red's father simply said, "Oh," though it was obvious that he was reviewing the whole weekend now from his perspective, trying to break the teenager code.
	Beth was quicker to decrypt the meaning and said in a lowered voice to Red, "So that girl already dumped you, huh?"
	Red clicked his teeth angrily. "No!" He lowered his voice right away and hissed, "No. I mean, we weren't going out yet anyway, it was just..." He pinched the bridge of his muzzle with his fingers. "Never mind- you wouldn't understand." A little voice in his head insisted she probably would understand, but there was no way he was asking Beth for advice. If for no other reason that anything he told her would be all over the entire middle school before lunch, and spread into the upper school before the end of the day.
	Being told she wouldn't understand was tantamount to being told that she was a little puppy, and that rankled Beth. She flipped her ears back and snarled, "Fine then. Be an emo dork." Then she turned and pointedly looked out the window. She burned to know what had happened, though. She imagined Red must have called that number he showed her and got shot down pretty hard. Still, why in the world had the mystery girl given him her phone number in the first place? She nibbled her claws, unable to figure out why she cared.

#-.-#
There was almost no more conversation during the remainder of the ride. Once at school, they all climbed out of the car and headed off in different directions. Red cruised through the morning assembly and his first couple of classes on autopilot, barely paying attention or taking notes.
	Finally, third period, which he had free. He walked briskly across the quad to the library, trying not to look anxious. Would she be up there? He tried to recall what periods she also had free during the week. Freshmen didn't get a lot. He reached room 210 and poked his head in. Several heads looked up to see who had arrived- none of them were Megan's. 
	His lapine friend Harry perked his ears and did one of those little ear-semaphore things that would have meant something, had Red been a rabbit as well. He also said, "Hey, Red. 'sup?" as the squirrel closed the door behind himself.
	The other "two-tenners" present were juniors and seniors. Red knew them by name, though not much better than that. They were having their own discussion on one side of the long table that dominated the room. Red joined Harry at the other end, which was close to the windows that made up the far wall of the study room. Red sat down heavily, looking out the window. He wanted to play it cool, but he had to ask.
	"Seen Megan today yet?"
	Harry grinned, his white buck teeth contrasting with his jet black fur. "That frosh skunk you're sweet on? Nah, I don't think she usually comes by until lunchtime. Why, what's up?"
	Red sighed. "She's not talking to me, I think. I was IM'ing with her Friday night but since then, nothing."
	"Could be nothing, you know. Don't get all worked up. Should I tell her you're looking for her if I see her?"
	"Nono, I don't want her to like... think I'm stalking her or whatever. Just... let me know if you do see her, and how she looks, ok?"
	"Damn, what did you two do on Friday?"
	Red glanced over at the other group, then back at Harry. "I probably shouldn't talk about it. Probably make it worse."
	Harry's ears pricked up in a surprised expression. "Ok. Well, if want to tell someone, later, I'm all ears!"
	Red was forced to laugh a little. "Maybe. I sorta want a female perspective, to tell you the truth." 
	Harry ventured, "You wanna talk to my sister? We rabbits know how to keep secrets."
	Red sighed. "Maybe. Sure. Which sister, though? Don't you have like 27?"
	Harry laughed. "Careful with that joke, it's an antique. Anyway, I mean Jen, my litter-sister."
	"Little, you mean?"
	"No, litter. It's a rabbit thing. Anyway, meet us at lunch tomorrow. Fifth period."
	Red nodded and watched the foot traffic on the quad below, looking for black and white stripes.

#-.-#
 Megan never did turn up and despite his vow to not stalk her, she was all he could think about. He even checked with the list posted outside the attendance office to see if she was absent that day. She was at school... someplace. No sign of her in the dining hall, either. 
	By the end of the day he knew he was going to have to find something to get his mind off this. Beth, of course, was not going to make it easy. When they climbed into Mrs. Kazan's car Beth started right in, asking Red if he was still all mopey about his girlfriend. Red sighed and just said he hadn't seen her all day, and did not rise to the bait. 
	Beth pouted and wrinkled her nose, commenting that it was a good thing, since Red had obviously skipped his shower that morning. Red simply apologized and mumbled something about oversleeping. Beth decided he was pathetic and stopped needling him. No fun to be had there.
	Mrs. Kazan piped up, "Oh, Red, your mom called me and said she could come over today instead of tomorrow for measurements, so she'll take you home from our house when we're done."
	Red shrugged and said, "Ok." He didn't expect there to be any messages waiting for him from Megan when he got home, so he didn't care if it took longer to get there. He rested his head against the window and closed his eyes.
	Beth, on the other hand, kept looking at the red squirrel, eyes narrowed. His tail twitched every so often, even in his sleep! Or maybe he wasn't really sleeping. She leaned over closer to him a bit and sniffed, her sensitive canine nose picking up his rodent musk easily. She wrinkled her nose at first, but then sniffed again anyway. A wicked smile curled its way along her muzzle.

#-.-#
When they arrived at the Kazans' house, Red woke up disoriented. This was a place to be in the morning, not the afternoon. He blinked, remembering what Mrs. Kazan had said. He was last to get out of the car. He followed the jackals to the front door, yawning and stretching, fluffing his tail out. 
	Beth glanced back at him briefly, and her mother said to him, "You can watch TV or do homework in the den while you wait, Red. If you need something to drink, help yourself!"
	"Ok, Mrs. Kazan, thanks," he replied, passing over the threshold. He had never actually been in their house before. It was one of those split-level ranch homes, and the den was on the upper level. He followed Beth and Jason up while their mother went down, presumably to where her sewing room was. Jason headed down a hallway that turned out of sight and disappeared without a word.
	Red followed Beth into the Den and sat down on a couch, setting his backpack on the floor in front of him. He considered his options. He really preferred to do homework at home, at his own desk. He supposed he could do some reading assignments, though. He unzipped his backpack and began rummaging around.
	Beth was staring at him.
	He looked up, paws still in his backpack. "What?"
	"Nothing. So you're gonna do homework?"
	Red shrugged. "Either that or watch TV. Whatever."
	Beth said, "Ok," and headed off down the hall, tail wagging. 
	Red watched her walk away. Weird. He hoped she'd just go to her room and stay there, really. He flipped to the correct page in his book and began reading his assignment.
	Ten minutes later his mom knocked on the door. Mrs. Kazan came up from the sewing room and let her in. Red waved and the two women disappeared downstairs. He wasn't sure how long this measuring business was going to take. 
	Red was barely halfway through his reading assignment when Beth returned. Red looked up. She had changed her clothes. Her school outfit was gone, and now she was sporting a pair of loose red soccer shorts and a team jersey with the number 27 and her last name stenciled on the back. She sat down on the couch perpendicular to his, bouncing slightly. 
	Red asked, "Do you have a game today or something?"
	She shook her head and pulled her feet up and set them on the edge of the couch, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Nope. But I thought I might go for a run."
	She was being uncharacteristically... normal to him, Red thought. They never interacted at school (Beth made no secret of wanting nothing to do with him or his nerdy friends), and only saw each other during carpool, really. Maybe having him in her house altered the param...
	Red's thoughts derailed. He realized that Beth's shorts were extremely loose in the leg and at the angle he was at, and the position she was in, he could clearly see that she was not wearing panties. He blinked, and could not help staring at her bare vulva, the fuzz-covered lips protruding slightly from having her legs bent up at such an acute angle. His face felt flushed and his penis stirred. Sure, she was a little young, and her tits had only begun to show, but he couldn't help himself. Well, he could. He could stop looking. Which he did, finally, forcing himself to look at his history book. 
	If Beth noticed him gawking, she did not give any sign that Red was able to detect. She stayed in that position, rocking slightly back and forth, with Red stealing little furtive glances from time to time. Finally she asked, "Wanna see my pet lizard?"
	Red blinked, looking her in the eyes. Eyes. Keep looking at her eyes. "S-sure. What, uhm... what kind of lizard is it?"
	Beth hopped nimbly off the couch and said over her shoulder, assuming Red would follow, "He's a fence lizard."
	Red followed her down the hall to her room. He peered inside. It was about as girly as he expected: pastel colors, plush toys on the bed, posters of boy bands and tween drama stars on the walls. He sniffed the air- very different from his room. Her room smelled fresh and slightly perfumed and... something that he couldn't describe beyond the word "female". He liked it. Beth was opening the lizard's terrarium and reaching inside. 
	She said without looking back, "Close the door. I don't want Walter getting loose."
	He did as he was told and watched as she gently lifted Walter from his heat rock. Beth cooed over the lizard. Walter looked unimpressed but also did not appear to be looking for an escape route. Red came closer and looked at the smallish mottled-brown lizard. Walter cocked his head slightly in one of those rapid twitchy movements that small reptiles perform. Beth set down on the edge of her bed and set Walter down on her thigh. 
	"Isn't he cute? Sometimes I let him climb on me like this."
	Red noticed that Beth's shorts were once again failing to hide her preteen muff from casual sight. Walter was perched barely a foot away from there, so Red could at least have an excuse to look in that direction.
	Red knelt down on the floor and asked, "Can I touch him?"
	Beth nodded, "Sure, just be gentle! His skin is delicate."
	Red reached out and ran a finger along the lizard's back. The scaly skin felt interesting- it was sort of loose, but also bumpy and smooth at the same time. He had expected it to feel like sandpaper. Walter began crawling up Beth's thigh away from him, using a spine-twisting, alternating-foot gait. 
	Beth squeaked, "Eee! He tickles when he walks on me!" she laughed, trying to hold still. Walter took refuge in her soccer shorts. Red's eyes widened, and his pants felt a lot tighter. He realized he was going to need to adjust himself soon. This close to Beth, he could smell her sex, and it made his head swim a little. His whiskers twitched, his tail flickered.
	Beth watched Red intently, enjoying the spectacle. He was nearly shaking. She realized it was no great feat to make a squirrel nervous and jittery, but he looked completely enthralled and frustrated by her showing off. This was much more fun than needling mopey sullen squirrels. She yerfed, "Oops! Better get him out of there before he gets lost!"
	Red took that as a command and reached into her shorts to retrieve Walter. Beth's eyes widened. He hadn't actually touched her privates, but his fingers had gotten close! He withdrew the lizard and left him closer to Beth's knee.
	Beth narrowed her eyes. "I didn't mean for you to get him out of there. You touched my vagina," she scolded, emphasizing the last word.
	Red jumped back a little. He protested, "What? No I didn't! I-I  d-didn't mean to!"
	Beth retorted, "Yes you did! You've been looking at it since I was sitting on the couch. You're a pervert." She picked up Walter and held him in her cupped paws. She said to the reptile, in a cooing voice, "Isn't he, Walter? He's a pervert boy who looks up girls' skirts in the stairwell."
	Walter did not appear to have an opinion. Beth hopped off her bed and put him back in his terrarium. She whirled back around and confronted Red. "I should tell my mom! And your mom, too. That you tried to touch my vagina." She used the word, which she had learned in health class last year, like a weapon. "I bet that's what happened with that girl you like. Did you try to touch her vagina too?"
	Red got to his feet and backed towards the door. This was rapidly getting out of hand. Unfortunately for Red, standing up showed off his still-stiff erection, tenting his pants out noticeably. 
	Beth gasped and pointed. "I knew it! I am so telling your mom!"
	Red blushed furiously and covered his crotch with his paws, then adjusted himself so that it wasn't quite as noticeable. Beth was grinning at him, but not in a nice way at all. He backed up again, fumbling to get a paw on the doorknob. "Look, I'm s-sorry, ok? I'll just go and w-wait out in the... the car."
	Beth folded her arms. "You're not going anywhere. If you open that door I'll scream. Scream about how you were touching me."
	Red looked incredulous. "W-what?" Didn't she want him to go? He froze, paw still on her doorknob. "What do you want?" he asked quietly.
	Beth's tail wagged and she rocked back and forth on her heels, making a show of thinking about it, her fingers stroking her lower jaw, like she was one of those actresses in the tween dramas she watched on television, where everyone over-acted. Finally she said, "You spent so much time looking at my vagina I think it's only fair I get to see your penis. I already saw it was all erect. That means you want to mate with me." All that health class information suddenly was useful! Watching Red wince every time she used one of those sex words was quite amusing. 
	Red shook his head rapidly. "Th-that's not w-what it means! And besides, it's gone away now. Just let me go," he pleaded. His panic had certainly made his arousal subside.
	Beth just shook her head. "Yes it does. Your penis gets erect so it can go inside a girl's vagina when you mate with her. That's the whole purpose. So you must have wanted to mate with me." She looked smugly satisfied with her logical analysis. 
	Red began to open the door, desperately needing to get away from Beth.
	She hissed through her sharp canine teeth. "Get your paw off that doorknob!"
	Red stopped, and dropped his paw. His tail flickered wildly, as agitated as it could get. He mumbled, "I didn't want to mate with you. I just... I couldn't help looking. And just the sight of your... your..."
	Beth finished for him, "Va-gi-na," as if he didn't know the word somehow.
	Red nodded, continuing, "It was just that, ok? Sometimes I get hard..."
	"An e-rec-tion," She grinned ferociously.
	"Right, uh... sometimes they just happen, ok? I'm really sorry. Can I go now?"
	"No, you're a liar."
	"What? No! I'm telling you the truth. I couldn't mate with you. You're too young!"
	This was apparently the wrong thing to say. She folded her ears back angrily, but laughed. "You don't know anything. Lots of my friends have had sex. Just because they wouldn't have sex with you doesn't mean they don't ever. So don't lie and say I'm too young."
	Red buzzed with frustration. He didn't even pause to consider Beth's use of "they" instead of "we". He shot back, "Fine! Whatever. But now I just want to go, ok?"
	Beth was still fuming. "Not until you show me."
	Red rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure Beth was just trying to torture him, but he could get in real trouble here if he wasn't careful. "Ok, fine, here." He unded his corduroys and pulled them down to his knees, exposing his white-furred crotch. His penis had disappeared back into its furry pouch-like sheath, but his large rodent testicles hung in full view of the young girl. 
	"Make it come out," she demanded, while gawking at his enormous squirrel sac.
	Despite the fact that he probably could get an erection just by thinking about not getting one, he said, "You can't just get one like, on command. You have to see something or think about something that makes it happen."
	"Like looking at my vagina."
	Red blushed and nodded.
	Since she had been blatantly showing off anyway, peeling her shorts down was easy enough. They stood, several feet from each other, both studying each other's genitals in silence for a few moments. Finally Beth asked, "Well?"
	"You're making me nervous!"
	The jackal girl rolled her eyes and kicked off her shorts, hopping back up on her bed and pulling her knees up tight against her chest, like she had on the couch earlier. Red concentrated on her once-again slightly protruding pussy and felt the familiar tingle and stirring of his erection returning. The pink tip peeked out first, followed in tentative surges by the rest, until it finally reached almost full length. Beth watched the process, plainly fascinated. She almost forgot that she was torturing the squirrel. The scent of her room became a bit more female, to Red's nose, but he wasn't intent on staying.
	"Seen enough?" he asked impatiently.
	Beth apparently wasn't giving up her captive research subject so easily. She was looking at Red's pink, tapered squirrel shaft as it bobbed in front of him. She said, "I want to see you ejaculate," once again trying out those clinical words.
	"What?? No. You got to see me, same as you, now we're even, ok? I bet my mom is almost finished downstairs. I gotta go!" He starting pulling his pants back up.
	"I'll scream if you open the door," she reiterated her threat calmly.
	Red felt like he was out of options, no matter what he did. So he said, "So, what, I have to keep doing whatever you want?"
	Beth shrugged and chewed on one of her claws.
	Red asked, "If you're going to scream and get me in trouble for something I didn't do, why shouldn't I just do it?"
	"Pff, I don't want to mate with you. You are such a dork, Red."
	"Maybe I wouldn't be asking what you wanted!"
	Beth laughed, rolling on her bed with glee. "Oh that's too funny!"
	Red tried to maintain his defiant and menacing expression, but he found he couldn't. She had him by the balls, so to speak. Hell, she was probably stronger than him, seeing as how she went in for athletics and he was a video-game playing nerd. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked sullenly at the ground, determined to wait until he was called by his mother to leave. 
	Beth rolled onto her side, propping her head up on one paw. "Aww, c'mon Red. I promise, if you do it for me, I won't tell anyone. Not even your girlfriend!"
	"You don't even know who she is," he pointed out. Then added more softly, "And she's not even my girlfriend."
	"See? Then you know I won't!"
	"Why do you want me to... do this? 
	Beth wasn't about to tip her hand. She shrugged. "Just because. Why don't you want to?"
	"Because I can get in a lot of real trouble and I don't think you care! All you have to do is tell someone- anyone, whatever you wanted to make up. No one would ever believe me. And then, if there was... DNA evidence someplace in here... I mean, case closed, right? Game over! Fuck!" Red slumped to the floor, head in his paws, tears actually welling in his eyes. He wrapped his tail around himself and made a hitching-croak in his throat, trying not to cry out loud. He could feel his entire life coming apart, and he hadn't even really done anything!
	Beth made a disgusted snort. "Oh my god do you think I'd actually tell someone I'd done anything with you??" 
	The last word was spoken with such disgust that Red cringed. He sat on the floor, trying to get some measure of control; trying to figure out what was really going on. He didn't know all the details of canine social behavior, but Beth's last admission gave him a clue. It was all about status with her, and he had none. But that obviously cut both ways, in her mind. He took a deep breath and rubbed the corners of his eyes with the backs of his wrists. He looked up at Beth, who was studying him.
	He said, "Ok. I'll do it. I need a towel or... or something."
	Beth hadn't considered the actual physical reality of the process. She exclaimed, "What? Oh, no no no. You're not getting your gross stuff... your semen on any of our nice towels."
	"Well then where am I supposed to get it, huh? Red demanded.
	Beth considered a moment. "You could use your shirt!"
	"And smell like cum all the way home in the car with my mom? Forget it."
	Beth wrinkled her muzzle and asked, "Well, what do you do at home when you ejaculate?"
	"I use a towel! Sometimes some toilet paper. That's easy to get rid of." He didn't feel like going into detail about some of the more elaborate masturbation schemes his adolescent mind had come up with.
	Beth hopped off the bed and headed past him for the door. "Be right back!" She said cheerfully. 
	Red watched her go, eyeing the hallway outside the door before she shut it behind her. He could escape now! He remained on the floor, watching the door. Why wasn't he escaping? And his dick was hard again. Was he actually looking forward to jerking off in front of Beth? There was no way he was going to get to fuck her. At least, not today. She was totally showing off for him on purpose, though. He thought it had been just to torture him, but now he wasn't so sure. He thought about what Pam had said to him on the phone about Megan, and it must be true about Beth, too, right?
	Beth returned, clutching a clump of toilet paper. Red knew from experience that it was too small, but he didn't say anything. Let her find out, he thought. She shut her door once again, and dropped the wad in his lap as she walked by. He folded it over a few times until it would lay flat and put it on the carpet in front of him. He took his pants down again, to the knees, displaying his twitching squirrel cock. He grasped himself with his right paw and squeezed, moving his paw along the shaft to force out the pre-fluid still in the tube. It oozed out the tip in a large bead that quickly began to run down the underside. His paw caught up to the bead and smeared it back up to the tip. Then he began to rub that sensitive spot on the bottom side of the tip, sometimes pausing to squeeze more natural lube out.
	Beth stood a few feet away, watching. Her shorts were still off and her tail was wagging slowly. Red's eyes were mostly on her muff as he stroked himself. No sense drawing it out, he thought. Get it done, and get out. He looked up at Beth's face. Her tongue lolled a little and her big pointed jackal ears were both pointed at him. Red flicked his eyes back down, and imagined pushing her to the bed and sliding into her cunt. Fucking her fast and hard, shooting his cum inside her. He was close, and starting to huff and chitter.
	Beth asked, "Are you gonna ejaculate?"
	Red said in a strained voice, "Soon..."
	Beth walked closer, standing directly in front of Red, about a foot away. She used her paws to open the folds of her sex. She demanded, "What are you thinking about to make yourself ejaculate?"
	Red admitted, "Mating with you."
	Beth's smile got bigger. The aroused scent of her pussy was getting to Red. He was almost there. Suddenly he leaned his head forward and licked at the exposed flesh between her folds, going straight for her little clit. Beth shuddered, almost losing her footing. She barked and instinctively pushed her hips closer to Red's muzzle, stumbling forward a half-step. Red eagerly began lapping up her fresh young juice and wiggling his tongue along her slit, and even into her opening. Beth had closed her eyes and was obviously overwhelmed. She had both paws on Red's ears, holding his head where she wanted it. 
	Despite the fact that Red's attention was now divided between stroking himself and slurping on Beth, the fact that his muzzle was pushed snugly into the blissfully aromatic netherlips of a girl was too much for Red. He grunted, "Mmm kmmmg!" into her muff and ropes of his seed began to spurt from the tip of his penis. He could not see anything, unfortunately, so all he could do was try to push the tip into the toilet tissue and hope for the best. 
	Beth was in her own world, shivering and jerking to the motions of Red's tongue. When he began to climax, his lapping lost its rhythm and focus. She pushed back and stumbled, falling. She caught herself before she landed on her tail, and sat on the floor, looking half-dazed. She watched the pearly white streamers shoot from Red's cock. Now that Red's vision was no longer blocked by Beth's quivering stomach, he could see that he had made a bit of a mess on her carpet. The tissue was becoming saturated and his semen was dribbling over the side. He still felt several more spurts in him though. So he gripped himself tightly, increasing the internal pressure, blocking one spurt. Then he angled himself up, pointed at Beth, and released the pressure slightly. 
	The next double-strength spurt arced through the air and landed right above Beth's now-moist vulva as she sat with her legs open. Red watched, a stupid grin on his face, as his pearly-white jizz began to drip down to her pussy lips. Beth was rubbing herself and it took a moment for what happened to register. She suddenly felt the greasy-warm cum on her fingers as she worked it into herself and she looked from Red's crotch to her own. Her eyes widened and her muzzle opened wide as if to scream, but instead she made a low growling sound and struggled to her feet.
	She snarled, "You clean up your gross mess!" and once again shoved her crotch into Red's face. Red did not resist. He resumed his fervent licking and slurping, cleaning his own cum from her fur and flesh. He let go of his cock, leaving it to leak its last few dribbles onto Beth's bedroom carpet. He used both paws to grip Beth's skinny rear as he attacked her cunny with desperate enthusiasm. 
	It didn't take long for the hoped-for orgasm to hit the girl. She barked again, then whined, then nearly fell over. Red's paws held her mostly steady as her sex began to twitch under his tongue. He held her there until she pushed on his head with her paws, staggering back when she became too sensitive. She sat heavily on her bed, panting, tongue lolling fully now. Her ears were splayed to the sides and her eyes looked unfocused. 
	Red looked at her, then looked at the mess on the carpet. The tissue was mostly soaked. The carpet had darkening spots where his cum had landed. He got to his feet, pulling his pants back up and stuffing his balls into the supportive mesh, quickly buttoning up. He had to get out, now. Before she recovered. He opened the door, peered into the empty hallway, and stepped out, closing the door behind him. Beth did not protest.
	He examined his clothes for signs of his crimes, but he saw none. He returned to the den, and stowed his abandoned history text back in his backpack. Half a minute later, Mrs. Kazan and his mother came up the stairs from the sewing room. Red headed for the front door, casting a quick, "I'll be in the car, mom," as he passed them, without looking back. 
	He sat in the car and waited. Waited for the shit to hit the fan. Beth would come out of her room half-naked, and tell her mother what happened, and that would be it. Mrs. Kazan would march out and haul his ass out of the car and call the police. But only his mother came out, and got into the car. As she started the car she said to him, "Sorry that took so long, Eddie. Did you get some homework done?"
	Red just nodded, unable to look at his mother. He realized his muzzle was probably still soaked and... fragrant. He quickly rolled down the window and tried to let the wind carry away the evidence.
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