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"So, how about a game of Truth or Dare?" Mae suggested.

"No way! Gregg will do any dare." Angus protested, but only half heartedly. It seemed the alcohol had even softened him up a little.

"Mae, I don't..."

"Oh come on Bea. Don't be a downer."

"Oh, alright. But don't blame me in the morning."

"Alright then!"

"Well, it was my idea so I get to go first. Um.... Germ! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Okay. Of all four of us, who do you admire most?"

"Admire?"

"Well, who would you most like to be like?"

"Oh, Gregg for sure!"

"ME? Are you nuts?"

"Na, you're the coolest guy I know!"

"Aww. But you don't know me that well. I'm pretty fucked up."

"Well, hey - you have a leather jacket!"

"That," Angus joined in, "is a very valid point."

"True," Gregg conceded. "Okay, you ask next Germ."

"Hmm. Okay. Bea. Truth or Dare."

Bea sighed, but decided her life wasn't exciting enough to be worried about. "Truth."

"Um... What does that symbol mean to you? That Ankh."

Bea looked down at her traditional outfit. "To be honest, I just thought it looked cool when I bought the first one. Now it's kinda my thing I guess. Sorry Germ, I don't have a better answer than that. It's supposed to mean 'life', but really I just liked the design."

"Oh. Well, that's okay. You ask one," Germ said.

Bea thought for a minute. "Angus. Truth or Dare?"

"Well, I guess we're going for Truth tonight mostly. Truth."

"Before Gregg, did you ever have a crush on anyone else?"

Angus turned to Gregg, who laughed. "Come on Angus! Fess up! He did, and I know who!"

Bea smiled. "Aww Angus. That's sweet. Was it that other bear-guy you used to go the the pool with?"

"Nope!" Gregg answered for Angus, and began waving his arms like he always did when he got excited.

"Can I change to Dare?"

"I don't think that's allowed, Angus," Mae said with an official rulekeeper tone.

"Oh jeeze," Angus said. "It was a long time ago!"

"Who?" Bea insisted.

"Um... you."

"Me? Really?"

"Yeah. Remember when we were in science lab together?"

"Wow. I never would have believed it. You liked me? You sure never let on."

"Yeah!" Gregg added excitedly. "He used to think about you when..."

"GREGG!" shouted both Bea and Angus together.

"That's TMI,": Bea went on, but she couldn't help giggling. She thought about her bear-shaped toy and how ironic it was - but some things really didn't need to be shared.

"Your turn Angus."

"Well shit, how do I follow that up? Mae. Truth or Dare?"

"I guess I gotta do Truth too."

Angus thought for a while. "You and Bea used to be the closest friends in school, but then you stopped hanging out with her. Why was that?"

Mae's eyes went wide. "Oh, you know... just different interests and stuff."

"I call bullshit," Bea said, wanting a better answer. "You stopped talking to me. You asked for this game. Truth, girl."

"I don't think you can call bullshit in Truth or Dare. But okay, if you really want to know."

"I do," Bea said, though it hadn't been her question.

"Would it be okay if I just told Bea privately guys?"

The others looked at each other, but Angus nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to ask something too personal really."

"Oh, it's okay," May said, but she downed the rest of her drink before standing up a little off balance. "Come on Bea, let's walk down the road a little."

Bea stood, no longer sure she should have pressed the question. But it was something she'd always wondered about. In fact, she'd shed more than a few tears over it back when high school friendships seemed so important.

They began to walk away from the car and the firelight.

"Sorry Mae. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I do. I should have already. But I'm afraid you'll think I'm a real asshole. I guess I am. I always liked you Bea. But... well. I was kinda a late bloomer you know? Still am I guess."

Bea decided it might be best just to let Mae talk this out, so she just threw in the occasional acknowledging "MmmHmm".

"I think it was when we went to that school dance that I decided. At high school. Remember that?"

"Yeah. I think so. But... I don't remember anything special about it."

"I do. You danced with Tommy Claussen. And Angus. I didn't know him at the time."

"Tommy Claussen. Wow. It's been a while since I thought about him!"

"You know who I danced with, Bea? Nobody. I hated every minute of that damn thing. Nobody asked me, and I was too embarrassed to ask anyone myself."

"But why...."

"I only wanted to dance with you, Bea."

"Oh," Bea said quietly as they walked. She wasn't sure what else to say.

"Yeah. I cried myself to sleep that night. Because for the first time I knew just how weird I was. And I knew it was hopeless."

"Mae, I'm not exactly a social butterfly you know."

"No, but you're not into girls either. I don't think I really care about... the plumbing all that much. But I do have to really like somebody a lot. I liked you. A lot. But not like you liked me. So I decided that I needed to stop hanging out with you. For my own good."

"I'm sorry, Mae."

"I am too. I was stupid. It wasn't till I was away at college that I realized how stupid I was. I'd spent so long away from you just because you could never like me in that way. Well, I finally realized that it isn't the end of the world. So when I came back, you were there and I decided not to be so stupid anymore. You're a good friend, Bea, and I was being a selfish ass because you didn't want to fuck me."

"Is it going to be a problem, Mae? I mean, I really do like you even if you're an asshole. But, I like being with you anyway."

"Nope. Not a problem anymore. I think I've gotten over you - at least in that way. Staying with you overnight the other night pretty much confirmed it."

"It was a little weird."

"I'm a little weird. Get used to it."

Bea stopped and smiled. They'd gotten to the end of the dirt road. No cars were in sight on the paved road at the end. She looked down at Mae, and Mae looked up at her. The stars reflected off liquid eyes that were looking at her intensely.

She kissed Mae passionately, and Mae returned the kiss.

"I'm sorry Mae. But we can still be friends. Close friends."

"That is all I need, BeeBee."

Bea took her hand and Mae looked at it in surprise.

"If I were gay, Mayday, I'd be gay with you."

"Aww. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!"

"Let's head back. But... I feel like I should tell you something that happened before you came back too. It's about Casey."

"Casey? What about him?"

"While you were gone, I fell in love with him."

Mae looked at Bea in disbelief. "CASEY HARTLEY? You and Casey?!"

"Yeah. Me and Casey..." Bea started, before telling Mae the whole story as they walked slowly back.

When finally they'd returned, the fire had gone out and they heard voices from within the tent.

"Hey Bea and Mae," Angus' voice came from within. "We're inside."

Bea unzipped the door and stepped in carefully. Though two large screened windows were open, it was still pitch-black inside.

"You'll get used to it," Germ said from her left.

"Going to sleep?

"Not really," said Gregg. "Just talking."

"Well, we should probably get to sleep pretty soon so we can get to the mine before too late tomorrow. How far is the entrance, Germ?"

"Oh, not far. Just on the other side of the woods. Maybe 15 minutes once we are packed and ready to go."

"Well, then I guess we can stay up a while longer," Bea decided as she felt her way to her blankets. Mae followed and lay down atop her sleeping bag beside her, zipping up the door behind her..

"Hey! You're only in your underwear!" Mae said, and Bea strained to see what Mae was seeing.

"Wow! You really can see in the dark!"

"Nightmare eyes," she said as if that explained it.

"Hey, you're lucky we're not dressed like we usually are at night!" Angus chuckled.

"Please, don't make me imagine that."

"You'd just be jealous."

"Damn," Bea whispered to Mae. "I wish I could see!"

Mae giggled and whispered back, "Gregg has dark boxers on."

"And Angus?"

"Tighty-Whities!"

"I knew it! What about Germ?"

"Can't see. He's in his sleeping bag."

"What are you two whispering about?" Gregg demanded.

Bea snorted.

"Your underwear," Mae blurted out.

"I guess we should get underneath, Gregg," Angus offered.

"Why?"

"No problem with me!" May said, pulling her shirt over her head and throwing it to the dark place where the two voices came from, following it up with her shoes and pants.

"HEY!"

"Germ, you okay with this?"

"Blind as a bat over here. Probably a good thing for everyone concerned."

"C'mon Bea," Mae said, tugging on her pullover dress.

"Okay, but under my blanket. Somebody has to have some modesty around here."

"Hey!" Germ's voice protested. "I'm being modest!"

"And this is modest for us!" Gregg added.

After unstrapping her boots, Bea crawled under her top blanket and got undressed to her underwear and bra. It was a bit warm in the tent, but she would only go as far as throwing back the top half of her blanket.

"You think we'll find him?" Gregg asked.

"I don't think it matters all that much," Bea answered to the darkness. "I think all that matters is that we try."

"We might be stirring up a hornet's nest, you know. It's entirely possible that if everything becomes known, we could be looking at some prison time."

"Maybe," came Gregg's voice again.

"Self-defense," Mae noted. "I'd think."

"Let's try not to worry about that. Whatever will happen will happen."

The tent went quiet then and Bea listened to the crickets and the gentle rustling of the breeze outside. It occurred to her that this might well be the last time all five of them would be together in such a setting, and she looked over at Mae. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the dim light and could just make out Mae's silhouette. She nudged her to get her attention and opened her blanket in invitation. Mae snuggled in beside her and Bea wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Goodnight guys," Bea said before falling to sleep with Mae in her arms. She was frankly as surprised as anyone that the alcohol actually hadn't resulted in disaster for a change!