Chapter 3

"Uh. Uh. Uh. Uhhh." Pam Maguire panted. Closing her mouth, she strove to breathe through her nose. That lasted only a few moments before she began to gasp for breathe again. She redoubled her efforts.

Sand flew from under her feet. Her eyes were fixed on a striped pole ahead of her that indicated tide levels. She had broken into her sprint when she had judged she was about a hundred yards away from that marker. She held her arms at chest level, swinging them in time with the pumping of her legs.

Pam abandoned the attempt to breathe through her nose for good. She gasped for air to fuel her efforts as she raced towards her marker. For a moment she thought she had misjudged, that her wind was going to break before she made her finish line. After all, she had been going for miles. But there it was. She threw her arms wide and burst across the invisible line.

Her pace slowed. Hands braced on her hips, Pam walked around as briskly as she could at first. She checked her pulse several times, using her grandfather's watch to time her heartbeats as she cooled down. Finally, with her heartbeat back under control and her breathing returning to near normal, she slowed and then sought the wooden stairs that led up from the beach. She turned and sat on the bottom step.

"Goodness," came a light laugh from above her. Pam twisted to see a young woman, perhaps two or three years older than her, looking down at her. Her expression was a mixture of admiration and disbelief. "Are you an Olympian in training? Or perhaps a masochist? I mean, its summer, we're on the beach and you're out running."

Pam laughed. "I once had Olympic dreams," she admitted. "But now-a-days I just want to make sure I keep my scholarship. And since it's in track, I have to keep running."

The other girl came down the steps and sat down. Pam looked her over. She was about 5 foot 5 inches, which was close to her roommate Kim's height. A height that Pam had considered for the last year and a half to be the perfect one for a girl. But where Kim was dark-haired, this girl had blonde hair and blue eyes with a fair complexion that was just slightly pink from the Southern sun.

"Hi, I'm Missy. Missy Collins," the other young woman introduced herself.

"Pam Maguire." The Southern college girl smiled. "I see that you are not from around here."

Missy laughed. "I guess that's obvious as soon as I open my mouth isn't it? You, on the other hand, sound like you belong here."

"Actually I'm from Georgia, not South Carolina, but not that far away and the difference between the accents is just about impossible to tell unless you've lived your whole life in the Deep South."

"I sit corrected," Missy grinned. "Well, one rebel sounds about the same as another to those of us from Illinois."

Pam giggled and let her accent deepen. "Why hush my mouth. I'm a' sittin' here with a sure nuff' YANKEE! Mercy sakes."

Missy shifted and bumped Pam's hip with her own. "Just remember who won the Civil War."

"Civil War?" replied Pam in a mock confused tone of voice. "Which Civil War would that be? Spanish? English? If you are referring to the conflict that took place on THIS continent a hundred years ago, the proper term is 'The Glorious War of Southern Liberation'. It may also be termed 'The War of Northern Aggression'." Pam paused for a moment as the other girl attempted to stifle a coughing fit. "Actually, in POLITE society down here, if you must mention it at all, that conflict is termed 'The Late Unpleasantness'."

Missy could no longer choke back her glee. The Northern girl nearly fell over sideways laughing. Pam attempted to maintain her serious expression but only managed to do so for another 3 or 5 seconds before joining Missy in gales of mirth.

When the two girls stopped their carrying-on, Missy got to her feet and offered Pam a hand. "Come on up to my place and I'll get you something cold to drink." The duo climbed the steps together, with Missy asking "Really? 'The Late Unpleasantness' huh?"

"Really."

It was only a two minute walk from the top of the stairs to the little bungalow that Missy was renting for the next week. Pam was impressed by the neatness and airiness of the place. She looked out the window.

Missy joined her and passed her a glass of cold water. "This is nice," remarked Pam.

"Isn't it? Its sort of a resort type thing. You have these separate buildings rather than rooms, all encircling the center facility with a pool, night club, restaurant and recreation center all together."

Pam finished her water and took a deep breath. "Well, thank you Missy, but I guess I should be heading back." She paused thoughtfully. By the way, exactly where AM I?" When told, she whistled. "I guess I ran a lot farther than I planned. That happens sometimes, but WOW."

"Well, how about I drive you back? If you really need to go."

There was a bit of wistfulness in Missy's voice that made Pam sit up and take notice,

"Are you here by yourself Missy?"

"Well, yes. I mean, just for now. My boyfriend is going to be here, whenever he can get away that is."

"I'm not in any hurry," Pam declared. "But I really do need to take a shower."

"I'll throw your clothes in the washing machine," offered Missy. "We're not exactly the same size but I think I have some shorts and a top that would not look too out of place on you until your stuff dries."

"You're on."

Pam luxuriated in the shower, spending extra time under the warm water and swiping some of Missy's hair care products. When she climbed out of the tub she found the promised clothing. There wasn't any underwear but Pam hardly worried about that.

The two girls talked. Pam explained about the group of college students she belonged to renting the house farther down the island. She discovered Missy was twenty-three, a third-grade teacher, just two years out of school and was a bubbling fountain of stories and laughter. They chatted until lunch, during the lunch Pam helped Missy prepare and as they cleaned up. then they settled down on the sofa that looked out over the beach and commenced to really talking.

Missy and Pam talked the afternoon away. The discussion covered everything under the sun; politics and history, religion and literature. They fell to talking books and plays, breaking occasionally to snatch another beer from Missy's refrigerator and a handful of chips from her kitchen counter.

Pam's ears perked up as one of Missy's comments made a passing reference to the novellas of Paula Christian. Like many other college girls, she was familiar with the works of the female pulp author who's fiction dealt with the attraction of females to other females. Those works were surriptiously passed from hand to hand, dealing with lesbianism as they were.

"Which do you like better, 'Another Kind of Love' or 'Twilight Girls'," enquired Pam casually.

"Definitely 'Twilight Girls'," replied Missy. "Its a wonderful story of self-discovery, I think." The blonde woman blushed slightly. "Beyond the sexual side, of course."

"Of course," commented Pam idly. But the other girl's remarks had pricked the college girl's interest in things beyond just literature. She took another, deeper look at the young teacher, taking in her body more than she had before. Definitely attractive and well worth seeing where this might go.

As the afternoon drew on both girls felt a common reluctance for their time together to end. Missy made a vague remark about maybe it was time that Pam needed to go meet her friends and Pam made a very half-hearted agreement. Neither girl moved from the couch where they had taken up residence.

"Maybe," Missy started, then fell silent.

"Maybe what?"

"The restaurant here is really good. What would you think if I asked you to eat dinner with me and maybe drop by the night club after?"

Pam smiled. "I'd say I need to get back to the house and change clothes if we're going on a date. What should I wear?"

Missy giggled. "A date? oh sure. Well then, how about something black and slinky?"

The other girl grinned. "I don't think I can do 'slinky' but I actually have a couple of skirts. One's black. Would that do?"

"Definitely."

Missy dropped Pam off at the house and they agreed on a time for the older girl to be back to pick up her "date" as they joking referred to each other. Pam dressed up, at least as much as she ever did outside of a formal dance. She donned a short black skirt with a pink sleeveless top. She debated wearing a pair of the pantyhose that Kim had purchased for her and decided not to. She did however put on a bra, something she did rarely and slipped into a pair of skimpy black panties. She pushed her feet into the one pair of black pumps she owned. Standing, she checked herself in the mirror.

"Wow, I'm gorgeous," she laughed. Just then the horn sounded and she dashed down the stairs. Scribbling a hasty note to post on the bulletin board by the front door saying that she would be out late. She hoped into the car and whistled. Missy was wearing a red dress and matching heels.

Pam repeated her words of a moment ago to her new friend. "Wow. You are gorgeous."

Missy blushed, then winked. "Watch it. You are giving yourself away, twilight girl."

Pam laughed along with Missy, but there was an undercurrent in the laughter and a look passed between the two young women. Neither was ready to come right out and acknowledge that there was an attraction between the two of them that their joking words could not mask.

A few hours later, after supper and after drinks and dancing at the club, two giggling young women clung to one another as they attempted to steer a straight course towards Missy's bungalow. The path was as curved as their meanderings and they wandered back and forth on it, straying first to one side and then the other. Each stumble brought only more hilarity, adding to their increasing inability to remain upright.

Fortunately they managed to reach the door. After several minutes of fruitlessly searching through Missy's purse for the key, Pam turned the doorknob. Unlocked, the door opened and they made it inside, closing the door by leaning back on it together. They took deep breaths, steeling themselves for the final rush. Finally ready, arms around each others' waist, they pushed off and headed for the bedroom. Finding that room too far away, they sat down heavily on the couch.

"Mmmmmm," declared Missy. "That was fun Pam." She lifted her feet and kicked off one shoe She frowned when the other one didn't come off. She turned her foot and examined it. "Why is this shoe still on my foot?" she complained.

"Beats me," yawned Pam. Her pumps dropped off easily. However the effort, slight as it was, caused her to slide off her precarious seat on the couch and end up sitting on the floor. Missy peered down at her.

"What are you doing there?"

"Its more comfortable," explained Pam, in the dignified way drunks act when they're trying to appear sober."

Missy slid down beside Pam, finally losing her other shoe. "Okay then." She leaned against the other girl. "Mmmm, well, yes, this is nice."

Pam leaned her head against Missy's shoulder. "Yes it is."

Missy smothered another giggle. "I can't imagine what those guys thought, watching us dance together. I was going to invite them to cut in, but darn Pam, it was sooooooo funny seeing them jump to conclusions."

"What conclusion was that?" inquired Pam, who knew perfectly well but wanted to see how Missy was going to react.