I'd like to apologize in advance for any errors in this story. It was written originally in Brazilian Portuguese, which is my native language, so some mistakes may have happened in the translation. Unfortunatelly, I did not have a beta reader to correct them. Hope you can pass through that and have fun.

It's been four days since the rains have stopped. The most impatient had moved to their rooms on the first or second day, but many were hoping to be a little safer that they would not be caught in the middle of the night by a sudden rainstorm.

The return of the heat was a problem for this body, accustomed to the clouds of Seattle, but I was glad that we no longer need to sleep all in one place. The near total lack of privacy had its price and was weighing for all o us. Couples hardly touch each others now that a simple glance could generate sparks when they can not get a minute alone. Sparks of another kind also flew here and there. Everyone was cranky and anything was banal reason for disagreements. This atmosphere was oppressive to me.

However, even more oppressive than the heat or the irritability of my friends, was the constant and voluminous desire that ran through my veins. It was part of me now, natural and urgent as my own blood. This teen body, younger and more immature than Melanie's, was constantly taken by conflicting desires and emotions with which I was just learning to cope. The worst was the debilitating shyness that came over me every time Ian looked at me, even though I desperately wanted to be near him all the time.

And he looked at me a lot those days, with a mixture of anxiety, concern and urgency. And each time it happened, I felt my whole body burn. That's why when he told me: "Wanda, can we go back to our room?" – pretending he was to busy to look me in the eye, while we organized our work materials for the day - I simply replied, "Yes please", without looking directly at him, following the cue that it meant nothing else. During the rest of that day, we stayed together all the time, even during the short break we gave to ourselves after lunch, so we could organize our belongings and take them back to the room. But we almost didn't talk and I did not meet his eyes even once.

I knew he would be looking at me, full of anticipation, guessing my thoughts, suffering when he could not do it, thinking about making things easier for me. I could not bear the idea of causing it to him, it left me frustrated, but I just could not react differently. My face burned every time I felt his sapphire eyes on me.

That's why Melanie, who had moved to her room with Jared on the first day of after the rain stopped, took my hand after work as we went to take our baths and was goofing off, trying to find the best way to say something that look really important. I didn't put her under any pressure, because, actually, I wasn't really anxious to have any kind of important conversation that day, whatever it was. But after a while, she suddenly found her way: "Wanda, I think you really need advice from your older sister here."

Oh, no, no, no! I thought, guessing Mel felt that she should have "the talk" with me. I tried to change the subject.

"You really are my sister. But older? Come on! I mean, you know how old I am."

"I know, but in that body you are, in that tenth life of yours, you are almost a child. There are certain things you need to know", she said with complicity and, at the same time, trying to sound a little goofy.

"Mel, do you forget that I am as experienced as you? I remember most things you remember."

Immediately after I said that, I regretted it, knowing that Mel did not want to be remembered that I had shared all her memories with Jared and even her feelings. Jealousy, anger and discomfort passed successively by her expression, but when she noticed how sorry I was, she was able to focus on me again, even though the goofy air had gone completely.

"Remembering... knowing... it's not the same as..." she hesitated a moment, looking for the right word "... experiencing" she finally said, relieved and proud to have succeeded in putting things mildly.

"Mel, you don't need to worry about me. I know it will be ... different. But I am so ready to have my own experiences this time."

That seemed to make her happy. I know she knew it would be a decisive step for me to overcome any remaining feelings I had for Jared. Having my own experiences was, in a way, turning us apart, I wasn't used to not sharing everything with Melanie. But on the other hand, it could bring me closer to her, eliminating the only discomfort between us. Melanie was no longer jealous of my relationship with Jamie. Like him, she embraced me as a new sister. She also did not care that some in the caves liked me better than hers, because those were friendships that I conquered. She even liked the fact that Jeb treated us both, equally, as part of his family. But Jared ... Well, that was a sore spot. And the more I walked towards Ian's arms, the farther I was from hurting her.

I was so sure these were the exact thoughts that went through the mind we shared for so long, and after a few seconds I saw I was right as her face softened and she kissed me on the forehead, hugging me protectively. With a sigh, she said simply:

"I'm happy for you, then."