Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog Read Free Book Online Page A

"What's wrong? Why are you screaming?"
    I clamp my mouth closed. I was?
    "Tell me you didn't go into his locker," he says, breathing hard.
    "Urn..."
    "Go back to your class!" he shouts, already several classrooms away, with Pip on his heels like a puppy.
    "No!" I tell him, following.
    He starts running backward, something all football players seem to be good at, giving me the "Don't make me come over there!" look. Not sure why; he knows that never works with me. Next to him, Pip trips on an invisible bump, falls to the ground like a wounded turkey, then jumps up and keeps running, in this cartoonlike way that somehow allows the heels of his Keds to nearly smack his backside with each and every stride.
    Catching up to Pip is easy, but I have to bust a gut to get to Cam. "You have to tell me what is going on. You're going to Pip's locker, right?"
    "Yeah"
    "There's something alive in there?"
    "Damn. You heard her?"
    "Her," I repeat mindlessly. "Her? Who...?"
    Cam ignores me and turns to Pip. "She's awake. She'll be mad, right?"
    All the blood in Pip's body has rushed to his cheeks. "Yes, most definitely."
    "How could you leave her in there?"
    "I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do, and I didn't want to arouse suspicions," he explains, clearly upset. As if showing up to school in too-tight cords that amplify your private parts doesn't already have half the school suspicious?
    "Her who?" I say, in a whisper. Though I am by no means Godzilla, and in fact think I am quite petite, I can barely squeeze a fist into the lockers they give us. So this "her" must be some sort of tiny animal. Like a girl hamster. Maybe I was hearing things when I heard actual words coming from the locker. I didn't get much sleep last night, after all. Yes, definitely. Pip, fledgling Jeffrey Dahmer that he is, probably just picked up a squirrel on the way to school.
    Halfway down the hall, the boys stop short, and I nearly run smack into the wall that is Cam's back, not to mention the freaky tumor. Sliding to a Tom Cruise-style stop on the waxed floor, I begin to itch. My cashmere sweater is clinging to my ribs with perspiration and Katie's sticky pink drink, and it's worse than a thousand mosquito bites. "This sweater is ruined," I grumble, looking down at its pathetic remains.
    "Morg-" Cam says.
    I step out of his shadow and peer down the hallway. The hall is completely empty, except... though we're still several classrooms away, I can see the locker door, number 168, swinging in the distance. It makes an eerie, tinny screech as it slowly moves back and forth.
    Whatever it is, it's out.
    "Is anyone concerned about rabies?" I ask.
    Cam ignores me. He stares down the hall, eyes fierce. Finally, he says, "I'm sorry. She didn't know."
    "Deer ticks are-" Wait. Why isn't he looking at me? I walk around and face him. "Who didn't know?"
    "It won't happen again," he murmurs.
    "What?" He's not paying attention. It's like he's listening in on another conversation. And his eyes aren't focused down the hallway... they're sort of focused on this imaginary spot-this nothingness-right under his nose. He's talking to an imaginary friend.
    He really is going nuts.
    Helpless, I turn to Pip. "What is he doing?"
    "Talking to Dawn," he says softly.
    Dawn? So, perfect, he has an imaginary girlfriend. I'm appalled and jealous at once. Is this some psychological disorder that stems from not getting everything one wants out of one's current relationship? "And Dawn is...?" I ask, staring at Cam as he rubs his chin and nods, with deep understanding, at absolutely nothing.
    "... not veriy happy that we put her in that closed compartment," Pip says.
    "So, wait-you can see her, too?" This really wouldn't surprise me.
    "No, humans can't see them when they choose not to be seen," he explains.
    "Humans?" The word numbs my lips as it passes through them. Because what is Dawn, if she isn't human? And if humans can't see her, but Cam obviously can, what does that make him?
    I follow Cam's