Holly Black by Geektastic (v5) Read Free Book Online

stressed out about?” Ryan asked, not looking up from his phone. He was deeply texting.
    “I want to be completely prepared for the conven—uh, this
big test
, and oh…never mind.” Montgomery wore her big comfy sweatshirt and fat jeans, which were normally great for studying in but for the fact that her boyfriend found the outfit unbearably sexy. Tonight, however, he didn’t even seem to notice. Unusual for him, but lucky for her.
    “Mmm,” Ryan chuckled at something someone sent him. For a while there were no sounds other than the tapping of his keypad and the turning of notebook pages.
    “I’m really glad you’re going to Locacon with me,” Ryan mentioned, not looking up from his phone. “That’s awesome of you.”
    “Really?” Montgomery glowed in the praise. She squeezed his arm and lay her head back on his shoulder. He patted her knee.
    “Hey, what do you call the vampire who makes someone a vampire? Like, the vampire daddy?” she asked dreamily.
    “Sire,” Ryan answered without looking up.
    Then he looked up.
    “Wait, what?”
    “Nothing,” the cheerleader said quickly.
    THE GRADUATION
    “Um, I don’t know what to say,” Montgomery said honestly.
    David, Ellen, Ezra, and Mica stood before her—accidentally in descending order of height—dressed in, well, what she supposed they thought was formal. Ezra wore a jacket and tie, both of which were flashy, expensive, and ridiculously out of place in high school. David wore a jean jacket with all of his pins on it.
All
of them.
    (They made, Montgomery was sort of delighted to realize she knew, a kind of scale-mail armor over his chest.)
    Mica wore a vintage T-shirt that was printed to look like a tuxedo, but had a real carnation pinned to the fake lapel. Ellen wore a skirt. And a sweater. And what looked like Ferengi ears. For someone who apparently didn’t know the first thing about makeup, she had done a spectacular job blending the prosthetic into her own skin.
    Ezra cleared his throat. Pompously, of course. “On this day we would like to formally congratulate you on achieving the rank of
graduate
proto-geek….”
    “Sub-lieutenant commander,” Ellen corrected.
    “Monty the Grey,” Mica suggested with a grin.
    “Level Four Cleric,” David stated matter-of-factly.
    “Why cleric?” Ellen asked, surprised.
    “It seemed like the most scholarly, least violent of all the other kinds of classes. Think of her as a student-monk,” David explained.
    “Makes sense,” Mica nodded.
    “PEOPLE!” Ezra said, exasperated. “As I was saying. Today we are gathered here to formally congratulate you. Your hard work and near-endless toil have finally accomplished what you set out to do….”
    “Good job, Monty,” Mica said, ignoring him. He stepped out of line and kissed the cheerleader on her cheek. She was surprised by the casualness of his socially-appropriate action; he neither blushed nor tried to turn it into something else.
    And then he handed her a little figurine of an elf. Blond hair. Legolas, probably. Maybe Haldir.
    No, it definitely looked a little Orlando Bloomy.
    “You can put it on the shelf next to your
American Idol
posters,” Mica suggested with a mischievous smile.
    “Nice paintwork,” David said enviously. “Um, this is from me. It’s like a diploma.”
    He handed her a scroll with a lot of calligraphy on it, and a bright, big-eyed picture of herself. As kind of a blond Japanese cheerleader.
    “Did you draw this yourself?” Montgomery asked, trying not to sound like a mom. It was actually quite good. Maybe she would even frame it.
    “Yeah, and
inked
and
colored
it, too,” he pointed out.
    “And from me, something to
inspire
you,” Ezra said grandly, holding his hand out with a flourish.
    Montgomery was expecting something ridiculous, expensive, and shiny, an embarrassingly lavish gesture.
    What she got was a ball of fluff.
    “A tribble?” she asked, confused.
    “Don’t girls love them?” Ezra asked, also