Otherkin by Nina Berry Read Free Book Online Page A

it like, growing up in a place like that?” Caleb asked.
    “You know, normal, boring,” I said. “Or maybe you don’t know.”
    “I think I saw it in an old TV movie in a hotel room in Singapore once,” he said. “Let’s go.”
    “Wait here. I’ll be right out.” I started across the street.
    But he followed, his long coat flapping behind him. I stopped at the curb, whispering, “What are you doing? What if they see you?”
    “I’m walking you to your door,” he said. Unlike most people, when he lowered his voice, it just got quieter, not whispery. The effect was strangely intimate.
    I struggled to keep my own voice down. “Now is not the time to be a gentleman.”
    “I can’t help it. My mother used to smack me on the arm if I didn’t stand up whenever a woman did, open doors for her, all that stuff.” He shrugged.
    “Then she must’ve taught you it’s not polite to make so much noise that a girl’s parents wake up and ground her,” I said.
    “Maybe you deserve to be grounded.” He smiled. “You were out all night with a strange boy.”
    I gasped a quick laugh and smacked him on the bicep.
    He gave an exaggerated wince and rubbed his arm. “Ow. Okay! I’ll stay here.”
    “Good. Thanks.” He stepped back into the long shadows of the cypress trees along the driveway. With his black coat, dirty face, and dark hair, he blended almost seamlessly into the darkness. Throwing a “not bad” look at him, I tiptoed up the walkway to the fat pottery Buddha my mom kept by the front door. It lounged next to statues of the white rabbit in a waistcoat and a pot of overflowing azaleas. I tilted Buddha and slid the hidden front door key out from under him. Looking over at the cypress trees, I put a finger to my lips. I thought I saw Caleb nod, but it might have been the wind in the branches.
    I unlocked the front door, then put the key back under Buddha. With one last glance in Caleb’s direction, I silently entered and shut the door behind me.
    My heart thumped hard. Mom and Richard would go ballistic as soon as they knew I was home. I’d never stayed out all night before without them knowing where I was. Had they called the cops?
    I glided into the living room, past the ceiling-high shelves stuffed with books, sidestepped Richard’s rowing machine, and headed toward the hall to my bedroom. I kept about a hundred dollars stashed in my dresser. With that maybe Caleb could make it to his mysterious destination.
    “Desdemona, is that you?” My mother’s voice swooped up out of sleep to a hysterically high pitch. A light clicked on. I turned to see Mom and Richard, uncurling from the couch in the living room, shell-shocked and furious.
    “Are you all right? Where have you been?” Mom was on me in a flash, grabbing my shoulders, scanning my face, checking me for injuries. Richard walked up slowly behind her, rubbing his bearded cheeks with one hand as he shook his head at me. I hastily rolled the folder I was carrying into a tube and held it down at my side within the folds of my dress.
    “I’m fine, Mom, really. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to . . .” Had Caleb seen the light go on?
    “We called the police!” Mom looked more upset than I’d ever seen her.
    “Your mother was very worried,” said Richard in that soft voice of his that cut through any argument. “Why didn’t you call?”
    “I know. Did I mention that I’m sorry?” Neither of them was softening.
    “You are going to sit down and tell us exactly where you were and what you were doing!” Mom pointed at our threadbare wingback chair. “This is so unlike you, I thought . . . I thought something had happened to you.” She fiddled with the Triple Goddess symbol she always wore around her neck. Tears sprang to her eyes. Richard put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the couch.
    My heart gained about eight hundred pounds. I sank into the wingback chair. “I am so sorry, Mom, really. I forgot my phone, and I met this boy