Page 15 of Shaped to Be Yours

“Now, come on.” She turned back to the creamer and plate of cookies, straightening the mess I’d made until the snickerdoodles looked more presentable. “We are being terrible hosts.”

I maintained that Whitmore was a terrible guest. He was nice to my mom at least, but whatever he’d been talking to Ricky about had him looking tense. I did not like that.

“Would you like a tour, Agent Whitmore?” Mom asked. “Feel free to bring your coffee and cookies. I’m not picky about crumbs. I raised this one, after all.”

“Mom.”

I tried to tag along, but I kept getting madder seeing this interloper in my house and worried I’d snap again. By the time Mom was showing Whitmore the outside, I decided I was done, but I made sure he saw me sit on the back porch.See. Me. Staying here.I gestured with exaggerated pointing. I even waved my phone at him to prove I had it on me.

Ricky had gotten a call from his scientist team a few minutes earlier and disappeared into his room. I heard when Whitmore drove away. I heard Mom shuffling around in the kitchen afterward, cleaning up our dishes, and leaving me to myself for a while. Which I needed, but all I did was sit there on the porch, staring at the woods.

The deck connected to a sliding glass door into the dining room, went down some stairs, and ended at the porch area at ground level. The door to my bedroom was behind me. Perfect for sneaking in and out during high school, right? Only I hadn’t done much of that. I’d been a chore for my mom in plenty of other ways, but I’d always been home when I was supposed to be. I hated it when she was alone. I hated ever leaving her alone. I’d almost not gone to college because of it, especially since it had been in another town, even if not that far away.

I had to suck it up and do better, like I’d promised her, so I didn’t leave her alone forever.

The door to my bedroom opened. “There you are! Did Whitmore leave?”

“Thankfully.” I peered over my shoulder at Ricky. At least he was here, but it would be better if there weren’t secret agents and surveillance apps involved. “Everything okay with your internship?”

“Great! They just wanted to nail down more of tomorrow’s schedule. I guess they want to take me out for coffee first, as a little welcome to the team thing. I’m going to meet them at, um… Beastly Brewhouse?” He sat down beside me.

“Where is that? Is it new?”

“Sounds like it. Took over some diner?”

“Probably Petey’s. That placesucked, so yay I guess. Why Beastly?” The likely answer hit me right before Ricky spoke.

“It’s monster run. The first fully monster business in town.”

“Wow. You’d think all this added monster presence would make me feel right at home, but I’m a mess.”

“Hey.” Ricky leaned against me, which was nice, warm, and filled my nose with his unique scent. The earthiness from him was better than the smell of spring grass. “It’s not quite the same town you grew up in, and you’re not quite the same you. But neither of those things are bad.”

“Thanks. At least Whitmore didn’t overstay his welcome. But now, everywhere I go, he’ll know exactly where I am and could show up at any moment.” I wanted to take my phone out of my pocket and chuck it into the woods. “What was he talking to you about when you two were alone anyway?”

“Oh… um…”

“He was trying to convince you to convince me to do the testing, wasn’t he?”

“Maybe?”

“Dick.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Are you so against testing because you’re afraid to find out what you are?”

“I… I just don’t want to be something that has to be studied to make sense.”

Ricky took my hand between us and laced our fingers together. “It wouldn’t be likeSpecies, you know, keeping you in some plastic tube, testing you twenty-four seven.”

“I’m sure they’d promise me that right up until they stuck a bunch of electrodes to my balls.”

Ricky laughed.

“I don’t want to think about that right now, okay?”

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