Page 44 of Misfit Monsters
Periwinkle pauses. “No one’s been very nice to you at the school, have they? You haven’t had an easy time.”
My shame burns with a flare of guilt and horror. “I haven’t given everyone else an easy time. I don’t blame them for keeping their distance.”
Would I really blameherif she had wanted to provoke me so I’d break the rules and be cast out?
But even now, when she could take my statement as an excuse to leave, she eases closer to me in the shadow. A gentle warmth spreads through my essence like it might if she took my hand. “It’s scary when you don’t mean to hurt anyone but you do anyway, isn’t it? But I don’t think that means you deserve to be lonely.”
How can she sound as if she knows how it feels firsthand? I’m not even sure what she’s doing here with the bunch of usdelinquents. Is it just because some students have taken offense to things she’s said?
Maybe Gloss complained, and the administration decided to side with her.
The truth tumbles out of me before I can think better of it. “I don’t want to hurt you too.”
Periwinkle simply remains next to me, emanating her natural warmth and brightness. “I don’t think you will. Maybe we can help each other figure things out!”
I’m not prepared for the rush of hope that hits me with those words. For how much I want them to be true.
For how much it matters to me that she’d even suggest it.
I shouldn’t be surprised. Not after she stayed in our dorm room despite my efforts at intimidation. Not when she ran to me when I got smacked by that burst of electrical power during the morphball game.
She’s making this offer to me, not to Hail or Mirage. She came into the shadows to clear the air between us and confirm I don’t see her as an enemy.
Is it possible she’s right that we could help each other?
I should grunt and say we’re better off looking after ourselves. Imeanto say that.
But her warmth has melted enough of my defenses that what slips out instead is, “I’d like that.”
“Good!” Periwinkle whirls around and pops back into the physical plane, standing in the middle of the van.
She looks down at her flowered dress and track jacket and cocks her head. “If we’re secret agents tracking down villainous shadowkind, we’ll need to be tough. Time for a wardrobe change!”
In a blink, she reappears in a new set of clothing she’s imagined onto her short, curvy figure. Tight jeans with a couple of rips cling to her rounded hips. She’s swapped the blue jacket with its rainbow stripes for a black leather one.
She hasn’t completely abandoned her usual color scheme, though. A neon-pink flower beams from the chest of her otherwise black tee.
Periwinkle grins and strikes a pose like a TV police officer cornering a bad guy. Hail rolls his eyes in apparent disdain. Mirage lets out a bark of a laugh.
I simply peer up at her, fond amusement tingling through my essence like the warmth of her presence did moments ago.
A chillier jab follows, piercing my center as if I’ve been run through by one of Hail’s ice sculptures.
This woman might be the sweetest being I’ve ever known. All the rebellious clothes in the world won’t be enough to protect her from whatever dangers we’re hurtling off to face.
Will I be?
17
Periwinkle
Ihop out of the van and spread my arms in the crisply cool morning air. It rushes into my lungs in a deep gulp.
This isn’t the kind of environment I’m drawn to. I can’t see any buildings or people in any direction, only the winding road with tall trees on either side. There are no emotions to absorb except for the currently subdued feelings of the men I’m working with.
But there’s something refreshing about the solitude that I’m not sure I’ve appreciated before. No need to worry about how I’ll be affected by my surroundings. I can take in what makes the mortal world special with no pressure at all.
The men have spread out along the sides of the road in what’s becoming our typical approach at each stop. There’s not much I can contribute other than confirming that I’mnot picking up worrisome emotional energy nearby. And moral support.
