Page 17 of Batty About You
“I don’t want to lose you. I would have cried for a year if you told me there was nothing between us, if you tried to leave my life,” Kelly hisses, finally raising her face to meet my eyes.
Behind us, Officer Walsh coughs. “So, if I had to fill out an incident report here, I would say that a beautiful couple, clearly in love, found out that one partner had a surprising condition. A physical challenge. That doesn’t matter to people who love each other like you. To sum up, the startled woman realizes her boyfriend is hairier than she thought, and he realizes she’s more amazing than he thought. You can work through this, especially in Pine Ridge. I can give you a list of a couple dozen human-monster couples to talk to if you want.”
Kelly whips around. “How many? Who? What kind?”
“Well... You’re friends with Cathy and Cindy, right?”
“I am. I know Claire, too.”
“Claire’s husband is an Orc, and Cindy’s husband is Lennox, the mothman you met. You could talk to them. They’ll tell you that no one even notices most of the time. And around here, if they do notice, it’s no big deal. Some of the nicest people in town are ‘monsters,’ after all.”
Kelly swallows several times.
“I’m still me,” I hazard a tiny whisper. “I’d never, ever hurt you. I wish I didn’t look like this, so ugly when you’re so beautiful, but I—”
My words are cut off when she suddenly jumps up on her tiptoes and kisses me, one swift, small kiss on the lips.
My heart spins in my chest, and the world mimics it. It’s my turn to feel faint.
I can hear the officer laughing happily in the background as I stagger, eyes wide, a smile slowly spreading on my face.
“You kissed me,” I say in wonder.
“I can’t stand to hear you talk like that about yourself,” Kelly bites off the words, her voice choked. “You’re still my Boggie.”
I can’t tell what mixture of emotions she’s swept up in, but at least one of them doesn’t hate me, and that gives me hope.
“Why don’t you two go back to the party for an hour or two? It doesn’t end until midnight,” Walsh urges.
Kelly hesitates.
“We can just sit here and talk,” I offer. “Ask me anything.”
A tiny smile graces her lips, one cheek dimpling.
God, she’s so cute.
“Can you dance with those bat feet?” she asks, her voice holding the faintest note of teasing.
“I can’t dance at all. I mean, I’ve never tried. I was just—well. I never wanted to dance with anyone but you.” I shuffle my feet self-consciously. Inside, my brain is screaming that I’m a total idiot because I agreed to go to a ball and never thought about the whole expectation of dancing.
I was kinda worried about bigger issues. Like my girlfriend finding out I’m a bat, proposing marriage, and maybe having sex for the first time. What if I’m not good at that? What if that never, ever happens now, even when I’m human, because she’s permanently repulsed or too afraid I’ll put a cursed baby in her?
But she did kiss me.
Officer Walsh said he’s a pooka, but he must be part guardian angel. He clucks his tongue and says, “All right. I’m about to arrest you both for being the sweetest, shyest, lovestruck couple—even if you’re a little freaked out right now. Dancing is easy. Put your arms around each other and sway until the music stops.That’s it. I hereby order you to go to the ball for at least an hour, eat some cake, sip some punch, and put a little happy in your Halloween. If not, I’m writing you up.” He reaches for his pocket.
Kelly gasps.
“I don’t think he’s really going to write us a ticket, Kell. But we should go, huh? We can just talk. Or dance. Or whatever. I just want to see you.”
She puts her hand in mine again, this time squeezing. “Okay. Let’s go.”
