Born At Midnight

Chapter Twenty-seven

  Kylie looked at her new friends and wondered if she should share something so personal. While stil a little perturbed at their "normal" remark, she felt a bond with these two. A bond she'd shared only with Sara.

  "Yes, I mean, no. I haven't ever done . . . you know. Guess that means I'm not only a freak, but a virgin freak. " Kylie stared at her hands a minute and then added, "It just never felt right, okay?"

  Miranda leaned forward. "Don't be hard on yourself. I haven't gotten there, either. Hey, don't get me wrong. I came close, but as my uncle would say, this isn't horseshoes, right?"

  Both Kylie and Miranda turned to Del a, who looked paler than usual.

  Miranda slapped her palm on the table. "Spil it, Vamp. We did. "

  Kylie gave Miranda a light nudge with her elbow. "Del a doesn't have to spil anything if she doesn't want to. " Kylie leaned back in her chair and decided a change of subject was needed. "Fredericka caught me saying good-bye to Trey. "

  "Oh, crap," Del a said, some of her color returning. "What did she do?"

  "She basical y threatened to tattle on me, and then Holiday stepped out of the dining hal right then. "

  "Did she tel her?" Del a asked.

  "No, I decided to do it myself and not give that bitch the pleasure. "

  "What?" Miranda asked. "You told Holiday you brought a normal into camp without permission? Did Holiday come unglued?"

  "No. She told me not to do it again," Kylie said.

  Del a cleared her throat. "Did you tel her I was the one who brought him to your cabin?"

  Kylie rol ed her eyes in grand Sara fashion. "I wouldn't do that, Del a. " She stood to go check her e-mail on some off chance that her mom had answered her.

  "You know what I heard?" Miranda leaned in as if she had a piece of juicy gossip to share. "I heard Fredericka's parents were rogue. Someone had to do some serious arm pul ing to get her in here. "

  "What do you mean by rogue?" Kylie asked, remembering Burnett of the FRU suggesting her parents could be rogue, as wel .

  "People who refused to adhere to the rules. For werewolves, it mostly means they hunted food that wasn't on the approved list. "

  "By . . . not on the approved list, do you mean like . . . humans?" Kylie asked, getting a chil .

  "Or other supernaturals and livestock. Even pets. "

  Kylie's mind shot straight to Lucas Parker and his parents. Was that why Lucas and Fredericka were buddies? Because their parents were rogue werewolves?

  Del a stood and went to the fridge. "Want something to drink?" She glanced back.

  "A Diet Coke, please," Kylie said.

  "Miranda?" Del a asked.

  "Diet Coke sounds good. "

  Kylie stared at the "No new mail" message. "I asked my mom what time she and my dad were born. "

  "And?" Del a set a soda beside the computer.

  Kylie picked up her Diet Coke and went back to the table. "Mom couldn't remember, so she said she'd check the birth certificates. She's supposed to e-mail me. When she gets around to it. " Kylie dropped back into a chair. "Knowing her, that could be next year sometime. "

  "Yeah, that's like when they say 'maybe' and they real y mean 'no. '" Miranda moved to the desk to check her own e-mail. Del a dropped back in her chair, popped the top of the soda, and took a long sip.

  "You can have soda?" Kylie asked.

  "Yeah. " She frowned. "Why?"

  Kylie shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I saw you eating pepperoni, but I thought vampires could only drink . . . you know. "

  "Blood?" Del a finished, sounding annoyed that Kylie couldn't say it.

  "Yeah. Blood. " She pushed the word out of her mouth and tried not to turn green.

  "No, I can have other stuff. It doesn't supply my body nourishment and nothing tastes as good as it used to taste. Oh, and some things have real y bad effects on me. Like broccoli. "

  "What happens if you eat broccoli?" Kylie asked.

  "Explosive, real y bad gas. "

  Kylie made a face. "I think that happens to everyone. "

  "Nope. " Miranda looked over her shoulder. "She's right. Nothing is worse than a vampire fart. Except. . . " She looked at the screen and started typing. "Except a witch's fart after she eats a bean burrito. "

  They al laughed. When the moment passed, silence rained down on them again. Del a turned her soda can in her hands. "I did it. "

  "Gross, you farted?" Miranda covered her nose.

  "No," Del a said. "I had sex. "

  There was like this reverent pause.

  "And?" Miranda final y asked, and turned in the chair.

  "It was nice. Real y nice. Lee and I had been dating for a year. I loved him. It felt right. " Tears fil ed Del a's eyes, but even without them, the pain rang in her voice. "But then I turned into a vampire. "

  "He couldn't accept you?" Kylie's chest ached for Del a, and she remembered how hurt she'd been when Trey dumped her. Del a wiped her eyes. "I didn't actual y tel him. I was going to, but. . . " She bit down on her lip. "I went to see him after I was turned, and when he kissed me, he pul ed away. He said I was cold and that I must stil be sick and he . . . didn't want to kiss me until . . . until I felt warm again. "

  "What a jerk," Miranda said.

  Del a inhaled. "How do you tel the guy you love that you'l never be warm again?" Del a's chin trembled. Kylie rested her hand on Del a's. "Maybe you should have tried to tel him. Maybe he could have understood if he knew-"

  "No. " Del a shook her head and her sleek black hair moved in a wave around her face. "I don't think so. He's a wonderful guy, but he's so straightand-narrow second-generation Chinese-like his family and my dad's family. He almost broke up with me when he realized my mom was EuroAmerican. "

  "He doesn't sound so wonderful," Kylie said.

  Del a shook her head again. "It's not al his fault. It's his upbringing. We're raised to believe we're supposed to be perfect. Make the best grades, go to the best schools, get the best jobs. We're not. . . " She bit down on her lip. "We're not supposed to be monsters. "

  "You're not a monster," Kylie snapped, appal ed that Del a would say that. And yet deep down, hadn't Kylie considered Del a that in the beginning? And even worse, wasn't Kylie afraid she might learn she was a freak of nature herself?

  "She's right," Miranda said.

  Kylie gave Del a's cold hand a gentle squeeze. "If he doesn't love you, then you'l find someone else who wil . You're young. You're beautiful. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you. " The question formed in Kylie's head and before she could stop it, it spil ed out. "Are you immortal? Or are you already. . . "

  "Dead?" Del a finished for her.

  Kylie flushed with embarrassment. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. That was so rude. I'm trying to make you feel better and I . . . It just slipped out. "

  "It's fine," Del a assured her. "I'm not dead. Vampires' bodies function differently, that's al . Don't believe everything you read in those teen novels. We're not immortal; we only live to about 150. "

  "That's a pretty good deal. " Kylie looked over at Miranda. "How about witches?"

  "Life expectancy is about the same," Miranda said, never looking away from the computer.

  "And other supernaturals?" Kylie wondered if she discovered she too was a supernatural, if she'd have an expanded life expectancy.

  "Fairies live the longest. " Miranda talked while she typed something into the computer. "I think there's one old dude that's like five hundred or so. "

  "Are you hoping you're fairy, now?" Del a asked.

  Kylie put her right elbow on the table and dropped her chin in it. "No. Oh, hel , I don't know," she muttered, letting go of a pent-up sigh. "This just sucks. Why c
an't my mom just answer me for once in her life? I hate not knowing anything. "

  Kylie looked back at Miranda. "Can't you help me out?"

  "How?" Miranda asked, her concentration stil on her e-mail.

  "You are brave," Del a giggled, understanding what Kylie meant. "Don't you remember she screws up her spel s?"

  "A gift for you. " Miranda shot Del a a one-finger salute over her shoulder.

  Del a laughed harder. "At least it's not your pinky. "

  Kylie ignored Del a and their gestures. "Can't you do a spel that makes my mom find the birth certificates and e-mail me the info? Seriously, if you can make a peanut butter and jel y sandwich appear from nowhere, why can't you do this?"

  "Wel . . . " Miranda continued to stare at the computer. "I tel you what. Touch your nose three times and say Miranda is a goddess. "

  Kylie stared at the back of Miranda's head. "Are you serious?"

  "Serious. " Miranda turned around and she didn't appear to be joking. "Come on, touch your nose three times and say Miranda is a goddess. "

  "And you won't turn my mom into a toad?" Kylie held her left index finger in front of her nose.

  "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Del a warned.

  Miranda scowled at Del a. "I pinky promise not to mess up. " She held out her pinky.

  "And if I do this, I'l get my mom's e-mail?" Kylie couldn't believe she was considering this, but . . .

  "Yup. " Miranda grinned. "Or you could just come check the computer. Because you just got an e-mail from her. "

  Kylie jumped up and literal y pushed Miranda out of the chair. Holding her breath, Kylie reached for the mouse. She could be one click away from knowing for sure that she was a supernatural.

  One click. God, she was so scared.