Howling In The Night | Night Cat #2

Howling In The Night - Chapter 18

Sleep-talking

Sleeping over @ Kimi’s 2nite. U can call Mrs. Nakamora and check.

I hit send and shoved my phone into my pocket, wondering how long it would take for my dad to ring up Mrs. Nakamora.

I almost laughed out loud when I realized what I’d just thought.

My Dad?

What was I saying? He wasn’t my father. He was an imposter.

I silently hoped that he wouldn’t be surprised that I was staying over at Kimi’s rather than Brie’s. Ordinarily, Brie would be the first person I’d go to when I was in need of comfort or girl talk, but I knew Brie like the back of my hand. If I told her anything about tonight, the news would somehow make its way to Dean’s ears, and right now, I couldn’t handle anyone else knowing.

Kimi, on the other hand, would take the information to her grave if I asked her not to tell anyone. I loved Brie with all my heart, but she was no secret keeper.

Kimi was.

Sighing heavily, I picked up my pace and trotted up Kimi’s driveway. The door swung open before I’d even had a chance to knock.

“Your Dad’s on the line with my mom.” Kimi informed me, by way of greeting.

“Oh.” I said, my arm still raised and poised to knock. “Hey to you too.”

She leaned against the doorframe, the light from the foyer making the green highlights in her hair shine. “Not that I don’t love having you here, but what’s up with the impromptu slumber party? Did you get into a fight with your parents or something?”

I thought about telling her right there, but decided against it. I still had to sort out exactly what I was going to tell her, anyway, so the confessions could wait a while.

Kathy and Xander had insisted that I stay and have dinner with them. They said it was because they didn’t want to send me home on and empty stomach, but I knew it was because they wanted to keep an eye on me. To check if I was all right. To make sure I wasn’t going to walk through Kimi’s door and have a some sort of mental breakdown.

And actually, I appreciated the sentiment.

I would have much rather had a mental breakdown in front of Xander and his mom, rather than in the Nakamora household – surrounded by people who had absolutely no clue about what was going on in my life.

“Not exactly. I’ll explain later.” I shook my head heavily. “Can I come inside? It’s freezing out here.”

“Whoops!” shooting me a sheepish grin, she stepped aside, allowing me space to enter. “sorry about that, Ave.”

“It’s fine.” I replied, stepping into the house. She shut the door behind me and I nodded towards the staircase. “Come on. I’ve got a lot to tell you.”

We crept up the stairs and into her room where, seated on her bed munching cookies, I told her everything – well, almost everything, anyway – that had happened at Xander’s.

“Adopted?” Kimi repeated once I was done, her eyes wide. Her surprised whisper was almost a hiss. “You’re serious?”

I nodded sadly, picking up a cookie and breaking it in half between my fingers. “Yup. I’m serious.”

“And Xander’s mom, like, knew?”

“Apparently.”

 “Wow.” She shook her head, shifting on the bed so that she could look at me properly. “It does explain why you don’t look a thing like the both of them, though.”