Page 27 of The Surprise
I hand her phone back. “Can you get inside?”
“For sure,” she says. “I can definitely walk.”
She doesn’t sound as confused, and I wonder how long it takes for someone who’s drunk to not be drunk. “Alright, well, go inside. Be safe.”
“Stay shiny.” She waits for a moment, for what I don’t know, and then she starts walking toward her front door. I watch as she opens it, waves, and then disappears inside. I really hope no one gets mad at her. It sounds like she was trying to get rid of the beer to keep her mom from drinking it, but why wouldn’t her dragon-father do that instead?
There are too many things I don’t really understand.
But now I’m even more interested than before.
Beth may think that she’s villain-spawn, but she’s shiny to me. My mom’s an actual dragon, with her words, anyway. She’s out there, spitting fire at all the bad people in the world, defending her lair and baby dragons, and she’s turned her daughters into miniature dragons, too. It’s almost exhausting to talk to them, because they’re sure to argue about most everything.
Not Beth.
Drunk or sober, she makes me laugh. She calls us shiny and me hot. She’s cute, and kind, and bright, and she’seasyin a way none of the girls in my family are.
She’s what I didn’t realize I wanted until I saw it.
I’m still thinking about that as I turn toward the road. True to his word, Dr. Archer’s already there, the Tahoe window rolled down, his arm hanging out. “Let’s go.”
I don’t know what to say when I get in the passenger side, so I settle for, “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“Because I’ve been thinking this whole time about what to do. Your mom doesn’t need anything else to worry about, but I don’t want to just let you off. You can’t just wander around, getting drunk with girls.” He levels a very serious stare at me.
I consider telling him the truth.
“You’re going to have to work this off.” He nods. “Yes, that’s what we’ll do. You’ll come over to my house a time or two a week, and you’ll help me do things around the barn.”
“But—”
“Or I can tell your mom about this, and she can decide how to punish you for such irresponsible,illegal, and disappointing behavior.”
He’s trying to spare my mom and teach me the evils of drinking underage. I suppose I can’t fault him for that. It’s either help him replace fence posts, or tell Mom about how I found Beth.
And I like Beth.
If I tell Mom, she’ll hate her for sure. Mom’s amazing. She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s kind, she’s loyal, and she’s terrifying—in the best way.
But she’s also pretty black and white.
I like Beth enough to be willing to do some manual labor to keep Mom from thinking badly of her from the get-go.
“Your mom’s got a meeting—I overheard. Come over tomorrow, at four o’clock. Alright?”
I just nod. Because what else am I going to do?
7
Beth
I’ve always loved superhero movies. I loved the cartoon ones, likeTeen Titans, Big Hero Six,andtheSpider-versewhen I was young, and as I got older, Marvel became my go-to brand. Even so, my dad thought it was really weird that of all the different films I saw over years and years, after I’d left all the other cartoons behind,Megamindremained my favorite movie to watch. I couldn’t explain it to him, because he’d definitely take offense to my reasons.
I mean, it’s a little on the nose—a little blue alien whochoseto be the bad guy?
