Freakshow Read Online Free PDF Page B

certain I’d inherited that particular trait from dear old Dad. He’d been the king of awkward moments, and although it made me laugh now, I was grateful I’d managed to overcome it.
    I also knew the knee-jerk reaction to his assumption that I was normal came from my own deep-seated issues surrounding the idea of what was normal. From the years I’d been teased at school and the years my sister had snarled at me, blaming me for the death of our parents, I’d struggled with my normalcy.
    I took a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, mentally shook off my anxiety, and said, “I’m seriously okay with it all. I mean I’m not going to pretend that you’re not like, what, ten feet tall? But it ain’t no big thing, as long as you’re a decent human being.”
    “Well, it’s closer to eight feet, and I can be a raging bitch on crack at times, but overall I like to think I’m good people.”
    “Then we’re cool,” I said with a grin.
    I could feel Cai’s approval and knew I’d moved another step closer to his acceptance. With all these hoops to jump through, I wondered if anyone had made it past the first day.
    We made a bit of friendly small talk with Lara, and then we were on our way. He took me to a seating area where we could watch the performers work on their act. He wanted to talk and kept asking me questions about my upbringing, but I was too enthralled by the people on stage to reply. This was access to something that would normally be beyond my budget, so I wanted to take in as much as possible.
    “You enjoying the show, Miss Normal?” Cai teased me when I didn’t respond to his previous question about my family.
    “Yes, very much,” I said and watched a family of tumblers working with a brightly coloured clown. I didn’t see anything right off the bat that was especially freakish about any of them. “So do you allow normal people in the Cirque as performers?” I asked and indicated the family.
    “We do and we don’t,” he replied. “They’re all normal in terms of physical oddities, but they do possess certain abilities that are useful for other performances. I mean beyond the general oddities of the Cirque, the ones you are aware of. A couple of them are sword swallowers, there’s a human rubber band too. See the older fellow? He can still twist himself up in poses you’d take an hour to get your head around. Each one of us are considered family, and we’re all together in this because of our individual qualities that keep us bonded.”
    “So if you’re not unusual looking, you can earn your way in,” I said, not taking my eyes off the performers, not wanting to make eye contact with him. I knew it was crazy, but I thought I might like to stay with the Cirque maybe a little longer. Maybe because of Cai.
    “That’s right,” he said and leaned towards me, “so do you have any special talents you want to share?”
    I looked at him, saw the humorous glint in his eye and felt red heat in my cheeks. “I might have a thing or two up my sleeve,” I said but didn’t think I’d manage anything beyond taking money and handing out tickets. I just didn’t want him to stop talking, end our orientation session, and forget about me the moment I was gone from his sight.
    “I believe that,” he said and winked. My face burned again, my body’s response to him was uncontrollable and completely illogical.
    After a lifetime of blending into the background, here I was figuring out how I could stand out in a room full of professional freaks.
    Those eyes though, those lips. I realized I was staring at him a little too long and looked away, suddenly focused on the stage.
    “Let’s take you to the ticket area,” he finally said, “then we can wrap up your orientation and get your training started.”
    “Sounds good,” I replied and stood abruptly, catching my purse on the chair behind me, flipping it over with a loud crash. The performers stopped in mid tumble formation and froze, staring at