Goddess of the Night Read Online Free PDF

guess."
    "I'm
serious," Vanessa scolded. "What am I going to do? Just
looking at him makes my molecules vibrate. The last time I tried to
have a boyfriend, I couldn't control it. I never even got one kiss."
    "Let your
molecules sing," Catty said. "Maybe he'll like it. Besides
you don't know it will
    49
    happen this
time. Have you been practicing with your power like I told you?"
    One look and
Catty knew she hadn't. "When you're alone you need to make
yourself invisible," Catty explained. "Visible, invisible.
Just like exercises. How else are you going to learn how to control
it? You should practice every day."
    "That
won't help me now. What if my molecules go off on their own?"
Vanessa wondered. "What if I scare him? Maybe he'll think I'm a
ghost or something evil."
    "You
should appreciate your gift more. I mean, just think what you could
do with it. I know what I'd do."
    "What?"
    "I'd spy
on people and copy answers to all the tests. You waste it."
    "All my
problems seem to come from what you call a 'gift.' I wish we could be
like everyone else."
    "Speak for
yourself. I like what I can do," Catty said. "You want a
Coke?"
    The fact that
they were freaks never bothered Catty as much as it bothered Vanessa.
Maybe it
    50
    was because
Catty's mother encouraged her to use her power.
    "No,
thanks." Vanessa sat on a cement bench facing a bank of outside
lockers. "I'll wait for you here."
    She looked down
at the amulet that hung around her neck. She seldom took it off, but
she unclasped it now and studied the face of the moon etched in the
metal. Sparkling in the sunlight, it wasn't pure silver but reflected
pinks and blues and greens. Maybe who she was had something to do
with this moon charm that was given to her at birth. Catty had one,
too. That's how they had first noticed each other at the park in
third grade. They had been playing soccer on opposing teams, chasing
the ball down the field. When they saw the silver moon dangling from
each other's neck, they'd stopped running and let the ball go out of
bounds.
    "Where'd
you get that?" Catty had asked, ignoring her jeering teammates.
    "I got it
as a gift the night I was born," Vanessa said. "Where'd you
get yours?"
    "Don't
know. I've always had it. I never take it off."
    51
    "Me,
neither," Vanessa said.
    The referee
blew her whistle and the game continued, but Vanessa couldn't focus
on the ball. She kept turning to look at Catty. Twice she kicked the
ball out of bounds, and once she collided with one of her own
teammates.
    Afterward the
two teams went out for pizza. She and Catty shared a double-cheese
pepperoni with pineapple and anchovies. They had been best friends
ever since. It had taken longer for them to share their unique
talents. What Catty called their gifts.
    Maybe it wasn't
a gift, but a curse, and if she got rid of the charm, her strange
ability to become invisible would also go away. But she felt too
uncomfortable when she took it off. She wondered why that was.
    52
    Chapter 6
    CATTY CAME BACK
with a Coke and sat next to Vanessa.
    Morgan Page ran
up to them. She dropped her purse and swirled. "What do you
think?" She wore a bare, breezy sundress. It was too skimpy for
the school dress code, so she wore sleeves over the halter sundress
during classes. Now she shed the sleeves and showed off her
solar-glow tan, the best in the school. Expensive salon highlights
added luster to her already perfect hair. She picked up her purse and
pushed her yellow shades into her hair.
    "Where
have you been? I walked all the way to Johnny Rockets looking for
you. I must be glistening with sweat."
    53
    Catty leaned
into Vanessa muttering, "She's got to be the only person in the
world who thinks her sweat is pretty."
    Morgan didn't
hear Catty over her own running talk. "I swear I saw you two
sitting at the counter. I thought we were supposed to meet at Johnny
Rockets."
    Vanessa gave
Catty a quick, angry look.
    Morgan watched
them with curiosity.
    "You
couldn't have seen us," Catty said.