Naomi Grim Read Online Free PDF Page B

decked in all black: black
jeans, black T-shirt, black leather jacket, and boots. He would be driving us
to the mall, where I would meet up with Roxy, Ashley, and Paige.
    The girls were coming out of a lingerie
store when we met them. Ashley's eyes lit up when she saw Bram.
    "Hey, Bram. Glad you're here,"
she said, sidling next to him. The girl reeked of desperation. "Bram, I
found two dresses that I like in another store. Can you tell me which one you
think looks best on me?"
    "Sure," Bram said as Ashley
led him away from us.
    Josh and Dorian wanted to wander off on
their own.
    "Keir, you can hang with us,"
I offered.
    She looked like she was about to
decline, then she took a deep breath and accepted. I was relieved. I'd feel
guilty about her wandering around the mall on her own.
    Keira walked behind the three of us, not
saying a word.
    "So, are you from Sacramento,
too?" Paige asked over her shoulder.
    Keira was looking at something in the
store display. "What? Oh no, Seattle." She could have at least tried
to look interested in the girls.
    Roxy frowned. "Then how do you two
know each other?
    "We've been friends since we were
babies," Keira answered. "My family moved to Seattle a few years ago,
but we stayed friends."
    Paige nodded. "And here you two
are—moving to the same town at the same time. Isn't that something?" Then
she focused her attention back on me. "That's a really cute scythe on your
chain."
    She'd pronounced it wrong, but I was
happy she had changed the subject. "It's sīthe."
    "Keira has one too," Roxy
added. "Is that some kind of best friend thing?"
    "No," Keira answered before I
could. I didn't appreciate the bitterness in her voice. Then she sat on a bench
in front of a vendor booth. "I think I'll just sit here and wait for you
all to finish."
    Roxy rolled her eyes as we walked away.
"Weird. You hang out with her because . . ."
    "She's my best friend." When I
turned around, Keira was gone.
    * * *
    After the awkward mall outing, I spent
the rest of the afternoon picking out an outfit for my date with Hunter. I'd
only been to a movie once when I was following a Fated. I knew you were
supposed to dress up for dates, but I didn't really have anything dressy. I
opted for a pair of white jeans and a pink spaghetti-strapped top. I showered
and changed. My shoulders felt bare, but I thought I looked all right.
    I had the urge to ask Keira how I looked
as she lay across our bed reading, but she wasn't speaking to me. I opened up
some makeup packages I had bought at the mall with the girls. I'd never worn
any before. Paige insisted that I needed something to give myself some color.
    Bram burst through the door.
    I hated when he did that. "Hey!
What if we were changing or something?"
    He looked at the doorknob. "If you
were changing, you should lock the door, stupid."
    "What do you want, Bram?"
    "I want to know where we're
going."
    " I am going to the movies. I
don't know where you're going."
    "If you think you're going on a
date with a boy, alone, you're crazy."
    "Yeah, who's going to stop
me?" I didn't have time for his big brother act. I was too busy trying to
decide whether I should apply flamingo pink or peacock blue to my eyelids.
    Bram folded his arms and leaned against
the doorway. "How are you going to get there? You think I'm giving you the
vehicle?"
    I looked at Keira.
    "Don't even think about it,"
she said, her nose still buried in the book.
    "Fine, I'll walk."
    Bram laughed. "Sure, you know how
far the movie theater is?"
    "It's a simple solution, Bram. All
I have to do is call Hunter and tell him to pick me up."
    Keira closed her book. "No, you
won't. Humans cannot come here."
    "They can't be in the house. Hunter
doesn't have to come inside."
    "Don't worry, Bram. Naomi's not
going anywhere," Keira told Bram matter-of-factly. That gave me all the
more reason to want to go.
    * * *
    At a quarter to seven, I sat on the
couch between Dorian and Josh while they stared at me.
    "Would you stop?" I asked.
    "You