Page 46 of First Kiss with a Mothman

My shoulders tense up and possessiveness flares in me. Not these groupies again. They need to recognize that Mort is my man, or rather, my monster. Well, not officially.

He’s my something! So they need to move on.

“You okay?” Mort asks. “You’re digging into my arm a lot.”

“I’m fine!” I relax my hand and try to play it cool. “I just hope those harpies don’t bother you.”

“They look like they’re walking away.”

“Ah.” I smile, and we continue to walk by the auditorium.

After a minute, Mort clears his throat and says, “So, I, uh, have no frat stuff this weekend.”

“Mhm!” My pulse picks up, and we stop walking. Is he about to ask to spend time with me?

“And clearly I don’t need to practice since this recital is over. And neither do you. Um, obviously. So. We’re both free.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” My voice is squeaky as I turn to him. I try not to hop up and down; I have no chill. But Mort might be asking me something big!

“If you don’t mind―”

“Arie, sweetheart!”

I huff and turn to my mom’s voice. Seriously, another interruption? “Mom! I didn’t know you were here!” Mom pulls me in for a hug, but I pointedly grab onto Mort when she’s done.

“It was a surprise!”

“We wouldn’t miss this,” Selena says.

“I’m here too, your Uncle Robert.” Selena’s stepdad approaches us, and he taps my shoulder. “That was an excellent performance.” He pauses for a moment then asks, “Who are you?”

“It’s the mothboy. You know, from TV?” I can hear the grin in Selena’s voice, and I resist the urge to wipe it off for her. Why does she keep bringing that up?

“I don’t believe I’ve seen it,” Uncle Robert says.

“I’m not…an actor or anything.” Mort tries to pull away, but I hold him in place. I don’t want him to be subjected to this, but I also don’t want to leave.

“You were in the concert!” Mom remarks.

“Yup,” Mort replies.

“Another monster student,” Uncle Robert says matter-of-factly.

“There are a lot of monsters in orchestra class,” I say with a smile. I’ll do anything to end this conversation. “We’re an integrated school.”

“There are monsters everywhere here,” Selena adds. “I gotta admit, you frat boys are pretty fun to party with.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re joining a monster sorority,” Uncle Robert says in a deadpan tone. We all laugh, and I hope he’s being sarcastic.

“Right, well we have to go,” I say.

“My frat brothers probably need me to clean up the house or something,” Mort murmurs.

“Let us go to dinner,” Mom says.

“Heck yeah,” Selena says.

Not cool. I can feel Mort slipping away. Panicking, I say, “I’m gonna get dressed. Mort will walk me to my dorm!”