Read Online Braced to Bite by Serena Robar - Free Book Online

homework.”
    Piper shook her head as though she couldn’t believe her ears. She even went so far as to try to clean them out with her finger.
    “Ha, ha,” I said, smiling.
    “Maybe you fell harder than we all thought.”
    “Klutzy me,” I said with a self-deprecating smile.
    “You’re not klutzy. If some nut job surprised me on the trail, I would have fallen down the ravine too. Just be thankful you’re okay.”
    “Thanks. Do you wanna sit down?” Too late I remembered the sofa embedded in the wall.
    She lifted an eyebrow. “Rearranging the furniture?”
    “Uh, we had a little accident. Follow me.”
    I led her into the kitchen, where Mom had left the plate of cookies on the table.
    “Try these. They’re great,” Piper said, popping a piece in her mouth.
    “Maybe later,” I said, eyeing them longingly.
    “It wouldn’t kill you to eat a cookie now and then, Colby.”
    Fat lot she knew.
    “It’s not that. I just can’t seem to keep much down with my concussion and all. I guess it’s pretty common.”
    “Dude, I’m sorry. That was real insensitive of me.”
    I felt bad for lying to her but what was I going to say? Sorry, I can only have blood cookies, the chocolate ones make me hurl?
    “Listen, I’ll let you get some rest.” She stood up from the barstool and started to back away when Aunt Chloe entered the kitchen.
    “Colby, I have a friend who volunteers at the blood bank. I think I can get us a couple of pints to see if you can drink it out of the bag and then you won’t have to use those fangs your father made you.”
    I froze. Piper froze. But Aunt Chloe just kept talking.
    “He means well, bless his heart, but you can’t be expected to feed wearing that silly headgear. What would the other vampires say if they saw you? You can hardly defend your existence if everyone knows you don’t have real fangs, now can you?”
    I was horrified. Aunt Chloe simply hadn’t seen Piper and there was no way I could explain away what she was talking about.
    Aunt Chloe finally realized someone else was in the room with us.
    “Oh, hello there. Are you one of Colby’s vampire friends?” To be fair, looking at Piper with her pale skin, lined eyes and many facial accessories, she made a pretty strong case for mistaken identity.
    Piper wasn’t sure what to say. She stood there kind of gaping at me.
    “No, Aunt Chloe, Piper is a friend from school. She lives next door,” I said.
    “Oh, that’s just as well, dear. Do you really think it’s a good idea to go telling all your friends you’re really a vampire? You should probably keep it a secret.” She tsked at me, as though Piper knowing my true identity was entirely my fault, and left the room.
    Piper and I looked at each other awkwardly. I didn’t know what to say and neither, apparently, did she.
    “Look—”
    “What—”
    We both spoke at the same time.
    “You go first,” I said, expecting all sorts of freaked-out questions and hysteria.
    “What happened to your fangs?”
    I blinked twice at her. Piper wasn’t freaking out and she seemed to take what my aunt said at face value.
    Now it was my turn to be flustered. “Uh, well, I had them removed. When I was twelve. For braces.”
    Piper nodded knowingly. My father was also her orthodontist.
    “Why do you have to defend your existence?”
    “I’m not licensed. You have to have a vampire license to be a vampire.”
    “Why don’t you have a license?”
    “Because I didn’t know I was going to become a vampire.”
    “Makes sense to me.”
    We both nodded in agreement.
    “So, how’d it happen?” Piper finally asked and I started to laugh. Apparently, nothing fazed Piper. She joined in and we both sat down at the table and I told her the truth about my attack.
    “So these guys just showed up earlier tonight and gave you a summons to go to vampire court? That’s really bizarre.” She sat across from me, munching contently on cookies and milk.
    “I know, it’s like, hello? I didn’t