Read Online Kami Cursed (Dragon and Phoenix) by Julianne Price - Free Book Online

page. 
“Look at the picture.”
    I
squared my shoulders and read the boxes again.
    Wyatt
nodded.  “See.  You’ll get it.  It’s just that it’s all new to you.”  He stared
at me for a minute, then sat up straight and pushed his chair back.
    “Hey,
thanks for doing this,” I said with a tired sigh.  “I know you don’t want to be
seen with the crazy girl.”
    He
pursed his lips together, not agreeing, but not denying it either.  “It’s
okay.”  But he looked impatient and I knew he wanted to go.
    I
glanced at the clock and started shoving books in my bag.  “Sorry, I didn’t
realize it was so late.”
    He
stood.  “No big deal.  I’m just supposed to meet up with some of the guys.”
    I
grimaced.  The football guys.  “And you don’t want them to know where you’ve
been.”
    He
shrugged, but he hesitated by his chair, not wanting to just walk away.  “I’ll
meet you here on Wednesday, okay?  There’s a test Thursday.”  His green eyes
looked pinched.
    I
stared up at him.  “Why do you care what they think anyway?”
    He
looked surprised, and embarrassed. 
    “I
mean, they’re all such jerks.  They way they treat people.  Seems like you’d be
embarrassed to be seen with them .”  Instead of being embarrassed for
helping someone.
    He
looked down at me, his cheeks flushed.  “Whatever.”  His hands clenched and
unclenched on the back of my chair, then he turned and hurried out the door. 
    “Pretty
stupid for such a smart guy,” I muttered under my breath as I packed up my
stuff.
     
    *****
    I was sprawled
on the couch, waiting for Ryuu and wondering if I would survive the upcoming
chemistry test when Dawn drifted into the room.  I watched her curiously as she
took a seat next to me on the couch.  Dressed in her usual vibrant, feminine
clothes, she reminded me of an exotic bird perched next to a pigeon.  Me being
the pigeon.
    Her sweet face
was pensive, and I wondered what she was thinking.  I hadn’t really spoken much
more than a casual hello to her since I “woke up.”
    She sighed. 
“You’re a really good friend to Ryuu,” she said finally.  “The two of you are
still close aren’t you?  Even though you don’t remember the last few years?”
    I nodded. 
“Sure.”
    She looked at
me, her brown eyes wrinkling faintly at the corners.  “I want to talk to you
about that, actually.”  She clasped her hands in her lap.  “I know that Ryuu
has this elaborate story about what happened to you.  I think it’s helped him
cope with losing his best friend for so long- it’s the same thing he did when
he lost his parents.”  Her expression was pleading.  “But I really think it’s
best if you don’t encourage it.  It’s time for him to stop living in this make-believe
world.”
    So that was it. 
“But it’s true,” I insisted.  “It’s not make believe.  I opened that book and
something just…took over my mind.”
    She just stared
at me with her mouth hanging open.  “You don’t actually believe that?”
    I narrowed my
eyes at her.  “I just told you I do.  Ryuu can see things that we can’t.”  I
couldn’t quite keep the anger out of my voice.  One more person calling Ryuu
crazy.
    Dawn heaved a
sigh.  “Look Kit, I know that I’m not your favorite person in the world.  You
told me once that you would make a better mother than me.”  She laughed at the
memory.  “And you were only fourteen at the time.”  She shook her head.  “The
sad part is you were probably right.”
    I crossed my
arms over my chest.  I had really hoped she wouldn’t remember that.  “It’s only
because you don’t listen to Ryuu- you don’t see him.  You were too busy
going out on dates to pay attention to your nephew, and he really needed you. 
It made me mad.”
    Dawn’s eyes
looked sad.  “I know it felt that way to Ryuu, but really I was doing it for
him.”  I just looked at her, not buying it.  “Kit, you might be able