“Thankyouthankyou.” She nods to us both and then picks a star sticker off her round cheek. “And I’m celebrating my eighteenth year on this planet.” She places the sticker on her eyelid. “Xander and Kinney said they’d get piercings as a birthday present to me.”
Kinney lies on Xander’s bed, flipping through the television channels. She shrugs. “Seemed easier than going to the mall to buy a present.”
You know Kinney Hale as the Princess of Goth and all things supernatural. A lot of you worship the fuck out of her, and you hope to one day be the recipient of her insults and death glares. You’ve even made video compilations of her epic eye rolls and “no bitch” face. And you wish you were part of her girl squad that includes Winona Meadows, Audrey Cobalt, and Vada Abbey.
I know her as my thirteen-year-old, tough-as-nails little sister who has a soft side that she only allows family to see. And I love the hell out of her.
Fair warning: I used to change this one’s diapers and feed her peas that she’d throw at me. You fuck with Kinney, I’ll slit your throat and then she’ll shove you to the bottom of a volcano.
Luna eyes the piercing gun in Farrow’s hands, then turns to Xander. “You’re still going to get your ear pierced, right?”
“Yeah.” Xander sits on the edge of his bed. “But Moffy’s going to do it. Not you.”
Farrow tilts his head at my brother. “How is he any better than Luna?”
“Five years older than her,” I defend myself.
“Tell me one body part you’ve ever pierced, wolf scout.”
“Burn,” Kinney says, still flipping TV channels.
“None.”
Xander rakes a hand through his bed-head hair. “Moffy is the best at everything.”
Farrow laughs hard.
“Shut the fuck up,” I tell Farrow, trying not to smile as I near him and Luna.
“I’m serious,” Xander says to Farrow, causing his laughter to fade. “Moffy’s never been below average at anything. Every time he tries something new, he’s practically a pro on the first try.”
“It’s magic,” Luna says certainly.
“He’s a demon,” Kinney says. “One of the ugly ones that live in toad holes.”
Farrow’s smile has split his face in half. Because my sister called me a toad hole demon. He finds a way to focus, and he tells them, “I can guarantee all three of you that I’mbetter than your brother at everything.”
They perk up.
“Very fewthings,” I correct.
“Somethings,” Farrow amends.
“Maybe.”
His brows jump when I concede. I’dmuchrather Farrow, who’s experienced, pierce my siblings than me fuck it up. Still, I don’t get why we’re doing this at all.
“You seriously want to do this, Luna?” I ask. “After all the shit that your tongue piercing got you in?”
“It healed though, and I love it.” She sticks her tongue out, a lime-green ball in the center. “And if all of you get piercings,we’ll be linked in sibling solidarity. It’s something the Cobalts would do. Don’t we have that too?”
Luna stares at each of us, even Farrow, like she’s mentally grouping us together as the Hale family. A band of fucking weirdos.
We’re all smiling.
“Yeah, sis,” Xander says and then points at Farrow and the piercing gun. “I’m trusting you, man.”
“I’m not piercing you with a twelve-dollarClaire’sgun.” He turns to Luna. “You need piercing needles?—”
