When Kylie didn't answer, Holiday studied Kylie suspiciously. "My job here is to show everyone that we can all get along without incident."
She sighed. "I agreed to her coming back because ... I know she doesn't have anywhere else to go. I'm afraid she'd be pulled into a gang, but if she's starting trouble, Kylie, I'll show her the gate."
Kylie knew Holiday meant what she said and she appreciated her loyalty to no end. While the temptation to tell the truth bubbled up inside Kylie, her own sense of loyalty bit down. She knew how important it was to Holiday to save every one of her campers from the dark side of the supernatural world. Even Fredericka.
Kylie wasn't sure the she-wolf was worth saving or even if she was salvageable.
But Kylie didn't want to be the one to make that call. Besides, she didn't want Holiday having to solve Kylie's problems. She got a mental image of how she'd managed to toss Fredericka out the door. Maybe, just maybe she was capable of taking care of herself.
Giving the still-scared Socks a good scratch behind his ears, Kylie said, "It's not a big deal. Socks didn't like Fredericka and Fredericka didn't like Socks. No one was hurt." Yet, a little voice echoed inside Kylie, but she ignored it. "I'm sure we can work it out."
When Kylie looked up, she spotted Della standing behind the camp leader in the doorway mouthing the word "Liar."
Holiday looked at Della and then faced Kylie again. "You're sure?"
Kylie nodded. It felt less like a lie.
Holiday gave Kylie a hug and then took off. Miranda came out of her room, and Kylie dropped Socks to the floor and started picking up the mess. Miranda and Della did the same.
"You don't have to help," Kylie said.
"Please," Miranda said, and they continued to straighten chairs. Della lifted the microwave back on the counter. She plugged it back in and when the light came on, she said, "Good as new."
When the room was put back together, they all sat down at the kitchen table. "Okay," Miranda said. "Give us the details and don't leave out the good parts. And by good parts, I mean when little Miss She-wolf got sprayed in the face. Something tells me that that is going to be my favorite
part. Heck, I'll bet you're even glad I turned Socks into a skunk now, right?"
Kylie leaned back in her chair and told them the whole story, including the part about Fredericka telling Derek about Lucas's letters and even the part about Fredericka halfway admitting she'd been the one to put the lion in Kylie's bedroom.
"Why the crap didn't you tell Holiday?" Miranda asked.
When Kylie didn't answer right away, Della piped up. "Because she's too damn nice."
"It's not that," Kylie said. She bit down on her lip. "Okay, maybe that's part of it, but it's Holiday I'm worried about-not Fredericka. Plus, I want to deal with this myself."
"Now, that part of it I can respect." Della crossed her arms over her chest. "Then there's the saying about how you should keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
Miranda frowned. "Fredericka's meaner than a rattlesnake. Are you sure you can handle her?"
"If she can't, I'm always up for kicking a little werewolf ass," Della said.
Emotion swelled in Kylie's throat and she barely managed to swallow it. "Is Lucas here, too?" Kylie recalled the hurt in Derek's eyes. The emotion in her throat doubled.
"Not yet," Della said. "I heard Fredericka say he was showing up tomorrow."
Kylie blinked, hoping to contain her tears. Then she recalled the dreams and how hard facing Lucas would be.
Miranda leaned in. "Do you think Derek's serious about breaking up?"
"He didn't break up with her," Della corrected in a harsh tone. "They weren't going out."
But he might as well have, Kylie thought, and that's when a couple of tears slipped out. Standing up, she said. "Thanks guys, but I'm ... I just want to-"
"You still feeling pissy?" Della asked.
"Yeah," Kylie answered. Her gaze shifted to the computer showing her grandparents' phone number. She was even too distraught to deal with that right now. Tomorrow. Kylie got to her bedroom, shut the door, and dropped facedown on the blue-and-white bedspread. She had just closed her eyes when she heard Miranda sigh. A sigh Kylie shouldn't have been able to hear through her closed bedroom door.
"Do you think she's werewolf ?" Miranda asked.
Kylie grabbed a pillow and covered her head, but it didn't stop Della's answer from filtering through the foam to reach Kylie's supercharged hearing.
"Probably," Della answered. "But I'm not going to hold it against her. She'll be the nicest werewolf that ever existed."
"Me, either," Miranda said. "Not all weres are bad. Not that I've ever been close to any of them."
Great, Kylie thought. Her friends seemed certain she was doomed to a life of nasty moods and howling at the moon. Kylie tried to imagine what it would be like to morph into a wolf. Then she remembered that Fredericka was going to be waiting with bated wolf breath for a chance to get even with her when-okay, if-she did turn.
And then she recalled Derek saying that he didn't want her to be a werewolf because she'd have that in common with Lucas. Was that why he'd pulled away? Gawd, why did life have to be so damn hard? Kylie stayed in her room the next few hours. Feeling an emotional storm rage inside her, she tried to think of anything that could take the edge off.
She'd napped, actually fallen asleep, but had awoken when the temperature dropped in the room. She looked around for the ghost, but the spirit didn't materialize. Remembering the ghost's appearance after Fredericka left, Kylie asked, "Do you have something to say?"
Her question vibrated in the still coldness of the room. Kylie hadn't expected an answer, but asking was her job, right? Staring at the ceiling, she jumped when something crashed to the floor. Turning around, she saw her phone had fallen from the nightstand. When she picked it up, she heard someone on the line.
"Hello?" Kylie recognized Sara's voice.
"Hey," Kylie said.
"What's up?" Sara asked.
Kylie huddled under the covers to ward off the cold. "Nothing. Did you call me?"
"No. You called me," Sara answered.
"Oh." Kylie glanced at her cell. "My phone fell off the nightstand. It must have dialed you accidentally."
"Oh." The awkwardness rang louder than Sara's voice.
"Where are you?" Kylie asked, just to chase away the uncomfortable silence because just hanging up felt too rude. It wasn't as if Kylie could say what's on her mind like, Hey guess what? I just tossed a werewolf out of my cabin for trying to kill my kitten that's now a skunk, and tonight, I might turn into a wolf myself. Right then Kylie realized she'd been blaming Sara for the distance in their relationship, claiming Sara had changed. Well, hell, now look who had undergone the most change.