2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
RICKY
“ T here’s my baby!” Jason’s mom squealed upon seeing us and threw her arms around his neck, which was impressive given her five-and-a-half-foot height compared to his six-two.
We had arrived in Elder Ridge, and Mrs. Bosco—Sandy, she always reminded me to call her—was here to pick us up. She had short blond hair like Jason but brown eyes instead of blue. Mid-40s, single, with no other kids, she’d worked for the local elementary school all of Jason’s life, first as the receptionist, and eventually as administrative assistant to the principal. The school had gone through three principals since, while Sandy was a constant, and someone all the students loved, according to Jason.
I believed it.
“Ricky, sweetheart!” She threw her next bear hug around me, squeezing as much as my own mother would have. “You look wonderful! Oh! I cannot believe you two are all grown up and graduated!”
“ Mom ,” Jason groused.
“We can barely believe it either, Mrs. Bosco,” I said.
“Sandy. And don’t you make me remind you again.”
I would, because that was the kind of manners my mother had taught me.
We’d seen Sandy at graduation, but when the people at the base said Jason needed to stay an extra week, he’d insisted she leave without him. She had—under duress, her words—but said she was glad he had me to stay by his side.
I actually had no idea if she knew we were dating.
“Zip up those jackets, boys!” Sandy scolded us. “It’s cold out today. Barely fifty, even for June.”
I was quick to do as told and bundled up, though cooler temperatures didn’t bother me much. I’d grown up in Nevada, around desert my whole life, and not super south in the hotter areas. But I’d learned early from Sandy that Midwestern mothers and Hispanic ones were very much alike.
You will catch a cold and must bundle up in cold weather.
You are too skinny and need food in you pronto.
No girlfriend or wife will ever be good enough for their baby boy.
I hoped boyfriends were exempt.
“Jason.” Sandy planted her hands on her hips when he kept his jacket open.
“What? I don’t feel the cold as much anymore, not since… uh…” He trailed off with a slump of his shoulders.
He’d called Sandy before she arrived for graduation, right after starting his visa application, and told her he was a monster—which boy would that have been interesting to eavesdrop on. The news had trickled down from the base knowing, to the school knowing, to everyone knowing, before Jason had talked to me about it. He and his mom hadn’t seen each other since the whirlwind of graduation, when they’d barely had time to discuss it. She didn’t even know what his monster self looked like.
Neither did I. I’d seen pieces, like his claws and fangs the way they’d manifested on the train, or a glow to his eyes, a little fur sprouting. But he always willed it away before I could see the whole thing.
I was insanely curious.
I’d told him a dozen times that it didn’t bother me. I understood. This was all new—being a monster and us being more than friends—but he still hid that side of himself. I wasn’t sure if it would help or hinder to tell him how eager I was to see the full wolf. Or whatever he was that looked wolf-like.
“Right. Of course,” Sandy said with a strained smile. “Well… you look wonderful too, dear. Same as always. Better ,” she hastened to add.
Jason did look the same, usually, which was handsome in an effortless way and built, even if other things had changed. I hadn’t told him this, but I’d thought something was different at the start of senior year. Just a feeling, like I could tell how honed he was, how much he was listening and seeing and sensing more than he used to.
My abuela always said that I was sensitive to the unnatural, which eventually became the natural once we discovered the monster realm and started being friends and colleagues and even significant others with some of them.
Like I was.
I was dating a monster.
I was dating Jason.
“You know I don’t look different, Mom,” Jason muttered, hands in his pockets and shoulders still hunched like he’d reverted to a ten-year-old in her presence. “Not like this.”
“I know, honey. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to say when you look good. You do!” Sandy reached up to pat Jason’s cheek, and the awkwardness retreated with a sweet moment passing between them.
I could see how relieved Jason was that she could touch him without flinching. I think he’d been most afraid of that. Some of our friends had flinched those last few weeks of school. I never had though. It was Jason. I was more likely to yell at him for saying something thoughtless or crass than be afraid of his claws coming out. For me, nothing much had changed.
Other than really liking the way his tongue felt in my mouth. Which was weird when we’d been friends for so long, but oddly easy too.
I was maybe never going to tell him that feeling his fangs, even when they pricked me and drew blood, was a serious turn on. I’d found certain monsters attractive before, but it’s not like I’d known I was a closet teratophiliac. I wasn’t! I’m not! Not really. Not until I’d kissed one.
But no.
Not until I’d kissed Jason.
“If you catch a cold, you’re making your own soup.” Sandy patted Jason’s cheek again and headed for the parking lot.
“You always say that!” he called after her.
We hefted our bags and followed Sandy to the car. I noticed Jason being extra honed again, craning his perception, as if he expected everyone to be watching him. A few people looked our way, but if they knew who he was, what he was, it was mostly left to curious stares.
The train station was at the edge of town. From what I knew, the research facility I’d be working at was on the other side of town, not far from where Jason’s house was beside the woods. The woods where he’d been attacked.
He had been attacked. We just didn’t know by what, or if the attack had anything to do with his transformation other than being the catalyst for it. If I was insanely curious to see Jason’s new form, then I was certifiably so to find out what he was. He had to be curious too. Which was why I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t let the scientists help him figure that out. I got that no one wanted to be experimented on, but these were the people I’d be working with. Maybe, after I could vouch for them more, I could change his mind. I didn’t know how else we were going to find answers.
“There’s the facility you’ll be working at,” Sandy said. “I still can’t believe how quickly they got it up and running.”
I leaned forward between the seats, where Sandy was driving and Jason sat shotgun. The building we were passing was massive. It served all sorts of functions. Various research teams were studying everything under the sun. It also housed monsters working toward their visas, provided the naturalization classes they were required to take, and who knew what else.
The building was a little intimidating, all white with tinted windows that made it look like it was covered with a hundred beady black eyes. Thankfully, over email and from the phone interview I’d had with the lead scientist on my team, she and her research partner—who was also her husband—seemed pretty easy going. They had kids close to my age and were just as focused on making a home for themselves here as studying how our worlds were different.
Zinnia and Beck Q’ah-la-khan—with a click on the Q that I was still learning to get right—had been categorized as kappas, a type of aquatic monster. I’d done a ton of research to make sure I didn’t offend them and knew as much as possible about their species. They were naturally amphibious. They could survive multiple days without being in water but preferred at least an hour a day in a freshwater pool. They were carnivores but were enjoying expanding their palettes, and their constitutions seemed capable of digesting like omnivores. They aged and matured the same as humans and came from a very human-like culture, making them one of the best species for immigration. They’d been here for several weeks already, ever since Elder Ridge opened as a tester town.
“Yeah, that all grown up and graduated thing is still hitting me.” I chuckled.
“You’ll do amazing, honey. And it’s paid?” Sandy asked.
“Yep. Contract to hire too. It was stiff competition to get chosen, since the facility is so new. I guess they liked that I’d already been in a tester town for years and had regular interactions with monsters.”
“Like me?” Jason turned to look at me. “Do they know about me?”
“Well, yeah. They’re the team who would be studying you if you changed your mind about—”
“I am not going to change my mind about being a guinea pig.” Jason looked forward again with a bounce of his seat. It was a sore spot, I got that. I still hoped I could change his mind.
We turned into a driveway almost as soon as we’d passed the research facility. Jason really did live right by it, in a small cluster of other homes with the woods behind them. “Wow. I could walk to work if I want to.”
“Don’t be silly. You can take Jason’s truck.” Sandy pulled in beside it in the garage. She drove a tiny red Elantra. Jason’s truck, which she’d taken to graduation, assuming they’d be driving back together, was a white early 2000s Ford F-150. We’d still filled the truck bed with most of Jason’s—and some of my —things, so we’d have less luggage for the train, but Sandy had driven it back alone.
“It’s my truck to offer,” Jason said, as we filed out of the car. “But of course you can use it, man.”
“Thanks.”
“I only offered because you won’t need the truck most days,” Sandy said, “since you’ll be coming into work with me. Remember?”
I caught Jason’s sneer as she walked ahead of him into the house. “Right. Great. Fun!” he answered with zero enthusiasm.
“I got you that job because you asked—”
“I know. Sorry, Mom. I’m being a moody prick. I just hate this limbo feeling. I am super excited for you though, Ricky.” He took my bag from me, as we entered the mudroom, making it easier for me to take off my shoes. He’d been doing a lot of thoughtful gestures like that since we started dating, as if he was worried not being on his best behavior would make me stop liking him. He kept forgetting that I’d been friends for years with the version who was rarely on any best behavior.
I still thought the note he’d given me was adorable.
Sure, Jason spoke his mind, sometimes to the point of embarrassment, but that just meant he was honest. The only thing he’d ever not been honest with me about was that he liked me. And being a monster, but he’d kept that from everyone.
He could be a little inept with social cues, but then he’d turn around and be weirdly insightful. He could always tell when I wasn’t having a good time at a party. And he’d do something about it, ask where I wanted to go, rather than staying, even if he was having a blast. He was really sweet when he didn’t get in his own way.
I took my bag back from him and grabbed his bag too. “I’ll put our things in our rooms. I owe my mom a call. You know how she worries. And you two could use some alone time.”
“But you don’t know where our rooms are,” Jason protested.
I’d never been to Jason’s house before, but it wasn’t so sprawling that I could get lost. It was bigger on the inside than how the front made it look, but still homey, cozy, with minimalist Midwestern charm, like the crocheted throw pillows on the sofa. They didn’t need much space when it was only Jason and his mom. But then, my home was only a little bigger than this and had housed four kids. My sisters had shared a room until my brother moved out.
The house smelled like cinnamon, and I saw a sheet of snickerdoodles on the stove that Sandy must have taken out of the oven right before she picked us up.
“I will definitely be back for one of those,” I said. “Or five.”
Sandy chuckled. “Down the stairs.” She pointed to a door halfway between the kitchen and dining room. “Take a right for Jason’s room. Yours is to the left. Thank you, dear. I’ll make us some coffee to go with those cookies.”
“You’re the best, Mrs. B,” I said, and maybe because I’d shortened it, she didn’t correct me.
“Mom, this orchid looks terrible!” Jason exclaimed about the pale pink flower in the kitchen window. “How is it this wilted? This is the easiest plant to care for.”
“I’ve been doing that whole ice cube thing you told me about. Plants just don’t like me. But they always perk up when you're home.” She pecked his cheek.
“That is not an excuse to neglect them.”
“I don't! Now tell me more about that last chat you had at the base.”
I smiled at Jason before heading down the stairs. They did need to talk. She was his mom. I told mine everything, but I also couldn’t imagine only having her my whole life, with no dad or siblings or grandparents living close. Alone time was rare in my house, and I’d loved it that way.
I kind of wanted to poke around in Jason’s room once I got down there, but I could wait until he gave me a tour. At first glance, the room didn’t have a window. Then I noticed a door to the outside that must go right under their deck. The room was small but tidy in varying shades of blue. Nothing stood out to me as weird or surprising, because Jason had always been honest with me about his interests, and sometimes only with me.
Like his favorite records. Above his record player was a neon sign that said: “Now Playing,” with a holder for the sleeve of whatever record was being spun. Handwritten by Shawn Mendes was there now, my gift to him for his 21 st birthday. He’d confessed his secret love of Mendes a few months prior and hid the record from the rest of our friends when I gave it to him.
“Dude, this is so lame ,” he’d said. “I love it.”
Apparently, Jason’s dad had bought the player at a garage sale long before the recent vinyl craze started in the mid-2000s. Jason still had all of his dad’s records, an eclectic collection from Mariah Carey to David Bowie to Slipknot.
There were a few posters on the walls of various musicians, some sports teams and athletes, but my favorite thing, besides having my record on display, was that on Jason’s dresser were four framed photos. One of Jason and his mom from high school graduation. A selfie from when he was maybe fifteen, with some national park in the background like Yellowstone. One of Jason with me from New Year’s, not this past year’s but the one before. Our arms were thrown over each other’s shoulders, and we were wearing stupid glittery hats with streamers and tinsel all over us.
I couldn’t remember if I’d seen that photo before and wondered if he’d kept it just for himself. Because while I was laughing and had my eyes closed, Jason was looking at me like…
Like he wanted to kiss me.
How had I not realized he had a crush on me for so long?
The last photo was the oldest. It showed an only several months’ old Jason, barely able to walk, and his dad was guiding him from behind, holding his hands. Bo Bosco looked so much like Jason. In the picture, he wouldn’t have been much older than Jason was now. He had a little blond scruff on his cheeks, where Jason was smooth, but otherwise, they could have been twins.
So much for not poking around in Jason’s room. I ducked out before I actually started rifling through things and went into mine. This second basement room was so much more obviously a guest room. Just as tidy, but more neutral, with a striped, earth tones comforter.
Huge windows looked out at the backyard and nearby woods. Right now, midday, it didn’t look like the sort of place where someone could get attacked by some creature and turned into a monster. But then, where did?
I started to unpack. The other bags and boxes I’d sent ahead with Sandy were waiting for me in the closet. By the time I paused to pull out my phone, there were several missed messages from my mother.
“ Mijo ? Is that you?” She’d picked up on the first ring.
“Sorry I took so long, mami , but we got stranded on the side of the road.”
“Do not even joke about that!”
I laughed and told her we were fine.
At least we had been fine, but after a few minutes of chatting with my mom, I heard Jason and Sandy’s voices rising in volume above me. Then the door to the basement slammed, and Jason came stomping down the stairs and went into his room.
“Uh, sorry, mami , I promise I’ll call and tell you everything after my first day tomorrow, but I need to finish unpacking and be a good guest. Love you too! Give everyone big hugs from me. Bye.”
Jason hadn’t slammed his door, so I didn’t think he wanted to keep me out. When I peeked inside his room, he was lying on his bed, scowling at his phone. I still rapped on the open door before entering.
“You know, I was really looking forward to those cookies.”
Jason snorted. “I’m sure she’ll give plenty to you .” He tossed his phone aside to land face-up on the bed. “After trying to convince you to convince me to be a pincushion for some evil scientists.”
So that’s what the fight had been about. “Your mom thinks you should submit to testing?”
“Can you believe it? My own mother. She must really be freaked.” He draped an arm over his eyes.
I padded into the room and sat on the edge of the bed beside him. “Or maybe she’s worried about you and wants, like you do, to figure out the truth.”
“By letting them turn me into the next alien autopsy?”
It wouldn’t be like that , I wanted to say, but I didn’t think he’d appreciate the sentiment right now.
“They don’t even trust me to exist. My own mother doesn’t trust me.”
“That’s not true. Even the officials trusted you enough to let you skip naturalization classes and everything else monsters usually have to go through.”
“Yeah, but I needed permission to return to my own fucking house. Sorry.” Jason peeked at me from under his arm. “I promised to not be a dick, and there I go again.”
“You don’t need to apologize for being on edge when your whole life has been turned upside down. I get it. I mean, I can’t actually get it, but I’m here. I trust you. I am not freaked. I’m glad to be here.”
Jason dropped his arm, and I took his hand. “Enough to eventually not use both bedrooms?”
I laughed. “Does your mom know—”
“She knows! She even asked if she should bother making up the second bedroom, but I didn’t… I mean, I know we’ve only just…” He sighed and squeezed my hand. “I figured you’d want your own space.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that. Though I’m thinking sneaking into each other’s rooms is probably inevitable.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” We were on Jason’s bed, with him laid out and basically trapped with me sitting there. I kept hold of his hand, drew it to my chest, and started to lean down.
Jason’s phone buzzed, and when my eyes instinctively went to it, I saw a chat screen for—
“The Monster Match app?” I lurched upright. “You’re still on that thing?”
“For Cael!” Jason grabbed the phone but didn’t try to hide it. He pushed the screen closer to me. “See? I use it to message Cael. And Teracht, one of his friends.”
I read the most recent series of messages.
slender_01: You arrived safely then?
brOmance2021: yeah but not looking forward to having a babysitter for who knows how long
slender_01: Humans can be slow to trust. You were with me, but eventually, you relented.
brOmance2021: yeah coz you threatened to throw me to the wolves if i didn’t submit like a dog
slender_01: That was quite a few canine references for someone who is not a werewolf.
brOmance2021: you know what I mean!
I snickered. I hadn’t talked to Cael myself yet, not over text or chat and certainly not in person, since his voice knocked people unconscious the first time they heard it. Jason had been too caught up in interrogations last week to introduce me. And while monsters and the monster realm fascinated me, sensing Cael in the dark those few times I’d almost met him had been way more unnerving than running into chimeras or plant monsters around Edgewind.
“Are you mad?” Jason sat up, replacing the phone screen with his face.
“No. I’m glad you’re staying in touch with other monsters. Even though Cael is a little scary. But only because I couldn’t see him those times I felt him. I’m sure I’d think he was the coolest if I acclimated to looking at him and hearing his voice the way you did.”
“He is the coolest. Scary, yeah. But cool. And he did help get us together. Gotta love the guy for that.”
I could tell Jason was thinking of leaning in for the kiss I hadn’t stolen, but before I could stop the words, I asked, “What does he think about you doing testing?”
Jason frowned. “I didn’t tell him it was an option.”
“Why not? He works for the base. He’ll probably find out they offered that to you.”
“Which is why I want as much time before he finds out as possible. He’ll just try to convince me to give in and do it, because he’s friends with the scientist who studies him. He’s basically immortal! He doesn’t have to be afraid of tests! I’ve made up my mind about this, and I don’t need anyone siding against me.”
It wasn’t siding against him to entertain options, but knowing Jason, if I said that, that was how he’d take it. He had to be eased into the idea, have some time to decompress and reconsider on his own. He might not be patient, but I could be. “So, um, Cael’s friend is a monster too?”
“Teracht? Yeah. He’s a giant spider who makes webbing for the base.”
The implication of something like that existing would have sent my mother into a screaming fit, but compared to an eldritch being, I could handle a spider. “Cool! I am really wishing we’d had more time in Edgewind. But my fault. My internship awaited.”
“We’ll visit. Or, actually, Cael can totally teleport, so—”
“Maybe after the summer, when I have a little down time for passing out and getting nosebleeds.”
Jason had set his phone down again, and we both saw the flash when Cael responded:
slender_01: If they can come to trust me, Jason, they will trust you. If you let them.
Jason typed back:
brOmance2021: heres hoping
Then he closed the app.
“Can I ask, um… why communicate through the app? If they both have it, they both have phones. Maybe one for each appendage.” I chuckled. “Why not text or call them normally?”
Jason ducked his head. “It’s stupid.”
“I bet it’s not.”
Slowly, he picked up his phone again to reopen the app, fiddled with it, and turned his screen toward me like before. “It’s the only thing I have left that says I’m human.”
The screen showed his profile, with a toothy-smiled photo of him—not wearing a shirt.
Of course.
I read the rest.
Name: Jason Bosco Species: Human Pronouns: He/Him Age: 22 Orientation: Gay Likes: Sports, music on vinyl, the outdoors, moonlit swims Dislikes: Pushy people, tuna, big cities, storms Looking for: Love
The app was specifically for pairing monsters with humans, so a monster profile couldn’t match with other monsters.
“Maybe the app will learn the truth eventually and kick me off, who knows?” Jason said. “I don’t need it for dating , obviously. It’s just nice opening it to see… what I once was.”
I took the phone from him to set it back down and scooter closer. “Moonlit swims? Really?”
“I was trying to be romantic.”
“Have you ever actually done that before?”
“Sure. The lake isn’t far.” Jason scooted closer too. “And yeah, I skinny-dipped.”
“You know, they have an option on the app to put you’re looking for friendship.”
“They do?”
I smacked him in the chest.
“I’ll change it! I mean, it’s not only likes and dislikes that matches you with someone. My location changed to a brand-new tester town. Probably messed it all up. And it’s not like I even check for matches. I only ever made the profile—”
“To see if I’d defend monsters or agree with you when you shat all over them. I remember. Super smart wooing plan, by the way.”
Jason pouted, actually pouted, which if I was being honest was probably one of the expressions that most made me realize how attractive he was to me now. I’d always known he was attractive, but I’d put him firmly in the friend category for so long, it had never dawned on me that I could fantasize about nibbling on his lips.
Or him nibbling on mine.
“Technically, it worked.” Jason pouted harder. “But if my profile ever becomes a monster one, I promise I’ll ditch it. I wouldn’t know what to replace human with anyway.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“How?”
I had to curb my response, because I wanted to say, well, tests would help . But Jason wasn’t ready to hear that. “We’ll figure it out,” I said again. “But you dislike pushy people? You are the pushiest—”
Jason lunged so fast to kiss me, my mouth was already open for his tongue to slide in. Pushy. So I pushed back. I pushed hard enough that I pushed Jason down onto the bed. The noises he started to make were growly. His fingers gripping the front of my shirt felt pointier. I even felt a little fur when I slipped my hands up under his shirt, but if he nicked my lip with fangs again, I could handle it.
The doorbell rang.
We laughed.
“Let your mom get it?” I suggested.
“She will, but we can’t hide down here. I want to! I really want to.” Jason hugged me and, looking down at him, half on top of him, I saw a glow to his eyes even after he’d banished the rest.
One of these days, I was going to see the full wolf.
“We should probably go see who it is. And I should apologize.” Jason grimaced.
“You should.”
“But I am not giving in about testing.”
Convincing him otherwise wasn’t going to be easy.
We smoothed out our clothes and hair, and I straightened my glasses. We could hear Sandy chatting with someone at the front door when we went upstairs. I didn’t recognize the new voice. It was deep. Resonant. Almost Idris Elba like but without the accent.
“Uh fuck,” Jason grumbled.
A man very Idris Elba looking stood in the entryway with Sandy.
“Whitmore.”
Jason’s handler, agent, whatever he was, looked over at us as we neared the door. “Hello, Mr. Bosco. We should chat.”