I picked it up and waited until he was looking at me so he could read my lips.
"This is what I use to beat problem children with." He clutched his notebook tighter, so I guessed his lipreading skills were up to par.
I put the stick back on the bed.
"What did you want?" He turned his notebook around and showed me a newspaper article that had been cut out and was taped to a page of his notebook.
"Alpha Werewolf's Girlfriend Kills Attacker" it said.
There was a picture of me looking battered and dazed.
I didn't remember anyone taking pictures, but there were large chunks of that night I was pretty shaky on.
"Yes," I said, like my stomach didn't suddenly hurt.
"Old news." He turned the page, and I saw he had another observation for me.
"There R no vampyrs." I guessed spelling wasn't his strong suit.
Even at ten, I'd been able to spell "are." "Okay, thanks," I said.
"Good to know.
I guess I'll go home tomorrow." He dropped his hands to his sides, the notebook swaying back and forth with irritation like a cat's tail.
He knew sarcasm when he heard it, even if he was lip-reading it.
"Don't worry, kid," I told him more gently.
"I'm not a part of the plot to send you off to kid-prison.
If I don't see anything, it doesn't mean that there's nothing to see.
And I'll tell your father so, too." He blinked his eyes furiously, hugged his notebook again.
He lifted his chin--a smaller, less-stubborn version of his mother's.
And he left.
AMBER TROTTED UP THE STAIRS DOUBLE TIME AND waved to me as she went past.
I heard her knock, then open a door.
"You need to clean up, too," she told her son.
"You don't have to eat with us--there's a plate in the microwave--but I don't want you scuttling around trying to be unseen, either.
You know how that irritates your father.
So comb your hair, wash your hands and face." I stripped off my clothes and pulled on the purple dress.
It fit just fine--a little tight in the shoulders and snugger in the hips than I preferred, but when I looked at it in the full-length mirror, it looked just fine.
Amber, Char, and I had always been able to trade clothes with each other.
The heels were higher than was comfortable, but as long as we were staying in the house, they should be all right.
Char's feet had been smaller than Amber's and mine.