Page 9 of A Cock and Bull Story

“Actually, I usually go by Belle,” she corrects.

“Belle is pretty,” Jude compliments. “I assume you know that your. . .other sideis from one of your parents, right?”

Belle stops writing and tips her head in bewilderment.

“What? No, I don’t think that’s right,” she denies.

“It is,” Jude insists. “You definitely are the way you are from either your mum or your dad.”

“Are you sure? Is there, like, medical proof of this?”

“We’re sure,” Theo confirms. “All of us are proof.”

Belle’s eyes widen.

“Every one of your moms or dads is. . .you know?!”

“Well, both of our parents, actually.”

“Both of them?!” Belle screeches. “How am I the only one into everything, then?”

Jack rubs his neck before answering.

“Because all our parents are the same—whatever we are, they are.”

Belle sits back at this revelation. She looks like someone coshed her over the head with a hammer, the poor mite.

“So. . . my parents must be different, then?”

“Yes,” Elise agrees. “They clearly are not the same type of animal.”

“Like a ‘whole other beast’ thing, huh? I swear these idioms are going to be the death of me. Okay. Sorry—it’s just so much to wrap my head around. Plus. . . I really don’t want to think of my parents that way,” she says with a disgusted face.

“How?” I ask.

I never realized how two people could speak the same language but not make any sense, and that’s Belle in a nutshell—she makes almost zero sense.

“I don’t want to imagine my parents mixing Ps and Vs!” she blurts. “Ew!”

“Mixing Ps and Vs” Sian wonders.

The rest of us shrug at her. The American shifter is a bit of a mystery. I’m going to need an American-English dictionary if I’m ever to understand her.

“Maybe you should ask them?” Jack suggests, but Jude and Belle shake their heads.

“No way! I’m not talking to my parents about that!” she protests vehemently.

“Besides,” Jude inserts, “we can’t assume anything. Both might be mixes or only one might be. It could cause chaos.”

“Good point,” Jack sighs. “Well, I’m sorry that this is such a revelation to you. I can’t imagine having to learn about our kind on your own.”

Belle lifts a shoulder delicately.

“I’m just glad that I’ve found you all. It helps to have others like me seeking help.”

“Still—it’s got to be a shock,” I insist. I lean forward and lightly touch her hand. “Remember the buddy system you mentioned? We’re all here for you—day and night. If you needanything, call me or someone else immediately.”

Everyone nods emphatically in agreement and Belle’s eyes begin to mist.