Beasts and BFFs Read Online Free

explaining, gradually increasing the distance between us.
    If he noticed, he never mentioned it.
    The thought he could be dangerous made me nervous. And when I get nervous, I get talkative. I glanced at his schedule again. “Oh. Your name’s not Peter,” I said, wondering if I’d been pronouncing it at all correctly. Huh. P-i-e-t-r. “It’s Pie-eater—”
    He winced.
    I read it again. “No, Pee-yoh-ter—”
    He stared at me.
    “Pay-oder?” I tried. I was determined to get it right. Mr. Maloy had obviously botched this like everything else. My mouth twisted, ready to go one more round with the name, but he raised a hand, staring at me like he was in shock. Or maybe pain. I felt my ears go tomato red.
    “I have never heard so many— creative— pronunciations of my name.” He smiled, but only briefly. “Peter,” he said. “The pronunciation is the same. Just not the spelling.” He tugged off the misspelled name tag and crumpled it up.
    “Oh.” He didn’t seem dangerous…. “Weird,” I said suddenly. “You know, it’s actually kind of spelled like my worry stone….” I dug into my jeans pocket and pulled out the large, flat bead I carried. Gold, silver, and milky white threaded through dark blue. “This is pietersite. P-I-E-T-E-R.” I held it out in my open palm and thought I saw momentary interest in his eyes.
    “A worry stone?”
    “My dad’s idea. It’s also called Tempest Stone. People say it’s good for a lot of stuff, like dealing with change and transformation. Oh. And your gallbladder, I think. Or spleen.” I shrugged, slipping it back into my pocket. He definitely looked interested now. Maybe he had spleen issues.
    “What do you think it’s good for?”
    “Rubbing, when I’m stressed.” I shrugged again. “Besides, like Shakespeare said, ‘What’s in a name,’ right?”
    He looked past me. “ Romeo and Juliet. I hate that play.”
    “Well.” How could anyone with a brain hate a classic like that? “A good writer should get people to feel something, I guess.” I started walking again, hoping to catch his attention. Even when he spoke directly to me, he seemed distant. Unreachable. Like this wasn’t important.
    What was it with him? Was I being blown off?
    “So, um. Why the cop?” I figured I’d just go for it. Ask the question about the elephant in the room.
    Pietr didn’t pause, just continued walking beside me. “We went to Europe last year and didn’t tell the school.”
    “Oh.” My brain reeled at the thought of just going to Europe. “So you basically skipped school for a few—”
    “Months.”
    “Oh.”
    We walked for a while in silence, down the long corridor of tall windows leading toward the English department’s classrooms. There was just the noise of my shoes squeaking on the tile floor. His sneakers never made a sound, and I looked over more than once to make sure someone was actually walking beside me.
    I hoped I hadn’t suddenly suffered a psychotic break and imagined the meeting in Maloy’s office. Although I wasn’t sure why I’d conjure someone like Pietr during a psychotic episode…. That was probably just it, though. You couldn’t know what to expect if you snapped. Or when it would happen. You just knew everyone expected you to snap and eventually have one. At least, if you were me.
    To relieve the silence I asked, “Where are you from?” If he wasn’t going to talk, maybe I shouldn’t keep encouraging conversation. But I was determined to give him a chance. Coming to a new school was bound to be difficult. Coming with a cop in tow…and then, not making friends—or even acquaintances—wouldn’t make it any easier.
    He looked over his shoulder and said, “Farthington.” He seemed to regret even the single word.
    I paused, stopping in the hall to look at him. “Wow. I would’ve totally left that place, too. You guys had all that weirdness with that wolf attack.”
    He nodded.
    “I didn’t even know there were wolves that