Free Beastly: Lindy's Diary by Alex Flinn Page B

no. But would you be happy to stay with me forever?”
    It was like he’d read my mind. I looked at him, remembering how I’d once tried to avoid doing so. Now
    his face wasn’t disturbing. It was just his face, the face of my beloved. His eyes were so beautiful and
    hopeful. He drew in his breath, and I could tell he was holding it, awaiting my answer. I thought about
    leaning toward him, thought about kissing him. Maybe I should have. If I’d kissed him, everything might
    have been different.
    Instead, I spoke. I told him that in some ways, I was happier than I’d ever been. I liked being with him.
    The fire was hot, hotter than before. He said, “So you’re happy, then?”
    Yes, I told him. “Except . . .”
    “Except what?” I saw the concern on his face.
    So I said it. “My father. I worry about him, what might happen if I’m not around to run interference. He’s sick, Adrian, and I was the one who took care of him. And I miss him. I know you must think it’s stupid to miss someone who left me without a look back.”
    “No. I understand. Your parents are your parents, no matter what. Even if they don’t love you back,
    they’re all you have.”
    I knew he did understand. He loved his own father too.
    I turned to look at the fire and said, “Adrian, I am happy here. It’s just . . . if I could only know he’s okay.
    If I could only see him for a moment.”
    He looked sad, then panicked. But then he said, “Wait here.”
    And then, he left. I heard him running up the stairs to his room. He returned several minutes later with an object.
    He handed it to me.
    It was a mirror, a silver mirror, ornate, like something from another time. I stared into it, and I saw my face. I looked worried.
    He told me it was a special mirror. “By looking at it, you can see anyone you want, anywhere in the
    world.” I laughed. Of course I didn’t believe him. But then he took it from me. He held it up, saying, “I want to see Will.” And then, it was the most bizarre thing, the mirror or spy cam or whatever it was
    changed to a picture of Will. Or not a picture, but the actual moving Will, up in his room, wearing the
    same clothes he’d had on before.
    How was this possible? Magic? Of course not. It must be some incredible technology. He had everything
    money could buy, after all.
    “Can I try it?” I asked.
    He nodded and handed me the mirror, telling me that, by asking, I could see anyone. I said, “I want to see .
    . .
    Sloane Hagen.” I wanted to choose someone Adrian didn’t know, in case it was a trick, and Sloane’s was
    the first name that popped into my head.
    But sure enough, there was Little Miss Perfect . . . and she was popping a zit!
    “Ew!” I said. Adrian laughed too.
    And then I wanted to see more people. In particular, I wanted to see Kyle. I’d always wondered what had
    happened to him.
    But Adrian reminded me about Dad, so I asked to see him.
    The image changed from Sloane’s brightly colored bathroom to a gloomy New York street, far from the
    lights of Times Square. At first, I couldn’t make out anything but gray snowdrifts and garbage.
    Then, the garbage moved. It was a man! He coughed.
    My father! He was homeless, on the street. He was sick!
    My throat clenched, and, despite my resolve not to care, my resolve to live my own life, I started to cry. I started crying, and I couldn’t stop. I had been wrong to think he could survive without me, wronger still to think I didn’t care. This was all my fault. No, not all my fault. My father’s fault too, and Adrian’s fault for making me stay, making me care about him, making me think I could be anything but some junkie’s
    daughter. Making me think things could be different when they can’t.
    He tried to put his arms around me, but I pushed him away. It wouldn’t work. Maybe he could live in this
    fantasy world, but I couldn’t. I had to have cold, bleak reality.
    So I was surprised when he said, “You should go to him.” And