Read T.J. Klune - Bear, Otter, and the Kid 1 - Bear, Otter, and the Kid for Free Online Page A

gets to sit in an office, not at the front desk. Okay, so its not really like being a manager at all, but it could be worse, right? I could be working McDonalds and hearing the Kid mumble each night I came home that I smelled like bovine genocide. And before you think Im being overly dramatic, I once worked the meat counter and thats exactly what he said to me. I requested never to be put there again.
    So its not so bad, okay? Ive been here long enough that I get to work pretty much whenever I want, which is good, especially working days so I can be done by the time that Ty gets done with school. And they allowed me to put Ty on the health insurance they offer after youve been here three years. They didnt have to do that. I dont like to think about what Id do because the Kid gets a cold every other minute or so. So see? Things could be worse. A lot worse.
    Now Anna.
I told you before how shes my sort-of girlfriend. Do you remember? Nows one of the times when she sort of is, and I feel guilty for a moment
    because I told her that I was going to call her as soon as I got to Creeds house. But hey, I can say I wanted to just see her in person and everything works out. Shell see right through me, though, she always does.
    “Hey,” she says, smiling at me as I walk up to her.
“Hey, yourself,” I say back, standing in front of her register like a customer. She leans over to kiss me, and I turn my face lightly, feeling her lips graze my cheek. She pulls back and looks at me funny.
I jerk my head to the side in a sort of nod. “Look whos here.”
She looks over my shoulder, and I see her face light up. “Otter!” She laughs and bounds around the register. I turn to watch her go and see Otter
    still standing at the door where we walked in. Funny, I thought he was next to me. She jumps into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, and I hear him say, “Oof.”
    So, yeah. Anna. I think I told you that she was the second person I met after Creed. She was in the same second-grade class as us, so it was inevitable that we would at least become friends. But it turned out to be much more than that. Anna is the only girlfriend I have ever had, the only girl I have ever kissed. We had sex, the first time for both of us, the summer between eighth and ninth grade, in the guest house that sits behind Creeds house. Shes been my first everything, aside from having the honor of being my first best friend, as that goes to Creed. First love, first heartache, first (and only) proposal of marriage. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But come on, we were ten! And she proposed to me , right after our first kiss. And it wasnt even really proposing, it was more of a “Derrick McKenna, I am only going to kiss you if you say that we are getting married when were adults!” Whats a ten-year-old boy to do? I said yes, and she kissed me lightly on the lips, the touch of a feather. I remember turning red enough to light the world on fire. That sealed the deal.
Except for the times when shes sort of not my girlfriend.
    Were way too much alike to ever get along all the time. I swear to Christ when we fight, its about the stupidest shit. She thinks shes right. I know Im right, blah blah blah, and it always ends with her flipping her long brown hair, her dark eyes flashing, muttering under her breath and sounding so much like me that its hilarious. And thats always the worst time to laugh, so naturally thats when I laugh. Of course, this pisses her off even more—which pisses me off—and it always ends with one of us stalking away, licking our wounds. I love her too damn much, though, and I know she feels the same and a couple of days later one of us will pick up the phone and call the other, and things will be good for a while.
    And I do mean that. I love her. Anna was there for me growing up, listening to me bitch about how my mom was fucked up. She was there for me, making me talk to new people, telling me that the worst thing a person can do is not make new