“That’s all you want?”
I nodded as Dennis examined my meal selection. “We don’t actually need food, right? Like I can just snack for the rest of my life and be fine?”
“You can stop eating altogether, if you want. All we need is blood.”
“Perfect. Ice cream for life, it’ll be.”I kept my eyes on the screen, content to watch them play while I ate. I was licking ice cream off the spoon when I noticed Dennis’eyes on me.“What are you staring at?”I asked, staring right back.
“You should know. You’ve been in my head.”
“Ari,”I switchedfocus as she entered the room,“where have you been?”
“Hiding from you.”She laughed and plopped into a chair.“No, not really. I was talking to my dad. He said to tell you hi and to take your meds.”She tossed the bottle of pills and I caught them without even trying.
“Thanks. I keep forgetting lately.” Itook the pills with a scoop of ice cream.“Why’s your backpack in here?”I asked. It was near her feet and stuffed with books.
“I’m going to a study group.”
“Ew, but it’s Saturday.”I scrunched my nose.
“Where’s your shirt?” She mirrored my face as she spotted my top.
“This bustier doubles as a top.” I glanced over at Dennis’ minuscule reaction—the slightest smirk and glance my way. Still,I couldn’t feel anything.
“Whatever.I’ll be back later. I have three midterms on Wednesday so I’ll be studying for a while.”She stood and grabbed her bag before frowning.“I just remembered my car isn’t here.”
“I drove it over last night,”Sean said.“I thought you might want it.”
“Are you serious? I told you not to drive my car.”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind.”He stood and tossed his controller to Mateo.“I’m going with you, by the way. Too many vampires have been trying to kill you guys lately.”
Sheopened the small part of her bag, searching for keys.“You have my keys, don’t you?”Sean smiled as she let out an aggravated sigh.“I give up.”She zipped the bag and flung it over her shoulder.“This is so much worse than you said.”She shot me a dirty look as they passed.
“At least you’re safe.”I waved cheerfully.“Bye, I love you.”
“Love you, too.”She yanked the door open and stalked outside. “How are you with me right now? It’s not night yet.”
“Cloudy evening,” Sean said as he followed. “Convenient, right? I’ll be fine until nightfall.”
The door closed and their footsteps faded.
“I wanna go to the bar,” I decided. “Can we go? I wanna see how different it is now that I’m one of you.”
“Sure.” Dennis stopped the game and stood.
“Sounds fun,” Mateo said. “I’ll come with, if that’s okay?”
I happily agreed and tossed out the now-empty ice cream carton before going to dig through my bag. I tried not to give a view up my skirt or down my shirt, but that didn’t stop Dennis from staring. I looked up and our eyes met, though it took his a moment to raise that high.
“What’re you getting? You seem ready to me.”
“This.”I held up my flask and shook it. As always, it was filled with whiskey.I downed a couple shots worth and grabbed my makeup bag before straightening up.“Is this whole vampire thing gonna affect my tolerance at all?”I asked. If it got any lower, I might have to change out of these stiletto boots into combats instead, but if it was higher, I’dkeep the heels and finishtheflask.
“If you’re low on blood, you’ll get trashed quicker. But if you just drank, it’ll probably be the same.”Dennis paused before adding,“Don’t change. I like the heels.”
“Hm. Okay.” I straightened up andwent to the bathroom, makeup bag in one hand for finishing touches and flask in the other. Ihoppedon the counter and took a swig of whiskey while digging through makeup. My favorite shade of lipstick was nearly identical to my new natural color, so I needed something new. Something exciting. I cycled through options in search of the perfect color to match my mood. Creams, glosses, mattes, stains, so many options.
At the same time, I could barely focus on the decision. My mind was stuck on a craving for something I couldn’t place. Probably not blood since I drank three whole people yesterday. Maybe I was craving sex and the urge felt different as a vampire?
