“Is this what you do with your spare time?” he asked me, ignoring his sister.“What—are you deciding to talk to me now?” Smiling tightly, I grabbed a handful of mulch and dumped it. Rinse and repeat. “Yeah, it’s kind of a hobby. What’s yours? Kicking puppies?”

“Yeah,it’s kind of a hobby. What’s yours? Kicking puppies?”

“He gave the body a final kick and then turned to face me.“You and I need to talk, Kitten.”“Now?” I asked in disbelief, gesturing to the dead vampire near his feet.“It’s not like he’s going anywhere, so yeah. Now.”

“I remember the time an older man asked me when I was young, "Do you know what you are doing now?" I thought it was some kind of trick question.Tell me," I said.You are building your memories," he replied, "so make them good ones.”

“But you're worried I'll get in trouble?" I try not to show how much this pleases me. I've managed to ignore him for days now and here I sit. Lapping up his attention like a neglected puppy. My voice takes on an edge. "Why do you care? I've ignored you for days."His smile fades. He looks serious, mockingly so. "Yeah. You got to stop that.”

“Wanna hang out for a bit?" "You tryin' to get in my pants now that you know I'm queer?" he asked in an impudent tone. "No!""Yeah.""Yeah, what?""Yeah, I wanna hang out." He smiled over at me.”