“She’s drunk dialing contractors ” Chloe said to Tara. “Someone should stop her.”

“She's drunk dialing contractors. Someone should stop her.”

“Where did that flashlight come from?" Chloe asked. "My purse."Chloe looked at Tara. "She carries a flashlight in her purse.""For emergencies," Maddie said, trying to see into the yard."You have any chocolate?" Chloe asked hopefully. "For emergencies?""Of course. Side Pocket, next to the fork.”

“Tara. I'm a vampire," Pearl said."Yeah, whatever, and I'm queen of the sea.""Your Marine Majesty, I'm a vampire," Pearl said.Concentrating, she slid her fangs out. "Tara. Tara!" She curled back her lips to expose the points. "See"Tara screamed."I won't hurt you," Pearl said. Calm down. Sheesh."Tara continued to scream.Pearl considered biting her merely to shut her up. Regrettably that would be counter productive. Studying her nails, she waited for Tara to quit screaming. She noticed that Tara didn't try to exit the car, which was an interesting choice."You aren't running away," Pearl said."Duh, it's raining outside," Tara said.”

“The mother of the heating contractor does notHave the same problem as the mother of the poet.When the mother of the heating contractor talks about her sonIt's usually understood, from the beginning, that her son,The heating contractor, is not pretending to be a heating contractor.”

“Chloe nodded meekly. I’d never seen her so demure.“What’s the matter with you?” I hissed at her as we followed Kieran and Solange inside.“She’s royalty!”“And a vampire, remember?”“Oh yeah.” Chloe paused. “Nope, princess trumps vampire.”“Does not.”“So does.”