She'd almost fallen back asleep when a thought jarred her fully awake again. Was she not hungry because she'd drunk the blood last night? Was she already losing her appetite for human food?
"You coming?" Miranda called out.
"Yeah, I'm coming." She fell back on her pillow, stared at the ceiling, and tried to decipher how she felt about all this in the morning light. So okay, the idea of becoming a vampire didn't feel like the end of the world anymore, but it still felt like a major calamity. Plus, she needed to know. Had a right to know what she was.
"You coming in the next century?" Della yelled out about three minutes later.
Calling Della a name under her breath, she started to sit up.
"Right back at you," Della yelled in return.
Yelled. Della yelled it back. Kylie tilted her head and tuned into the noises around her to see if her hearing had become supercharged overnight. But nope, she couldn't hear any better than she had last night.
Which could mean Holiday was right. Her liking blood didn't mean Kylie was vampire.
Or at least not yet.
Forcing herself to get up, she ran a hand through her hair and went to face her roommates and the day.
"Good morning to you, too," Miranda said when Kylie stepped out of her room and didn't say a word.
Kylie shot her a mock smile. Then she did what she did every morning. She studied Miranda, twitched her eyebrows, and stared really hard at her campmate's forehead in hopes of seeing her pattern. But nothing. Just a tiny pimple near her hairline. Not that Kylie would inform Miranda of it. The girl would likely freak.
"You sure are perky this morning," Della said, joining them from her room.
"Didn't sleep well," Kylie said.
"Me, either," Miranda chimed in, and sighed pathetically. "What am I going to do if Perry finds out that Kevin kissed me?"
Della chuckled. "Run and hide before he turns into a fire-breathing dragon and scorches your ass."
"I'm serious," Miranda snapped back.
"And you think I'm not?"
Miranda glared at her.
Della shrugged as if conceding and started for the door. "First, you need to decide what you want to do."
"What do you mean?" Miranda asked as they walked out of the cabin. Then while waiting to hear Della answer, Miranda turned around and waved her hand up and then down at the door, putting a protective charm in place.
Miranda had started doing it last week, saying she felt an uninvited presence trying to come in. Part of Kylie wondered if it were the ghosts that Miranda wanted to keep out. Not that it was working. Every morning at the first sign of dawn, Kylie was awakened by the cold.
"I mean," Della answered, "are you going to start liking Kevin, or are you planning to hang in there with the shape-shifter in hopes that Perry will..."
"Don't say it. Leave his testicles out of your dialogue." Miranda pointed a finger at Della.
Della jumped the rest of the way off the steps then looked back up at Miranda with mock innocence. "I wasn't going to mention his testicles."
From the grin on Della's face, Kylie knew the vampire was lying. Nevertheless, she had a good point.
"She's right." Kylie put in her two cents' worth. "You need to make a decision."
Miranda frowned and pulled back her hair. They walked a few minutes without talking. Miranda seemed to be contemplating something.
"But I don't have to make it like ... right now," Miranda said. "Do I? I mean, there's a chance that Kevin will just forget it happened. It wasn't really even that good of a kiss."
"Hey, Miranda." The voice came from about fifty feet behind them. All three girls turned around and confronted the mediocre kisser moving down the walking path.