"I wonder how our lives would have been if I'd met you when we were younger," I said, staring into Alexander's dreamy chocolate-colored eyes.
"Like when you were in middle school?" he asked, knotting his fingers around mine.
"Yes. Wouldn't that have been cool?"
"Or when we were kids. We could have played in the sandbox together. I could have pulled your hair."
"And I could have pulled yours," I said with a laugh. "Would you have liked me then?" I asked. "I know I would have had a crush on you."
"Really?" he asked. "Even then? Even if you didn't have to sneak into my house and check out the new guy in town?"
"Uh... I was sneaking in that house for years," I said. "Of course I would have snuck in if you'd moved there earlier. Think about it. We'd have had so much more time together."
"Yes, but I am happy that I met you at all."
"Me too!" I leaned in and gave him a juicy kiss. "I bet you were so hot when you were twelve." I stroked his face. "But you didn't go to middle school, did you?" I asked.
"I never went to school."
"Did you go to dances?"
"No, there was not a school to dance in. Just my house."
"You mean mansion."
"Uh... I guess."
"So how did you meet girls?"
"When I went out with Sebastian, when we traveled, and when we hung out with other vampire families."
"And Stormy? How does she make friends and meet boys?"
"She has friends. But this is really a big deal to her. She is isolated, like I was. But she likes to be out with people."
"And you don't?"
"Well, certain people," he said, giving my hand a squeeze. "But I can spend my nights painting. She'd rather be out dancing. That's why I think it's good that she's getting out here. She has such a passion for life."
"And guys," I said with a grin. Then my mood changed. "What if she really likes Billy?" I asked.
I imagined my brother as a vampire: spending his long nights holed up on the computer instead of running around a cemetery, and sleeping in a remote-controlled coffin with more gadgets than a souped-up car.
"I think that's something we don't have to worry about now. It's just one night. And you don't want him to be a vampire, do you?" he asked.
"Vampires are sexy. Not nerds."
Alexander laughed, his face lighting up in the night sky.
"Besides, I'm the one in the Madison family that will be turned."
"Oh," he said. "And when will that happen?"
"Sooner than later, please," I pleaded. I pulled my hair away from my neck and nuzzled up to him. "How about now?" Just then we heard a girl's scream. We both sat up.
Stormy was walking away from Billy and Henry and heading toward us.
"What's going on?" I asked as Alexander and I rose.