Shane flinched, paused the game, and threw the controller down. "Low, Claire. " He wasn't exactly his dad's biggest fan at the best of times -- he couldn't be, the number of cruel things his dad had done to him.
"No, it's just true. Look, it's Michael. Can't you give him the benefit of the doubt? He hasn't hurt anybody, has he? And you have to admit, having a vampire on our side, really on our side, couldn't hurt. Not in Morganville. "
He just glared at the screen, jaw set like stone. Claire was trying to think of another way to get through to him, but she was derailed by the ringing of the doorbell. Shane didn't move. "I'll get it, " she sighed, and went down the hall to open the front door. It was safe enough -- mid-morning, sunny, and relatively mild. Summer was finally starting a slide toward fall, now that it had burned all the green out of the Texas landscape.
Claire squinted against the brilliance. For a second she thought that there was something deeply wrong with her eyes.
Because her arch-enemy and Queen Bitch Monica Morrell, flanked by her ever-present harpies Gina and Jennifer, were standing on the doorstep. It was like seeing Barbie and her friends, blown up life size and dressed like Old Navy mannequins. Tanned, toned and perfect, from lip gloss to toenail polish. Monica had forced on a determinedly pleasant expression. Gina and Jennifer were also trying, but looked more like they were smelling something rotten.
"Hi!" Monica said brightly. "Got plans today, Claire? I was thinking we could hang. "
That's it, Claire thought. I'm dreaming. Only this is a nightmare, right? Monica pretending to be my friend? Definitely a nightmare.
"I -- what do you want?" Because Claire's relationship with Monica, Gina and Jennifer had started with being pushed down stairs at the dorm, and hadn't improved since. She was a crawling bug, to the Cool Girls. At best. Or ... A tool. Was this about Michael? Because his status had changed from "hermit musician" to "hottie vampire" in one night, and Monica was definitely a fang-banger, right? "You want to talk to Michael?"
Monica gave her an odd look. "Why would I want to do that? Can he go shopping in broad daylight?"
"Oh. " She had no idea what else to say to that.
"I thought a little retail therapy, and then we can all go study, " Monica said. "We're going to check out that new place, not Common Grounds. Common Grounds is so last century. Like I want to be under Oliver's thumb all the time. Now that he's taken over as Protector for our family, he's been all hands-on, wanting to see my grades. Sucks, right?"
"I -- "
"C'mon, save my life. I really need help with Economics, and these two are boneheads. " Monica dismissed her two closest friends with an offhand wave. "Seriously. Come with us. Please? I could really use your brainpower. And I think we should get to know each other a little better, don't you? Seeing as how things have changed?"
Claire opened her mouth, then closed it without saying anything. The last two times she'd gone anywhere with Monica, she'd been flat on her back on the floor of a van, getting beaten and terrorized.
She managed to stammer, "I know this is going to sound rude, but --what the hell are you doing?"