you proved that whiz kid thing." I patted her shoulder.
"Yeah, well. I enjoy the academic stuff." She shrugged. "Sue me, I'm an unrepentant egghead. That's what Jen calls me." A tear ran down her cheek. "God, how can I just show her my f-f-fangs and tell her what happened? She's so happy now. She just made the cheerleading squad for next fall and even has a new boyfriend. This will just bring her down."
"You're a good sister." I was getting a little misty-eyed myself. I don't know if I could have been so generous. Screw vicarious. There's no substitute for doing things yourself. I made up my mind then and there that Penny would have a great start as a vampire. Adventures. Rafe could help me there. I wished for my buddy Florence too. How long before she got back from her honeymoon?
"Jen and I don't always agree on things. In fact, we had a giant fight the night I ended up a vampire." Penny grimaced. "Turns out I should have listened to her. But just once I wanted to see . . . Never mind." She tried for a shrug but I could see her hands plucking nervously at her gray sweatpants. "I've texted her a few times since then. Let her know I was okay, just snowed under with school stuff. But I bet she's wondering what's up. We usually talk or see each other at least once a day." Penny sniffled. "We'll never do the morning coffee-and-donut run again now, will we?"
I pulled her against me when she finally broke down and sobbed. Who wouldn't? The realization that you can never eat or drink like a human again is hard to take. Hey, I still mourned my hot chocolate and the Cheetos I'd impulsively tasted once, to my regret. I gulped back sympathetic tears.
"Enough of this." Penny pulled back and dug a tissue out of her pocket. "What now, Glory?"
"You can't tell your sister you're a vampire." There, I'd said it and I got the reaction I knew I would. Penny was up and at the door in a blur.
"Try to stop me. We don't keep secrets from each other." She snarled at me - me! - showing fangs when I grabbed her shoulders. "Damn it, Glory, I have to tell her. I'll put a positive spin on it."
"Chill and put your fangs away, fledgling. A positive spin?" I leaned against the door, making damned sure Penny wasn't getting past me. "I can hear that conversation now. 'Hey, sis, I was killed the other night but, not to worry, a vampire gave me my own pair of fangs and now I'm here to take you down too. Say bye-bye, pom-poms, and hello, blood bank.'"
Penny huffed and puffed and even did a few moves that looked like martial arts. I wanted to trot out that cliche and growl, "Go ahead and make my day." But in the end she slouched back to the couch without making a serious move.
"I've got to tell her sometime. She can read me too well. Even without the vampire tricks." Penny sighed when I sat across from her again. "She'll know something's off with me."
"Then avoid her. Text, tweet, e-mail - whatever the hell you two do - but let her know you're too busy to meet. You're not telling her, Penny. Not yet anyway." I hardened my heart when it looked like she was going to tear up again. Why me? Even a rock star had been easier to handle than this. No crying from Ray; he'd been more about colorful adjectives and mourning his Black Label Scotch.
"For how long? And when we do get together, am I supposed to just arrange to see her at night and hide my fangs?" Penny kicked her backpack. "Which I realize I'm not exactly in control of yet."
"No, you're not. Glad you've figured that out." I reached down and slid the backpack out of range. "Concentrate. Mind over matter. But be aware that your emotions affect your fangs. You're upset and down they came."
"Yeah, well, this whole thing has me crazed." Penny's eyes widened. "Seriously, controlling any of this seems impossible right now. I was around a human at Damian's. Just the smell of that blood, pumping through her veins, and I wanted to jump all over her and take a bite. Which is skeezy. You know?"
"Not skeezy at all. It's your new nature. It'll settle down after you've done this awhile." I leaned forward.