"Cassie, your cousin Laura will be joining us for dinner," Mrs. Harris shouted from the kitchen, to her very uninterested daughter sitting at the table.

"Cool," Cassie mumbled as she checked her phone.

"So I think we'll have spaghetti for dinner, because I know she likes it so much."

"It has to be whole wheat spaghetti or it'll go against my diet," Cassie reminded her mother without taking her eyes off of her phone.

"I just—I don't think this diet they've got you on is a good thing," Jamie told her oldest daughter.

"But I can't cheat on it or I won't perform as well," Cassie said firmly.

Her mother sighed, "You barely consume enough calories for the level of exercise you do."

Cassie chose not to respond. Jamie noticed the eighteen year old's lack of communication, and asked, "Will you go tell your sisters that dinner is almost ready?"

"Why can't you just ask Cody to?" Cassie shot, glancing at her mom.

"Because he isn't in here, now is he?" her mother raised an eyebrow.

"Well he's watching tv with dad, so he's closer to them," the redhead said dully.

"Cassie, now," her mom ordered angrily. The girl rolled her eyes and stood up from the table, dragging herself to the staircase.

"Dinner!" she shouted to her little sisters, who were most likely playing upstairs.

Cassie returned to her seat at the table without saying a word to her mother.

The doorbell rang. "Cassie, could you get that?"

"Nope," the redhead shrugged.

"Cassandra, you are being awfully rebellious tonight. What's gotten you in such a rotten mood?" Jamie questioned.

"Nothing!" Cassie snapped, raising her voice.

"Did something happen at dance, or—"

"Mom, no!"

"Sweetie, your cousin Laura's here," Cassie's father said kindly, knowing that he was interrupting what would've been World War III.

"Hey," Cassie said, briefly looking over her shoulder, and then continuing to stare at her phone.

"Laura, you can sit wherever you like," Mr. Harris said politely.

Laura took the seat on the right side of Cassie, mentally noting that the girl probably wouldn't look up from her phone long enough to have an actual conversation.

—

Smalltalk was nice, but Laura couldn't help but notice how Cassie had hardly touched her plate of spaghetti. She had been chewing on the same fork-full for the entire time they were at the table.

As soon as everyone in her immediate family had left the room, Cassie spit her mouthful of food back onto her plate.

"What's the matter? Didn't like it?" Laura asked sweetly.

"I'm just not supposed to eat it, with my diet," Cassie explained, taking her plate to the sink and scraping it down the garbage disposal. She then went to the fridge and grabbed a bag of baby carrots.

"Want some?" she offered Laura, returning to her seat.

Laura shook her head, "No thanks. Healthy isn't really my thing."

Cassie shrugged and began eating her real dinner.

Sensing the awkwardness, Laura asked, "So, how's dance?"

"Good," Cassie replied between bites.

"What, uh, dances are you competing with?"

That question made Cassie's eyes light up. "Well, I'm in the senior jazz group, and our dance is called "Kill of the Night." It's, like, Clair Castleberry and I sorta battling or whatever, and I win, because I'm me. And then the senior lyrical group, "Take Me to Church," but there isn't a lead in that number, and then the hip hop group is doing "Flawless," and then I'm in a lyrical dance with three girls in the junior group. It's "Hallelujah," and it's really cute. It's like, me showing them the ropes for dance and life. And then a lyrical duet with my best friend, called "medicine," and my lyrical solo, "Sinners.".

Laura loved nothing more than hearing about other people's passions; it really lit a fire in her.

But as soon as Cassie finished the synopsis on her competition dances, the room fell silent. She was lost in thoughts of black lace costumes, white lyrical dresses, and dance battles with her sworn enemy.

"So, uh," Laura spoke, "My roommate is pretty interesting." The tone of her voice caused the redhead to look up.

"I'm listening," Cassie smirked.

"She, uh, she's very pretty, and—"

"God, fuck, Laura! Is the gay?"

"She, uh, kissed me the other day," Laura admitted shyly. Cassie's eyes went wide and she dropped her phone on the table.

"Holy crap. You really are gay!" the redhead cheered. Laura's face turned red, and she ducked her head, embarrassed.

"Does your dad know about her? Wait, what's her name?! Are you bringing her home for Christmas? Where is she from?!"

"Whoa, Cass. Calm down! Her name is Carmilla. Yeah, my dad sorta knows. But the thing is…she's a vampire," Laura whispered the last part, in fear of her aunt and uncle hearing.

"Wait, what?" Cassie's blue eyes went wide, and she leaned closer to Laura, who smugly nodded.

"Laura, vampires don't exist."

"Well, they do, because Carmilla is a vampire."

"God," Cassie exhaled, "you have weird taste in girls."

Laura let a small giggle escape from her lips. "I've missed you, kid."