(Look, I'm not dead. )

Rose sat down heavily at her dining room table, plopping her books down next to her. The conversation between the vampires had consisted mostly of information of some 'enemy' coming back, and the three younger vampires had been sent by her father to watch over her. Irritatingly, this meant that they'd be popping in on her randomly, and Raziel had "insisted" (read: threatened everyone involved) that one of them would be moving in with her as a roommate. None of the vampires, and certainly not the crossbreed, had been happy about that. The boys had drawn straws to see who got stuck with the chore of babysitting.

"What is this thing?" a male voice growled from in the kitchen. Rose looked up and answered tiredly.

"That's a popcorn popper, Sebastian. You put corn kernels in it, put it over a fire, and let them pop into popcorn."

The vampire set the contraption down with surprising gentleness and shook his head. "Why in the world would you want to do that?"

"Because it tastes good."

"I'll take your word for that."

She was about to add a bad pun, but the phone rang, cutting her off. She reached over and picked it up.

"Ello?"

"Hi Rose!"

"Hello, Kairan. What can I do for you?"

"I've got a question for you." Kairan's voice lessened to a confidential near-whisper.

"Oh?"

"Yeah… What's it like to date a professor?"

"Eh?" Rose blinked at the phone a few times in surprise. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Call me curious."

"Okay, Curious. Well, it isn't really that amazing. It's kinda annoying simply because you can't really do anything at school without worrying that someone's going to catch you."

"But doesn't the possibility of getting caught add to the whole ordeal?"

"Yes, I suppose it does." Rose grinned in memory of her experiences.

"How does one go about dating a one?"

"What?" The crossbreed sat up, careful to keep the phone from dropping. "Why? Who have you got your eye on, Kairan?"

"… Who says I've got my eye on anyone?" Her voice was falsely innocent, and Rose guessed it was intended to be. She smirked at her friend, even though she knew Kairan couldn't see it.

"Come on, tell me. Who caught your interest?"

"Did you hear that our school was extending its sports program and hiring new teachers for it?"

"Yeah," Rose nodded.

"Well, Diana and I stuck around to see who the new teachers were going to be… And I happened to see the new baseball coach… He's really cute."

Rose could tell Kairan was smiling at the memory just by the warmth in her tone. The crossbreed had to suppress a chuckle.

"So you want to start dating him, huh?" Rose smirked. "Well, in all honesty, I can't really help you that much. I didn't really start dating Kain. He rather went and decided we would be dating. I didn't get much say in it."

On the other end, Kairan laughed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Because you know Kain?" Rose retorted. "But tomorrow I want to see who this guy is, okay?"

"Sure. I'll see you then!"

"Bye!"

Rose looked at the phone for a moment before shaking her head and putting it back down on the receiver.

"There he is!" Kairan lightly smacked her friend on the back to get her attention. Rose, who had just taken a bite of her lunch, coughed a few times before looking around. She followed Kairan's indication and spotted–

"Oh, you're joking me, right?"

"Joking? He's sooooo pretty!"

"Trust me, Kairan, you don't want to get involved with that one."

"Hey, is it just me, or does he look like he's coming this way?" Metowaka inquired, looking toward the teacher.

"Oh no," Rose groaned.

The object of Kairan's interest plopped down across from Rose, making sure to move his red trench coat to the side first.

"Hello, Rose."

"Hi, Faustus. A baseball coach, huh?"

"Of course." The vampire looked down at his hands as if studying his nails. "The game is amazingly simple to understand. I would have thought these people would have come up with something a little more impressive. But with my speed, it will be an effortless challenge." He placed his hands back onto the table.

"So, how is Sebastian dealing with living with you?"

"Wait, wait," Becca interrupted. "As in the new professor of physics?"

"Physics?" Rose repeated, blinking.

"That would be him," Faustus nodded.

Becca turned to Rose, asking, "You've got the professor living with you? That's it! I'm coming over."

"What?" Rose stared at her. Faustus excused himself amusedly and walked off toward the back of the cafeteria. "You mean it takes me getting some eye candy to move into my apartment to get you over?"

"Ahem," a cool voice interrupted. Both looked over at Kairan.

"I hate to break in, but…" She grabbed Rose's face so the crossbreed stared into her human friend's eyes. "You know the man who just left our table?!"

Rose winced and pulled back. "Yeah, I do, and that's exactly why you shouldn't want to get involved with him. He's like Kain."

"You mean an evil, maniacal asshole, or a vampire?"

Rose hesitated a moment before answering, "A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B…"

"Oh." Kairan seemed to consider the information for a moment before a wide grin broke out across her face. "Well, I always did have a thing for assholes!"

Rose sighed. "No matter what I tell you, you're still going to try and get involved with him, huh?"

"Mm, she might not be the only one…" Becca murmured, looking toward where Faustus had met up with Sebastian who had just walked into the cafeteria. Both vampires looked out over the students with an equal "so many meals, so little time" expression.

"Oh brother." Rose looked at Diana and Metowaka. "You two aren't going to go off and try and get involved with them are you?"

Both Diana and Metowaka were following the stares of the other two girls, but they shook their heads.

"Not my type," Diana answered.

"I think the knowledge of what you are is enough vampirism for me," Metowaka stated.

"Me too," Diana agreed.

"Oh good," Rose responded, and then eyed them. "…I think." She looked back at the two vampires and sighed again.

"One's a professor of physics, the other's a baseball couch. I wonder what Marcus is doing, cause I doubt he missed this wagon."

"Mathematics," a voice promptly responded from behind her head. She jumped before twisting around to see the mind-controlling vampire sitting at a table next to her. She stared at him for a few moments, blinking.

"Math?"

"Of course. The study of logic, theology and mathematics were just beginning to blossom in Nosgoth during our age, and seeing how far all three have come in this world greatly interested me."

"But why math and not logic or theology then?"

He grimaced as he answered, "Though I enjoy both topics, the history of this world has been largely different from our own, so both the courses of logic and theology are greatly changed from what I have studied. Strangely enough, mathematics has remained the same, although this world's has advanced far beyond Nosgoth's."

"Oh." Rose scratched the back of her head, considering his explanation, and in her silence, he stood.

"If you will excuse me, I believe I shall catch up to my colleagues." He waded calmly through the tables and humans toward the opposing door where Faustus and Sebastian had vanished. Rose watched him go before shaking her head and letting it fall to hit the table lightly.

"Rose?" Metowaka asked. "Just how many vampires are running around here right now?"

"And what's this Nosgoth?" Becca added.

"There are four vampires now, not counting myself," Rose answered glumly, "and Nosgoth is the name of the world they came from." She sat up as she heard the four shuffle about, exchanging looks. Her eyebrows knit together in concern when she saw an interested expression on their faces.

"Are there more vampires on Nosgoth?" Kairan asked. "And are they as cute as these ones?"

"Um… yes and I don't know. I've never been there."

"You haven't?" Diana looked at her curiously. "Why not?"

"Just never been there. Going there hasn't ever really come up with my parents."

The four exchanged a look again.

"So, Rose…" Becca purred. "If you ever happen to get to go, you'll remember we want to come along, right?"

"Cause you know we'd enjoy a vacation," Kairan continued without missing a beat. "And it would certainly be an adventure of adventures…"

Rose laughed. "No. I'll remember you all if it comes up, but if I'm going to Nosgoth, it's probably too dangerous to safely bring you along."

"Well then," Kairan nodded, "we'll just have to find out when you are going and ambush you half-way there."

Rose smiled and shook her head. "I love you guys, I really do. You're so much fun to hang around with."

"Why thank you," all four responded simultaneously.

"Now, if you'll excuse me for a second, I need to go throw away my trash." Rose stood and walked away from the table toward the large waste receptacles. The four girls quickly moved in slightly toward each other.

"She really isn't going to let us go and summer's coming up," Metowaka stated. "Once summer vacation starts, she goes back to England, and we can't go with her if we don't get her to want to take us along."

"Not a problem," Becca answered, an evil grin across her face. She waved a piece of paper in front of them. "I've got her address in England right here."

Once Rose came back, all the girls were comfortably seated and greeted her with innocent smiles. She raised an eyebrow at them before laughing.

"What were you four planning?"

"Absolutely nothing," Diana responded.

"I don't believe you."

"Then you're smarter than we thought you were."

"Hey…"