"Oh, my God!" Mary said upon pulling away. She put her hand on her mouth. She kicked herself, thinking over what she had done.
Sam, on the other hand, had no idea what was wrong. "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, "What'd I do?"
Mary took short breaths, quickly nearing hyperventilation. With her other hand she gripped her chest, as if she were unable to breathe.
"Mary!" Sam said as he reached over to help.
"Don't touch me!" she cried. When she calmed down, she took even shorter breaths. "I can't..." she mumbled, "Can't believe I kissed a..."
"What?" he said, thinking it was his fault, "Look, if I did something wrong, I'm sorry, but..."
"Just tell me one thing, OK?"
"Sure."
"You're a...you're a...a WEREWOLF, right?"
Sam was stunned. He had double-checked his calendar, it was nowhere near the full moon, and he hadn't shifted voluntarily for a week. He became almost as panicky as Mary, "How'd you know?"
"Oh, my God!" Mary said again, this time rising off the sofa. "I should've sensed your kind a mile away, why didn't I...!?"
Sam, upon hearing this, got defensive, "What do you mean, MY kind!? What're you talking about?"
"SAM!"
"WHAT?"
"Do you have any idea WHAT I am? At all?"
"No! What is going on here? What--"
In that instant, Mary hissed at Sam. She revealed her sharp fangs that hid under her dark lips.
"Oh," Sam said partly in shock, "Oh, my God!"
"Yeah, 'Oh, my God'!"
Sam started to pace, "That's why you didn't have a scent, of course! I'm so stupid!"
"You're stupid!? How do you think I feel?"
"Who cares what you feel? You're a freaking bloodsucker!"
Mary cried, "Better than being a mindless furball!"
"Oh, I can't believe I kissed you! You're probably as old as my great-grandmother!"
"Yeah, well, you probably can't get it up in bed without howling at the moon!"
"Oh yeah? You don't want to know what I'M capable of!"
"You know what, why don't you just get on out of here! Go on! Get out!" she said, pointing at the front door.
Suddenly, there was a pause. Sam peered at Mary. "This is my house, you batty...lunatic!"
At that remark, Mary gathered her belongings and headed for the door. She crossed Sam and said, "WHO'S the lunatic!?"
The door slammed shut, leaving Sam in a quiet house. After kissing Mary, after realizing who she was, he felt dirty.
"I'm off to school, Mom!" Mary shouted up the stairs.
"Hold on just a minute there!" mother replied back. She hurried down the stairs to where Mary stood. "You've got some explaining to do, daughter of mine."
"What?"
"Where were you last night?"
Mary skipped a breath, "Huh?"
"Where were you?" she demanded
"Uh...at the movies. You know that, I told you yesterday!"
"How about the house of the boy on the other side of the neighborhood?"
"Mom!"
"Now don't deny it!"
"You were following me!"
"That's my problem!" mother stammered, "Now I want to know the truth, Mary!"
Mary's tone quieted down so she could explain, "Don't worry, Mom. I didn't do anything last night. In fact, I'm not seeing Sam anymore."
"What?" mother asked, "Did he try anything?"
"No," Mary said, "I didn't let him. You wouldn't believe it, Mom, but..."
"But what?"
"Sam's a werewolf."
Mother's eyes widened with shock, "You're seeing a werewolf!?"
"I told you I'm not seeing him anymore! I...stormed out of his house the moment I found out."
Her mother's shock turned to another emotion. "Oh, Mary! I'm so proud of you!" she cried as she flung her arms around Mary. "He didn't...go animal on you, did he?"
"Mom!" she cried.
"I'm telling you, there are a lot of other nice boys out there, Mary! And I don't need to tell you that some of them are ours!"
"Mom, I want a child someday," Mary said, "You know, one that can stand in the sun longer than I can. One that's more human than the rest of us."
"Well," mother said, handing a backpack to her daughter, "You'll have all of eternity to do that. Now run along, school is starting."
"Hey, big guy," father said to Sam, "And HOW was last night?"
"It was OK, Dad," he replied between spoonfuls of cereal.
"Well, guess what, me and your mother will be out of the house for...well, you don't have to know...all of the next full moon, so you'll have the house all to yourself this weekend, if you know what I mean!"
"Dad," Sam said, "Why are you trying so hard?"
"Hey, I know what high school was like back then. Driving cars, hanging out with friends, spending time with a girl when the parents were away. I want you to be happy, that's all!"
"That's not gonna happen for a bit, Dad."
"Son?"
"Mary...she's a vampire," Sam blurted out.
Just then, father stopped. He nodded his head once and said, "Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's OK. I did the right thing. I blew it off the second I knew."
Father patted his son on the back, "I'm proud of you, Sam. Of course you know, there's a lot of nice young women at the Circle. I keep telling you to join but..."
"Dad," Sam interrupted, "I'm a bit more domesticated than that."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I still like my steak cooked. And I prefer it if the girl of my dreams didn't always need me to get down on all fours before making love."
Father laughed, "Where'd you hear that, son?"
"Rachel, junior packmember. She's in my class, you know."
"Oh."
"Traumatized her first boyfriend to no end. He's a pretty screwed up kid after freshmen year."
TO BE CONTINUED.