“I know.” He pulls a paper clip from his pocket and twists it out of shape with his free hand. I know before it even touches the table that he’s going to use it to scratch his name into the tabletop. I don’t know where her never-ending supply of paper clips came from, but Sierra used to do that all the time.

“You know? I didn’t think you and your sister talked.”

He gives me a quick side-eye before returning to his task. “She’s my sister. I talk to her every day, whether I like it or not. Do you not have siblings?”

Well, that’s a loaded question. And oh, how I love the idea of Sierra not existing in this new world of mine. But still, it feels like too big a lie. And anyway, I can’t imagine Salem will care to do too much digging. “One. And we do not, in fact, talk every day. Or at all.”

“Oh.”

“You didn’t tell Sabrina about our … arrangement, did you?”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, like I’m dying to share that you slipped a note under my door this morning outlining a basic hygiene regimen.”

I was actually particularly proud of my first contribution, and he can pretend his nails aren’t cleaner this morning than they were yesterday, but I know better. Still, I keep my smugness to myself so I can scout the room while he goes back to his rabbit food. I know it’s inevitable that I’ll see Heather and Lucas together at some point, but I’d like to push it off for as long as humanly possible.

Thankfully, when Sabrina rolls in a few minutes later, she’s sans roommate, buying me at least a little more time before I have to face the very nice girl whose boyfriend I accidentally-ish made out with. I wave to get her attention so she knows we have a seat for her, and she joins us a couple of minutes later with a heaping bowl of cereal as rainbow bright as her all-black ensemble is … not.

“Hark, the goth princess has awoken.” Salem flicks a bright pink O off the top of her breakfast as she forcefully nudges his tray aside to make room for hers. “Does your vampire clan know you’re up before nine A.M.?”

“Does your face know it’s hideous?” she returns without so much as a glance in his direction as she shoves a spoonful of sugar in her mouth.

“Do your faces know they’re the same?” I ask, and receive disgusted looks in return.