If you can't sleep, is it really a sleepover? Who: Abrielle (NPC), Dalila and Darklis Where: Palminteri home When: Eight p.m.
"Now let me get this straight."
Dalila rolled her eyes and pressed her forehead more firmly to the pane of glass, as though that would be enough to block out her mother's thoughts. Not her voice, because that was pointless to her, but her thoughts. Thoughts that had been running all over the place ever since Dalila had skipped into the kitchen a little after one to declare that she was having a friend sleep over. Now she could have just let her mom go on with thinking that she meant Lumen or Niamh or even Charlotte - who she needed to check up on - but that would not have been much like her. Plus she had told Darklis she was going to make sure her family was prepared and it was probably pretty stupid to just spring a vampire on were-sharks. They would be able to smell the difference like she was able to pick out the difference in how they thought. It was the words. Oh, and the ancient language had really helped in Darklis' case. "Yeah mom, go ahead and run through it again. It's going to change everything I told you and instead of Darklis popping out of her car it's going to be Lumen. Haha, it was all a trick, go back to braiding Natalina's hair." And she would be able to go back to her room and toy with finishing the drink she had started. Because it was not Saturday night if she was completely sober.
Being a telepath also allowed her to duck so that the smack to the back of her head that she completely deserved missed. "She's a vampire."
"Yep. Pale white skin, two big pearly fangs and drinks blood out of a Power Rangers thermos every lunch period." Or she just used a regular flask, but that mental image was nowhere near as funny as the one she had just painted.
"And she goes to your school."
"Right again."
"The vampire who everyone was kicking up that huge fuss about when it was leaked that she was going."
"That's three for three, mom, you're getting pretty good at this!" Now Dalila had to roll right off the window seat and move over nearer the door, actually turning to look at Abrielle. "Come on, mom, it's not like she's going to drain me dry. If she wanted to do that she could've already. Darklis is cool. Besides." Here Dalila fluttered her eyelashes and swung herself back and forth using the door. That she was not at all bothered by this just bothered her mom more than words could say, but Dalila hardly needed the words when she could pluck the thoughts right out of her head. "I've got you and Rico here. Two were-sharks versus one teenage-ish vampire... I think you'd win."
Abrielle's eyes narrowed slightly. "Teenage-ish?"
And then the jumble of thoughts she was getting from her mom, Natalina in the next room and a very faint something from wherever Rico was grew that little bit more tangled because a new thread had joined them. "And that would be Darklis." Darting forward she pecked a kiss on her mom's cheek before turning back for the door. "We'll be in my room!" Now if she got away with that then she was going to - ah, of course, Abrielle was right behind her. Awesome. Dalila still grinned, making sure that her earrings were still both in before she pulled the door open. "Speak of the dead!" She chirped brightly. "Come on in, Darklis. And this is my mom, Abrielle Palminteri. She was just going to say hi before completely leaving us alone. Right mom?" Dalila reached over and prodded her mom with one finger. "Right mom?"
"Hi Darklis, pleasure to meet you." Dalila had to bite her lip to keep from laughing because Darklis was not what she had been picturing. At all. Except for the pale thing, Darklis looked amazingly like any other teen girl and it was hard for her to think of anything to say. "Can I get you anything?" Default setting reached.
Dalila shrugged at Darklis and mouthed the word 'moms' before turning back to face hers. "I think we're pretty set mom. Right Darklis? She's probably got her dinner all nice and bottled up."