"Then you don't miss your date." "If I give you my number, will you let me have my beer?" I asked. Andy nodded eagerly so I reluctantly recited the number out for him. "It's a landline", I informed quickly. "I don't have a cell phone." "That's fine", Andy shrugged. "They're a bit of a hassle anyway." He walked me up to the counter where I paid for the Busch's and my gas with cash. Andy followed me to my car and made sure I was alright in it before he let me speed home. I walked up to the apartment and found Nikki and Valerie sitting on the couch together. "Wake me up at six thirty", I grunted. "The vampire wants us over for dinner." "Oh, what's he making?" Valerie asked. "Shrimp." I walked to the room Valerie and I shared and plopped down on a mattress that laid on the floor. The instant my head hit the pillow, I was out. ~~~~~TIME LAPSE!!!~~~~ Oliver was cheery as ever, letting us in the front door of his home. His house smelled like traditional Creole cooking and it reminded me of Mom. He led us out to the back porch where we were seated at a patio table with some chairs. Oliver had lit some paper lamps, giving the porch a soft, colourful glow in the bayou night. He brought out some different dishes before joining us at the table. "Do you think the paper lamps are gaudy?" Oliver questioned. "I thought about using some mason jars with mosquito candles since you guys get bit by those things, right? But then I remembered I didn't have any bug candles and would have to use scented candles which would probably attract them and-oh look! The lights are out." Valerie slurped on a shrimp tail as Nikki sucked on a sweet tea. "Do you mean lightning bugs?" I questioned. Oliver shrugged. "I guess. The bugs that light up? When I first came here, I was so fascinated since we don't have these where I'm from. It's too cold." He wiped his mouth with a white cloth napkin that he then tossed on the table. Oliver seemed to glow with all the lights around him. It was kind of attractive. "This shrimp is really good", Valerie said, finally coming up for air. She hadn't eaten anything else so far so I wondered if she knew that everything else was good too. "Of course it is!" Oliver laughed. "I've had years to perfect it!" Nikki, who was toying with his fork, glanced up at Oliver. "Can I ask how you became a vampire?" he questioned. "Or is that-" "It's not a big deal. What happened was-" Oliver cut himself off and looked around. "Did you hear that?" he whispered. My siblings and I glanced at each other. "N-no?" I answered.
