Vampire 01 - Daughter of Darkness

walking.
    The young man hurried to catch up. For a moment, I thought he was going to join someone else, but he came directly toward me. I recognized him immediately. Ava stepped up beside me. She either didn’t remember him or wanted to get me to ignore him, but he was too close.
    It was the young man from Dante’s Inferno, Buddy Gilroy.
    “Hi,” he said. “Remember me? Buddy Gilroy. You go to school here?”
    “No,” Ava said. “We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses delivering the
Watchtower.
C’mon,” she said, tugging my arm.
    “Very funny,” Buddy said, walking along. “I had a feeling I had seen you before when we met at Dante’s,” he told Ava.
    She glanced at him. Suddenly, she stopped us, looked at me, and then turned to him. “What do you want?”
    “Hey, I’m just saying hello. I didn’t mean to blowyour cover or anything,” he replied, holding up his hands.
    “You’re not blowing any cover,” she said. She thought a moment. “Where are the rest of your bosom buddies, Buddy?”
    “Around,” he said. “Where are you heading?” he asked me.
    I was afraid to speak.
    “We’re going to Papa’s for some pizza.”
    “Honest to God,” he said, raising his right hand. “I was heading there myself. Can I walk along with you?”
    “Did you get your flu shot?”
    “Huh?”
    “Never mind,” Ava said. “Walk along.”
    “Thanks. So what year are you?” he asked me.
    “She’s only auditing today,” Ava answered for me.
    “You’re not enrolled?”
    “No,” I said.
    “You didn’t tell us where you were from, Buddy,” Ava said.
    “You didn’t ask.”
    “Let me guess,” Ava said, pausing again. “Hemet or some other small California town?”
    He laughed. “No. Born and raised in Long Beach.”
    “Keep talking,” Ava said, continuing to walk. I realized what she was doing. She was making sure Buddy Gilroy was no renegade.
    “I’m the oldest of three boys. My father is a dentist, and my mother works as his receptionist now. My father was a dentist in the navy.”
    “How patriotic,” Ava said. “Drill, drill, drill.”
    “Are you two related?” he asked, his questions always directed at me. I was still afraid to answer before Ava, however.
    “Do we look like we’re related?” she fired back at him.
    He shrugged. “You’re both beautiful,” he said.
    Ava finally smiled. She glanced at me, an impish twinkle in her eyes. “We’re blood related,” she said.
    “So, that’s like sisters, right?”
    “Just like sisters,” she said, and we crossed the street.
    “I can’t believe I ran into you,” he told me. “Ever since that night, I’ve been thinking about you.”
    “Just thinking?” Ava asked him. She smiled as we headed for the restaurant. “Or did you fantasize?”
    “Guilty,” he said.
    She laughed and gave me another knowing look. What was it she was trying to tell me? She further surprised me by inviting him to join us at our table in the restaurant. After we ordered, she once again did most of the talking. Buddy tried to start a conversation only with me, but Ava interrupted frequently, finding out more about him and his family. He finally reacted.
    “This is beginning to feel like a job interview for the CIA,” he told her, and looked to me.
    “It’s been our experience more often than not that men lie to us,” I said. I saw how much that pleased Ava.
    “Well… I’m Buddy Gilroy. I’m not all men,” he said with a little indignation. He looked from Ava to me. “Fact is, I’m getting vibes from you two that tell me you’re the ones speaking with forked tongues.”
    Ava laughed, but I was sure he saw the truth in my face.
    “Except for your name and that you are auditing a class or two here with your blood relation, I don’t know anything about you.”
    “You know we like pepperoni on our pizza,” Ava said. “Don’t be in such a rush.”
    He laughed and looked around.
    “None of your friends show up?” Ava asked him.
    “No.”
    “Little white lie, Mr. Gilroy?”
    “Huh?”
    “When you said you were heading here,” Ava practically sang.
    He looked from her to me and then back to her and laughed. “Am I that obvious?”
    “Hopefully,” Ava said.
    He shook his head, ate some pizza, and smiled warmly at me. I had a strong urge to tell him the truth, to tell him that my name wasn’t Diane, but with Ava right beside me, I kept my feelings under lock and key.
    Ava excused herself, took her purse, and went to the ladies’