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A door opened, and a slab of light cut across the front yard. “Ashybear, is that you? Come inside, I made hot toddies.”

Ashley pointed up as though she had an idea. “There’s my invitation into the house.”

Momentarily distracted from panicking over a Ph.D. program she knew nothing about, Esther looked up. “Wait, is that a real vampire thing? I thought August was just being a dick when he said something about needing permission to enter a house.”

Ashley gave her a wink before tugging her suitcase from the car. It thudded to the driveway. “All right, darling. Let’s do this.”

She grabbed Esther’s hand with her free one. Esther snatched her bag and let Ashley lead her up the porch.

“Also, my mom will tell you that you don’t have to eat all the food she offers. This is a lie. I’ll try to give you an out when I can, but she will take it personally if you don’t take her food.”

Before Esther could respond, there was insistent barking on the other side of the red, wreath-decked door. A few seconds later, it opened, and a woman in a pullover and jeans appeared in the doorway. Her hair, blond with streaks of white, was up in a bun and laugh lines framed her eyes. It was like catching a glimpse of future Ashley. Or what could have been future Ashley.

“Ashybear!” She grabbed Ashley in a hug, nearly lifting her from the ground. “Come inside. Come inside. I saved you some strudel from the Christkindlmarkt. Don’t let Schatzi out. We’ll never find him at this time of night.”

“Did someone say strudel?” called a male voice from farther in the house.

The woman rolled her eyes. “Your father finished off the Apfelstrudel, but I managed to hide the strawberry cheesecake one for you.”

Ashley pushed her way in the door. Esther followed close behind, using her suitcase as a barricade to block the small dachshund trying to wiggle his way past them and out into the night. The spacious living room was plushily carpeted in off-white. A brown leather sectional filled the room, with a colorful crocheted blanket thrown over the back. A man reclined at one end under a purple-and-gold quilt checkered with football helmets. His attention never strayed from the TV, but he lifted a hand in a distracted wave.

“And who is this?” Ashley’s mom spotted Esther. “I thought you were seeing that nice boy.”

“Mom.” Ashley put an arm around Esther’s shoulder. Esther noted Ashley’s cringe at the nice boy comment. “This is Esther. My girlfriend. Who I have been dating for…a while now.”

They needed a backstory fast.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Schafer.” Esther offered her hand.

“So good to meet you, Esther. Call me Suzie.” Mrs. Schafer ignored Esther’s hand, diving in for a firm hug instead.

“Mom, where are we staying? I want to ditch our bags.”

“In your room, obviously, dear.” Mrs. Schafer—Suzie—gave Esther a wink, and it was so much like Ashley, Esther had to take a moment to decide if this wasn’t some trick. They were both vampire clones at different ages perhaps. “Come on. Let’s stop loitering in the entryway. Do you need help with your bag?” She turned to the man on the couch. “Dale. Ashley is here.”

“That’s nice, dear. They’re in overtime,” the male voice called back. Schatzi scampered off to curl up on Mr. Schafer’s lap.

“No. I mean where is Esther staying?” Ashley wrapped an arm around Esther’s waist. Esther looked down at the floor, doing her best to will her cheeks from heating.

Suzie took Esther’s suitcase and rolled it through the living room, past Mr. Schafer who grunted his disapproval, and down a hallway.

“She’s staying in your room with you. I’m notthatold-fashioned.” She gave Esther another wink, and Esther smiled timidly back.

“What!” Ashley stopped halfway down the hall.

Her mother ignored her and continued to the room at the end and to the left.

“After all the lectures you gave me in high school about keeping my door open?” Ashley said. “Now, it’s just anything goes?”

The disbelief and slight whine to Ashley’s tone were not adult, and Esther had to pinch her lips between her teeth to keep from chuckling at their regressive banter.

“You’re not in high school anymore,” Suzie called over her shoulder. “You’re an adult, and we trust you to be respectful.”

They all piled into a pink and flowery room. Suzie rolled Esther’s suitcase to the foot of the white metal-framed bed piled high with fluffy duvets and fuzzy throw pillows. Esther couldn’t help noticing that she wore the only black in the entire room. The white wooden dresser and nightstands were draped in tissue-thin, pink cloth and covered in cutesy knickknacks from ceramic unicorns to a pink glitter lava lamp. On the walls were shelves of trophies and posters of late 90s’ and early 2000s’ pop artists.

“I’ll leave you two to get settled.” Suzie closed the door with a flourish to emphasize it was indeed closed all the way. On the back of the door was a small poster of Alanis Morissette, hair inher face and a microphone in hand. At least Esther wasn’t the only one in black anymore.

“She’s so frustrating already” Ashley flopped onto the bed, her body sinking into the many puffy layers.