Page 26 of The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood & Boyfriends
brENNAN’S PHONE
MARI: I disagree with the taylor swift thing but will accept any excuse to binge drink
TONY: get ready to RRRRAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!!!!!!
You have created a group chat with: Soon-Hee Kim and Nellie Adams
Brennan
Okay don’t be weird about this.
But there’s a party this Friday and the cute guy I want to make my boyfriend would really like for you to come.
Sunny
whipped.
Nellie
Yes exclamation mark I’m so excited exclamation mark wait I meant the symbol don’t
Sunny
it’s been a while since I’ve been to a classic college party, I will come.
Brennan
Okay. Cool. Cool cool cool.
Sunny
you were hoping we were busy?
Brennan
Nah, I’m stoked for my vampire clan to meet my human not-boyfriend, it’s actually ideal.
Nellie
Why isn’t it doing the! Question mark
Okay what the duck now
Duck no I said duck oh my god forget it
Sunny
oh hon. you’ll get there.
Regarding Rumors of a Missing Student From the Sturbridge University President
Dear Students,
We understand there have been some concerns and rumors regarding an incoming freshman who has been away from campus.
We want to emphasize that student safety is of the utmost importance at Sturbridge University.
In the spirit of transparency, we have made contact with the family of Evelyn VanMeter and understand that she is well, but withdrawing her enrollment.
Please respect the student and her family’s privacy during these times.
If you would like to learn about campus safety regulations and…
Brennan
[link] This your doing?
Nellie
I told you we’d take care of it!
Also comma I figured out exclamation points!
Brennan raised his plastic cup over the sea of people, pushing through the blockade between him and the relative freedom of the living room.
Brennan didn’t know how he’d made it this far in the semester without seeing the apartment Cole and Mari shared.
The living room was Pinterest-level aesthetic, decorated with string lights and framed photos everywhere, complete with a sky-blue couch with an array of blankets and throw pillows.
Now, though, the room was dim and sticky with beer that sloshed out of cups.
Squeezing this many people into a two-bedroom apartment was definitely a fire hazard, the air thick with sweat and booze, but Brennan had long gotten over being overwhelmed by it.
The alcohol helped with that, let him focus on one thing at a time instead of the cacophony of everything.
He was tastefully tipsy, everything softened around the edges from the shots Tony had bullied him into when he’d arrived.
He peered through the crowd, searching. Nellie and Sunny had let him know they were on their way, and Brennan was doing his god-honored best to not think too hard about the fact that he’d invited a couple of vampires into a house party of drunken college students.
What could go wrong, right? He slurped his drink (jungle juice, dangerous) and didn’t need to find Cole in the crowd, because suddenly he appeared in front of him with Mari close beside him.
“Brennan!” Cole shouted, enthusiastic and giggling and, oh, drunk already. “We’re getting drinks!”
Mari slid up to the counter dividing the kitchen and living space and started pouring a too-generous shot of vodka into her plastic cup, ignoring Brennan. Cole hovered in front of Brennan, relaxed and grinning, a step into his personal space, chin up to look at Brennan with the height difference.
“Hey,” Cole said, like he hadn’t already loudly greeted him.
“Hey,” Brennan said, soft and private.
“One of you fuckers do a shot with me,” said Mari.
Not so private, then.
Ten minutes later, they found a cozy, unoccupied corner of the room in which to hover, Brennan trying not to make eyes at Cole until Mari excused herself to refill her drink.
The apartment door opened a few yards from their spot, letting in a sliver of harsh fluorescent light from the hallway, and Brennan’s eyes shot over to see Nellie and Sunny arriving.
Nellie’s hair was different, with extensions to give her long braids, and she had a miniskirt ensemble that made her look like not just a college girl, but a trendy, cool one.
Sunny had her hair in a slicked-back ponytail, big cargo pants, a crop top, and big hoop earrings, like she’d come from a photo shoot. She probably had.
Nerves and excitement sloshed around in Brennan’s stomach with the jungle juice. The vampires were here.
Cole followed Brennan’s gaze and gasped when he landed on Sunny and Nellie.
“That’s them?”
He sounded so earnest and enthusiastic Brennan couldn’t help teasing him. “Want an autograph?”
“Maybe. That’s KeepItSunny on Instagram! She’s real Instagram-famous. She’s a vampire?”
“She’s like, the scariest vampire I’ve met so far,” Brennan said. Cole’s eyes lit up like a kid’s on Christmas morning.
“Aren’t you gonna introduce us?” he asked, looking up through his lashes and letting his Southern accent out like an absolute asshole. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“What could go wrong,” Brennan said, taking Cole by the wrist and doing his best to weave through the clusters of people toward the door. The feeling of Cole’s skin under his fingers made him more lightheaded than the alcohol.
Nellie caught Brennan’s eye and shot a hand up in an enthusiastic, high-reaching wave, and she and Sunny moved to meet him.
At least, he thought, with the party as a buffer, they couldn’t talk about the whole vampire thing. He could only imagine the questions Cole might ask if he cornered Nellie or Sunny alone tonight.
Why, exactly, had he brought this on himself again?
Brennan let go of Cole’s wrist and didn’t have time to miss the contact before Nellie pulled Brennan into a hug. He startled forward into the embrace and stiffly but gratefully reciprocated.
“Brennan, this is amazing!” Nellie said as she released him from her grasp. “I haven’t been to a classic party in ages !”
“It’s really quite frat-party-like,” Sunny said, a step behind Nellie, phone out of sight for once. Brennan couldn’t figure out if that was a good or bad sign.
Brennan made the awkward introductions, but it only got more awkward when Nellie turned her sights on Cole.
“So you’re Cole!” Nellie said in an overexaggerated mom way, giving Brennan a transparently meaningful look. Brennan’s face burned.
“Allegedly,” Cole said in greeting. “Though it makes me nervous when you say it like that.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve heard only good things,” Nellie said. Then, “Extensively good things—”
“Let’s get drinks, Nel,” Sunny interrupted, while Cole gave Brennan a sidelong glance of amusement. Thank god for Sunny.
“Oh my god, yes, ” said Nellie. “I wanna do a keg stand.”
“Let’s work our way up to that,” Sunny said, tugging Nellie away by the hand. “We’ll catch up with you guys.”
As soon as the space in front of them was vacated, Tony appeared and did a series of dramatic lunges, pointing at Brennan and Cole.
“Finish those drinks!” he shouted, thumping his chest, doing his weird lunge dance. “Chug, chug, chug!”
Brennan laughed, but Cole went for it, and Tony kept chanting, “Chug, chug, chug!” like a goddamn cartoon train, until eventually Brennan joined in and all their drinks were drained.
“Fuck yeah,” Tony said, stance relaxing from his strangely intimidating ritual, clapping Brennan on the back. “Go get refills! WHOO!”
He disappeared into the crowd, and as he did Brennan realized he was wearing a cape. In his wake, Mari approached with a full plastic cup, swaying slightly, watching Tony go with an unreadable expression.
“Is he smashed already?” Brennan asked.
“I might be,” Mari said somberly.
“Frat-boy party habits die hard,” Cole explained. “Have you been drinking water? Let’s go get you some water—”
“This ain’t my first rodeo, bro,” Mari said, swaying forward in her heels.
“She only calls people ‘bro’ when she’s drunk,” Cole told Brennan, and took Mari by the arm to head toward the kitchen.
From there, the night went by in a blur of sweat, pop music, too-sweet mixed drinks, dancing, and talking.
Brennan rotated between friends, and every time he looked across the room he saw Cole mingling with a different group.
Brennan didn’t know if Cole truly knew that many people, or if he was making an effort to befriend every single person who could be crammed into the apartment. Neither option would be surprising.
Nellie and Sunny hung out with him most of the time. Sunny inevitably returned to being glued to her phone, and Nellie chattered his ears off about different parties she’d been to over the decade, Sunny occasionally chiming in to add details Nellie forgot.
Tony had apparently taken it as his personal duty to make sure everyone got properly smashed, continuing to wander around and randomly yell at people to “CHUG CHUG CHUG.” Often he’d head to the kitchen and start a round of shots.
Tony dragged Brennan into a round of a drinking game, and he shouted and rooted for him each time he made a shot like he actually cared about him.
Nellie tackled his side in a strangely aggressive hug to celebrate a good throw on her part, and as soon as she released him, a harsh hand was on his shoulder, and then Mari tugged him aside into the relative privacy of the hallway to the bedrooms.
“Listen here, Brooks,” Mari stood in front of him, her tough demeanor undercut by glassy eyes and a slight sway to her stance. “I don’t know you, and I don’t like you.”
“Oh,” Brennan said. “Awesome. What is this?”
Mari poked Brennan’s chest hard. “This is a shovel talk, genius. Cole freaking likes you, god knows why, and you need to know that if you hurt him at all, in any way, I know where you live and will not hesitate to cut off your di—”