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maybe these kind of generalities aren’t such a good idea, I don’t know, I couldn’t say, but it just seems to me.”
    “I know they’re behaving themselves now. That’s why we made the truce with the Scullens—well, not we, but my ancestors, and I was awfully annoyed to see them come back here a couple of years ago. But we also know it’s an effort for them to stick to food that doesn’t think and talk and have hopes and dreams. You have to understand, Stevie Ray, things like that live forever unless you stop them from living… and when you live forever, the chance of you making a mistake or losing control isn’t a question of whether or not, it’s just a question of when. And when they do slip, when they witness a car wreck or something and start smelling blood and lose control of themselves… aren’t you glad to know me and my occasionally hairy friends and family are around to protect you?”
    “Great,” Stevie Ray said. “Werewolves are going to protect us from vampires? That makes me feel real comfortable, as a human.”
    After Stevie Ray left, the quietest elder said, “Did he say werewolves? He thinks we’re werewolves ?”
    “That fella,” Willy Noir said, “is a fella who watches too many dumb movies, is what I think.”

A LITTLE LUNCH
    FROM THE JOURNAL OF BONNIE GRAYDUCK
    I gazed across the cafeteria, and there they were, sitting in a little island all their own in a corner: the Scullens and the Scales, leaning together and talking among themselves, like they were a species apart. (That was a feeling I could relate to.) I became aware of a sort of twittering and realized the girls I’d “befriended”—a blonde called Jessica or Jenny or something, I’d call her “J” and she’d think it was a nickname, and Kelly, a petite brunette, though she looked like a heifer in comparison to Pleasance. “Those are the Scullens and the Scales,” J said. “I know, I saw you looking at Edwin, he’s a dream , but he doesn’t date, I don’t know if it’s a religious thing or what, they keep to themselves.” I detected a note of bitterness in her voice, and knew he’d rejected her—or, more likely, failed to notice her existence. “But at least he’s single,” she said, pitching her voice low. “The other ones are… together . The big one Hermet and the blonde one Rosemarie, and Garnett and that tiny little Pleasance. I don’t care if they aren’t related by blood, I know Dr. Scullen and his wife adopted them, but they all live in the same house, so I think it’s unnatural, they might as well be brother and sister, it’s just not right, and Garnett and Rosemarie really are brother and sister, the Scales, but I guess they’re not dating each other, so—”
    “Have they always lived here?” I interrupted, still gazing at Edwin. His jawline… his nose… his lips …
    J shook her head. “They lived up in Canada or something I guess? But they’re American, Dr. Scullen was just working up there. They moved here a couple of years ago, and they live a ways outside of town, mostly keep to themselves.”
    “He will be mine,” I said. I probably shouldn’t have said it out loud, but there you go.
    J giggled. “It’s good to aim high,” she said, a little doubtfully.
    “I wonder if I have any classes with him,” I mused. If I didn’t, I’d have to see about making some adjustments.
    Kelly said, “Let me see your schedule.” Classes had been going on for a week, I realized, so she might have some idea of his movement. After poring over my schedule for a moment, she said, “You have biology with me after lunch. Edwin’s in that class. But are you really going to…”
    “I might say hello,” I said.
    Just then Edwin happened to look up, and caught my eyes. He stared at me, and frowned—hardly the reaction I wanted. He looked away, said something to his pseudo-siblings, and then all of them got up from the table and left together.
    I walked with Kelly to biology, a long low