It was three in the morning and Maya sat quietly on her kitchen countertop, eating a banana.

She hopped down off the counter to throw the peel in the trash, only to come face to face with her brother, Leo. She startled backwards.

“What are you doing up?” she whispered.

“What are you doing?” He looked her up and down, from her messy ponytail to her sweatpants and striped socks. He then glanced behind her at the bare sticks left of the banana bunch. “Maya.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “You never said why you were up.”

“Bad dream.” He tapped the kettle twice against the stove and then twisted it on, flames flickering against the iron. Maya reached into the cupboard and grabbed two packets of hot chocolate mix. She passed them to her brother, but he didn’t take them, instead staring at the steaming kettle. She nudged him again. “Leo.”

“Are the sleeping pills not working?” he asked, still facing the stove.

“They work fine,” Maya said. “I just didn’t want to tonight.”

“Okay.” Leo put his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. He was the steady one– only two years older, but acted like he was forty. He pulled his sleeve over his hands as the water began to whistle and poured it into two mugs. He stirred cocoa powder in with a spoon. 

“Thanks,” Maya said, taking one. She took a sip so fast her tongue burnt. She pulled back and her fangs bared, poised. Leo stared at her. “Sorry.” She took another, slow sip.

“Mom and Dad are taking you to that meeting tomorrow, by the way.”

“What?” Maya set down her cup. “It’s like, three hours away.”

“They said it’s important.”

“To socialize with other vampires? They’re all a hundred years older than me. Like actually.” Maya paced back and forth. “I was talking to this one dude, and he was alive in the twenties. He looked eighteen, too, that was the scary part.” Leo smiled, and she frowned. “I don’t wanna go.”

“Argue with Mom.” Leo took a sip from his mug. They stared at each other and quietly laughed, in a my-life-is-fucked sort of way.