As Hannah raced from her Trigonometry class to the Social Studies classroom, she crashed into what looked like a stack of textbooks with legs. Both teens toppled to the floor, books flying everywhere. As Hannah sat up, she saw that the other person was an extremely short girl with impossibly pale skin, bushy dark brown hair, and some faint freckles on her nose.
"Oh my gosh!" Hannah apologized as she straightened her askew glasses. "I am so sorry! I was in a hurry, and I didn't see you at all, and..."
The short, pale girl raised a hand. "It's fine. Accidents happen, and it's easy to miss someone as diminutive as me. I'm Whisper, by the way." She extended a hand for Hannah to shake.
Hannah shook Whisper's hand before helping her new friend gather her books. "Whisper, huh? That's a pretty unique name, no offense. I'm Hannah Dershowitz. You know, I actually think I've seen you around. You sit with the von Karnsteins at lunch, right?"
"Indeed," Whisper nodded. "They're my sisters."
"Man," Hannah marveled, "I'm actually talking to a von Karnstein!"
Whisper raised an eyebrow. "Is that somehow incongruous?"
Hannah blushed. "It's just... you know everyone in this school thinks your family's kinda creepy, right? Not that I agree! But... well, you've just got this reputation as the rich goths who keep to themselves."
"Yes, I've observed that," Whisper said. "It's nothing I didn't predict beforehand from normal human behavioral patterns."
"People also think you guys are super hot," Hannah added. "I think a lot of kids here are a little bitter they're not dating you. Not me, though. I've always been more interested in dating Skyler Bentley. That's what Stella's calling hirself now that shi's come out as non-binary. I'm interested in being friends, though. I don't really have friends either."
Whisper shook hands with the frizzy redhead. "I think I'd thoroughly enjoy that, Hannah. It'll be quite a change having friends outside my family."
Hannah gathered her courage and leaned in close to Whisper's face. "I know your secret, by the way."
"Oh?" Whisper asked a bit nervously. "Care to elaborate?"
"You're vampires," Hannah said quietly. "And Tatiana's girlfriend Selena's a werehyena alpha."
"How'd you find out?" Whisper asked.
"Skyler showed me hir werehyena form," said Hannah. "Shi's nothing like the cold bitch shi used to be. Shi actually seems almost... interested in me."
"Did shi invite you to become a therianthrope?" asked Whisper.
"Shi actually did suggest it," said Hannah. "I intend to follow up on it. I know this sounds weird, but I think it'd be really fun to be the pack's omega. It's... it's kind of a kink of mine. Freaky, right?"
"It isn't my position to judge," said Whisper. "If you ever need any information on therianthropes, vampires, or other elements of the supernatural world, just let me know. I'm Clan von Karnstein's librarian."
"Now I know we're going to be great friends!" Hannah laughed. "We're both colossal nerds. Hey, can you do something for me before we head off for class?"
"Absolutely," said Whisper. "What is it?"
"Let me see your fangs," Hannah asked, grinning.
Whisper nodded and bared her gleaming white teeth. Slowly, the nerdy vampire's canine teeth extended into a pair of long, needlelike fangs. Hannah reached out and ran her finger over the fangs, flinching a bit at their sharpness.
"Cool!" Hannah grinned.
Whisper retracted her fangs before anyone else could catch a glimpse of them. "Thank you. They're a highly complex dental system. Besides sucking blood, they can also inject venom into the bloodstream to convert the target into a new vampire."
"So not everyone you bite turns?" asked Hannah.
"Certainly not," Whisper said firmly. "That would be a logistical nightmare! Completely unsustainable. The world would be full of nothing but starving vampires in a month or two."
"Ah, I see," Hannah said. "Well, I've got to get to class now. Let's hang out later, okay?"
"Yes, let's," Whisper smiled. "Goodbye, Hannah!"