Tyler sighed. He was so bored, waiting for the bell to ring for the end of fourth period. Then he could have lunch.

 

Tick. . . tick . . . tick. . .

 

Finally, after what felt like an hour but was probably only a minute or two, the bell rang. Tyler jumped out of his seat and dashed out of the room. He went through the lunch lines quickly and ate just as fast.

 

After that, he went to his locker to check on his things. To his surprise, he found a small letter that had been slipped in through one of the slots. He tore it open eagerly and read it.

 

Meet me behind the school building after school.

3:40, Come alone

 

Was this the fabled love letter? Was Tyler going to be asked out?

 

He hoped not. He had a crush on his friend Kira, who'd known him since third grade. If someone was going to ask him out, he would have to decline.

 

He waited anxiously for the end of the day.

 

When the final bell rang, he told Kira and his other friend, James, that he had to go somewhere else but that he would join a discord call afterward. They were confused at first, but James soon caught on.

 

At 3:35 PM, 10 minutes after school ended, Tyler went behind the school building and waited.

 

Five minutes later, a girl turned around the corner and walked up to him.

 

"Hello," He said. He had seen this girl around school before. Her name was Gloria and she ignored almost everyone. She was reclusive and nobody knew much about her.

 

"Hello," Gloria said.

 

"Why did you want me to come here?" Tyler asked.

 

"Um. . ." Gloria said. "I uh. . ." She couldn't seem to say what she wanted to say. Then she blurted out, "Will you be my boyfriend?"

 

Dang it. Tyler had suspected this. He really didn't want to have to reject someone, but he was still holding out for Kira.

 

"I'm sorry, but no," He said. Gloria's face darkened. She seemed to disappear and Tyler's world spun.

 

The next thing he knew, he hit the wall behind him with a thud. Pain shuddered through his body.

 

"How dare you," Gloria said, right next to Tyler. "You reject me? Me!? You'll regret it." As she spoke, Tyler noticed that her normally brown eyes were turning blood red. Her hair which was dyed blond seemed to become a bright silver and her canines were lengthening.

 

Then she lunged forward and bit Tyler's neck. He felt two sharp fangs piercing his skin and injecting something before Gloria pulled away.

 

"There," Gloria said.

 

"What the hell was that!?" Tyler cried, trying to stand up.

 

"Paralyze," Gloria said, waving a hand over Tyler. Almost all of his muscles stopped working and he fell again. "You're going to sit right there and listen to me."

 

"What the hell are you!?" Tyler asked.

 

"I'm a vampire," Gloria said. "And now you're going to be one too." Then she waved her hand over him and he felt energy ripple through his body. "There are three rules to being a vampire." She held out one finger. "One: you can't tell anyone else about this unless you've bitten them." Another finger. "Two: you need at least fifty milliliters of blood every few weeks or you'll die. Drinking more often and drinking fresher blood makes you stronger." Then a third finger. "And the third rule is something just for you. You have to be a girl."

 

"What!?" Tyler cried. "What the hell do you mean?"

 

"I cast a spell on you," Gloria said. "As you become a vampire, you'll also become a girl. Good luck hooking up with your precious Kira now."

 

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Tyler stunned. Then, right before she left, she turned back and said, "Oh, and you won't be able to bite anyone properly until your fangs grow in. That'll take a while. And you don't have to convert them, but you can if you want."

 

As she turned the corner, Tyler cried out, "Am I just going to be stuck here!?"

 

"No, it'll wear off after a few minutes," Gloria said from around the corner. "See ya!"

 

The next three minutes were incredibly boring for Tyler. When, at last, the paralyzing effect wore off, he got up and dusted himself off. Then he walked to his house, contemplating all that he had been told.

 

Surely she couldn't be serious. That was ridiculous.

 

Besides, vampires couldn't be in the sun.

 

Meanwhile, Gloria chuckled to herself as she jumped up several stories through the window of an old abandoned building.

 

"How'd it go?" A taller woman who had the same red eyes and silver hair as Gloria asked.

 

"He rejected me," Gloria answered. "So I bit him with a conversion bite. And hit him with a genderswap spell. Soon he'll come crawling back to me for help."

 

"Alright," The woman said. "Now, come on. I found this old guy wandering the streets a few cities over. Let's eat."

 

The two descended a set of stairs nearby, where the sounds of screaming soon echoed.

 

But no one heard.