– I feel sorry for you. They used to give me castor oil when I was a kid, and it was disgusting!
I went to the fridge and opened the door.
– You see, these packets contain my medicine» I explained to Mary.
– Why do they look like tomato juice cartons? – she wondered.
She walked over to the fridge and picked up one of the packets.
«What a sight! Mary is twirling that packet in her hands and has no idea that it contains human blood and that her neighbour is a vampire!» – I giggled.
– I asked for it to be sent to me like that. It's simple psychology: I drink the medicine from this packet and I don't get so disgusted» I lied in a serious tone.
– Really? I didn't know you could do that. – Mary put the bag in the fridge and went back to the groceries from the shop.
– Yeah, I've been tested since I was six» I sighed.
– It's really sad when you can't have a festive treat at Christmas» she said thoughtfully. – It must be frustrating to watch everyone eating the goodies when you can't touch them yourself» she said thoughtfully.
– I was offended at first, but you get used to it» I lied desperately. – Mary, can I ask you something?
– Sure, what? – She looked at me.
– Don't open those packages even out of curiosity. Never» I said with a smile.
Mary's face stretched: of course I had asked her so 'politely'!
– Okay, whatever you say» Mary said, and shrugged her shoulders.
– Please don't take offence, I'm just very sensitive about these things» I hastened to justify myself.
– Me? Offended? Not at all! – she snorted. – I have my little quirks, too. For instance, I only wash my hair with one shampoo, and when I don't have it, I don't wash my hair at all until I buy it.
– Oh, wow! Oh, my God! – I exclaimed, politely marvelling at her «obsession».
– Yes, or another thing: sometimes I have insomnia, and I get scared to be alone in the room, and then I wake someone up. So be prepared for that.
– Oh, you're welcome: I often have insomnia too» – I was happy to hear her say that.
We began to put the food away, but I felt awkward the whole time. But Mary didn't take offence; she began to tell me about the tricks she'd done at school.
– Now let's cook something! – Mary opened the tap, washed her hands and took a piece of meat out of the fridge.
When I imagined the smells in the house, I hurried away, citing an urgent trip to the shop to get notebooks and pens for my studies. I grabbed my purse, quickly put on my sneakers and jacket, and stormed out of the house without even asking Mary where I could find the shop. But I found it quickly: there was a big bookshop in our street. I took some notebooks, two notebooks, eight pens of different colours to write the titles of topics and sections, some simple pencils, a ruler, a sharpener, an eraser, and took all this to the checkout. The cashier was a nice young man who smiled at me.