My Roommate Is a Vampire

The chapter begins with the text of an invitation to the wedding of Esmeralda Jameson and Frederick at the Jameson Castle in New York.

As they get ready to leave for the party at Sam’s, Cassie is astonished by how well Frederick is dressed in his modern attire. She asks him how he learned to dress, and he admits that he watches a lot of Korean drama shows in his free time. He also tells Cassie that he researched a list of conversation topics to blend in. She’s worried that his topics will feel rehearsed and make him stand out, but she decides the worst-case scenario would be Sam and Scott thinking she lives with a weird guy.

On their way to the party, Cassie can tell everyone at the El train station notices how handsome Frederick is. He is mystified by the noise of the train and the crowdedness of the platform. He is shocked that Cassie takes the El to work every day. As they board the crowded train, Cassie stumbles into Frederick. He catches and holds her. She expects him to pull away once she finds her footing, but he keeps holding her for the entire train ride.

The chapter begins with a letter from Edwina to Frederick informing him that she is disappointed that he continues to return Esmeralda’s gifts. She also informs him that she is booking a flight from London to Chicago to see what he’s doing. She says she loves him.

Cassie and Frederick arrive at Sam’s condo. When they reach the outside of the lobby, Frederick frantically reminds her that he needs to be explicitly invited in, otherwise he will disintegrate. Cassie asks Sam’s upstairs neighbor to let them into the lobby, then she explicitly asks Scott if they can come in when they reach their front door. They enter safely. Sam comes up and offers them a drink, taking Frederick to the kitchen to get some wine. Cassie sees David, the head of the art contest, on the couch with Sam’s sister Amelia. She approaches them awkwardly and makes small talk before she’s interrupted by Sam bringing Frederick over to talk to Amelia about Taylor Swift. Frederick knows a lot of information about Taylor Swift, which suggests that she was one of the topics he rehearsed before the party. Amelia takes Frederick and Sam back to the kitchen for more wine and Taylor Swift talk. 

Left alone with David, Cassie continues with small talk until David brings up the art contest. He tells her in confidence that the competition was very stiff, and the judges had mostly decided on the winners before Cassie even applied. Manor House was not what they were looking for. He tells her that she’s very talented and should submit for their next show. Cassie is very hurt by the rejection and goes to the bathroom so no one else sees her cry.

In the bathroom, Cassie keeps crying. She hears Frederick knock on the door and ask if she’s in there. She finally lets him in, and he is upset when he sees her tear-stained face. He asks who hurt her, and she tells him about the rejection. He reminds her that she’s very talented and the committee was foolish to reject her. He takes his handkerchief out and wipes Cassie’s tears and streaky mascara off her face. He asks her what mascara is and tells her she doesn’t need makeup to be beautiful. He tells her to open her eyes, then he kisses her. 

They kiss passionately in the bathroom until someone knocks on the door. Frederick is worried for Cassie’s reputation, as he still has antiquated notions of propriety. Cassie assures him that it’s fine and tells him they should return home. For the first time, Cassie notices Frederick’s fangs.

The chapter opens with an excerpt from a book by a vampire author about making love to humans and how to bring pleasure to a vampire’s human partner.

Cassie and Frederick take an Uber back to their apartment, as both of them are eager to get home as quickly as possible. Cassie is ready to resume where they left off in the bathroom, and she can tell Frederick feels the same way. First, though, she questions him about his Taylor Swift knowledge. He admits that he studied her the night before and spent two hours memorizing facts about her, as his research indicated that she’s popular with people in Cassie’s age group. He then kisses Cassie. 

She pulls away, conscious of the fact their Uber driver can see them, but Frederick reveals another vampire secret: He can cast visual “glamors.” The driver cannot see them because he is projecting the image of them sitting side-by-side and scrolling on their phones. Cassie also noticed his teeth in the bathroom for the first time because Frederick’s glamor over his fangs dropped. Frederick tells her that the glamor is as involuntary as breathing, but that it drops around people he trusts. Cassie is honored that Frederick trusts her. She unbuckles her seatbelt to crawl into Frederick’s lap. They kiss passionately until the Uber arrives at their apartment.

When they get inside, Frederick takes Cassie’s hand and leads her to the closet she’s not allowed to open. He says if she wants to see what other powers he has, she just needs to open the door. When she looks in the closet, it’s filled with fruit. Frederick’s other vampiric power is conjuring fruit when he’s nervous. Since Cassie moved in and he developed feelings for her, his nervousness has increased, alongside his fruit output. The kumquats he gave her as a move-in gift and the fruit he cut up for her when he cooked her soup were both fruits that he conjured. The rest of the fruit he usually gives to local food pantries. 

He didn’t tell Cassie about his power because he thought it was lame and was embarrassed. Cassie asks him why he’d be embarrassed to tell her about it, given that she’s a nobody. Frederick kisses her ferociously and tells her that she’s precious, that her kindness and generosity are rare gifts. She doesn’t believe him, so he asks to show her how much he means it.

In Frederick’s bedroom, Cassie thinks his decor is a little too Interview with a Vampire, as the bed has a blood-red canopy and velvet sheets. Frederick lays her on the bed, but he hesitates when Cassie reaches up for him. He says that maybe they shouldn’t be intimate. Cassie questions why not, as clearly they both want to. Frederick doesn’t want to drag Cassie into a “romantic entanglement” (256) with him, as he is a vampire and can only truly live half a life. Cassie tells him she wants him anyway and continues to kiss him. Once she begs him to touch her, his resolve breaks. He touches her intimately. Afterwards, Cassie falls asleep briefly. 

When she wakes up, she wants to touch Frederick. He tells her that he’s never been intimate with someone without blood being involved. She touches him and lets him bite the tip of her finger and drink from her. Afterwards, they have sex, and Cassie again lets Frederick drink from her finger. They cuddle together afterwards as Cassie becomes sleepy again.