Blood Relatives

6. Never Enough

The next day at school, Carmine did a lot better. She still wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but at least she wasn't zoning out as much. She even managed to pay attention to everything her friends said at lunch. Now all she had to do was get through art. It was her last class of the day, then she was home free – except for track after school, of course. But Carmine wasn't sure she was going today; it just seemed like a lot of work. And she would much rather be at home. Besides, she could miss a day or two, just as long as she was in shape for the meet next Thursday.

Carmine grinned happily to herself. She grabbed her paints and sat at the end of one of the long tables. Conner sat down beside her.

"Are you all right?" Conner asked.

"What do you mean?" Carmine was getting kinda sick of the question.

"Just what I said – are you alright?"

"Of course I am." Carmine told him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, to be honest, you look terrible."

"I do?" She hadn't noticed anything that bad. Sure, she might have bags under eyes, but nothing too serious.

"Well, kinda. I mean, you look like you haven't slept in days. And you're really pale – almost as much as your friends."

"Really?" Carmine studied him for a second, trying to decide if he was just exaggerating.

"I've been sleeping fine." she told him. "A lot better the past couple weeks than I have in months."

"Then are you sick or something?" Conner persisted.

"No, I'm fine. Really – I haven't felt this good in a long time."

Conner nodded, but he didn't look completely convinced. He studied her for a minute before asking, "If something were wrong, you'd tell me, right?"

Carmine blinked in surprise. "Of course."

She would have really liked to believe it was true, but for months she'd had dreams so bad she was afraid to sleep, and she hadn't bothered to mention those to him. So if she did start having problems, would she really tell him this time?

"You know, your friends are worried about you." Conner told her hesitantly.

"Why?" If they were so worried about her, why didn't they tell her themselves?

"I told you – you don't look good."

"Well don't worry about me. I'm a big girl – I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. We just worry sometimes."

"We?" When he said her friends earlier, she'd assumed he just meant Anna and Mia. Did he mean the boys too? So now even the boys were worried about her? And where was this concern a month ago – when she actually needed it?

Conner looked like he'd admitted something he hadn't planned on. "Well, yeah..." he trailed off.

"So does that mean everyone is worried about me?" Carmine couldn't help but feel betrayed; did this mean her friends were talking about her behind her back?

"It's not that we don't think you're capable. We just worry 'cause you're..."

"Not like you?" Carmine snapped. She knew perfectly well that she wasn't like them; she wasn't a werewolf or a vampire. She was the only human in their little group. Could he really think that fact had escaped her?

Angrily, she stood up. Class was only half over, but she didn't care. Even if it meant spending the rest of the period washing and rewashing her brushes, there was no way she was sitting back down next to Conner.