Blood Relatives

9. We May Have a Problem

 Carmine threw on the first decent-looking shirt she could find. She did her makeup as best she could, but she still looked pretty ill. How could no one in her family have noticed how bad she looked? She could hardly believe it. After all, vampires at school had commented on it! Carmine guessed it was because she'd been spending so much time in her room lately. And now that her mom didn't need to drive with her to school, Carmine guessed that neither of her parents had gotten a good enough look at her to realize something was off. Besides, it wasn't like she'd been complaining about feeling bad. Still, it would have been nice for someone to notice.

When Carmine was finished, she checked herself in the mirror one last time. She looked good. Well, not good exactly, but at least she didn't look like she belonged in an intensive care unit. She hurried down the hall, grabbed a bagel and her keys, and was out the door before anyone had a chance to get a really good look at her.

She hopped in the car and immediately texted Anna.

Can you get to school early?

I think so. Why?

I need to talk to you. Meet me in the cafeteria?

Ok.

As soon as Carmine got that last message, she threw the car into reverse and headed down the driveway. She drove as fast as she dared, making it to school almost ten minutes before class started.

Carmine sat down at a table to wait. She picked at her bagel, but really, she was too nervous to eat. The only thing that kept her from tossing it in the trash was the realization that she was obviously too sick to be skipping meals.

It seemed like forever before Anna got there, even though Carmine knew it was only a few minutes. Anna saw her and waved, heading straight over.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked as she sat down.

"I had another dream last night." Carmine told her. She closed her eyes for a minute. This was really going to be embarrassing. Anna apparently thought Carmine's expression was due to nerves.

"It's ok." she told Carmine.

"It's not that." Carmine said. "I mean, it's not that I'm scared. Well, maybe a little, but that's not what's bothering me." Carmine got the feeling she wasn't making much sense.

"Then, what is it?"

"When you asked if he was cute – that boy, I mean." Carmine trailed off, studying her friend.

"Yeah?" Anna said when Carmine didn't continue.

"You already had an idea of what was happening, didn't you?" Carmine asked. Anna looked guilty.

"I had a guess." she admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Carmine asked. She was pretty sure she would have told Anna if it were happening to her.

"I wasn't completely sure. And I didn't want to scare you."

"Really? Anna, come on." After all they'd been through, scaring Carmine should have been pretty far down on Anna's list of concerns. Hadn't she proven by now that she was tougher than that?

"Besides, would you have listened to me?" Anna asked. "Or would you have just gotten mad and walked off?"

Carmine opened her mouth, then closed it again. She was about to say that of course she would have listened to one of her two best friends. But they both knew it wasn't true.

"I'm sorry." Carmine mumbled, looking down at the table.

"It's not your fault." Anna told her. When it was obvious Carmine didn't believe her, she added, "Really. It's part of what...you know...they do."