Blood Relatives

12. Just Make it Through the Day

Wednesday, Carmine felt fine. Same thing on Thursday. She would have expected to feel more tired, more drained – especially considering her recent blood loss. Not that Carmine knew how much blood Mia had taken. She hadn't bothered to ask; it wasn't really something she wanted to know. Even the idea of Mia actually doing that to her was still weird to think about.

Friday morning started out just as good as Thursday. But by around fourth period, she was starting to feel a little nauseous. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten anything at lunch last period. She figured it'd be better to get something in her stomach, but now she wasn't sure that was a good idea. And if she actually did throw up, the school would call her mom for sure. No matter how bad she felt, Carmine knew she had to make it through the day. If she could just get to Anna's house, she could sleep it off, and no one would have to know.

By fifth period, Carmine was having trouble concentrating. The teacher was saying something, but it was really hard for her to focus. She felt hot and sweaty, and she still couldn't shake that feeling of nausea. Carmine tried to focus on the teacher, to block out all thoughts of just how bad she felt. Out of the corner of her eye, Carmine saw both Luke and Conner watching her. She stared down at her desk so she wouldn't have to make eye contact. Besides, this was much better anyway – the fluorescent lighting was starting to give her a headache.

She propped her head up with her hand and tried to act like she was reading along with the history book. She might not be taking notes, but that was ok. With the looks Luke and Conner were giving her, she'd have no problems borrowing either of theirs.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea overtook Carmine. She put a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes, willing herself not to throw up all over her desk. When she was reasonably sure she could keep it down, she raised her hand.

"Mr. Wilson? Can I go to the bathroom?" She tried to say it in as normal a tone as she could manage. The only thing Mr. Wilson liked less than excusing students from the room was having them act dramatic about it. She crossed her fingers and hoped that he would take pity on her – and fairly soon.

She must have looked even worse than she felt, because Mr. Wilson took one look at her and said, "Go." Carmine didn't need to be told twice. She got up out of her seat and made her way straight for the door.

The bathroom wasn't too far away, only three doors down. But suddenly the hallway seemed so long. She found herself walking along the side, using the wall as a kind of support. She pushed open the door and staggered into the bathroom just in time. No one else was in there, so she ran into the nearest stall, slammed the door shut, and proceeded to throw up for the next five minutes.

When Carmine had finally gone a whole minute without throwing up or even dry heaving, she made her way back to class. She put on her most nonchalant smile as she walked back into the room. But when she slid back into her chair, she couldn't help but notice Luke and Conner staring at her. And they weren't the only ones.

When the bell finally rang, Carmine didn't even bother to move. She decided to just wait until the room cleared before staggering all the way to art. She almost didn't notice that two people stayed behind.

"Let me walk you to class." Conner told her. He put her arm around his shoulder and his hand around her waist and practically carried her out the door – which was good, because Carmine wasn't sure how far she'd have gotten on her own. Luke leaned over to Conner.

"If she gets any worse, text me."

"Ok." Conner nodded.

Carmine went as fast as she could, but they were still a few minutes late. Once they were outside the door, Conner let go of her.