Blood Relatives

24. War Games

Tuesday after school, Carmine found herself sitting at a table in the mall, pretending to eat pizza with Anna, Mia, and the boys. She remembered when they used to all go out together before her friends turned her. Anna and Mia never bothered to eat much, unless they were trying to blend in. But Carmine had always liked going out with the boys. It was nice to have a couple people around who actually ate dinner. But today, it just wasn't the same.

Carmine had only taken a few bites of her pizza, but she was kind of wishing she hadn't grabbed a slice in the first place. This whole thing was just one big reminder of how much her life had changed.

Carmine didn't exactly regret becoming a vampire – she'd partially wanted it ever since she found out about her friends. But it was a lot of work. She had to sneak out constantly, try not to show off too much during track, and now she couldn't even enjoy a slice of pizza with her friends. And the worst part was the fact that the one thing she did want to eat wasn't exactly on the menu.

Carmine suppressed a sigh. Normally she would have just joined in on the conversation and ignored her current problems. But she was still worried about Zev. She was pretty sure he hadn't told Anna or Mia about seeing her the other day since neither of them had given her a warning. But he kept eyeing her suspiciously from across the table. Carmine wondered if she could pretend to be sick and maybe head out early. Had Anna or Mia eaten any of the pizza? Maybe she could say there were trace amounts of garlic in it or something. They'd believe that, right?

"I think I love him." A voice across the room declared. Whoever it was sounded so forceful, Carmine just had to turn and see who it was. A girl she vaguely recognized as being in her math class – Lauren, Carmine thought. She was sitting at a table with the captain of the tennis team, Melissa Cooper.

"How can you love him?" Melissa scoffed. "You don't even know him."

Carmine sat up straighter. She caught herself leaning just a bit in their direction, chills running down her spine.

"I do know him – he's cute and sweet and he's in my French class." Lauren said defiantly.

"Have you ever actually talked to him?" Melissa challenged.

"Well, no. But that doesn't mean I don't know him. Besides, you should see how he looks at me in class!" she gushed.

"What's his last name then? If you're so in love?"

"...I don't know." Lauren admitted after a minute. "But that doesn't mean anything!" she added confidently.

"So you're madly in love with Adam Something-or-other. Sounds so romantic." Melissa rolled her eyes.

"You just don't understand. Once you meet him, you'll see."

"Yeah, I'm sure I will."

Carmine sat there, not moving. Did she really just hear that? How could Lauren be so obsessed with Adam? It was probably nothing, Carmine told herself. Adam was currently torturing Kate. But Carmine couldn't stop thinking about what Lauren said – you should see how he looks at me in class. With anyone else, it would just sound like a stupid crush. But with Adam, who knew? Maybe he was already looking for his next victim. Carmine wondered how long it would actually take someone like him to go from one girl to the next.

"Hey!" someone said in her ear. Carmine jumped, nearly knocking her soda in her lap.

"Sorry, what?" Carmine asked, looking distractedly around for a napkin.

"You ok?" Luke asked, staring at her a little too closely. Carmine leaned back a fraction of an inch.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just listening to that table over there." Carmine pointed as casually as she could across the room. She was about to tell her friends that those girls were talking about Adam, but Luke interrupted her before she got the chance.