Blood Relatives

25. Let's Get Out Of Here

Carmine walked out of the restaurant and into the mall. She turned the first corner she saw, not wanting to stop while she was still within sight of the big windows her friends were sitting at. Of course, she'd managed to find the one inlet that had a big sign on the wall just behind the stone bench: Closed for Renovations. So there was nothing to do here to distract herself from the disaster at dinner. Of course, it also meant she wouldn't have to worry about any random strangers seeing her cry.

Carmine tried really hard not to cry; she was a big girl – too old for pouting in public. Still, she could feel the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Maybe she should just go. The cold night air might make her feel better, get her mind off things.

She still couldn't believe the way Luke and Zev were treating her. She tried to see it from their point of view, but it was really hard. After all, both of them were dating vampires. So why would they be so hostile to her? She was just glad she managed not to show how upset she really was at the table.

Carmine sighed; what did it matter? They didn't like her anymore, and that was that. It was probably going to make it a lot harder to hang out with Anna and Mia, but there was nothing she could do about that. And if Zev told on her, they probably wouldn't want to talk to her much anyway.

Suddenly, all she wanted to do was go home. She stood up and turned to leave. She just hoped none of her so-called friends were looking out the window when she came out of her little inlet. But as she got up off the bench, she heard a noise. Someone was coming towards her.

Oh, what now? she wondered. She wasn't even excited about the fact that maybe a free meal was walking towards her; her friends didn't want her around anymore and all she wanted was to be left alone. But when the person turned the corner, she saw that it was only Mia.

"Hey." Mia said as she approached.

"Hi." Carmine said flatly. She was kind of glad her friend had come to check on her, but she still didn't exactly feel like talking.

"Just ignore Zev." Mia told her. "He's been acting kind of weird lately."

"Yeah, for how long?" Carmine asked, plopping back onto the bench. Four days?

"A couple days." Mia confirmed what Carmine already suspected. She sat herself down next to Carmine. "But I don't think it's about you."

"You sure about that?" Carmine tried unsuccessfully to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

"Yeah. Besides, if he should be mad at anybody, it should be me. I mean, I did it to you."

"Does he know that?"

"...Not exactly." Mia admitted. "I mean, they know what we did, but we thought it might be better if they didn't know who actually did it."

That way neither of you could be blamed, Carmine thought. She had to say, she couldn't fault the logic there, especially considering the way the boys were treating her. But Carmine didn't say that. What she did say was, "I didn't think it'd be such a big deal."

"People don't like it – what we do. I can't blame them."

"I didn't have a problem with it." Carmine pointed out.

"You were the first person I met who didn't." Mia said grimly. "It's why I had to move here. Besides, didn't you stay home from school after we caught Fredrick freshman year?"

"Yeah..." Carmine had almost forgotten about that.

"I was surprised you talked to us after that." Mia told her. "And when you asked us if we were like him..." Mia shook her head, eyes wide.