Blood Relatives

29. More Than Kate and Sharon

Carmine waited for track practice to start, pointedly ignoring Luke. Except for that one sentence she'd spoken to Zev in class, Carmine hadn't acknowledged him or Luke since that horrible night.

Luke tried to get Carmine's attention, but she wasn't having any of that. She turned her back to him. There. Hopefully he would be able to take the hint. As soon as Coach Danby announced the start of their warm-up laps, Carmine was off.

She kept pace with the fastest group, knowing that Luke was uncomfortable going that fast. Carmine laughed to herself. He might be the fastest one on the team, but everyone still thought of him as more of a sprinter. Carmine was willing to bet he wouldn't risk exposing himself just for some little chat.

She kept it up for the whole two hours. It was kind of hard work, and she was actually a little tired by the end. She didn't even have to exaggerate her breathing by that much!

"Hey, Carmine." Coach Danby waved her over. "You did really good today."

"Thanks coach." Carmine said, trying not to act as guilty as she felt. After all, she really hadn't done anything wrong, had she? How could trying hard really be a bad thing?

"Looks like you finally got over whatever was making you so sick." Coach said approvingly.

"Yeah, I feel better than I have my entire life." Carmine told her honestly.

"I'd believe it. Keep up the good work and you might even get to be better than Lucas Volk!"

Carmine laughed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luke standing only a few yards away. And he did not look happy. Good - served him right.

Carmine turned and headed across the field, back to the locker rooms. She was aware almost instantly that Luke was hot on her heels. Finally, when he was only a few feet away, she stopped and spun around.

"What?" she snapped. She hadn't meant to be so rude, but she was getting really tired of him following her around like a lost puppy. Carmine almost started snickering at the thought, and she found herself having to fight to keep an angry expression on her face.

"I just wanted to talk to you." Luke said, raising his hands up in surrender. "Is that so bad?"

"Depends." Carmine told him. "If you want to talk to me like you did last Tuesday, then I think I'll pass."

"I'm sorry about that." Luke told her. "We shouldn't have done it."

Wait - was this really an apology from Luke? Carmine didn't think she'd ever heard one of those from him before. Then again, he had never been so mean that he'd actually needed to apologize before. She thought about asking him why he'd done it, but Conner had pretty much covered that already. So she let it go, pretending to be the bigger person - for now. In her heart, she figured she could always bring it up again if she really couldn't get over it.

"We've been thinking. We need a plan - and fast. What do you think about going out to dinner with us on Sunday - as a group?"

"Why not Saturday?" she asked defiantly. Not that she was agreeing or anything. But if it was really so important, why not make it as soon as possible? Tonight, everyone obviously had to ask - tomorrow might be short notice too. But that shouldn't stop them from trying to hang out Saturday.

"...Saturday's a full moon." Luke told her.

"Is it?" How had Carmine not remembered that? She must be slipping.

"Yeah. So even if we could get away, I don't think there'd be much talking." Luke said. "So - Sunday?"

"That depends." Carmine told him slowly. "If it's going to be even half as fun as it was last time, I'd rather not." Ok, so maybe she wasn't as over it as she thought.