Carmine came downstairs almost an hour early. Normally she wouldn’t even be up at this time, but she didn’t want to take a chance on going back to sleep – the nightmares would only get worse if she did. So instead, she’d checked over her homework and read ahead a little for English. She was exhausted, but every time she thought about going to sleep, she was filled with a sense of dread. Finally, she got up. There was no way she was going back to sleep tonight, so she may as well do something.
She went downstairs and made herself chocolate-chip pancakes in the hopes that she would feel better. At least she could get a real breakfast for once, instead of the Pop-Tarts she usually had. She was busy drenching her plate in syrup when her mom came out to the kitchen.
“You’re up early.” she told Carmine.
“Yeah, I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.” Carmine told her.
She hadn’t told her mom about those nightmares of hers – what was the point? Her mom would never understand; she’d probably just think Carmine was being a baby. And it was no good telling her that the dreams started happening after she and her friends had actually attacked a headless horseman. That would only get her a date with the best psychiatrist her mom could afford – if she was lucky. No, it was better to just ignore it. Maybe she would grow out of it. Besides, she didn’t really see any other options at this point.
Carmine shoved the last bite of pancakes into her mouth. By the time she was actually done with breakfast, she only had a few minutes left before she needed to leave for school.
“You ready to go, honey?” her mom asked, grabbing the car keys off the hook by the door.
“I guess.” Carmine said, trying not to pout. She’d been going to school for almost three months now and already she was wishing for summer. Maybe if she’d actually been able to get consistent sleep, she wouldn’t be too exhausted to pay attention in class. Her mom tossed her the keys as they walked out the door, and Carmine only barely had time to react. Great. As if things weren’t bad enough – she was going to have to actually drive to school today too.
She’d been hoping for a chance to get some sleep in the car, especially since she hadn’t gotten much last night. But her driving test was next month and Carmine’s mom really wanted her to get as much practice in as possible. Carmine didn’t see what the big deal was – couldn’t she just wait it out for a few more months? Like twelve? Forty-eight, maybe? But her mom wasn’t going for it; she wanted Carmine to get her license as soon as possible so she could stop playing chauffeur.
“Can’t you drive today?” Carmine asked.
But her mom was already opening the passenger door and sliding in. Carmine walked dejectedly up to the blue-gray Honda and got in on the driver’s side.
“You need more practice.” her mom told her. But Carmine didn’t want more practice. She wanted sleep. And she wanted to quit driving altogether. Maybe she’d just take the bus for the rest of her life. Anna did it – how bad could it really be?
“But I hate driving.” Carmine mumbled.
“You’ll like it once you’re more confident.” her mom told her. “Besides, it’ll give you more independence.”
Carmine didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, it was way too much work. She had to make sure she knew what was going on in three different mirrors that were nowhere near each other, and make sure she didn’t hit anything in front of her. And she had to do it all while going like forty miles an hour! She didn’t see how she was ever going to do this. It seemed impossible – and that was before she factored in the tiredness. Even when Carmine didn’t have nightmares, she still didn’t exactly get the best sleep.
She’d planned on whining a little more – maybe that would get her a single day off. But the look on her mom’s face told Carmine it wasn’t going to happen. So instead, she stifled a yawn, looked behind her, and backed out of the driveway.
It was only a twenty-minute drive, but it always felt so much longer. And two failed signals and a near-accident later, Carmine pulled into the back of the junior parking lot. She let out a sigh of relief when she finally put the car in park. She watched out of the corner of her eye as her mom unclenched her hand from the armrest. So much for her insistence that Carmine was doing fine.
“I’ll pick you up after school.” her mom said.
“Ok.” Carmine mumbled. She watched as Luke, Zev, and Conner piled out of Luke’s old Mustang across the aisle. She wondered vaguely if he’d take her home. And maybe pick her up. Just until the end of the school year; it’d only be like six months. So they lived in opposite directions – would that matter? As far as Carmine was concerned, it’d be totally worth it.
“Have a good day.” Carmine’s mom called out to her as she shut the door.
“I will.” Carmine said absentmindedly. At least school seemed safe. There were no monsters here, nothing trying to attack her or blackmail her friends. The only problems Carmine was having this year were when she got home.
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Somehow, Carmine and all her friends had managed to get the same lunch period this year. With three possible lunches at the school, the odds seemed like they’d be against it; she would have thought that at least one of the six would have had a different period. Last year, the girls had had the same lunch, but the boys had been on their own. But when Carmine remarked on this year’s apparent luck, Zev laughed.
“Yeah, Rudi’s working in the front office this year.” he told her, like that explained everything.
Carmine remembered last year when she’d found out that he and his friends were actually werewolves. The boys had explained that pretty much their whole neighborhood was made up of them. Apparently, they’d been living in the city for generations, right under everyone’s noses. And Rudi Kaelin was part of that group.
“So what – you just asked her to switch the schedules around?” Carmine asked. Zev and Rudi might be part of the same group, but she’d never got the impression that they were all that close.
“Pretty much.” Zev grinned. “Really, it was only mine and Anna’s. Everyone else already had the same lunch, so it wasn’t like it was that hard.”
“You know, you really owe her for that.” Luke said casually.
“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t forget about her – you don’t want to get her mad.”
“Rudi? But she’s so tiny!” Mia said, surprised. “What would she do?”
“She might be small, but she’s got a vicious streak.” Luke told her.
“You should have seen her last week!” Conner laughed.
“Why? What happened last week?” Anna asked, eyes wide.
“She nearly took Zev’s ear off.” Luke told her, grinning. Conner snickered.
“She did not.” Zev rolled his eyes.
“Sure looked like it to me.” Conner said happily.
“So what happened then?” Mia asked impatiently.
Carmine couldn’t help but notice Mia didn’t seem particularly concerned. She and Zev might be more or less dating, but they sure didn’t have that sentimentality any other couple would have had for each other.
“It was nothing, really.” Zev told her. “We were out in the woods. You know – everybody.”
Carmine nodded along with Anna and Mia. Last Thursday had been the full moon. And the girls might not know a lot about what they did on those nights, but they did know that the whole neighborhood went out to the woods together. They treated it like a kind of block party. Carmine grinned to herself. Actually, that was exactly what they’d thought it was – before Mia wandered into the woods one night.
“I just wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have.” Zev told her shrugging.
“Wait – what?” Carmine asked. There was no way that was the end of his story. Carmine looked at his face, but it was clear he’d decided against saying whatever had happened.
“Anyway, I wasn’t the one who started it.” Zev said, turning to Luke. “You did.”
“I did not!” Luke looked indignant – like he couldn’t believe Zev would drag him into the middle of this. “You know that was only because of – her cousin.” Luke finished. What was it they weren’t telling the girls?
“Who’s cousin? Rudi’s?” Carmine asked. She didn’t know about Anna or Mia, but she liked to keep a mental note on who was human around here and who wasn’t.
“Well, they’re not really cousins.” Luke admitted.
“Might as well be. Their families are close enough.” Zev muttered darkly.
Carmine rested her head in her hand and casually closed her eyes as she listened to the rest of their conversation. Whatever had happened, no one seemed particularly interested in talking about it. And Carmine was too tired to play guessing games. She was more than happy to just listen. And if anything newsworthy caught her attention, then maybe she’d tune in again.
The next thing Carmine knew, someone was shaking her arm, and she almost fell over.
“What?” Carmine opened her eyes slowly. Conner was sitting on the bench next to her.
“Come on – wake up. Lunch’s over.” he told her.
“Really?” Hadn’t they just sat down?
“Are you ok?” Anna asked quietly.
Carmine hadn’t even seen her standing there. She tried to force an I’m-awake expression on her face as she casually looked around. Everyone else was heading to class.
“I’m fine. Just got up early this morning.” she told Anna. She hoped Anna would remember, without Carmine having to say anything in front of Conner. Fortunately, it looked like she did. She nodded, but she still didn’t look happy.
“Just don’t fall asleep in class.” Conner told her. He grinned in that boyish way of his, but Carmine thought she saw something else in his expression. Had Anna said anything while she was asleep?
“Nope. I’m good.” Carmine said brightly. She smothered a yawn as she grabbed her backpack up off the ground. “See you in history.” she told Conner.
“See you then.” he said. He slung his own backpack over his shoulder and made his way across the courtyard. When he was a safe distance away, Carmine turned back to Anna.
“Did you tell him I texted you last night?” Carmine asked casually.
“No. Should I have?” Anna looked a little surprised.
“No.” Carmine said quickly. “I mean, I know I’ve been a little off. But I’m fine. Really.”
“You sure?” Anna asked, studying her a little closer than Carmine would have liked.
“Positive.”
“You’d tell me if anything was wrong, right?” Anna asked after a minute.
“Of course.” If it was anything but this, Carmine added silently. Nightmares were embarrassing, especially after all they’d been through. And it wasn’t like it was a real problem anyway. If something bad actually showed up, Anna would be the first person to know about it, Carmine promised herself.
“Ok. Just be careful, alright?” Anna said finally.
“Will do.” Carmine grinned in a way she hoped was convincing.
“I just worry about you.” Anna admitted. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry.” Carmine said a little coolly.
She knew it was more than just friendly concern. Carmine was the most fragile member of their group – physically at least. Her friends tried to hide it, but she could see that they were nervous taking her on some of their more dangerous adventures. And if they knew it was starting to take a toll on Carmine mentally, they’d never let her do anything with them again.
“Come on – we’re going to be late.” Carmine announced.
and then Add to home screen.