You Were What You Eat

20. The Problem of Carmine

That very afternoon, Anna arranged to meet with Mia after school to discuss what they should do.

Anna sat down at one of the red tables in the middle of the courtyard, anxiously waiting for Mia to join her. Even though it wasn't exactly an emergency, Anna couldn't stop glancing at her watch every couple seconds, wishing Mia would hurry up.

As soon as she sat down next to Anna, the atmosphere immediately became tense. Finally, Mia spoke.

"You're really worried, aren't you?" she asked, looking at Anna's expression.

"I am." Anna replied. "What are we going to do?"

Mia chewed her lip for a moment, and Anna could see that though she tried to hide it, she was just as worried as Anna.

"Well...what can we do?" she asked. Whether she was stalling or simply had no idea was hard to say.

"...Normally, I'd move." Anna confessed. "But I don't think I can do that this time. I've never really gotten to know anyone where I've lived before. Now that I have, it would look too suspicious to just leave...Carmine would know for sure."

"At least you have that choice." Mia muttered. "I can't just pack up and leave. You can always disappear – even if Carmine knows, she'll never be able to find you. But I'm stuck here. What would I tell my parents?"

Anna thought a moment. There really was nothing Mia could tell her parents to convince them to move. Anna realized that even simply running away would do Mia no good – unlike Carmine, Mia's parents could track her down.

Leaving wasn't an option for Mia, and deep down Anna knew it wasn't one for her either. Now that she'd finally met people she could talk to, Anna was starting to actually like having friends again. Even though part of her still wanted just pack up and leave, she knew she couldn't – she'd never be able to start again; it'd just be too hard.

"We can't leave." she told Mia with certainty.

Mia nodded, lost in thought. She looked down at the red polish on the table, lightly tracing a scratch in it with her nail.

"Well..." Mia started hesitantly. "We could get rid of Carmine."

"How?" Anna asked, not entirely following.

"We could get her alone somewhere..." Mia didn't finish the thought. Anna stared at her in silence for a minute.

"You mean...get rid of her?" she asked cautiously. "As in...forever?"

Mia nodded decisively but didn't say anything. Anna's eyes got wide.

"I don't want to kill her!" Anna said a little louder than she meant to. Quickly, she looked around to make sure no one had overheard her. But they were alone in the courtyard.

"I don't either." Mia confessed. "But it would get rid of our problem."

"No." Anna said firmly. "We can't do it."

Mia squirmed slightly, but asked, "Why not?"

"For one, I just can't kill her." Anna said honestly. "She's my friend – and yours too. Would you really be able to kill someone you've eaten lunch with for months?"

"But she's going to cause us a lot of trouble." Mia replied, sidestepping the question.

"She might." Anna conceded. "But I still couldn't do that. Besides, what if we fail? She'd know it was us."

"But we won't fail." Mia said simply, her resolve growing. "How can we fail? She's not as strong, or as fast. She can't see in the dark as well as we can, and she can't hear as good."

"...So what happens if we do succeed?" Anna asked quietly.

"We go on with our lives." Mia replied. "It's most important that we aren't killed – they would kill us, if they found out."

"No." Anna told her after a minute. "What's most important is for us to never be found out in the first place. And if we kill Carmine, then we will be."

"How?" Mia asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to understand Anna's way of thinking.

"Because she's the only one talking about vampires. If she suddenly dies, it'll look like she could have been right. Or, if not right, at least not completely wrong."

Mia thought about this for a minute, and Anna could see her resolve wavering slightly. She continued on, before Mia had a chance to regroup.

"Besides, right now, even with as much talk as there is about 'attacks', there's not any evidence. There's nothing for the police to investigate. But if someone is murdered, then the police will have to look into it."

Mia nodded. "I see."

Anna breathed an inward sigh of relief, glad to have that settled. She'd never killed someone on purpose, and she didn't want her first to be a friend. Mia, however, brought her short-lived victory to a halt.

"So what do we do?"

"...Nothing." Anna told her, surprising even herself.

"Nothing?" Mia looked incredulous.

"Yes, nothing." Anna repeated, more sure of herself. "Right now, Carmine just looks crazy – no one believes her. It's best to do nothing and let this all just go away."

"Ok." Mia said, nodding once. "I just hope it really does go away."

"It will." Anna promised, not because she was sure it was true, but because she really wanted it to be.

The two girls stood up to leave. Anna leaned down and picked her bag up off the ground. As she slid it over her shoulder, she heard Mia exclaim "Oh!" and Anna turned to face her friend.

Mia had slid her backpack over in front of her and was digging around for something. After a moment, she pulled out a pen and a notebook. She tore off a scrap of paper and wrote something down on it.

"Here." she said, handing the paper to Anna. Anna looked down at it and saw that Mia had hastily written out her phone number. "You can call me if you need anything. And if anything happens...if the plan changes...you can talk to me."

Anna stared down at the small scrap of torn paper in awe. Her first phone number! Anna was somewhat embarrassed to admit it, even to herself, but she was really flattered. She doubted she'd ever use it – she didn't even have a phone. But it was the thought that mattered; this was the first time she'd ever been given a phone number in her entire life.

"Thank you." she told Mia with feeling. Carefully, she folded the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. Mia smiled at Anna, not knowing just how happy she'd made her friend.

Anna walked with Mia out to the back of the school where her mother was waiting impatiently. Mia hurried into the car, apologizing profusely, and Anna continued across the parking lot towards the street. Now that a decision had been made, Anna felt much better – much more relaxed. Even though the plan was to do nothing, Anna was glad that they'd at least made a decision. She walked the rest of the way home, feeling oddly better than she had in some time.