Monsters Are Forever

15. Fact-Checking

Monday morning, Carmine walked into English as casually as she could. Friday in Econ, Mia had asked her about werewolf-repellents, but Carmine really hadn't wanted to tell Mia anything for two reasons. First, it seemed like a pretty weird request, considering half the people they hung out with were werewolves. Second, she wasn't one hundred percent sure on the answer, and she'd really hate to give her friend some advice only to have it not work when she needed it most. Carmine was pretty sure mistletoe would work, but she'd never actually found out for certain. The only werewolves she'd ever hung out with were her friends – not exactly the kind of people she'd be wanting to get rid of. And definitely not the group she'd be experimenting with.

She wasn't entirely sure if there was an easy way to find out what she needed to know, but she figured Conner could help with that. Well, he'd almost definitely know – but would he actually tell her? She really doubted it. She'd planned on going to the library to research it, but she didn't have a lot of time. Her sister was in town, and her parents had taken them down to the city for the weekend. And even though she knew the sooner she found out the better, she hadn't been able to get in touch with Conner before they left. She could have texted him, sure. But she figured this wasn't the kind of thing he'd be responding to via text. Better to ask him in person.

At least this meant Carmine had had all weekend to figure out a plan of action. Now, she just had to hope it worked. She sat down next to Conner, trying her best to act like everything was perfectly normal. This was really important, and she couldn't afford for him to get suspicious and refuse to talk; she had to use finesse. Too bad that was never her strong suit. She got her book out slowly and carefully flipped through the pages, looking for the chapter they'd be going over. She counted to ten in her head, just to make sure she really did look calm; she didn't want to rush into this too fast. When she hit ten, she casually looked over at Conner. He was already watching her.

"Something on your mind?" he asked. She must be even less subtle than she thought.

"Not really, why?" she asked.

"You have that look on your face. The one you get when you're pretending you couldn't possibly be scheming about anything." he told her.

"Oh." Carmine made a mental not to not act quite so casual next time.

"So what is it?" he asked.

She could see by his face that he was already suspicious. She just hoped she hadn't blown her chance before she'd even gotten to ask her question.

"Can I ask you something?" she said finally.

"I knew it." Then looking resigned, he asked, "What is it?"

"Well, what do you know about mistletoe?"

"Winter plant? People kiss under it?" he asked, looking at her a little funny. Did he know why she was asking? She figured he probably had a pretty good idea, especially considering her reputation.

"Anything else?" Carmine pressed.

She felt kind of weird putting him on the spot like that, but it was better than having to go to the library again. Besides, the library could only offer theories – it couldn't say for sure if any of them were actually true.

"Like what?" That look on his face let Carmine know he was definitely suspicious, but she pretended not to notice.

"Personal thoughts?" she asked. Conner shrugged.

"Smells kind of bad." he told her finally. Carmine blinked.

"It doesn't have a smell." she told him matter-of-factly.