Monsters Are Forever

24. Picnic Invite

Carmine sat down in history on Friday morning. It had been over a week since the mistletoe thing, and everything actually seemed to be going ok. Mia wasn't acting so erratic anymore, and Rudi was definitely keeping her distance. The only problem now seemed to be Anna. She hadn't sat with them at lunch since then, and with what Luke had said about her trying to break up with him, Carmine knew that something was definitely wrong. So when Anna sat down next to her in class, Carmine decided it was time to find out just what it was.

"So why aren't you sitting with us at lunch anymore?" she asked, deciding to get straight to the point.

"I just want to wait until everything calms down a little." Anna said before turning to get her book out of her bag. She didn't look like she really wanted to discuss it, but that wasn't about to stop Carmine.

"He's worried, you know." Carmine told her.

She knew Luke would probably kill her for saying that, but she didn't really care; it wasn't like Anna'd be telling him any time soon. Anna looked over at her, guilt written all over her face.

"I know, and I feel bad about that. But there's nothing I can do."

"Really?" Carmine asked flatly.

It seemed to her that there was plenty Anna could do about it; wasn't she the one causing this? But before Carmine had a chance to point that out, the kid in front of her passed something back. Carmine rolled her eyes as she took the paper from him. She'd thought it was going to be the quiz they'd taken last week, but it wasn't. Instead, what she had in front of her was a half sheet of paper with six blank spaces on it.

"What's this?" she asked.

"We have to pick Homecoming King and Queen." the kid said, shrugging.

"Are you serious?"

That was so incredibly unimportant to Carmine she couldn't believe it. Who cared about some stupid dance when she was trying to figure out why her friends were acting so weird all the time? Rolling her eyes, she decided to just write down the first six names she could think of. Luke, Zev, and let's see...Michael Tomlin – why not? And for the girls how about Anna, Mia, and Jessica Williams. There – finished. And if somehow any of her friends got picked, at least they'd already have a date. Carmine knew Anna might be acting weird about Luke at the moment, but she was sure they'd be fine by the time Homecoming actually came around – if it even mattered anyway. Now that that was done, she turned back to Anna.

"So why aren't you talking to Luke?" she asked. Anna actually managed to make her surprise look almost convincing.

"We are talking – we're doing something this weekend."

"Really? What?"

"We were thinking of having a picnic. In the trees by our houses."

"In the woods?" Carmine asked.

She tried not to sound surprised, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't have picked that as the place to meet. Did Anna forget what happened the last time they were out there?

At least this time would be in the middle of the day – that should keep her safe. And there's no monsters anymore anyway, Carmine reminded herself; she was just being silly. But even though she told herself that, she wasn't really convinced.

"Yeah. Actually, I wanted to see if you wanted to come too."

"I don't know...Is it going to be just the two of you?"

As much as she would have loved to give Anna moral support, Carmine really didn't want to interrupt what limited one-on-one time Anna was still having with Luke – especially since it looked like they might not be seeing each other for very much longer. And she definitely didn't want to go if it meant she'd be a third wheel in the middle of a place that still kind of gave her the creeps.

"Probably not." Anna told her. "Luke was thinking about going out as a group. You know, like we used to."

"Ok." Carmine told her, deciding not to even ask why he wasn't that interested in doing couples' things with her. She didn't want to say anything, but it looked like Anna would be joining Carmine in being single very soon. So Carmine may as well enjoy one of her last times out with all five of her friends, before that kind of thing got too awkward.

"We thought it might be good to try something new." Anna told her. "And it's out of the way enough that we probably won't run into anyone out there."

"Why would you be worried about running into anyone?" Carmine asked. Anna looked suddenly like she'd said something she hadn't meant to.

"I just mean...well..." she faltered.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"No – of course not." Anna said, shifting uncomfortably. That settled it; Carmine was going to figure this whole thing out right now.

"Tell me." she demanded. When Anna hesitated, Carmine added, "I've told you about things going on with me – like that whole thing with Adam." And that had to be way more embarrassing than whatever problems Anna was having.

Anna nodded reluctantly.

The next thing Carmine knew, she was hearing all about the conversations Anna'd been having – not just with Rudi, but with Summer too. Carmine could hardly believe it; how could she not know any of this was happening? But if both of them were pressuring Anna to stop talking to Luke, Carmine could see why she'd be hesitant about being seen with him. And the fact that Summer was saying Luke could actually get hurt over the whole thing was definitely news to Carmine.

Carmine vaguely remembered Conner saying that Luke was supposed to be in charge of their little group next year if everything went according to plan. Her eyes widened as she thought about that: according to plan. Was that why they were looking for backup options on their hike? Carmine hoped not. But even if it was, she was pretty sure Luke was the kind of guy who could handle himself.

"Ignore her." Carmine said firmly. "Ignore both of them. Luke knows what he's doing."

"Maybe..." Anna said slowly. But she didn't seem convinced.

"Have you actually told him any of this?" Carmine might not know a ton about relationships, but that seemed like something she should probably mention to her boyfriend.

"...Not exactly." Anna admitted.

"Well, why not?" Carmine tried to say it nicely, and not like Anna was being an idiot.

"If I tell him, he won't listen." Anna told her. "And this is better for him."

"I seriously doubt it." Carmine told her. Besides, she hadn't seen how pathetic he'd looked when he asked Carmine if she knew what was wrong with Anna.

"So, do you want to come this weekend?" Anna asked, closing the subject of why she shouldn't break up with Luke.

"I guess." Carmine shrugged. "But nothing bad better happen."