Covet (Clann)

They were nearly at full blast now. I had to fight the urge to yell.
    “I’m sorry I had to leave so quick. I…I’ve been having some…health problems. Headaches and stuff. Trouble hearing sometimes. Digestion issues. That kind of thing.”
    Michelle’s eyebrows drew together. “Have you seen a doctor?”
    “It’s nothing serious, don’t worry about it,” I said, trying to focus on breathing slowly. I could do this. I just needed to calm down again, maybe think about something else for a while. “By the way, guess who I was assigned to sit beside in English last period? Ron Abernathy.”
    Anne thumped back in her chair as if I’d slapped her. She blinked once, twice, then shrugged. “So?”
    I mimicked her shrug. “So he seems kind of…sad. Like maybe he hasn’t gotten over you yet.”
    “Did he say something about me?” Anne stared at me.
    “Not in so many words.” I wished I could read her mind right now, but Michelle’s eager need for answers was drowning out Anne’s quieter thoughts.
    Anne stared into the distance, too many emotions flickering across her face for me to read them.
    “Well, if he’s upset about the breakup, he can just get over it.” Grabbing a plastic fork from the handful of extras Michelle had brought to the table, Anne stabbed her nachos so hard I thought the fork would break. “Because I am so not the right girl for him.” She took a huge bite of food and said, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay?”
    While she chewed, she gave her poor nachos a few more stabs to break up the chips. If she kept at it, she’d poke a hole through the bottom of the paper carton.
    And since when had Anne ever used a fork to eat nachos anyways?
    I leaned closer to her and murmured, “Anne, are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
    Longing shot out of her like a bolt, then faded. “No. It’s over and done. Did you want to talk about you and Tris—”
    “No, I don’t.”
    A hint of smugness twisted her mouth and gave her chestnut ponytail back its usual swing. “Okay then.”
    Look at that freak over there. What will it take for her to get a clue that she doesn’t belong here?
    I wonder what I should wear for our first date on Friday?
    I can’t believe she thinks I don’t know what she said about me behind my back! The next time I see Sally Parker, I swear….
    The roar of voices in my head combined with my own frustration, driving me to say, “But, Anne, Ron seems so nice! And he’s miserable without you, and you’re obviously miserable without him—”
    She threw down her fork and turned to glare at me. “If he’s so great, why don’t you date him?” He’s not what he seems , she thought loud enough for me to finally pick up.
    “Because I’m in love with—” I stopped myself just in time. “You know why.”
    Michelle’s already large eyes opened wider as she looked at me, then Anne, then me again.
    Anne took the longest drink I’d ever seen from her soda, as if she intended to down the entire can in one long slurp.
    I pressed a shaky hand to my forehead. This wasn’t working. At all. The voices weren’t getting any quieter. If anything, they were at the screaming level now. As a result, I couldn’t think straight.
    Stupid ESP. At least for today, it was getting the upper hand. I needed to go somewhere quiet for a few minutes, take a quick break before third period, or my head was going to explode. “Um, listen, I think I’m getting a migraine right now.”
    “Do you want an aspirin?” Anne reached for her backpack.
    “No, thanks,” I mumbled. “I can’t take it. I just need to go somewhere quiet—”
    “The library’s open during lunch if you can sneak by the librarian without a pass,” Michelle suggested. “Or you could ask the nurse to let you lie down for a while.”
    “Thanks, I’ll do that.” I was already on my feet, fumbling for my duffel bag and purse. Should I duck into a bathroom and drink the emergency stash of blood? Somehow I didn’t think that would help with the ESP. In fact, it might even make it worse by feeding the vamp side. And then of course I’d have to deal with the blood memories immediately afterwards….
    Anne grabbed my wrist, the apology loud enough in her mind that I could finally hear her. She didn’t want us to be fighting.
    I forgot to wait for her to actually say it. “Don’t worry. Everything’s fine. We’re fine. Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have asked again about him.