Covet (Clann)

whole thing with Tris— I mean, other stuff. But none of that is because of you or how you look or whatever.”
    I stared at her, completely lost. “Yes, I know you guys are here for me. Thanks.”
    “Does your dad know that you’re anorexic?” Carrie blurted out, her hands clasped together on the table before her.
    Oh wow. So that’s what this was. I sighed, propping my forehead in my hand. “You guys can stop the intervention. I’m not anorexic.”
    “Told you so,” Anne said, her tone more than a little exasperated.
    “He probably doesn’t care enough to notice,” Carrie said.
    “Huh?” I said. “My dad cares about me.” A little too much at times, in fact, what with his constant warnings and less-than-subtle questions about how I was feeling every other minute I was home.
    Carrie acted like I hadn’t said anything. “Even if your dad doesn’t notice or care that you’re slowly killing yourself, we do. And you need to get some help.”
    I leaned back in my chair. This was going to be such a long lunch break. “I don’t have an eating disorder. I’m just on a new—”
    “A new diet? Please, we’ve already heard that one,” Carrie snapped. “How stupid do you really think we are? It’s obvious you’ve got a problem. Why else would you bail on Anne’s birthday party? And you skipped lunch yesterday, and you didn’t eat anything the day before, either. And now you’re not eating again today.”
    I didn’t know whether to be thrilled that they cared so much, irritated that they couldn’t just believe me, or worried that I had no plan for how to lessen their concerns. If I ate anything, it would just come right back up and worry them even more.
    I tried one more time. “Guys, I swear I’m not trying to lose weight here. I’ve just been having trouble eating stuff like I used to.”
    “Like I said.” Anne turned to face me. “I told them you were just having stomach problems. But Miss Future Doctor of the World over there’s convinced otherwise.”
    Michelle’s head whipped from side to side like she was watching a tennis match. “I always thought you had a cast-iron stomach, Sav. Was it eating all those chili cheese French fries last year that hurt you?”
    “Well, actually,” Carrie began, her tone more than a little reluctant now. “People can develop digestive problems after experiencing prolonged periods of stress. I guess she could be suffering from an ulcer, which would make it hard for her to eat much for a while until her stomach lining heals.”
    “And she’s definitely been stressed out lately.” Michelle shot me a sympathetic smile.
    “So why’d you miss lunch yesterday?” Anne asked.
    “Um, about that,” I began. “I’ve been meaning to tell you…you’ll never guess who I have both chemistry and English lit with.”
    “Ron Abernathy?” Anne asked drily.
    “Yep. And he needs help in English, and I’m clueless in chem. So we agreed to help each other out with our homework during lunch sometimes in the library.”
    Anne stared at me. “In the library, huh?”
    “Because it’s quiet there,” I added. “And his mom’s the librarian, so she lets us work there without requiring a teacher’s pass.”
    “Makes sense,” Anne muttered, as if it were no big deal.
    However, the flashes of heat from her told a different story, almost as if…
    She was jealous.
    “Anne, it’s really not like that,” I said, feeling like I was suddenly facing a wild animal that needed soothing with an extra calm voice. “I would never, ever go after your ex. Plus he’s not my type.”
    “Really? Because your type isn’t the tall, blond earnest-eyed football player?” Carrie said.
    I could have almost laughed if it weren’t so insulting. “Ron’s nothing at all like…you know who.”
    Carrie glared at me, while Anne pretended to be very interested in her soda.
    I touched Anne’s shoulder. “Come on, Anne. You know me. You know I would never go after anyone you cared about. And I know you still care about Ron. Even if you didn’t, I still wouldn’t date him.” After my last two dating attempts, I definitely would not be trying it again. Two total disasters were enough for one lifetime.
    “I know that,” Anne mumbled, but it didn’t sound like she believed it. She looked up at me, sighed and said more firmly, “I do know that. I know you’d never date Ron.”
    “Still, he could have asked someone else for help,” Carrie muttered.
    “Does he have