Read Online Sweetblood (9781439108741) by Pete Hautman - Free Book Online Page A

of yellow. “You mean about vampire legends being based on untreated diabetics?”
    â€œYeah.”
    He chuckles. “You know, I ran that theory by a few of my colleagues. They got a kick out of it.”
    â€œThat’s because it’s probably true.”
    â€œIt could very well be,” Fish says. “Not that anyone will ever be able to prove it.”
    â€œI could go off my insulin and see what happens.”
    â€œI wouldn’t recommend that!”
    â€œJust for a few weeks. You know. See if my teeth grow.”
    Fish is peering at me with his eyebrows all scrunched together. He’s not sure I’m kidding.
    I say, “Who knows? Maybe the cure for diabetes is to drink the blood of normal people. An old Transylvanian cure?”
    Fish’s eyebrows do another contortion, then he forces out a laugh: HA HA HA.
    â€œDo you want a prescription for that?” he asks, trying to join me in the joke. I can see that he is uncomfortable. That makes me mad, so I just stare back at him without smiling. He looks down at my chart for a few seconds, then changes the subject.
    â€œWhat was the paper you wrote that got you in so much trouble?”
    â€œI just wrote out my theory. And added some background information. You know—stuff about Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory. Kind of nasty stuff. But mostly I just described how this diabetic girl turns into a vampire and eats her neighbors’ stew and then gets burned to death by some angry villagers.”
    Fish nods. “Sounds gruesome. I take it your teacher didn’t like your theory?”
    â€œWell, she called my parents… and you know how
they
are. They already think I’m some sort of bad seed, what with my diabetes and being a teenager and all.”
    â€œYou really think that?”
    â€œI think they don’t know what to make of me.”
    â€œOkay, you wrote a paper that didn’t go over so well. How come you’re having so much trouble in your other classes?”
    â€œEnnui,”
I say.
    â€œOn wee?”
    â€œOui.”
    Fish laughs. It’s not that funny, but I laugh too. It’s been a while.
    I say, “Look, school’s just really tedious right now. I got straight As for, like, three years in a row. I don’t see why everybody freaks out if I slack off for one semester. What’s the big deal? School is boring.”
    â€œYou know, it’s not such an awful thing to be bored.”
    â€œEasy for you to say. You’re old.”
    â€œI wasn’t always. Look at it this way. School is boring no matter how you cut it, right?”
    â€œMostly.”
    â€œWould it be any more boring if you did the work?”
    â€œIt might not be more boring, but it would be more work.”
    Fish says nothing, but his look accuses me. I feel pressure building up behind my eyeballs.
    â€œI just don’t want to study all the time. I’m sick of it. It’s too hard, and it’s not fair.”
    â€œWhy is it not fair?” He seems genuinely puzzled.
    â€œMy parents took away my computer. Plus, I have to deal with insulin reactions, and my blood sugars going crazy every time I get my period, and all the rest of it. My parents don’t get it at all. My mom’s on this huge guilt trip because I got diabetes and my dad, all he can think about when he looks at me is how come I’m not a boy. You know how come I don’t have any brothers or sisters? I’ll tell you—my mom actually told me this—she said the reason they quit having kids was because they didn’t want to risk bringing anotherdiabetic child into the world. Can you imagine her saying that to me? That’s my mom.”
    My eyes are stinging. Hot wet streaks run down my face. I’m sure my cheeks are black with makeup.
    Fish is staring at me, his face a cautious blank. He probably wishes he was on the golf course or the moon or anyplace else in the universe, but