Zev walked into class still looking a little pale, but at least he wasn't staggering anymore. Mia tried to be glad about that. She was just happy Carmine had gone over to help him. As he sat down in his seat across the aisle, he gave her a small nod. Obviously, he wasn't feeling quite back to normal yet.

She watched him all period out of the corner of her eye, trying to gauge how he was actually doing. It was hard to say, but he didn't look all that great. At least he looked better by the end of class. As soon as the bell rang, she came over to him.

"Are you ok?" Mia asked as they walked out of the room together.

She was almost too embarrassed to face what she'd done, but she knew she had to ask. Besides, what kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn't even check on him? Especially the way he'd barely made it out of the cafeteria like that. And she knew it had been all her fault. She wanted to apologize, but she wasn't quite able to admit what she'd done.

"Yeah, I'm fine – I feel a lot better now at least." Zev told her. "Don't know what happened there at lunch."

"You don't?"

Mia would have thought it'd be pretty obvious to him. Or was it actually possible he'd never been around mistletoe that long before?

Zev looked at her sideways for a minute and Mia suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Should I?" he asked finally.

"Well...I mean...I just thought..." Mia faltered before deciding to change the subject altogether – this one wasn't working out so well for her anyway. "So why is everyone acting so weird?"

Maybe if she got him thinking about something else – like how Anna barely seemed to want to be seen at lunch with the rest of them – that would get his attention off her for sure. And get his mind off of what she'd done today.

"I'm not." Zev told her, looking surprised. "I mean, ok – I got kinda sick at lunch. But that doesn't mean I'm acting weird."

"No, I didn't mean you." Mia told him.

He'd sounded defensive, and it surprised her. Maybe he really did have an idea as to what happened at lunch after all. Suddenly, Mia almost wished they were the kind of couple who talked about things like this. Then maybe she could tell him what was going on with her and Rudi. And why she'd practically poisoned him at lunch.

"So what'd you mean then?" he asked.

"Well, I guess I was thinking about Rudi mostly. And even Summer keeps staring at me." Mia told him, trying to ease her way into it. Zev sighed.

"It's nothing – just a rumor." he told her. "Just ignore them, and it'll stop eventually."

"Eventually?" Mia couldn't believe he'd just said that. Did he really not know how dangerous rumors could be to someone like her?

"It doesn't really have to do with you – don't worry." Zev said, trying to be reassuring. "I'll take care of it."

"What rumor?" Mia asked, not comforted in the least.

If there was even a chance that there was some sort of rumor going around about her, she wanted to know exactly what it was. When he didn't seem particularly interested in telling her, she decided maybe she should remind him of exactly how serious this was for her.

"Rumors about me were the reason I had to leave Japan in the first place." she told him.

Zev raised his eyebrows at her, and Mia caught herself wondering if she'd ever mentioned that little fact to him. If she were really honest with herself, it seemed like something she would have left out; she didn't particularly like thinking about it.

"I guess I never really thought about that." he told her.

Mia nodded but didn't say anything. Even when she was trying to explain it to her boyfriend, she still really liked to pretend that none of that stuff had ever happened. When he realized she wasn't going to be carrying the conversation, Zev spoke up.

"Someone's saying that we're going to turn you girls." he said reluctantly.

"But that's stupid." Mia told him. It was so far removed from true, she was having a hard time believing anyone would even think it. "I don't even think it's possible."

"Well, I know that." He sounded exasperated. "But it's not really something we can point out to anyone, you know?"

"I'm sorry." Mia told him.

It hadn't actually occurred to her that he could really be covering for her and all her problems. And here she hadn't thought it was possible to feel any more guilty.

"It's not your fault." he told her.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Just ignore it." Zev shrugged. "They'll stop saying things eventually – when it doesn't actually happen."

He pulled her close, giving her a quick hug, and Mia actually started feeling a little better. But as soon as his chin touched her head, he pulled away.

"What'd you put in your hair?" he asked. He wrinkled his nose, looking like whatever it was had smelled pretty bad.

"What?" Mia blinked; the question had caught her off-guard.

Absentmindedly, she ran a hand through her hair. She didn't feel anything different. And it wasn't like she'd changed shampoos or anything recently. Zev took a small step away from her, looking like he might be sick all over again.

Seeing that look on his face, Mia suddenly realized what it must be – her hair must still smell like the mistletoe she'd been wearing when she went out last night. She had made sure to have as much of it in her hair as she could – just for Rudi, of course. But even when she'd come back home, she hadn't exactly taken the wreath off. She couldn't help it; it just worked so well, it kind of felt like a lucky charm. She probably should have washed her hair after that instead of before though, especially if she wanted to keep hanging out with Zev; judging by his face, the smell was still lingering more than she'd thought.

Zev stared at her intently for a minute, thinking. He must have seen the guilty look that passed over her face because his eyes suddenly narrowed.

"What did you do?" he asked her.

"I didn't do anything." Mia said defensively. She hadn't meant to do it on purpose, and she didn't like his tone; it made her feel like he didn't trust her.

"You know you did – your hair smells like mistletoe." He took another step back. "Why?"

Mia glanced down at the floor for a second. He seemed so hurt by it – like she'd done it just to spite him. Apparently, he took her silence as a refusal to admit what she'd done, maybe even as a lack of regret. When she looked back up at him, she saw he had a kind of strange expression on his face that she couldn't quite read.

"You know, if you need space or something, you could have just told me." he said finally.

"What? Why would you think that?"

Mia could hardly believe what he was saying. She started to take a step closer, but he held up a hand and backed up the same amount, keeping his distance.

"Why else would you really put poisonous plans in your hair? And mistletoe of all things?"

"It's a holiday plant – that's it." Mia said defensively. Suddenly, she wasn't sure she even wanted to admit she was having problems with Rudi – not with the way he was talking to her.

"So are poinsettias. And holly. Even pine trees. So why'd you happen to pick the one plant designed to get rid of...people like me?" he asked. "I threw up at lunch today – several times, actually. You realize that, right?"

"I didn't do it because of you." Mia told him quietly.

"Then why? What were you thinking?"

"I did it last night – I didn't think it'd be noticeable today."

"You still haven't told me why." she could see Zev was starting to get frustrated. And his suspicion was only growing.

"I did it because of Rudi – it's the only way I can make sure she's not following me." Mia told him finally.

She knew she should have told him a lot sooner, but it was embarrassing to admit. And she was afraid to have to let her friends know how helpless this whole thing made her feel.

"Why would she be following you?" he asked skeptically. Mia got the impression he thought she was still trying to avoid saying the real reason.

"I don't know. But she's been doing it every night." Mia told him. "And I can't really afford to let her see what I'm doing."

"She follows you at night? I thought you'd taken care of that."

Mia raised her eyebrow; she didn't actually remember telling him that Rudi was following her in the first place. But he didn't wait for her response.

"How long's she been doing that?"

"Since the beginning of the year." she admitted.

"And this is the only way you can think to fix it?" he asked.

"Nothing else has worked." she nodded miserably.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I could handle it."

"With mistletoe?" he asked. He still sounded annoyed that she'd resorted to that.

Mia just nodded, staring down at the floor.

"And she does this every night?" he asked. She was just glad he decided not to point out how obviously wrong she was about her ability to take care of her own problems.

"Except for on full moons." she mumbled, embarrassed. "But I'm pretty sure she won't be doing it much anymore." Especially if Mia kept using that mistletoe like she planned.

She hated to admit it, but there was almost no way she was going to stop any time soon; she wasn't completely convinced that Rudi was willing to just let this go. If she stopped using it, she got the distinct impression that Rudi would be back, full-force. And as much as it obviously bothered Zev, the idea of not being caught – and not dying – trumped that.

"Don't worry about her." Zev said. "I'll take care of that – today. And if you see her again, let me know."