Connected: Book 1 Connected Series

by Kat Stiles

  “You can drop me back off at my house. She lives across the street,” I said. “Thanks.”

  This wave of fear all of a sudden washed over me, right before my cell phone rang. The caller ID read Roz.

  “Roz, I’m so sorry I forgot―”

  “Em, I’m in trouble,” she said, breathless.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I… I did something stupid. Now I’m stuck out here near the woods on the North side, and—”

  “Hold on a sec, okay?”

  “I don’t know how I’m going to get home. My father’s—”

  “Roz, it’s going to be all right. Hold on.”

  “Okay.”

  I covered the mouthpiece and addressed Tommy. “Roz is in trouble. Can we go get her?”

  “Of course. Where is she?”

  I got back on the phone with Roz. “Tommy and I are on the way. Is there a cross-street nearby?”

  “Sierra and Suncrest.”

  “We’ll be right there.” I gave Tommy directions and we headed out there.

  “What happened?” he asked, as he sped past a string of strip malls.

  “I don’t know. She said she did something stupid.”

  I bit my lip, feeling both worried and guilty. Tommy held my hand in between shifting gears.

  We arrived at the cross street and found her waiting on the curb. In my nervousness, I easily muscled the door open to get out. Roz embraced me.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, hugging her back.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  “I’m the one who’s sorry,” she said, with a nervous laugh. “Should’ve known who my real friends are.”

  We both slid into the front seat and Tommy got out to close the door for us.

  “Thanks, Tommy,” Roz said, once he made it back inside. “I really appreciate this.”

  “No problem.” He started the drive back. “So what happened?”

  “Scott gave me a ride home from school. Everything was going great—we went out and talked for a long time. I thought he was my friend.”

  My stomach got queasy, imagining where the story was headed.

  “He came onto me all of a sudden,” she said. “When I told him I wasn’t interested in him that way, he tried to force himself on me.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and I could feel her disgust, even recalling it.

  “Did he hurt you?” Tommy asked so forcefully it startled me. I noticed his grip on the steering wheel tighten.

  “No. I managed to get out of his car, and then I called you, Em.”

  “I’m so glad he didn’t hurt you,” I said, hugging her again.

  “Yeah, glad for him,” Tommy muttered under his breath. “You know where he lives, Roz?”

  “No, I don’t,” she said. “Why?”

  He didn’t answer her, but kept his gaze straight ahead, turning on Elmhurst Street. The anger he put off disturbed me.

  “You all right?” I asked him, too quietly for Roz to hear.

  “I’m fine,” he said between clenched teeth.

  “I can’t believe it,” Roz continued. “He was so easy to talk to. I thought he understood we were only friends.” She looked down, and her body hunched over. “I am such an idiot.”

  “You’re not an idiot, Roz. It’s hard to tell with some people,” I said.

  “Apparently Tommy knew he was a jerk.”

  Tommy didn’t respond, but appeared deep in thought.

  “It’s not like he had ‘scumbag’ tattooed to his forehead,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. Between the anger from Tommy and the anxiety from Roz, I was getting exhausted just sitting there with them.

  She cracked a smile. “He should’ve.”

  Tommy pulled up to my house. I kissed his cheek and thanked him again, but he was somewhere else entirely. He drove off and I stood there with Roz. Even with her clothes all disheveled and the feeling of uncertainty I sensed from her, she was still remarkable, still the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

  I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “You’re my best friend, you know that?”

  “Yeah. Mine, too. Sorry I was crazy,” she said.

  “I’m sorry, too. But we’re good now, right?”

  “Yeah.” I felt a genuine feeling of affection from her.

  “The night’s not over yet,” I said. “We can still celebrate.”

  She half-smiled. “Don’t feel much like celebrating now.”

  “You will when you see my present. Come on.” I ran up the stairs to my house, followed by Roz. Once we made it to my room, I handed her a plastic bag with her gift, a brown cat’s eye pendant.

  “Happy birthday!”

  “Oh, you got me groceries,” she said. “How thoughtful.”

  I laughed. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not really one for presentation.”

  “You didn’t have to get me anything,” she said quietly.

  “Don’t be silly. I got this months ago. I was waiting to give it to you.”

  She dug into the bag and opened the case. “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kind of stone before. It’s beautiful.” She took the necklace out of the box and quickly put it on. “How does it look?”

  “Perfect. Completely goes with your eyes.”

  “Lemme see.” She ran to the nearest mirror, in the bathroom.

  I followed her.

  She wore a huge grin. “You’re right. It is the color of my eyes.” She hugged me. “Thanks, I love it.”

  “Thanks for putting up with me. I know I haven’t been such a great friend.”

  She sighed, still hugging me. “You’re my best friend, Em. Always will be, no matter what.”

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning at the bus stop I met Roz. Her hair was tied back, and she dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans, an outfit that could’ve easily come from my wardrobe.

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I had trouble sleeping. Strange dream last night, I kept having it over and over.”

  “You did? What was it about?”

  “There were two men in someone’s house, I don’t know whose, and one was communicating with the other using his mind.”

  “Hmm. Like telepathy?”

  “I think so. Maybe some sort of transfer took place? But then…” She looked off to the side, her forehead wrinkling.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. It wasn’t very clear.” She sighed. “I wish I knew what it meant.”

  “Maybe it’s only a dream,” I said.

  She frowned. “That’s what was weird—it felt different from a normal dream. I could feel what was going on… I can’t explain it, but I know it’s not the same.”

  We boarded the bus and took our seats.

  “Did it hurt?” I asked.

  “Not so much. It felt heavy, like a weight.”

  I wondered if it was something more than a dream. I mean, she’d always had pretty cool dreams, and an uncanny knack for predicting things…like me dating before her.

  “Em, you still here?” Roz waved a hand in front of me, and looked at me as if I were enjoying an advanced integral calculus problem. “You spaced out for a second there.”

  “Yeah. I was thinking maybe you should talk to Judy. She helped me out with my…uh, problem.”

  Roz’s eyes grew large. “You think it’s…”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But Judy will.”

  “Cool. Will you go with me?” Roz asked excitedly.

  “Sure, let me get my books and I’ll meet you there.”

  I had just grabbed my stuff when Tommy came dashing towards his locker. I joined him and noticed he was out of breath.

  “You all right?” I asked.

  He took a deep breath and exhaled. Then he smiled, taking my hands into his. “I am now.”

  The heat from my hands calmed him, until he was back to normal.

  “You are amazing, you kn
ow that?”

  “I really appreciate what you did last night,” I said.

  He chuckled, but didn’t say a word. I had a feeling I wasn’t in on the joke.

  “Tommy, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and left. “See you later.”

  * * * *

  I got to the nurse’s office before Roz. Judy motioned for me to enter.

  “How are you doing, Em?” she asked as she organized some paperwork on her desk.

  “Good, though I was wondering about something.” I chewed on my thumbnail, trying to figure out how to word it. “Lately I’ve been able to…I guess, sense what other people are feeling. Is that normal?”

  She smiled. “Yes, it’s called empathy. As a healer you are naturally empathic.”

  “Empathic?” I didn’t know what to think. “How does it work?”

  Judy laughed. “You’ll just feel other people’s feelings, there’s no effort involved.”

  “But…” I glanced at the floor. “What if I don’t want to feel them?”

  Her face softened into a sympathetic expression. “That’s the tricky part.”

  Roz joined us, and Judy’s eyes widened.

  “Oh my God. It’s happened, hasn’t it?” she said, getting up from her desk. “Your power’s activated!”

  “My what?” Roz said.

  “I can tell, your aura is absolutely glowing.” Judy hugged a very confused Roz.

  “Are you okay? I mean, you weren’t seriously hurt, were you?” Judy inspected her briefly, doing a scan like she did with me.

  Roz was still confused, but I could feel a sort of anxious anticipation from her. “Uh, what are you talking about?”

  Judy smiled. “Your special ability. It gets fully activated by some kind of traumatic experience. I couldn’t see exactly what happened, but only that Em and Tommy helped you.”

  “Saw?” I said. Is she saying she foresaw what happened?

  Judy wore a Cheshire cat grin, her brown eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “Yes. I’m not just a healer, Em. I’m also a psychic. Like you, Roz.”

  “You’re psychic, too?” I asked. It explained her knowing who we were before we met her, and how she knew about my ability.

  “You can’t be serious,” Roz said, as she backed away from Judy. Her feeling of anticipation turned more into fear, though I couldn’t tell if it was of Judy or learning she was psychic.

  “Please don’t be afraid. These powers, they’re nothing to fear. They’re part of who you are, and they’re always beneficial, once you learn to use them properly, control them.” Judy walked over to Roz and touched her shoulders gently. “You’re seeing something you don’t understand, something that scares you.”

  “How did you…” Roz trailed. She looked at Judy with both fear and concern in her eyes. I could tell she had a million questions.

  “I’ve known for many years about the three of you. Powers that are more…concentrated than anything else out there.” Judy clapped her hands together. “I’m so excited you’ve all activated now.”

  That broke Roz out of her daze. “Wait… What? Did you say three of us?”

  Judy smiled. “Yes.”

  “Who’s the third?” I asked.

  “You don’t know?” The question was directed at me. I looked at her blankly. “Well, that’ll be clear very soon.”

  What the hell is that supposed to mean? I had a feeling she enjoyed her cryptic little answers. But all I had were questions. Like how did we get these powers? And if she really is a psychic and a healer, what is she doing working as a high school nurse?

  “So what does it mean, this dream?” Roz asked.

  “Vision,” Judy corrected. “They show us the future to prepare us, sometimes to warn us.”

  “Warn us?” Roz asked. “Can we change it? Change the outcome?”

  Judy sighed. “That’s not an easy question to answer. It’s sometimes hard to tell if we’re supposed to only know or do something to change it. But I believe it is possible.”

  Roz frowned. “You’ve never done it?”

  Her warm smile returned. “My gift to see is different from yours. Because I can heal too, neither one of my gifts is as powerful as either of yours,” she said, her eyes acknowledging me as well.

  “How do you know all this?” I asked.

  “My visions tell me. Sometimes, I get a glimpse of the distant future. I’ve seen the three of you will do great things. Help a lot of people.”

  “There she goes with ‘the three’ again,” Roz said to me, motioning in frustration towards Judy. “Could you please stop mentioning it if you won’t tell us who it is?”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out,” she said. “You will.”

  “Did you see that too?” Roz said under her breath.

  Judy either didn’t hear or ignored her, I couldn’t tell which. “You’ll see a lot further into the future than I can. You will become a very powerful seer.”

  “So weird…” Roz whispered.

  “I’m here for you, Roz, if you have any questions at all.” Judy’s warm smile appeared.

  Roz sighed. “Actually I do have a question. Can we get passes?”

  Judy laughed. “Of course.”

  “I can’t believe you’re a psychic,” I said to Roz. “You think you know someone…”

  She punched my arm.

  “Hey.” I rubbed the spot she hit.

  “What?” she said with a smirk. “You’re a healer, right?”

  Judy gave us each a pass along with a note. “My cell phone, in case you ever need anything. Be seeing you soon,” she said knowingly.

  “Yeah, that’s going to get annoying,” Roz muttered.

  * * * *

  It wasn’t until my third class that I learned why Tommy was winded. Of course I wasn’t told directly—I had to overhear the rumors. I was annoyed he didn’t tell me what happened when we were together at his locker. By the time lunch rolled around, my annoyance had festered into anger. I scowled at him the whole time as I approached our table.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” I said. “I knew something was up.”

  He had the audacity to grin at me. “Whatever are you talking about?”

  “Your little incident this morning. Did you think I wouldn’t hear about it? No wonder you were breathing hard.”

  Roz joined us at the table, and I felt a sense of excitement from her, as if she had a secret she couldn’t wait to tell.

  “Roz, has Scott said anything to you today?” Tommy asked her.

  The question caught her off-guard. “Uh, no. You know, I thought that was strange. I figured he’d be the kind of jerk to act like nothing happened.”

  Tommy turned back to me. “He didn’t talk to her. I think I got my point across.”

  “What happened?” Roz asked.

  When he didn’t answer, I said to him, “You might as well tell her. The secondhand version was probably embellished.”

  “Did I pull a knife on him?” His grin returned, in all its roguish glory.

  I couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Machete, actually.”

  “Awesome,” Tommy exclaimed.

  “Is someone going to tell me what happened?” Roz asked. Her eyes switched back and forth between Tommy and me.

  “I had a simple conversation with Scott,” he said.

  I looked at him incredulously. “Maybe they weren’t exaggerating...”

  “A conversation?” Roz folded her arms against her chest. “About what?”

  “I told him to stay away from you.”

  “Yeah, and then you slammed him against his locker,” I added. “I heard several times. Is that true?”

  “I wasn’t getting through to him,” he said. “Some people only understand limited forms of communication.”

  “Did you hurt him?” I asked.

  “No.” His eyes darkened. “I could’ve done much worse.”

  Roz’s mouth was
gaped open. “Why did you do that, Tommy? You could’ve gotten in trouble.”

  “Guys like him make me sick. No one will harm either of you while I’m around.”

  He said it with such confidence I had no choice but to believe him. And I felt so protected, safe.

  “I don’t want you getting into trouble because of me,” Roz said quietly.

  “You let me know if he gives you any more problems,” he said. “I’ll take care of it after school, if that’ll make you feel better.”

  “Thanks.” Her eyes suddenly got big, like she remembered something. “Oh, Em, you won’t believe what happened to me.”

  And then she got all quiet.

  “Well?” I asked.

  She glanced at Tommy, and then turned back to me.

  “He knows about me,” I said.

  “He does?”

  I nodded.

  She looked hard at Tommy, tilting her head sideways. And then she shrugged. “Well, if you trust him, he must be okay.” She continued. “So I was in Biology class, listening to the teacher drone on when I had a vision. Do you believe it? Right there in class.”

  “Wait a minute—you have visions?” Tommy asked. “Are you psychic or something?”

  Roz smiled in response.

  “Wow, that’s so cool.” He looked off to the side, then looked at me. I could tell he was debating something, and I guessed it was about his powers. I nodded to let him know it would be okay to tell Roz. “I, uh, have what I guess you would call heightened senses.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You did hear me that day.”

  He grinned from ear to ear. “Every word.”

  She cringed. “Sorry, Em.”

  I waved my hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. What you said wasn’t as bad as everything I said to you.”

  Roz suddenly looked serious, her eyes fixed on Tommy. “He’s the third.”

  It took me a second to realize what she meant. Our conversation with Judy. I remembered Judy questioned me first, like I should’ve known who the person was. She probably foresaw my entire relationship with Tommy.

  “You’re right,” I said.

  Tommy’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

  “Something Judy said,” Roz answered.

  “Oh, the crazy nurse,” Tommy said, before a light bulb expression appeared on his face. “She’s psychic, too, isn’t she?”