by Marilyn Kaye
‘I’ve changed my mind,’ she announced.
She didn’t get it. Two minutes earlier, she and Ken had been having this intense, serious discussion. Now he was listening to Nina chatter about her day’s activities, and actually paying attention.
‘. . . then Mr Jones called on me in history, and I hadn’t read the assignment, so I started coughing and he let me go out to get some water, but when I got back, he asked me about the reading again, and so I started coughing again, and then . . .’
Ken seemed to be hanging on to every word. He kept his eyes on her, he nodded and made the right comments, like ‘no kidding’ and ‘wow’. Amanda couldn’t believe it. Here she and Ken had just experienced this incredible day, and now he was acting like Nina was telling him something exciting.
How many more ways could she feel sick that day? she wondered as she slid into the booth at the ice-cream place. Was it possible that Ken was really into Nina? She couldn’t bear this – she had to do something to turn him off her. And it dawned on her that she had the means to do this. She just had to come up with a reason to feel sorry for Nina . . .
‘. . . and if I don’t get at least a C in history,’ Nina prattled, ‘I’ll have to go to summer school, which means I won’t be able to go to the beach . . .’
A summer without a tan. That was all it took.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DR PALEY WAS NOT happy with Paul. He didn’t yell, and he didn’t threaten to punish him, but on the way back to Harmony House, he gave Paul a lecture on what he should not do.
‘You must not leave Harmony House without permission,’ he warned Paul. ‘You are not a prisoner there, but this is the one place where you are safe. Never forget that you are still in danger. The people who killed your parents are still out there, and they may still be looking for you. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ Paul said, and he was pleased to hear the word come out correctly and clearly.
‘And you must not shape-shift, except under controlled circumstances and in my presence. Your gift could put you in danger too. If you became, say, a lion and went out into the street, people would become frightened. You would be shot. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ Paul said again. Why did Dr Paley keep asking him if he understood? Paul wasn’t stupid.
‘Madame told me that you have always obeyed her orders,’ he continued. ‘You must obey my orders too. Do you understand?’
‘Yes.’ The word came out louder this time. Dr Paley took his eyes momentarily off the road to glance at him.
‘Your voice is improving.’
When they arrived back at Harmony House, Dr Paley told him to go to his room. ‘I have an important meeting with my colleagues,’ he said. ‘I would like them to meet you. I’ll send someone to get you when we’re ready. And don’t forget what I’ve told you.’
Back in his room, Paul lay on his bed, stared at the ceiling, and thought about his little adventure. Visiting the gifted class had brought back all kinds of memories, mostly bad ones. He remembered himself sitting there day after day, not speaking, not thinking, responding to commands, following every order he was given, doing nothing on his own. He had been something not quite human.
Now he was human – and more. He could speak, he could think. He had a gift. And he didn’t have to follow orders any more.
Like the orders Dr Paley gave him just now. He knew the doctor was trying to protect him, and there was a time when Paul only wanted to be protected. That was why he followed orders, because he was always afraid.
He wasn’t afraid any more. And he didn’t want to stay in this room and wait for Dr Paley to send for him. There was so much to see, so much to explore. And hear. He was curious about Dr Paley’s meeting with his colleagues – people who believed in unusual gifts and what could be done with them. He could learn more about himself. Clearly, Dr Paley thought he wasn’t terribly intelligent, or he wouldn’t be constantly asking Paul if he understood. So he wasn’t going to get a lot of information from him, not right away at least. He wanted to hear Dr Paley and his colleagues speaking freely.
He considered his options. What could he become? He didn’t particularly want to be a cockroach again. True, he had to be small so no one would notice him, but he wanted to try something new. A spider? No, he could easily be stepped on and crushed. A snake? No. A worm . . . but they couldn’t move very fast. His plan was to go to Dr Paley’s office, listen to their conversation, and then, as soon as the doctor sent for him, return to his room and shift back.
He was going to have to be a mouse, he decided. There were mice all over this building – the doctor had said so himself. And they weren’t all shape-shifting humans. If by any chance he was spotted, no one would be too shocked.
Maybe a white mouse, not the ordinary grey kind. White ones were nicer looking. After he shifted, he wished he could get up to the mirror over the washbasin so he could admire himself, but it was just too high.
He slipped out under the door and looked around. No one was in the hall, but even so, he kept close to the wall. As he approached Dr Paley’s office, he heard voices coming from around the corner, so he dived under the door of the office next to the doctor’s.
Big mistake. ‘Eek, a mouse!’ someone screamed. So people were just as freaked out by white mice as they were by grey ones. Paul raced along the edge of the room until he came to a hole just big enough to squeeze through. He spotted another mouse in the cavity, but he didn’t pay any attention to Paul. That was good – Paul had no idea how mice communicated with each other.
He could hear people chattering excitedly through the wall of the room he’d just left.
‘Those traps we set are not working,’ one person said. ‘We have to call in some real exterminators.’
Paul shuddered. Well, he didn’t have to stay being a mouse forever. But he would have to keep an eye out for those traps. What was it people put in traps to attract mice? Cheese, right? Paul wasn’t too worried. He didn’t like cheese. It would be no temptation for him.
He followed a narrow tunnel in what he thought was the direction of Dr Paley’s office. Sure enough, after a moment, he was able to make out some other voices, including one that he recognized.
‘It’s a phenomenal situation,’ the doctor was saying. ‘Nine students, and each one has a different gift.’
‘Which ones are coming for the procedure tomorrow?’ another voice asked.
‘The body-snatching girl and the boy who talks to the deceased.’
‘What about the controller? She’s the most intriguing.’
‘Supposedly, according to the subjects I spoke with, she wants to lose her gift too, and I encouraged them to bring her along.’
Then a third voice, a woman this time. ‘Is it really necessary to perform the procedure? We could learn so much from these kids. And think of their potential for investigation, advances in medicine and psychology, diplomacy . . . These kids could end wars!’
‘Or start them,’ Dr Paley said. ‘They’re too young and immature – they can’t be trusted with these powers.’
‘But we could work with them,’ the woman said. ‘Keep them in a controlled environment, train them, so they’d want to use their gifts for positive purposes.’
‘That’s what the teacher is trying to do,’ Dr Paley said. ‘But it’s impossible, the subjects are too strong, they can’t be contained. Already the subjects have fallen into the wrong hands on several occasions. They’re dangerous.’
‘The potential is frightening,’ the other male voice concurred. ‘We really have no option. Their gifts must be eliminated.’
‘And we need to begin immediately,’ Dr Paley said.
He must have moved further from the wall because his voice became fainter, but Paul could still hear him.
‘Miss Callow? Would you send a resident assistant to bring Paul Carter here?’
This was Paul’s cue. He needed to take off, get back to his room and shift before the resident as
sistant appeared.
But he didn’t move. He had to hear more. And it was a good thing he did.
‘I’m looking forward to observing the procedures tomorrow,’ the male voice said.
‘Actually, I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Dr Paley told him. ‘I haven’t requested approval for the procedure from the Harmony House administrators.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s quite possible they would have refused. It’s still a highly experimental surgery. My appointments with the two students are on the books, and it might look peculiar if I have all of you here too.’
‘That’s a shame,’ the other man said. ‘I wanted to see if there would be immediate results. And any possible side effects.’
‘You will,’ Dr Paley said. ‘That’s what we’re going to find out right now. I’ll do the procedure on Paul.’
‘Does he want to lose his gift?’ the woman asked.
‘He doesn’t know what he wants,’ Dr Paley replied. ‘I don’t think he has any sense of what his gift really entails. Don’t worry, he won’t give us any problems. If he shifts, I’ll have a tranquillizer gun ready to knock him out, whatever he becomes.’
‘But what about the others?’ the woman asked. ‘You said that two of the students are coming for the procedure voluntarily tomorrow, but what about the other six students?’
‘What about them?’ Dr Paley countered.
‘Maybe they don’t want to lose their gifts,’ the woman said. ‘What if they refuse to have the procedure?’
There was a moment of silence before Dr Paley replied. His tone was grim.
‘Then the subjects themselves must be eliminated.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘NINA?’
Amanda-Nina blinked rapidly. It always took her a minute or so to adjust to being in another body. ‘What?’
‘Are you OK?’ Ken asked.
‘Sure. Anyway, let’s see, what were we talking about?’ She did what she hoped sounded like a typical Nina giggle. ‘I’m such a ditz sometimes!’
‘About how you might have to go to summer school.’
Could he really be interested in this, Amanda wondered? ‘Yeah, isn’t that lame? What am I going to do? Maybe I can bribe someone to write the next essay for me. And there’s this really nerdy girl in the class. I’ll bet she’d let me cheat off her if I let her sit with my group at lunch one time.’
She watched Ken carefully as she spoke. He was pretty much the honourable type – he’d rather fail an exam than cheat to pass it. And he’d never approved of the snobbishness of some cliques and the way the girls acted like they were superior to other people. This had to be turning him off Nina.
He got up. ‘I’m going to the bathroom. If the waitress comes, could you order me a chocolate milkshake?’
‘Okey-dokey!’ Amanda-Nina said brightly.
She took advantage of Ken’s absence to check on her own body. Robot-Amanda had taken out her make-up bag and she was filing her nails. Why was she always doing that? Amanda wondered. Real Amanda didn’t file her nails that much. And what if that disgusting bug had crawled over the file? Amanda-Nina shuddered.
It occurred to her that she’d never spoken to her robot-self before. She tried now.
‘A cockroach was on that nail file,’ she informed her.
‘Ick!’ robot-Amanda exclaimed, and she dropped the file.
Not bad, Amanda-Nina thought. That was pretty much what she would have done in the same circumstances. And now what would the robot do?
Exactly what real Amanda would have done. ‘I have to wash my hands!’ she cried out. She left the booth and practically ran towards the bathroom. Amanda watched with interest. She’d never had such a good view of that dress from the back. Maybe she’d ask her mother to hem it, make it a little shorter.
A waitress came to the booth. ‘Hi. What can I get for you?’
‘My friend wants a chocolate milkshake. I’ll have . . .’ She was about to ask for a diet soda, but thought better of it. ‘A hot fudge sundae.’ After all, she’d be packing the calories on Nina’s body, not her own.
‘And the other person?’
‘Water.’ It wasn’t like robot-Amanda could really taste anything. And she began to wonder if maybe she should continue occupying Nina through the next day. Dr Paley had said the procedure wouldn’t hurt, but Amanda wouldn’t mind letting the robot endure it instead of her. But no, the last time Ken had been with robot-Amanda, the thing had completely turned him off. Besides, this was something they had to do together.
Which brought her back to the immediate situation. She had to hold on to Ken’s attention now so he wouldn’t realize that the person he thought was Amanda had become the robot. This would not be easy, to keep his attention and turn him off simultaneously.
He was returning to the table now, followed closely behind by robot-Amanda. They both got into the booth.
‘Nina, I was thinking,’ Ken said. ‘I’ve got Jones for history too, and I’m doing pretty well in his class. Maybe I could help you. We could study together.’
Amanda-Nina tried very hard not to let Nina’s face show what she, Amanda, was feeling. It was worse than she thought. Ken wanted to get close to Nina! This made no sense at all to her. Nina was everything Ken didn’t like – snotty, shallow and selfish. She forced herself to giggle.
‘Study? Ick! Who has time to study? I’d rather go to the mall after school.’
‘In the evenings,’ Ken suggested.
The waitress appeared with their orders. She put the glass of water down in front of robot-Amanda, who reached into her handbag, pulled out her iPod, and stuck the phones into her ears. Then she dropped a straw into the glass and started to sip. Amanda-Nina wouldn’t have to worry about her.
Ken barely glanced at his milkshake. The hot fudge sundae in front of Amanda-Nina looked delicious, but she couldn’t waste time on it.
‘In the evenings? And miss all my favourite TV shows?’ She started ticking them off on her fingers. ‘America’s Next Top Model. Real World. American Idol. The Real Housewives of New Jersey.’
Finally, a glimmer of distaste crossed Ken’s face. ‘You like those reality shows?’
‘Love them! Don’t you?’
‘Well . . . I guess I’ve never actually seen any of them,’ Ken said. ‘Maybe we can watch them together.’
Amanda-Nina stared at him in disbelief. Ken hated reality TV – he’d told her that before. He thought these shows were stupid, and he couldn’t understand why so many of his classmates liked them.
And that was when it hit her. Their classmates . . . Their ordinary, normal classmates who did ordinary, normal things, like go to the mall and watch TV. Who didn’t go around snatching other people’s bodies or talking to dead people. Nina was one of those ordinary, normal people, and Ken wanted to be one too. That was why he wanted to connect with Nina.
An enormous wave of sadness came over her. Nina might be ordinary, but Ken deserved so much better. He deserved her, Amanda. Not the robot, who was now sitting placidly in her seat, sipping her water and listening to her iPod. Real Amanda. She amended that. Real un-gifted Amanda. And if he could just hold on till they had their procedures, they’d both be normal and they could be normal together.
She was desperate. ‘Do you really want to hang out with me, Ken? I’m not that smart, you know. I don’t read at all. I’m not interested in current events. All I ever want to do is shop, and, and style my hair, and stuff like that. I don’t really think we’re right for each other.’
Ken looked confused, and Amanda-Nina couldn’t blame him. Nina had been coming on to him for days now, and here she was telling him she wasn’t interested in hanging out together! She couldn’t go on like this. Quickly, she gobbled three big spoonfuls of the sundae. Then she focused on the robot.
Easy-peasy. Amanda pulled out the earphones. ‘Nina, are you feeling all right?’
A dazed-looking Nina stared at the hot fudge sundae in fron
t of her. ‘Where did that come from?’ She rubbed her head. ‘Did I faint or something?’
‘You’re not well,’ Amanda said firmly. ‘Come on, I’ll walk you home.’ She gave Nina a little push, and Nina got herself out of the booth.
Ken’s eyes darted back and forth between the two girls, and settled on Amanda. Then suddenly he grinned. ‘That was you,’ he said.
‘What’s he talking about?’ Nina asked.
‘Nothing,’ Amanda said. She heard a little dinging sound which told her she had a text message on her mobile. A second later, a ding came from Ken’s too.
Taking the phone out of her purse, Amanda looked for the message.
Please be in my office at 10:00 Friday morning.
She was pretty sure that Ken was reading the very same message on his phone. They looked at each other.
‘Tomorrow?’ Amanda asked.
He nodded. ‘Tomorrow.’
CHAPTER NINETEEN
PAUL CARTER, THE WHITE mouse, had been through a rough night. When Dr Paley learned that Paul wasn’t in his room, he’d become anxious. He’d had the institution locked down – no one could go in or out – and all the staff were alerted to be on the lookout for him. Paul didn’t dare leave the wall cavity, not even as a mouse.
So Dr Paley planned to take all the gifts away from the students. And if all the gifted students didn’t voluntarily submit to his ‘procedure’, the students would be eliminated. He didn’t hear Dr Paley explain how this would be done, but Paul didn’t doubt that he would find a way. And Madame trusted this man. She wouldn’t guess his intentions, and she would probably give him access to Paul’s classmates.
In a strange way, Paul understood the doctor’s plans. And he didn’t even think the doctor was evil – not like Serena Hancock, or Clare, or Mr Jackson the former principal. Dr Paley truly believed that the gifted students were dangerous, that they presented a threat to the world. And he believed he was doing what was best for society.
Only it wasn’t the best for Paul, or Amanda, or Ken, or any of his classmates. Dr Paley had to be stopped. And Paul was the only one who knew or cared about what Dr Paley wanted to do. He would have to stop him.