Uh-oh. What happened? For good measure, she added, Do I have to kick his ass?
Only a few seconds elapsed before Morgan’s phone buzzed with a reply, and she wondered just how long Ris had been waiting for a word from her.
No ass-kicking required. We just realized we kinda had different expectations.
She thought about how to respond. It was difficult to act surprised since she wasn’t. I’m sorry, Ris.
There was a longer pause before Morgan’s phone buzzed again.
Thanks. I’m okay. A little sad. Corbin’s actually a pretty good friend.
From her spot on the couch, Morgan heard the front door open. Corbin walked in, smiling. “Have you eaten here before? This stuff smells fantastic.” He dropped the bags off on the table and continued into the kitchen, probably for plates and utensils, Morgan realized.
She typed a message to Ris before heading into the kitchen to help him.
I believe you.
Chapter Eighteen
Corbin spent the majority of the weekend at Morgan’s house, but they had no luck locating Chelsea. Morgan’s frustration hit a fever pitch Sunday afternoon and it was then that Corbin refused to help her any more, insisting instead that they take a break. Grudgingly, Morgan had agreed. They’d ended up cooking dinner—chicken Parmesan—and watching a movie in the living room. It was the first time since her father had painted that the room didn’t feel awkward and alien. It felt like home.
When he left Sunday evening, Corbin hugged her, lingering a bit longer than he ordinarily might. Morgan didn’t resist. When he finally released her, there was a moment wherein she was certain he would try to kiss her. When he didn’t, she felt an odd mix of relief and disappointment. It wasn’t until Monday morning that relief finally won over. And guilt.
Ris hadn’t contacted Morgan after their brief text conversation Friday night, and Morgan had taken her cue from Ris. But when Corbin wasn’t at the locker before first hour and the people nearby started staring and whispering, Morgan wondered if she hadn’t made a mistake. To her credit, Ris pretended as though she didn’t notice that anything was out of the ordinary, but Morgan could Feel the truth: Ris was uncomfortable with the attention.
When they were on their way to lunch, Ris sighed and put her arm around Morgan’s waist. “You’d think they’d have more important things to pay attention to than me,” she said, giving Morgan a little squeeze before releasing her.
“You’d think. But you know I’ve never considered our peers to be particularly rational.”
“True.”
The two entered the lunchroom and walked toward their regular table. Ris pulled out the notebook on which she kept the day’s client list. “You’re only booked two days in advance, not a week like usual. I think all your regulars are too worried you might tell them they won’t be getting into whatever colleges they’re applying to. I hate to say this, but we might need to start appealing to underclassmen if we want to keep your numbers up.”
Morgan made a face as they sat down. “Underclassmen smell.”
“True,” Ris agreed. “There is another option.”
“What? Taking a break?” Morgan shook her head. She knew it was the logical thing to do, but the matter of finding the last Natural was too important to allow it. After the last Natural was found, Morgan reasoned, she could take a break.
Ris shrugged. “You’re the boss. But you might end up getting one whether you want it or not, if things keep up the way they are. I’m just saying.” She tipped the contents of her lunch onto the table and grabbed an apple. “I’ll go get the first client.”
“Sounds good.” Morgan watched her go. Once Ris was lost in the crowd, Morgan turned toward her own lunch. She was just beginning to nibble on her sandwich when someone sat beside her. She turned, ready to ask whoever it was to leave so she could conduct business, but was too shocked by who it was to say anything for a moment. “Joss?”
Jocelyn smiled at her. “Hey, Morgan. I thought I’d sit with you today.”
Morgan looked around suspiciously, expecting for Marya or Shayna—Jocelyn’s minions—to be lying in wait somewhere. When she didn’t see them, she turned back to Jocelyn. “It’s really not a good time.”
“Why not?”
“Business.” Morgan inclined her head to the empty seat across from her. “It makes people nervous when someone’s sitting close. Why do you think Ris keeps her distance?”
Jocelyn considered this for a minute. “Okay—then why don’t you give me a reading?”
“Come again?”
Jocelyn smiled. “Come on, Morgan. Do a reading for me.”
“What? Why?”
“Come on—it’ll be fun.”
“Joss, in the years I’ve been doing this, you’ve never once come to me for a reading. Why now?”
She shrugged. “Why not? Now, can I stay here, or do I have to go sit in that other seat?”
“Neither. You need an appointment.”
“Well, then, have Ris put me on the schedule for today—”
“I’m booked. I’m always booked.”
Something in Jocelyn’s face fell and her mouth twisted into a soft pout. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve come over here…” She stood.
Morgan sighed and turned to her. If Jocelyn was really trying to be a decent person, Morgan could at least return the favor. “Look—if you’re really interested… Come by after school. I can give you a reading at my place.”
“Morgan, you don’t have to do that…”
Morgan raised an eyebrow at her. “You want a reading or not?”
Jocelyn smiled. “Okay. See you after school.”
Just then, Alecia Emerick collapsed into the seat across from Morgan. With a small wave at Jocelyn, Morgan turned toward the day’s first client.
The rest of the lunch period elapsed in the same way as all the ones before it, and as Morgan and Ris walked out of the cafeteria together, Morgan tried not to let her disappointment show.
During Senior Math, Morgan intermittently took vague notes, passing a picture back and forth with Lucas. Today’s work ended up containing a pterodactyl on a collision course with the moon, a camel riding on a dog’s back, and a whale harpooning a fisherman.
When the bell to end fifth hour rang, Morgan and Lucas walked out of class together.
“So, Corbin and Ris, huh? Is that why Corbin was so weird at training Friday?” Lucas asked.
“I imagine so.”
“And you got home okay, I see. Where’d you end up going, anyway?”
Morgan fought the urge to tell Lucas exactly what had happened. This was not the time or place. “I drove around a bit. Sat at the park for a while.”
Lucas seemed to be considering this information. Then he looked as though he was just remembering something. “Hey, did I notice Lynna sitting with you at lunch? Or was I completely hallucinating?”
Morgan laughed. “As much as I wish I could say you were hallucinating…”
“Huh.”
Morgan cast a sidelong glance at him. “Huh, what?”
He shrugged. “It’s just that she seems to really be making an effort, you know?”
“Maybe. Either that, or she wants something.”
“You don’t think that,” Lucas said, so quietly that his voice was nearly lost in the hallway din. “At least, you don’t want to.”
“Quit reading me, Lucas.”
“Quit being so easy to read.” He nodded to his left. “This is my turn.”
Morgan continued down the hallway toward the JY room, glad it was the last hour of the day, and hoping there were no notes or secret messages about training this afternoon. She wasn’t sure what to expect at the next training session. While Mr. K hadn’t said anything during JY second hour and Miss Scotford had tactfully avoided eye contact during English fourth hour, she wasn’t foolish enough to think that she wouldn’t be receiving a reprimand for skipping out on training Friday.
Mr. K was at the front
of the room when she walked in, and she offered a smile as she passed. “Hey, Mr. K.”
Mr. K returned the smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Morgan.”
Morgan took a small comfort in his attempt at a smile. She sat and began counting the minutes until class was over.
***
When Morgan got home, she made a beeline for the couch and collapsed onto it. Though Ris had pretended as though everything was okay with her, Morgan knew that keeping up that appearance all day had taken some effort. Pair that with the effort it took for Morgan to avoid Corbin—just in case Ris could sense something there—and the energy she expended trying to both block and ignore Mr. K and Miss Scotford, and Morgan was feeling drained. There had been no notes about clandestine meetings, so, for the moment, her afternoon was looking completely open.
As she reached for the remote control, she heard her cell phone beep. Sighing, she reached for the phone instead, fully expecting the message to be from Ris, inviting her out to the Daily Grind. However, she was pleasantly surprised to see the text wasn’t from Ris, it was from her dad.
Ron’s birthday today. I’m headed out to celebrate with him. Will probably be out late.
Morgan smiled and typed a quick reply. Don’t get into too much trouble.
She set the phone down and picked up the remote. All she wanted was to tune out and watch some TV. She didn’t want to have to think about anything—just for a little while. Absently, she scrolled through the on-screen guide.
Her phone beeped again. Assuming it was another text from Dylan, she was surprised to see her cousin’s name on the alert screen.
Be over in about 30. Hope ur hungry.
Joss. Morgan had completely forgotten her cousin was coming over. “At least she’s bringing food,” she muttered, selecting a channel to watch.
Morgan didn’t bother getting up from the couch when she heard a noise at the front door half an hour later. Instead, she continued to watch a rerun of House, M.D. After a few seconds, the door opened and Jocelyn walked in, hands full.
“Hey!” Jocelyn greeted, smiling.
“So, what’d you bring?” Morgan asked, eyeing the paper bag in her cousin’s hand.
“I stopped by Jimmy’s—you know, that drive-in place we used to go to when we were younger?”
“Seriously? That place is still open?”
Jocelyn sat down beside Morgan, setting a tray with two cups on the end table and putting the paper bag between them. “Yeah. I mean, it closes for the season soon, but it’s still open.”
Morgan took in a deep breath. It smelled like a memory. “What’d you bring?”
Jocelyn grinned, opening the bag. “Cheeseburgers and onion rings.”
Morgan felt a prickling in her nose unrelated to the scent of the food. That was the meal they always ordered when they were younger, when Chelsea and Aunt Ashleigh would take them out to the drive-in. Morgan remembered she used to love how the waitresses brought the food on roller skates and how they were allowed—for once—to eat in the car.
Jocelyn handed Morgan a wrapped burger and a cardboard carton of onion rings. Then she turned and grabbed one of the cups. “And also…”
Morgan relieved Jocelyn of the cup and took a pull on the straw. A moan of pleasure escaped her lips. “Chocolate banana milkshake… Wow, this tastes just as good as I remember.”
“You like?”
Morgan smiled. “Joss, this is great. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. But, now, don’t expect me to pay you for this reading.” She grinned.
They didn’t talk as they ate their food. Morgan stared at the episode still running on the TV, but she wasn’t really paying attention. She was lost in a sensory memory—early elementary school days, laughs, fifties music. She hadn’t eaten this food in nine years—Aunt Ashleigh brought them to the drive-in only once after Chelsea disappeared: Without Morgan’s mom, it seemed some of the magic had gone.
Both Morgan and Jocelyn saved their milkshakes for last—as they always had when they were younger. Morgan watched her cousin as she drank the last of her shake.
“What?” Jocelyn asked. “Why are you staring at me?”
Morgan shrugged. “This was really nice.”
Jocelyn rolled her eyes. “I can be nice, you know.”
Morgan put her hand up and shifted it from side to side. “Eh…”
Jocelyn threw a decorative pillow at her. They both laughed.
Morgan picked up the various wrappings their meals had come in and stuffed them in the paper bag. She went to the kitchen to throw the garbage away, and when she returned to the living room, Jocelyn looked a little sad.
“What’s up?” Morgan asked, taking her spot on the couch.
“I wish we hadn’t stopped being friends.”
Morgan gave a half smile. “Yeah. Right.”
“No, Morgan—I’m serious. I’m…I’m sorry things happened the way they did.”
Morgan studied her cousin for a moment. “You can’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“You mean you don’t like being the most popular girl in school? You’d give that up?”
Jocelyn seemed taken aback by the question. “That’s not what I said.”
“You said you were sorry things happened the way they did. Well, the way they did made you most popular.”
“But if I stood up for you back then, maybe you’d be most popular up there with me—instead of Marya and Shayna. Then I’d have my cousin standing beside me and not two girls who… Sometimes I feel like they’re just around me because I’m popular.”
Morgan chuckled. “See? Even you don’t like them.” She allowed herself to smile about this fact for a moment more. “But, we both know, even if you stood up for me, I’d never be popular like you are.”
“Morgan, you don’t know that—”
“I don’t care if I’m popular. I don’t care what people think about me. You do. We’ve always been different about that stuff.”
Jocelyn closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch cushions. “I just…I wish it were different, you know?”
“I do know.”
“And…I know you don’t care what people think about you. I mean, come on—you tell fortunes in the cafeteria. That takes a certain amount of—”
“Insanity?”
Jocelyn laughed. “Not exactly what I was gonna say, but sure.” She sat up straight and leaned toward Morgan. “Speaking of which… Ready to read my fortune?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah…That’s why you invited me over, remember?”
“Well, yeah, but…” She shook her head. “Never mind. I’ll do a reading for you.” She shifted on the couch so she faced her cousin, and Jocelyn did the same.
“Okay…so…what do I do?” Jocelyn asked.
“Just give me your hand. I do the rest.”
Jocelyn nodded and obediently held out her right hand for Morgan to take.
Morgan studied her cousin’s palm. In that moment, it didn’t matter how many of these readings she’d done before; it was different doing a reading for her own cousin. Even though she knew she wasn’t a fake, she somehow felt like Jocelyn would be able to see right through her act.
Morgan began the slow, rhythmic breathing she always employed during a reading. While studying Joss’s palm, she pushed forward with her mind, allowing it to Feel Jocelyn’s energy. It took her a moment to get her bearings—probably, she figured, because she was actually feeling nervous. Her skin began to tingle. Then the emotions began coming to her.
Contrition. Jocelyn was genuinely sorry for the state of their relationship. Love for Morgan. Nervousness about the reading. Fear about what Morgan might tell her about her future.
Then the images began. Memories. Morgan Saw herself and Joss as little girls playing dress up, jumping off swings, playing with dolls. These thoughts were just beneath the surface of Jocelyn’s mind, and Morgan could tell they were always there whenever Jocelyn was aro
und her. For both of them. There was a part in each of them that longed for the other.
“Morgan?”
Morgan pulled herself back to the present and looked into Jocelyn’s wide eyes. “What?”
“I don’t know—I feel…”
“What? What do you feel?”
Jocelyn shook her head vaguely. “It’s…strange. It’s like…something is filling me up.” She shifted on the couch. “Maybe I should—”
The front door swung open.
“Uncle Dylan?” Jocelyn called.
No one answered. No one would answer, and Morgan knew why. “It’s not him.”
“What d’you mean?” Jocelyn asked, voice slightly higher than usual. “How do you know?”
“He’s out for a friend’s birthday.”
“Then who opened the door?”
Morgan took in a shaky breath. “You did.”
Jocelyn looked at Morgan as if she were crazy. “What do you mean, I did? I’m sitting all the way over here—”
Morgan’s fingers shook slightly. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. “Joss, believe me—this is gonna sound totally insane, but it’s not.” She paused, taking in a steadying breath. “You and I… We might be more alike than we realized.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means—you know this whole psychic thing? It’s for real. I really do have some crazy abilities. And I’m not the only one.”
“Morgan, that sounds—”
“Ridiculous? Believe me, I know. But—here, let’s test it. Try to Move something.”
“Try to…?”
“With your mind. If I’m right, you’ll be able to do it pretty easily right now because you were just activated.”
“Activated? What does that even—”
“Joss, just—try to Move something with your mind.”
“Morgan, that’s insane. Do you realize how insane you sound right now? People can’t move things with their minds!” Jocelyn grabbed her purse and started rifling through it. “I’m going to call my mom—she’ll know what to do. We can get you some help, Morgan.” She dug through the purse a bit more fervently. “Damn it, where the hell is my phone?”” With a sound of exasperation, she tipped the purse’s contents onto the floor. “Now, where’s my—”
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