by Alicia Rades
“Psychic related?” he guessed.
I nodded.
Derek still had a hint of doubt about my abilities, but he’d been supportive about it the entire time. He said he wanted to believe it, and I found comfort in confiding in him. I told him about the warning and about meeting Sage at the bridal shop. I also told him about how I couldn’t find anything online about Sage. He agreed that her online absence was odd.
“Dang it,” Emma complained, interrupting us. “Derek, why didn’t your birth parents have less common names?” She didn’t even look up when she said this, which led me to believe it was a rhetorical question.
“Anyway,” I continued, “Robin knows Sage and is going to try to get her to come watch his band practice on Tuesday. Emma is driving me, and you’re invited, too.”
“I bet Emma is dying to go,” he teased. “She drools over musicians.”
I laughed because it was so true, but Emma remained glued to the screen like she didn’t hear us. Derek wasn’t in the school band like Emma and I were, but he had conveniently began learning guitar since they started dating.
I caught a glimpse of the guitar in the corner of his room and raised my eyebrows. “You know, you don’t need to learn guitar for Emma to drool over you. That just comes naturally to her.”
He tried to hide it, but I could see him blushing. “I’m not learning for her,” he lied.
“Yeah, right,” I teased.
“This is useless.” Emma swiveled the chair back toward us. “There are too many people named Thomas and Sharon Woods in the world.”
“Emma, you’ve only been looking for a few minutes,” I pointed out.
“It’s fine,” Derek said. “I’ll search more information about them later if it means that much to you. Who wants to play Xbox?”
7
Monday couldn’t pass by any slower. I did my best to focus my energy on Sage when I had a spare moment, but the little things still wouldn’t come to me. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was so anxious waiting in anticipation for Tuesday night or if that was just the way the universe worked. I was 99 percent sure it was a combination of both.
At lunch, Robin texted me. Sage said yes! See you tomorrow.
That’s great! I texted back, which lifted my mood.
I still have a few weeks left, I reminded myself.
After school, I picked up Hope from the elementary school and walked her home. We played games for a couple of hours until her mom came home from work. Hope was a surprisingly smart and insightful first grader. Since I’d found her after she’d been abducted last year, she knew I was psychic. I almost considered telling her about Sage because I felt, despite her young age, she would understand.
But I didn’t tell her. Her dad had died last year, and I really didn’t want to bring up the topic of death. Although that was something we had in common—that both of our dads died—I did my best to avoid the subject, and Hope never brought it up, either.
I arrived home just in time for supper. I took my seat at the table after greeting my mom and Teddy.
“Your mom says something happened on Saturday, Kiddo,” Teddy told me once we started eating. “She said you might want to tell me yourself and that I might be able to help.”
“That would be great!”
Teddy was a police officer, so whatever danger Sage was in, he might be able to find out what that was. I didn’t mention that I wished I could find that out myself through my abilities, but having the answer through Teddy was better than no answer at all.
I immediately delved into the story of what happened with Melissa’s warning, and I even told him how I couldn’t find anything about Sage online. By the time I was done, my first bite of lasagna was lukewarm.
“Hmm . . .” Teddy mused. “It is really weird that she isn’t online. These days, teens post so much that it’s easy to bust them for drug abuse and things like that.”
“I know. Weird, right? Do you think you can find anything out about her?”
“I’m technically not supposed to access police records for things like this, but I will look into it. Anderson, right?”
“Yep.” I turned to my mother. “No one else has seen anything that can help?”
She shook her head as she bit into her food. “Sorry, sweetie. If I could give her a reading, see her in person, maybe . . .”
“That’s actually a really good idea,” I admitted, “but I hardly know her. I can’t just text her and be like, ‘Hey, my mom wants to read your future. Can you come over?’”
Mom and Teddy laughed, but I didn’t think it was that funny. Just then, the front door opened, and I watched Emma enter the living room.
“I’ll just be a minute, Emma,” I told her as she came farther into the house. I shoveled my lasagna into my mouth and chugged my milk.
“Do you want some food?” Teddy asked.
He was a great cook, so it was tough to refuse dinner from him, but Emma politely declined and told him she already ate.
Emma and I escaped to my room for our psychic practice. We started with our normal yoga routine and then wrote down a few predictions. So far, I hadn’t missed one in over a month, but it was still only little things like what the gas price would be tomorrow. I didn’t consider many of these predictions accomplishments, although I congratulated Emma on each one she got right. She only had about a 15 percent success rate, so it meant a lot more to her when she was accurate.
“Maybe you could predict how Derek’s birth parents died,” Emma suggested.
I wasn’t sure that was something I could just see. “I don’t know, but I can try. Honestly, though, I doubt I’ll see anything about that. Why are you so interested anyway?”
Emma’s eyes darted down to the paper in her hand, and she nervously pushed dark curls out of her face without meeting my eyes. “I’m not that interested. I was just curious.”
Normally, Emma wasn’t such a bad liar. I eyed her, wondering where her curiosity was coming from. After a few moments of silence, I realized what it was. I didn’t have to be psychic to figure it out; I simply knew Emma well. Her parents had just finalized their divorce. She was either using Derek’s birth parents’ issue as a distraction from that, or she was looking for reassurance that her own family matters weren’t that bad. It was probably a combination of both.
I turned back to my piece of paper and closed my eyes to clear my mind. Sometimes I knew what I was writing. Other times, my subconscious took over and I didn’t even realize I was making predictions. That’s what it was like now, and although I wasn’t completely aware of it, I knew that something was different about this time. My mind cleared so much that I wasn’t even aware of my surroundings. It was like I was lost in a different dimension where tranquility ruled the world.
Slowly, the hum of my laptop and the noises of the TV in the living room came back to life. I blinked a few times until my room focused, and then I gazed down at my sheet of paper. The handwriting was crooked as usual, but something about the prediction riled me. I had no idea what to make of it.
Tomorrow you will find the answers to the questions you never asked. Be prepared to listen carefully.
“Great,” I complained to Emma, who was already watching me expectantly from her spot next to my desk. “I got another fortune cookie prediction.”
“What does it say?” she asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.
I handed her my sheet of paper. “How do I know what questions are being answered if I haven’t asked them yet?”
Emma pressed her lips together. “At least you finally have something about Sage.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as she handed the sheet of paper back.
“Well, it says ‘tomorrow.’ Tomorrow is the day we’re going to meet Sage so you can learn more about her. It must be about her, right? I mean, it only makes sense.”
She had a point, but I wasn’t entirely convinced.
8
Emma picked me up straight from Hope
’s house on Tuesday. I climbed in the back seat behind Derek, and we all rode to Asher’s together. I silently stared out the window at the passing scenery, which was still recovering from the last snow we had and was slowly turning green. Emma and Derek were talking in the front seat, and she was asking him about his birth parents again. Derek said he didn’t find anything online and was going to ask his adoptive parents more about them if it meant that much to Emma. Something in his tone told me he didn’t like poking into this mystery, but Emma didn’t seem to notice his reluctance.
Later, they were discussing Emma’s extensive music collection while the radio played in the background, but I was so nervous about meeting Sage again that I didn’t say much.
When we made it to Asher’s house, his mom told us everyone else was already in the basement, which she kindly explained was soundproofed as not to disturb the neighbors. They weren’t playing yet, and there were a few other people I didn’t know gathered around to listen. Sage wasn’t there, which made my palms sweat nervously. Would she make it? Or was this night wasted?
When I spotted Robin, I knew that even if Sage didn’t show, coming here wasn’t for nothing. I fell into his arms immediately. It’d been over two weeks since we’d seen each other, and I missed him terribly. He placed a soft kiss on my lips, which earned us a few whistles from his band members. Robin grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at Tyler, who played the drums.
He introduced Emma and Derek to his band members. There was Tyler on percussion, Logan on keyboard, Skip on bass guitar, and Asher on lead guitar. Robin, of course, sang lead vocals.
Asher introduced us to the other people in the room, including Troy—Asher’s younger brother—Troy’s girlfriend Faith, and Faith’s brother Andrew.
“Well, we’re going to get started soon,” Robin announced. “I will warn you that it’s going to get kind of loud. Feel free to take a seat. Oh, and there’s some pop upstairs in the fridge if anyone wants some.” Robin left a kiss on the top of my head before turning to situate his microphone.
Luckily, there were two huge couches set up in the basement, so there was enough room for all of us. Asher strummed a few chords on his guitar, and then he adjusted his amp volume. Everyone else tinkered around and did the same thing with their instruments.
Movement by the stairs caught my eye. My heart fluttered excitedly at the sight of auburn hair. It hung loose around Sage’s body, and she tucked a strand of it behind her ear while scanning the room uncertainly. My first opportunity to learn more about Sage had finally arrived.
“Sage,” Robin greeted, heading over to her. “I’m glad you could make it. Let me introduce you to everyone.”
As Robin started the second round of introductions, Sage’s eyes fell on me. They widened a bit in surprise and recognition. I smiled back as friendly as I could. After Robin finished introducing everyone, Sage finally made her way over to me.
“That band you were talking about . . . It’s them?”
“Yep,” I answered proudly.
“Which one is your boyfriend?”
“Robin.”
“Good choice.” Almost immediately, a blush rose to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t like him like that. I just mean he’s a good guy.”
I gave a lighthearted laugh in hopes of making her feel better, but it was tough to force a laugh when I was face-to-face with a girl I knew was going to die soon. “Yeah, he is. Do you need somewhere to sit?” I offered her the spot next to me, and she sat down.
The band started playing, and I listened the best I could, but my mind was so overcome with worries about Sage that the blaring noise from the amps seemed almost nonexistent. How was I going to work up the courage to talk to her? And how could I talk to her over the music?
Robin stopped the band and had them rework the verse they were on.
I turned to Sage. “They’re pretty good, right?”
She nodded.
How was I going to get through to her? I had to know what type of danger she was in, yet I knew I couldn’t just blurt it out.
“Do you want a pop?” I asked over the music.
“What?” Sage shouted back.
“Do you want a pop?” I repeated. I gestured for her to follow me. When we entered the kitchen, the music from downstairs was surprisingly faint. “Robin said there was pop in the fridge if we wanted some.”
“Hi, girls.” Asher’s mom greeted us as she entered the kitchen. “I’m making cookies, and they’ll be done in a few minutes. You can grab a soda out of the fridge if you want one.”
“Thank you.” I opened the door to the refrigerator, which was huge compared to mine. There had to be a dozen different types of drinks. I grabbed a Sprite for myself.
“How was the rest of your weekend?” I asked Sage as she grabbed a diet Mountain Dew. “I mean, after my mom and her crazy wedding party left the bridal shop.”
She laughed lightheartedly. “If you think you guys are crazy, you should see the groups that come in there. Compared to some, your wedding party is pretty normal.”
If only she knew . . .
Sage slid into one of the chairs around the kitchen table and opened her pop can. I pulled out a seat next to her.
“You know, you should come again, to Robin’s band practice, I mean.” As soon as I said it, I realized my invitation sounded a bit premature since the practice had barely started, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Sage smiled at me. “Yeah, I think I might. It was really sweet of him to invite me. Not a lot of people are so nice, especially entering a new school as a senior. Most people already have their group of friends and don’t want to hang out with the new girl.”
“I didn’t realize you were new here. Where are you from?”
She stared down at her can. “Oh, uh, I’m from . . . around. It’s just a new school.”
Her tone told me that it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, so I didn’t push it, but I did make a mental note to figure out where she lived before she moved to the city and why she moved. Something about it felt important to me.
I did my best to keep her talking. “Robin says the band is looking to add a female voice to the group. Is that something you might be interested in?”
She shook her head lightly. “I’d rather not be in front of big crowds.”
I nodded in understanding. I wasn’t thrilled about being in front of crowds, either, unless I was playing a solo on my clarinet in band. “You never even played in front of crowds when you played an instrument?” I remembered her telling me she used to play, but I couldn’t recall the details.
“Oh, I did. I just . . . don’t anymore.”
“What did you play?”
She set her Mountain Dew down on the table and tugged at her long sleeves. “Saxophone. It was good for a while, but I had to give it up. So, how did you and Robin meet?”
She was obviously trying to change the subject, and as much as I wanted to know whatever secrets she was hiding, I definitely didn’t want to push it and risk my chance at her trusting me. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time with her, but I also understood that patience was a virtue.
I told Sage about how Robin and I met because his uncle was getting married to my mom. The whole time, questions raced through my head. What can I say to pinpoint what type of danger Sage is in? I can see that she’s trying to hide something from me, but what is it?
I remembered my prediction from the day before and wondered what I was supposed to be listening for. It sounded like Sage was hiding something, but nothing she’d said seemed very significant, except for maybe that she transferred schools. Did something bad happen at her last one that she had to leave? What if there was someone dangerous at her last school?
“Your mom doesn’t think that’s weird?” Sage asked about Robin and me.
“No, everyone is pretty cool with it.”
“Well, I guess. You’re not blood related.”
A stillness
settled over the room as we both struggled to come up with something to say. Sage finally broke the silence. “Do you want to go back down and listen to them again?”
I honestly didn’t want to. I wanted to learn more about her and the danger she was in, but telling her she was going to die would only make me look crazy. If only I was better at being subtle.
I followed Sage down the stairs and took my spot back on the couch, but sadly, I didn’t get another chance to talk with her privately.
After Echo Score finished practicing, Robin and I finally had a moment alone. Sage had already gone home, which left me a little disappointed, but I was happy to have a second with Robin. Everyone was finishing up the cookies in the kitchen when he pulled me aside into the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his lips gently to mine. For a moment, I completely forgot about Sage, as if Robin had some power that could magically melt all my troubles away.
He drew away from me and smiled. “So, how’d it go with Sage? Anything?”
I shook my head in disappointment. “I wish I could say there was.”
Robin held me close to his chest, and I wrapped my arms around his body for comfort. “It will work out,” he assured me. “I’ve seen you save people before. You’re the kind of girl who can’t not save someone when they’re in trouble.”
“So, I’m, like, the opposite of a damsel in distress?”
Robin laughed. “I guess you could say that.”
I buried my face in his chest and inhaled his fresh spring scent. It made everything seem okay for a few seconds until I pulled away and Sage’s face flashed through my mind. How could I be enjoying myself when she was going to die soon and I was the only one who could do anything about it? It didn’t seem fair.
“Come on, Crystal,” Robin insisted. “I hate to see you like this. Things are going to work out. We’ll figure this out together, okay?”
I shyly met his gaze. How could he know that for certain?