A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3)

by Karpinske, Stephanie

  “Did she ask you a bunch of questions?”

  “Yes, but I had the scripted answers memorized, so that wasn’t a problem. I asked her some questions, but I didn’t want to push it too much the first day. She talked about her family a little. She said her dad works in genetics and that he travels a lot. Her mom moved to England after the divorce and never came back. Emily hasn’t talked to her for years.”

  “So she has baggage,” I said, trying to find at least one fault for this girl.

  “No, she’s over it. She said she’s forgiven her mom and moved on from all that.”

  “Of course she has,” I muttered.

  “She doesn’t want to—what were her words? She doesn’t want to live in a circle of negativity. That was it. Sounds like a song lyric, doesn’t it? I should tell her that tomorrow.”

  “You’re seeing her tomorrow?”

  “Every day this week. That was the plan. I told Emily I’m new in town and that l was going to start hanging out at the coffee shop after school.”

  “Hey, Colin. How’d it go?” Erik walked in with a can of soda and a bag of chips.

  “Perfect. Emily was great.”

  Erik smiled. “And? Was she as hot as her photo?”

  Colin smiled but didn’t answer. Erik sat down next to me, still staring at Colin. “Hotter than her photo? Damn, I gotta see this girl! Take a new photo of her. Full body shot.”

  “No. I’m not doing that.”

  “Then describe her to me!”

  I jabbed Erik’s side. He ignored me.

  Colin kept smiling. “She’s uh, in good shape. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “What the hell? I need more than that! What was she—”

  “Excuse me,” I interrupted, “but girls are more than just a body. And it doesn’t matter what she looks like. Colin’s only there to get information from her.”

  Erik opened his soda. “Whatever, Sam. Like you girls don’t talk that way about guys.”

  Brittany walked in. “What are you talking about?”

  “Colin met that Emily girl and she’s even better looking than her photo,” Erik said. “And she has a smokin’-hot body.”

  “He didn’t say that,” I mumbled.

  I watched Colin go into the kitchen. He was far too excited about this girl. And they just met! How would I ever get him back now?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Coffee Shop

  Colin retold the whole Emily story to Jack and Dave after dinner. I couldn’t take another minute of it, so I went to bed early.

  Brittany came in our room later, waking me up. “You’re totally jealous, aren’t you?”

  “I’m trying to sleep, Brittany.”

  “I could see it on your face. You hated hearing Colin talk about her.”

  I sat up. “Of course I’m jealous. I’m trying to get him back. And now he’s falling for this Emily girl. Did you hear him? He kept going on and on about how great she is.”

  “Well, she did sound pretty perfect. Even more perfect than you, Sam.”

  “Oh, thanks.”

  “It’s not like he can date her.” She paused. “Or could he? Maybe when this is all over he could.”

  “Okay, you’re not helping, Brittany.”

  “So what are you gonna do? Just sit around and complain about her?”

  “I haven’t figured out what to do. I wasn’t expecting Emily to be smart, beautiful, nice, and a talented singer and good at playing guitar.”

  Brittany laughed as she got into bed. “And a model. Colin said she’s done some magazine ads.”

  “Great,” I muttered.

  “You just need to step up your game. Show Colin why he should choose you and not Emily or some other girl.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “Well, you might want to try harder now that you’ve got competition.” She pulled the covers up and went to sleep.

  The next morning I saw Colin doing one of his circuit training workouts in his room, probably trying to pump up his muscles before seeing Emily. Erik and I waited in the living room for Abigail to arrive.

  “Stop pushing Colin to get with Emily,” I whispered to Erik.

  “I don’t think he needs any pushing. He’s the one who couldn’t stop talking about her.”

  “Yeah, well, you weren’t helping.”

  There was a knock at the door. Erik got up to answer it. Abigail walked in, followed by Hadley, who was loaded up with equipment.

  “Hope you’re both well-rested and ready to try this again. Is Brittany ready?”

  “I’m here.” Brittany came strolling in, her hair still wet from the shower. I was amazed at how much Brittany had changed since I first met her down in Texas. The mean girl who was obsessed with her looks had turned into a caring sister who walked around with wet hair and no makeup. And she’d been asking Erik, Colin, and me to help her with math, science, and other subjects she’d struggled with in high school. The old Brittany didn’t care at all about school.

  “Let’s begin,” Abigail said, as she tinkered with the equipment. “I want you to try to read Brittany’s thoughts before they leave her head. That will help you transition into her mind.”

  I heard Colin in the hallway and watched as he walked to the bathroom to shower. He was wearing shorts but was shirtless. He looked even more perfect than I remembered. Six-pack abs, muscular arms, broad shoulders.

  “Samantha, are you listening?” Abigail’s voice startled me.

  I snapped my head back. “Yes, sorry.”

  Brittany was laughing off to my side. “Yeah, Sam. Pay attention.”

  Abigail turned on the equipment. “Okay, Erik you start. Brittany, begin talking in your head. Sam, try to shut her out. I want Erik to do this alone first.”

  Erik listened to Brittany’s thoughts. Then Abigail had him try getting deeper into her mind.

  “This isn’t working,” he said an hour later. “Maybe I don’t have this ability.”

  “Erik, you’ve already done this,” I thought to him. “You know you have the ability. Keep trying.”

  “It’s best if you two don’t talk telepathically during these exercises,” Abigail said.

  “How did you—” I stopped, remembering the brain wave monitoring headsets we were wearing.

  “Sam, why don’t you give it a try now?” Abigail suggested.

  “Can we take a break?” Brittany asked. “I’m running out of things to say in my head.”

  Hadley handed her a book. “Here, read this. Then you won’t have to come up with anything.”

  I concentrated on Brittany’s thoughts as she read from a book of Robert Frost poems. She kept reading all afternoon, but I wasn’t able to get into her mind.

  “Nothing seems to be working.” Abigail looked frustrated. “Let’s quit for today. Hadley and I need to go back and talk with the other researchers. They might come up with some other exercises for us to try. We’ll do that tomorrow and try this again on Thursday. Sound good?”

  Erik yawned and stretched his arms out. “A whole day off? Heck, yeah.”

  As Hadley took his equipment to the car, Abigail went into the kitchen to answer her cell phone. “Yes, we’re still on for tonight. I’m just leaving now.” I could hear Dave’s voice through the phone. He was over at the rebel group house.

  Abigail laughed flirtatiously. “Oh, David. You say the nicest things.” She paused. “It doesn’t matter to me. Wherever you want to go.” She laughed again. “Yes, I’m looking forward to it as well. See you tonight.”

  Dave had a date! An actual date! I didn’t know Abigail that well outside of her serious work mode, but she seemed nice. And she seemed to really be into Dave. I was happy that someone’s love life was working out. Mine certainly wasn’t.

  I went back to my room and tried to rest my mind. But all I could think about was Colin and Emily and how he was with her at that very moment. Sitting there listening to her talk and play her guitar. Probably finding her even more appealing and forg
etting that I even existed. I tried to imagine how she really looked and what she really sounded like. Maybe he’d exaggerated just to make me jealous.

  As I was imagining the scene, I felt a headache coming on. I blamed it on the mind exercises I’d done earlier. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. But my head hurt even more. Then I started to hear music. It was a guitar playing and a girl’s voice singing. I assumed Brittany had come in and turned on the radio. But when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see Brittany or our room. Instead I saw a girl sitting on a wooden stool on a small stage playing the guitar. A few people were sitting around her at tables, drinking coffee. I looked closer at the girl. It was Emily!

  I panicked, wondering what was happening. Was I inside Colin’s head? How else could I be seeing this? I scanned the coffee shop, looking for Colin, but couldn’t find him anywhere. Sitting next to me was an empty chair and a guitar case. A girl’s jacket was on the back of the chair.

  I had to be in Colin’s mind! How else could I be seeing this? I could feel my head pounding and knew I had to disconnect from his mind. But I was mesmerized by Emily and her song. She really did have a beautiful voice. And as Colin had alluded to earlier, she was prettier than her photo.

  Emily finished her song and looked at Colin, smiling at him. She definitely liked him. A lot. I could feel it. She got up and began walking toward him. I had to get out of his head. I couldn’t speak for him!

  “So what did you think?” Emily sat down next to Colin. “I just wrote that. I was kind of nervous about performing it, but I felt like I could try it with you here.” She grabbed his hand. “You’re so supportive, Colin. I’ve never met a guy like you. Most guys just ignore my music or say it’s stupid.”

  She looked at him/me to respond. “Um, your music is great, Emily. I really liked that song.”

  “You did? Really?” She moved closer to him.

  I had to get out of his head! This was way too intrusive. I wanted to know what was going on there, but not this way! This was wrong. I closed my eyes, imagining myself pulling away from Colin’s mind.

  “Sam, what are you doing?” I heard Brittany’s voice. When I opened my eyes, I saw her there and realized that I was back in my own head. “Oh, gross. Your nose is bleeding.”

  I put my hand to my face as blood poured from my nose. “Don’t tell anyone about this.” I raced to the bathroom, then came back with a wad of tissues.

  Brittany was there waiting for me. “What happened? Did your brain work too hard today?”

  “I don’t know. I guess. I can rest it tomorrow.”

  “You should tell that lady, Abigail. Or that guy she works with.”

  “No. It’s already slowing down. Please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want them making a big deal out of this.”

  “Okay. Hey, Erik and I are watching a movie before dinner. Do you want to watch with us?”

  “I think I’ll stay here. You guys go ahead.”

  Brittany left and I sat on the bed, trying to get the bleeding to stop. I could hear her and Erik laughing in the living room. Since Brittany had backed off trying to make Erik her boyfriend, she’d become much more comfortable around him. Sometimes I heard them talking about growing up in Comfort, Texas. It was nice that they shared that. Like Brittany said, Erik and Jack were her only connection with home. The only links to her old life. Just like Colin and Dave were the only links to my old life in Minnesota.

  The bleeding finally stopped and I fell asleep. I woke up to find Erik sitting on my bed. “Sam, get up.”

  “Why? What time is it?”

  “It’s 5:30. Brittany said you had another nosebleed. What happened?”

  “I told her not to tell anyone! Who else did she tell?”

  “Just me. I won’t say anything. Tell me what happened.”

  “No. It’s too embarrassing.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I hesitated, then decided that I didn’t want Erik coming up with his own explanation. “Okay but don’t tell anyone this. Promise?”

  “Yeah, so what happened?”

  “I got inside Colin’s head. I didn’t mean to. I was just sitting here thinking about him and it happened. I saw that girl, Emily. She was singing in the coffee shop. And then she came over and talked to Colin. Well, she talked to me but she thought it was him.”

  “What did you do? Did you try to get out of his head?”

  “Yes. But I kind of waited to see what would happen.”

  “Sam! You know that could mess up your brain. You should’ve gotten out right away.”

  “I know. And I did. I wasn’t in his head very long. A couple minutes, if that.”

  “I don’t think we should keep this a secret. What if you damaged your brain again?”

  “It’s not like last time. My head didn’t hurt nearly as bad. And the nosebleed went away after a few minutes.”

  “Well, if this happens again, don’t let it …”

  Erik’s voice drifted into the background as another voice filled my head.

  “Can you hear … thoughts, Sam? I need you to …”

  I grabbed Erik’s arm. “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what? I was talking and you just interrupted me.”

  “I have these files. I can’t open all of them, but I think they could help you.”

  I let go of Erik’s arm. “That! Just now. Did you hear that?”

  He looked confused. “Yeah. Why? Were you thinking something? That didn’t sound like you.”

  “Because it wasn’t me.” I replayed the voice in my head. It was very familiar. And then I realized it was Allie! I was almost 100% sure. But how was I hearing her thoughts?

  “I think it’s a friend of mine.” I didn’t dare tell Erik who it was. He hated Allie’s mother, Eve, after our encounters with her at GlobalLife.

  “What friend? Someone from Minnesota?”

  “Yeah. Someone I knew in high school. But I think she lives in New York City now.”

  “Sam … hear me, can … a signal? Or send … ? Anything?”

  “Erik, listen. She’s talking again.”

  “I don’t hear anything.”

  I closed my eyes, trying to hear what she was thinking, but her words kept cutting out.

  “Sam, what are you doing? Are you trying to get in her mind? Don’t do it. Stop!” He grabbed my arm and Allie’s words came flooding back into my head.

  “I’ve been trying to contact you by thinking really hard. I don’t know if it works, but I had to try. Sam, if you can hear my thoughts, please listen. I saw this file and it was all about you. How you’ve got these special genes and have powers and can hear people’s thoughts. There were other files, too, but they were locked. I copied all of them to a flash drive. Maybe someone else can get them open. Maybe these files can help you somehow. You need to come get the flash drive. I have the—”

  Erik stood up. “What is she talking about? What files?”

  “I don’t know.” I wondered if Allie was talking about GlobalLife files she found on her mom’s computer. If so, she was right. Those files could be useful. I closed my eyes again to listen for more.

  “And my parents … out of town … get the files.”

  I opened my eyes. “Why is she cutting out like that?”

  “Sam, just forget it. You don’t even know if it’s your friend. You said she lives in New York City? How are you hearing her thoughts from that distance?”

  “I guess our powers keep getting stronger. I’m sure it’s her. I know her voice, Erik. And you heard her—” I paused. “Wait a minute. I could hear her perfectly when I grabbed your arm. And then when you grabbed mine, I heard her again. Erik, it’s you! I need you to help me connect with her.”

  “What? What did I do?”

  “I’m not sure. But when we’re touching, I can hear her like she’s sitting right next to me. Come here. Take my hand.”

  He sighed as he sat down next to me again. “I don’t know about this, Sam.” />
  “Come on, just try.” I took his hand in mine.

  “ … will be gone until next week. So it’s just me here. And I get home every day at 3:30.”

  I looked at Erik. “Did you hear that?”

  He nodded. I closed my eyes and held Erik’s hand even tighter. I could feel his energy flowing through me and mine flowing back to him. I opened my eyes and suddenly, I could see an open room, like a loft apartment. It had floor-to-ceiling windows. Bright city lights lit up the dark sky outside. I could feel Erik trying to break free from my grasp, but I held on, not letting him go. I continued to scan the room. In front of me was a can of ginger ale, Allie’s favorite soda. On the chair, I noticed Allie’s white winter coat and red cashmere scarf.

  I was in Allie’s head! I could feel it. I turned to look out the window. I could see people walking on the street below. There was a flag waving in the wind. It was red with a gold lion on it. The flag seemed to be at the entrance to the building. Across the street I could see a line of horse-drawn carriages. One of them started moving along a path that led into Central Park. The scene was all I needed to find Allie.

  “What are you guys doing?” The voice came from outside my head. I felt myself pulling out of Allie’s mind as Erik yanked his hand from mine. I looked up to see that I was back in my own room.

  Colin was standing at the doorway. I didn’t have to read his mind to know what he was thinking. He’d seen Erik and me sitting on my bed holding hands, an innocent enough site, but I was sure Colin was imagining we’d done much more than that while he was gone.

  I jumped off the bed. “Colin, it’s not what you think. We weren’t doing anything.”

  “Yeah, whatever, Sam.” Colin turned and walked away.

  “No. Wait!” I started to leave, but Erik held me back.

  “Sam, what the hell just happened here? Were we just inside—”

  “Yeah, let’s talk later. I gotta go.” I ran after Colin, who was now in his room.

  I opened the door to find him sitting on his bed with headphones on. “Colin, listen. There was nothing going on.” I took his headphones off.