by Tia Mowry
Soon I was on my knees trying to keep the vibration of the sander from rattling my teeth too much. The mindless work gave me time to think.
Would anybody respond to my message online? I’d checked my in-box right after school, but there had been nothing yet. It was probably a long shot, especially since that original post had been written a couple of months ago. But it was the only shot I had so far. . . .
A loud knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts. Clicking off the sander, I stood and stepped over to open the door. I was shocked to find Gabe Campbell standing there—greasy hair, cowboy boots, and all. He was holding a brown paper bag.
“Hey,” he said. “Caitlyn, right? Not the other one?” He peered at me.
“Yeah, it’s Caitlyn.” I was too surprised to say anything else. It was weird to see him outside of school, sort of like running into your dentist at the mall or something. The bigger surprise? He almost seemed, well, nice. At least compared to the way he’d acted at the library that day. And every other time I’d seen him, pretty much.
“I’m selling raffle tickets for a free car wash,” Gabe went on, holding up the paper bag. “You know, for the class trip fund-raiser? Is your mom home?”
He stepped forward into the doorway, looking around inside the house. Yeah, he was being polite and all, but I couldn’t help but think his expression was a little shifty. I took a step back out of his way, feeling nervous.
Snap out of it, girl, I told myself. This is obviously why he was asking where you lived!
The thought made me feel better. Since when did I think bad stuff about people who weren’t doing anything wrong? Maybe Cass’s suspicious nature was rubbing off on me.
“Mom’s in the backyard,” I told Gabe. “Wait here and I’ll go get her.”
“Sure.” He stepped into the entryway and sat down on the bench, nudging Mom’s purse and all the other stuff out of his way.
I hesitated for one more moment, glancing at Mom’s purse with her wallet tucked inside. What if . . . No. I wasn’t going there.
“Be right back,” I said, hurrying toward the back hallway.
Five minutes later, Mom was digging into her purse for money to pay for a raffle ticket. I held my breath, relieved when she opened her wallet and I could see the cash inside. Immediately I felt foolish for doubting Gabe’s intentions.
“Thank you so much, Ms. Waters,” he said, sticking out his hand to shake after he’d traded the raffle ticket for the money my mom donated. “We really appreciate your support.”
“Of course.” Mom smiled at him. “Good luck selling all the tickets.”
“Thanks.” After he shook Mom’s hand, Gabe reached over to shake mine, too. I took it cautiously. His palm felt warm and oddly sticky, but I didn’t have much time to think as a piercing, buzzing sound started inside my head, ringing through my brain. Suddenly, Gabe began to shimmer in front of my eyes.
Oh, no! It was happening again. . . .
There were two versions of Gabe standing before me now. A faded-out Gabe was politely shaking my hand. The other, much brighter Gabe was also smiling, but it was a big, triumphant grin. Suddenly I noticed that the view behind him had changed, too. Instead of the quiet street outside my house, I saw the Aura police station. A middle-aged man I didn’t recognize was there, too, wearing a blue shirt and a shifty-eyed look. Gabe was handing the man something, though I couldn’t quite see what it was.
Gabe yanked his hand away from mine fast, and his vibrant double disappeared. Mom was still busy tucking her raffle ticket into her wallet, but Gabe was looking at me funny now.
“Uh, see you at school tomorrow,” he muttered warily.
“Yeah,” I managed to choke out. “See you.”
“What a nice young man,” Mom said after she’d closed the door behind him. She bent to scoop the keys and other stuff back into her purse. “Is he in your class at school?”
“Uh-huh,” I said, relieved when Mom headed back outside.
I sank onto the bench, shaking from head to toe. This had been my most vivid vision yet—and they were definitely getting stronger. I mean, I’d never noticed the scenery before! What did it mean? I had to tell Cass what had happened!
But she’d been awfully quiet since the thing at dinner last night, and Bad-Mood Cass was never easy to deal with. I could only hope she’d get over herself soon. Because whatever was happening to us was getting more intense by the day, and I needed my sister right now, for real. More than I could remember needing her since we were little kids.
So I grabbed the sander and went back to work, trying to ignore how lonely her silence made me feel.
11
CASSIE
“LISTEN,” CAITLYN SAID, skipping over a crack in the sidewalk. “I can’t wait any longer to tell you or I’ll go nuts!”
It was Wednesday morning, and we were halfway to school. Cait had been quiet for the first part of the walk, but then it was like a dam had burst, and she’d suddenly started chattering nonstop. Definitely not what I needed on an important day like today—a day that could make or break my entire school career in Aura.
“I had another vision yesterday.”
Well, that got my attention. Her voice was slightly louder than your average foghorn. My sister was seriously lacking in the art of cool.
“Sssh!” I warned, my eyes darting around to see who might have heard. Now that I had a plan to become popular, I didn’t want my sister to blow it for me. Again. “Can we talk about this later? And, you know, not in public?”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Sure, I guess.”
As we approached school, I ran my hands over my outfit, making sure everything was where it should be. I’d taken extra time getting ready that morning, ignoring Cait’s increasingly frantic pounding on the bathroom door. Super stylish outfit? Check. Perfect hair? Check. Cute lip gloss (the only makeup Mom let us wear)? Check.
I looked the part. Now it was time to put my plan into action.
Normally I headed straight to homeroom after hitting my locker. Not today. I wandered the halls, keeping an eye out for members of the popular crowd.
The first one I found was one of the minions. She was a petite strawberry blonde named Emily. She was at her locker, touching up her lip gloss in a tiny mirror taped inside the door.
“Hey, girl,” I said, stepping up to her. “Listen, do you know, uh, which chapters we were supposed to read for English today?”
As I said it, I put a hand on her arm. You know, casual-like. She glanced at me, then at my hand, looking confused.
“Why are you talking to me?’ she said, capping her gloss.
I stood still and focused on Emily’s face intently, waiting for the buzzing sound and the rest. But nothing happened. Why wasn’t anything happening? A second later Emily shrugged off my hand.
“Why are you touching me, weirdo?” she said. “Get away.”
I slumped against the lockers as she hurried off, shooting a couple of suspicious looks back at me as she went. Okay, so that had been a bust.
But before I could worry about it, I spotted a couple of the B Boys coming down the hall. They weren’t in my section, but I knew who they were. Everybody knew who they were.
“Hey, guys,” I said, stepping out to block their path. “What’s up?”
The shorter B Boy, Biff, blinked at me. “Caitlyn?”
“Nah, it’s the other one, bro,” the second guy said, rubbing his short black hair, which I guessed was the reason everyone called him Buzz. “Twins, remember?”
“Oh, right. Yo, what’s happening, other twin?” Biff looked me up and down.
I leaned closer, touching his arm. “Not much. You guys ready for the game this weekend?” Everyone had been talking about the upcoming game against Jeffers Middle School, Aura’s biggest rival. The entire school—actually the entire town—was freaking out about it, practically nonstop.
“Dude! For sure!” Biff turned and high-fived Buzz.
My hand dropped aw
ay, and I lost contact.
I bit my lip, frustrated. I was getting nothing. Again. Why wasn’t this working?
Then again, it wasn’t like I got a vision every time I touched someone. So how could I make it happen now?
“You coming to watch us kick some butt?” Buzz asked with a big grin, holding up his hand.
“Oh. Uh, yeah, sure. Of course,” I said, high-fiving him.
And just as my hand met his, my hearing and vision shorted out. Even in that brief second I caught a clear glimpse of a second, extravivid Buzz layered over the real one. He was scowling down at a test paper with a big, red D scribbled at the top.
Great. How was I supposed to use something like that? Telling Buzz to study harder wasn’t likely to win me any popularity points.
“Gotta go,” I muttered to the jocks, darting past them and striding down the hall.
I needed to make this work. I had to, if I was going to survive Aura. But I couldn’t just go around randomly touching people, or—
“Oof!” I grunted as I rounded the corner and slammed right into someone. Oops. I really had to stop doing that.
“Oh!” my victim blurted out.
It was Liam, Cait’s geeky friend. He wobbled, and I automatically grabbed his arm to steady him.
Another vision hit me hard and fast. Suddenly wobbly hallway Liam dimmed behind another Liam, this one standing in the lunch line.
Whoa! As I watched, lunchroom Liam got bumped badly by Brent, who was behind him in line. Liam lurched forward, scraping against the corner of the metal tray return. He straightened up quickly, glancing down at himself with alarm. His pants had caught on the metal edge and ripped, gaping open, to reveal superhero underpants underneath. Lunchroom Liam quickly pulled off his sweater and wrapped it around his waist, face flaming. . . .
“Cassie! Cassie? Are you okay?”
I floated back to reality as Liam—the real one—pulled his arm away and waved a hand in front of my face. Blinking at him, I took a step back.
“Uh, sorry,” I muttered, trying not to smirk at the thought of those goofy undies. “You must’ve half-knocked me out, crashing into me like that.”
“Oh! Sorry. Do you want me to walk you to the school nurse?”
“No, it’s cool.” I said, and hurried off without another word.
For a second I was annoyed. Here I was trying so hard to make a vision happen, and when it finally did, it was a total waste! And of course my vision of Liam would be something lame like ripping his pants and showing his dorky underwear. No wonder all the cool kids thought he was a nerd. Which meant they thought the same thing about my sister, his new BFF. If my vision came true, I could only imagine how their increased nerditude might rub off on me.
Or wait. Maybe this vision wasn’t all bad news after all. In fact, maybe it was exactly what I’d been looking for. . . .
I LOITERED IN the hall outside homeroom, trying to look casual. Just as I was starting to wonder if Megan had cut school that day, she finally appeared.
For once she was alone, no minions in sight. Good. That might make this easier.
“Hey, Megan,” I said as she approached, trying to sound nonchalant. “How’s it going?”
She looked startled. Her pale brows knit together, and I braced myself for an insult. Instead she just said, “Hey. Cool boots.”
“Thanks.” I mentally patted myself on the back for that day’s choice in footwear. “I like your skirt.”
Megan looked great, as always. Her style was a little girlier and more pastel-y than mine, but the girl knew how to dress. Even if I didn’t need her to become popular, that would be enough reason to want to be her friend.
“So listen,” I said quickly. “I heard something funny might happen at lunch today.”
“Something funny?” she echoed cautiously. “What do you mean?”
I psyched myself up and pasted what I hoped was a cool, slightly mischievous grin on my face. “It’s a surprise. But trust me; you won’t want to miss it. Meet me by the lunch line if you want to see.”
Megan didn’t answer right away. I held my breath, trying to look as if I didn’t care that much about her response. Her cool-blue eyes flicked down to my boots again, then back to my face.
“Maybe,” she said. “We’d better get inside. The bell’s about to ring.”
She brushed past me into homeroom, and I let out my breath. Whew! I could tell she wasn’t going to cut me much slack. This might be my one chance to win her over.
But that was okay. One chance was all I needed.
“SO WHEN’S THIS thing going to happen?”
Megan sounded impatient. We were hovering near the tray return, and though kids kept filing past us, Liam hadn’t shown yet.
“Soon,” I assured Megan, trying to sound confident. “Any minute now.”
A burst of laughter came from nearby. I’d recognize that goofy, too-loud guffaw anywhere—it was Cait. Glancing over, I saw her hurrying toward the line with Liam and Bianca.
My heart pounded. This was it!
“Heads up,” I said quietly, nudging Megan with my shoulder. “Eyes on the nerd.”
“You mean Liam?” Megan frowned, looking confused.
“Hi, Cass,” Caitlyn said cheerfully as they passed us. “Why aren’t you in line?”
“Hi,” I said, not bothering to answer.
Luckily she didn’t seem to care. She grabbed a tray, and Liam waved her and Bianca ahead of him in line.
I glanced around. When was Brent going to show? I couldn’t see him anywhere. And trust me, he was easy to spot—he towered over most of the other students, and his white-blond spiked hair added at least another inch. Not exactly a guy who blended in with the crowd.
“Where’s Brent?” I asked Megan.
“Brent?” She shrugged. “He’s out today. I heard he ditched to go look at a car with his cousin.”
I froze, my whole body going hot and cold both at once. No. This couldn’t be happening. Then I noticed that Liam was wearing a T-shirt instead of the striped polo and cardigan sweater from my vision.
Duh! How could I have been so stupid? It had taken days for my vision about Brayden to come true. Why had I assumed this latest vision would occur today?
“Yo, ladies!” Suddenly Biff bounded up behind us with Buzz at his heels. “Out of our way—we’re starving!”
“Yeah.” Buzz patted his stomach. “We gotta keep our strength up for Saturday’s game; know what I mean?”
Lavender was right behind the guys. She zeroed in on Megan and me standing together, and her face got all pinched and suspicious. “Megan, what are you doing?” she said sharply. “Get away from that freak, or you’ll get crazy cooties.”
Oh, man. I was about to give up—on my plan, on befriending Megan, on ever having a life again. I’d blown it. And even if the vision I’d seen happened tomorrow or a week from now, there was no way Megan would ever give me a chance again. No. Way. I was doomed. I might as well buy some Wonder Woman underpants and start hanging out with my sister and the Dork Patrol.
Just then Liam let out a loud, snorty burst of laughter, and I winced. No—I couldn’t give up yet.
A new idea hit me. Maybe my vision wasn’t meant for today. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t use what I’d seen. Crossing my fingers, I pasted a cool smile on my face.
“Hang on,” I told Megan. “Here we go.”
I glanced at Liam, who was still laughing. For a second I hesitated. The poor guy had enough problems without this, didn’t he?
Then I saw Megan watching me with narrowed eyes. I took a deep breath. Sorry, dude, I thought in Liam’s direction. No sense both of us being outcasts . . .
Grabbing Biff by the arm, I pulled him toward me, whispering in his ear. He listened, and his face lit up with glee.
Biff casually sauntered up to where Liam was bent over the counter examining the choices in Jell-O flavors.
In one swift movement, Biff grabbed the waistband of Liam’s cordur
oys, yanking downward. The pants came down—revealing a pair of superhero briefs.
As the other kids howled with laughter, I blew out a slow sigh of relief. Just as I’d guessed, Liam had a whole collection of those undies. Today’s pair wasn’t quite as colorful as the ones in my vision, but they would do.
“Come on, Cassie.” Megan linked her arm through mine and smiled at me. “Why don’t you sit with us today?”
I glanced at Liam, feeling a twinge of guilt. But I shook it off and smiled back at Megan.
Yes, they would do quite nicely.
12
CAITLYN
“WHERE HAVE YOU been?” I blurted out as soon as Cassie walked through the front door.
I’d been waiting for her ever since I got home from school. I’d checked my email—still no response from that message board post—and was trying to start my homework.
Trying being the key word. I hadn’t been able to concentrate, mostly because I was too busy convincing myself not to jump to conclusions about what had happened at lunch. I really, really-for-real wanted to give my twin the benefit of the doubt.
There was just one problem. My twintuition was kicking in again. And it was giving me the sneaking suspicion that Cassie might have had something to do with the pantsing incident. I narrowed my eyes at her, hoping I was wrong.
“Check it out.” Cass dropped the shopping bag she was carrying on the bench by the door. Reaching inside, she pulled out a blouse. “What do you know? You can find a few cute things out here in the boonies after all—if you’re shopping with someone who knows where to look.”
She pranced over and waggled the shirt in front of me, but I batted it aside. “Who were you shopping with?” I demanded, already knowing the answer.
“Oh, you know, Megan and Lav and a couple of the other girls,” Cassie replied airily, stepping away and tossing her new blouse back in the bag. “Megan’s older sister is home from college this week, so she drove us to the mall over in Six Oaks.”
“Since when are you friends with Megan and Lavender?” I wanted to stay calm, but I couldn’t do it. Leaping off the sofa, I got in her face. “Did it maybe have something to do with the way y’all totally humiliated Liam today in front of the entire school?”