“I’m not worried about me. Well, I am, but I’m worried about everyone else. Dad said that until I turn eighteen, everyone is in danger.”
“They’ve been dealing with this a lot longer than you. They’ll be fine. Besides, you can’t help if you’re so tired that you can’t think straight. You can’t keep this up. The visions drain your strength. You need sleep to recharge.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged a shoulder and grabbed the apple-cinnamon oatmeal out of the cupboard.
“I’ll have Doctor Preston drop something by just in case you change your mind.” She looked at me over her coffee mug.
“Okay, but no slipping it in my food.” I narrowed my eyes at her and smiled.
“Me? I’d never do such a thing.” She winked at me.
“Yeah, right.” I smiled at her and stood next to the microwave waiting for it to nuke my instant bowl of oatmeal goodness.
A good night’s sleep would feel so good. Maybe I’ll try the pill. Just for one night.
***
“You look like dog shit baked in the sun,” Muriel said on the drive to school.
I turned and looked at her. “You’re so lucky you’re driving. I might have hit you for that comment. Besides, you sound like my mother. You two are so great for my self-esteem. If I didn’t have any issues with my physical appearance—and who doesn’t, by the way?—I sure do now.”
Muriel smiled at me. “You’re beautiful. You just refuse to see it because you’re incredibly humble.” I snorted at that. “Okay, make that half humble and half stubborn. So, you’re having nightmares, huh?”
I nodded. “Occupational hazard,” I mumbled.
“I know, right? So, do you want to go to the mall after school for some retail therapy? We could ask Jen and Shayla to come with.” Muriel stopped at a red light and looked at me. “You can buy the place out.”
“I won’t be buying it out too much since I’m officially unemployed. Except for the wicked deal I struck with my dad. He felt guilty about making me quit the bakery, so he’s paying me to do stuff around the house.” I grinned at Muriel.
“Geez, Milayna. You could sell a dentist a lifetime’s supply of candy if you tried. How do you do it?”
“I say please?” I shrugged. “Anyway, what about Lily?”
Muriel made a face. “She has to work.” I waited for the rest of the story, but she didn’t give it up.
I poked her thigh with a pencil. “What’s with the look?”
“What look?” Muriel didn’t look at me.
“When I asked about Lily, you made a face. What’s going on?” I braced my ring finger against my thumb and put it near the side of her ear. “I’ll flick your ear if you don’t tell me, woman!”
Muriel raised her shoulder to protect her ear. “Okay, okay. She’s just been weird lately.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know—she’s just been weird.” Muriel shrugged. “Kind of standoffish.”
“Well, we should ask her anyway so she doesn’t feel left out. Even if she has been weird, the group needs to work together and we can’t do that if we aren’t getting along. So let’s be the bigger people and invite her.” I sat back in my seat.
Muriel made another face and glanced at me, “We all know she’s the bigger person.” She cupped her hand under her chest and raised an eyebrow.
I looked at her for a few beats before I burst out laughing. Muriel and I laughed for half of the short drive to school.
Muriel pulled into a parking space and threw the car into park. “Ugh. I really wanna go home and go back to bed.”
“Pssh, I hear that.” I pushed my door open, forcing myself out of the car and into the school building.
We got to our lockers. Pulling out my two-ton chemistry book, I shoved it into my messenger bag. I started to turn to go to class but stopped, picking at the chipping blue paint on Muriel’s locker door. The skin between her eyebrows was furrowed, and her face strained.
“Muriel?” She glanced at me and smiled. “If there was something wrong, you’d tell me, right? Because not telling me everything didn’t work out so great last time, remember?”
“Yeah, I’d tell you,” she said quietly. And for the first time since we were kids, I knew she was lying to me. I wondered if that was what my dad meant when he said I’d be able to feel the thoughts of other people. But that was humans. Did it work on DAs, too?
“Okay. See you in calc.” I hoofed it toward chemistry. I felt a little flutter in my stomach. Chay would be there. I wasn’t sure if the flutter was because I was looking forward to seeing him or because I dreaded it.
I walked into the room. His chair was empty. I felt a twinge of disappointment.
“Geez, you’re slower than an old woman. Move already,” he said so close to my ear that my hair fluttered from his breath.
I looked over my shoulder. “Were you following me?”
“Yes. You can’t be alone. That means walking to and from classes.” We walked to our table and sat down.
“Do you follow me to every class?” I asked, perturbed. I didn’t like him stalking around in the shadows, following me all day.
“Not every class. Sometimes Jake watches you, sometimes Jen or Muriel. It depends on whose class is closest to yours.” He shrugged and threw his bag on the table.
“I don’t like being followed,” I grumbled.
“Well, get used to it, princess,” he said. “You have your very own version of the DA Secret Service.” I glanced at him. He winked, and my heart did a somersault.
I decided that the flutter in my stomach at the thought of seeing him was most definitely dread. He was so infuriating. How could it be anything else?
“You really need to get some sleep. You look like—”
“Don’t say it.” I glared at him. He smiled, and my damn stomach did the little fluttering thing again.
***
Muriel and I were sitting in our usual spot at lunch. We were laughing at something that happened in calculus when a tray slammed on the table next to me. I jumped and looked up.
“Oh, it’s you.” I continued spreading peanut butter on my apple slice. “Don’t you have someone else to bug?”
“Nope. I cleared my calendar just for you,” Chay murmured.
“Gee, I feel so flattered. Wait, flattered isn’t the word… um… irritated. Yeah. That’s the word. Go away, Chay. We can’t make fun of you if you’re sitting next to us.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Muriel laughed.
“Nope. The others will be here soon, too. So plaster on your pretty smile and try to act friendly for a change.”
“Act friendly? I am friendly. You’re the one who walks around with a scowl on his face, grumbling all day.”
He smiled at me. “Better?” he asked. I couldn’t answer. The fluttering in my stomach was moving up my throat.
Geez, he has a great smile. Plump lips, but not so much that they’re feminine, over straight, white teeth. Why does he have to open his mouth and ruin it?
“I guess it’ll have to do,” I said and turned my back to him. Maybe if I didn’t look at him, I could forget he was sitting right next to me. But he was so close I could feel his body heat, and every time he moved, I got a whiff of his cologne. There was no ignoring Chay. He had a presence about him. When he was near me, every nerve tingled, and I hated every single second of it. Right? “So,” he said, “I hear we’re all going to the mall after school.”
I swung my gaze between him and Muriel. Chay grinned, and Muriel gave me her I’m-so-sorry-please-don’t-hate-me look. “He invited himself. What could I do?”
“Of course he did.” I gave Muriel my best I’m-gonna-kill-you-later glare.
***
I watched the black hands on the clock hanging over the classroom door. It was the last class of the day. As the minute hand moved closer to three o’clock, another butterfly threatened mutiny in my stomach.
The mall. Why does he have to go to the mall? Guys don’t
even like the mall—do they?
I dreaded it, and I hated that I cared he was going at all. I didn’t like Chay. At least, that was what I kept telling myself. He was irritating and commanding, and I wasn’t into guys like him.
So why is he all I can think about? Jake hasn’t even crossed my mind all day, but he’s the kind of guy I’m into. Right? I think.
The final bell rang. I grabbed my stuff and cursed.
How can I have retail therapy with Chay there? This was supposed to be Muriel and me. Girls’ day. Trying on ridiculously expensive clothes and every pair of shoes in the store. Stuff no guy, especially Chay, wants to do. I want to stomp my feet and scream. No wonder little kids have tantrums. I think one would actually feel good right now. Huh.
I walked slowly to my locker, wondering who was following me. The second I turned, I spotted his eyes and watched as a slow grin slid across his face. I sighed.
I got to my locker and threw my crap inside, slamming the door. He stood on the other side, his hip leaning against the lockers. He looked completely relaxed, while I had butterflies the size of softballs bouncing around in the pit of my belly.
“Let’s go.” He pushed off the lockers.
“Wait. Where’s Muriel?”
“Outside.”
I followed Chay to the parking lot and stared in disgust at what I found. Muriel’s car was full. Drew was sitting in the front seat next to her. Jen and Shayla were crunched in the backseat with Jeff. Steven and Jake were at football practice and Lily was working, so I couldn’t hitch a ride with any of them.
I looked slowly to my left. Chay held his car door open for me with a raised eyebrow. “Are you going to stand there all day or are we gonna get the torture over with?”
“Which particular torture are you referring to?” I walked slowly to his car.
“The mall. What else?”
Uh, how ‘bout having to ride with you?
I slipped in the passenger’s seat. He shut the car door and walked around the front end toward the driver’s side, twirling his keys around his finger. I looked for an escape route, but Muriel had already pulled out of the parking lot. I was stuck with Chay.
You are so gonna pay for this, Muriel.
He was quiet on the way to the mall. The only sound was the hum of his car’s engine and the frantic beating of my heart. We’d just pulled into the parking lot when he looked at me.
“Your name’s really pretty.”
“Oh… um, thanks.” I looked at him for the first time since leaving the school and gave him a small smile. He had an odd look on his face. “Your name is… different.”
“Yeah.”
“I mean it’s unique,” I said quickly.
“I know what you meant, Milayna.” One side of his mouth lifted in an amused grin. He reached out and gently tugged on a piece of my hair before sliding it behind my ear. It sent shivers down to my toes.
Whoa. What the hell was that?
He dropped his hand and flung open his door. “Let’s get this over with.”
Having Chay spend the afternoon at the mall with us wasn’t the catastrophe I thought it’d be. He was actually fun to be with when he wasn’t in a mood. The group had a great time laughing with and teasing each other.
We sat in the food court in the middle of the mall and watched the people pass by. Potted palm trees hung over us, strung up with paper lanterns. Afternoon light shined down on us from the skylights high in the second-story ceiling, making Chay’s dark hair glossy. I tried not to notice. I hated that I kept looking.
“No, no, look at this one,” Drew said behind the napkin he held in front of his mouth. He laughed so hard it was hard to understand him. “But, Mom, I don’t want to get a haircut. The frizzy perm look is in this year.” He pointed at a mother pulling her teenaged son into a barbershop by the collar of his plaid button-down. His hair sprung in all directions and could definitely use a good conditioning.
“Wait, check out the red-headed guy’s T-shirt,” Jen squealed.
“Feed a starving artist… buy my book,” I read and laughed.
“Yeah, he doesn’t look like he’s missed too many dinners, and he has an ice cream cone. I want ice cream,” Jen said wistfully, smiling.
Chay pointed to a little girl crying; her mom pulled her behind her. The little girl held a Barbie doll in one hand and every so many steps she took, she’d look at it and start crying harder. The screams filled the food court, and I wanted to plug my ears.
“But Mom, I didn’t want the Barbie. I wanted the Spiderman doll.” Chay shook his head and chuckled.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s so sexist. I have a Spiderman action figure. He stands watch on my bedside table.” He stared at me, looking as though he was at a complete loss for words. I started laughing, and his lips twitched to hide a grin.
We sat at the table, eating nachos and making up stories for the people who walked by, laughing like kids.
Drew stood and brushed tortilla chip crumbs off his shirt. “I’m going to GameStop. Anyone up for it?”
Jeff stood up. “Lead on.”
I looked at Jen and Muriel. “I say we go find out what Victoria’s Secret is.” I arched a brow.
Jen giggled and grabbed her things. Muriel jumped out of her chair so fast it fell over.
I started to stand when Chay put his hand on my arm and leaned in to me. His lips were against my ear, moving over them in a fiery caress. “We need to leave,” he murmured.
“Why?” I wasn’t ready for the day to be over. I was having fun, even with him there. Amazing.
“Because I think you’re gonna have a vision.”
“How do you…?” My stomach clenched so hard that I doubled over. He grabbed my elbow to steady me. Of course he knew. With his ability to know when a team member was in trouble, he saw the vision coming before I did.
He told the others to stay put in case the cause of the vision was in the mall. “We’ll keep in touch with our cells.”
Chay helped me outside. My head had started to pound, and the blood pulsed behind my ears so loud that I struggled to hear him.
“I’m gonna be sick,” I whispered. He steered to me a wastebasket, and I heaved the nachos I’d just eaten.
Well, that’s attractive.
We made it to his car, and I fell onto the passenger’s seat. I sat sideways, my legs outside the door. Chay handed me a napkin, and I was wiping my mouth and hands off when the vision knocked into me. I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes and tried to relax.
Lily. Red faces. Fat bodies. Hobgoblins.
I dropped my hands from my face. “It’s Lily,” I whispered. I was sure she needed our help. We needed to get to her. Protect her. My hands started to tremble, and I willed the vision to give me more. I needed more information so we’d know how to help Lily.
“What do you see?”
“I just see her with the hobgoblins.” I closed my eyes and concentrated.
Laughing. The hobgoblins are cackling. Lily is… laughing. That’s wrong. Her shoulders are shaking and the skin is crinkled at the sides of her eyes, but her mouth is covered. Crying. She must be crying. No tears. She’s not crying. Laughing, then.
“She’s… laughing.” I opened my eyes and looked into Chay’s. “What’s going on?”
He opened his mouth to answer and then clamped it shut again. His lips pressed into a thin line.
A searing pain burned through my head, and I screamed and clutched it in my hands. It pounded and pounded, over and over, like someone was hammering out a rhythm on a drum. There was no time between beats, and soon the individual pounding turned into a constant pain so intense that my jaw ached from clenching my teeth against it.
She’s shaking hands. A pale, white hand inside a large, gray one.
My right hand started to burn. Jerking it away from my head, I looked at it. I expected to see burn marks, but there was nothing.
I looked at Chay again. He seemed resigne
d. His lips were pressed together and his hands were laced behind his neck. “I knew it was coming. I hoped I was wrong, but I knew it was coming.” He shook his head, a scowl marring his features. “Damn it!”
“What’s going on?” He turned his face from me, not answering. I reached out and pulled his chin toward me. “What’s going on?” My teeth clenched against the pain from my twisting stomach and throbbing head.
His eyes turned dark, like storm clouds moving across the sun; the blue and green swirled together. Reaching up, he pulled my hand from his face, looking at it for a long minute before turning it over and pressing his lips to my palm. It was incredibly sensual and took me totally by surprise. My body was singing inside. I could feel every breath, every heartbeat, every nerve ending. I had no idea what to say or do in response, so I slowly pulled my hand from his and fisted it in my lap so he couldn’t see it shake.
“Chay, tell me what’s going on. Shouldn’t we be going to Lily? She’s alone. She’ll need the rest of us for strength,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“She doesn’t need us. She’s made her decision.”
“What are you talking about?”
He ran a fingertip across my forehead and to my temple, moving it over my skin in slow, soft circles. “Is the vision gone?”
I tried to concentrate on the vision and not the feelings his one finger was pulling from me. “Yes.” I watched him, confused. “Why didn’t we have to step in? Oh no—are we too late?” I grabbed his arm.
He studied where my hand touched him, a strange expression on his face. I couldn’t decipher his looks. He had so many. I let go and slid my hand between my thigh and the car’s seat.
“Yes, we’re too late, but not in the way you think.”
I waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, I slammed both palms on the dash in front of me. Leaning forward, my head dropped between my arms, I let out a frustrated growl and pushed myself back into the seat. “Damn it, Chay! Stop talking in riddles and tell me what’s going on!” I fell silent and tilted my head to the side. A thought ran through my head. I turned to Chay. “She crossed. Didn’t she?”
Chay licked his lips and scratched his eyebrow with his thumb. He opened his mouth to answer when we heard Muriel yell to us.
“She crossed, didn’t she?” Muriel called, hurrying toward the car. “I’ve been picking up bits and pieces in visions today.”
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