Then, without any warning, there was a huge explosion. Every light onstage and in the auditorium popped off at once. The audience members were gasping and jumping around in their seats, terrified. And then, just when I thought I was about to lose my rein on sanity, something truly unbelievable happened. Cole took my hand and squeezed it.
I looked right at him. The exit lights in the aisle cast a small glow on his face. He looked right back. We each gave the other a small smile that kind of stayed frozen on our faces for a moment. Then, superslowly, he moved his head toward mine, and I went in to meet him.
Oh my God. It was about to happen. I was going to get my first kiss! From Cole Daniels!
My brain was going like a treadmill stuck at top speed. In the few seconds before our lips touched, it filled with enough thoughts to take up three textbooks.
Do I tilt to the right? Is my breath okay? Do I smell like pizza? I’m about to touch lips with Cole Daniels. Do I even know what to do? Has he done this before? Maybe with Courtney? I hope not. Will he tell people we kissed? Can Reid and Lana see us? Is that better or worse? Do I want to share this moment with a bunch of theatergoers? I really don’t care. I am about to kiss Cole Daniels! Why do I sometimes refer to him with his full name? It isn’t like he’s a celebrity. Well, I guess to me he kind of is. But now he’s my boyfriend. Right? I know that not everyone who kisses each other is a couple, but I want to be one. Colgel. No. Angole. That doesn’t work either. Our names don’t meld well. I hope that doesn’t mean we’re doomed. But it’s not like most of those star couples end up working out, anyway. But Cole and I will. We . . .
Then my brain shut off.
Cole.
Was.
Kissing.
Me.
It lasted for about three seconds. And when we pulled apart, I felt dizzy. Like I had gone round and round on a Sit ’n Spin and then quickly stopped. But it was a good kind of dizzy. Better than good. It was amazing. And it didn’t end with the kiss. Cole kept on holding my hand. Courtney was so wrong. I wasn’t Cole’s project. He liked me.
As we continued to hold hands, I suddenly became very self-conscious. Was I supposed to smile at him again? Say something to him? Pretend nothing happened?
As I debated what to do, my eyes were drawn onstage. What the . . .
A giant ball of light was moving toward Courtney and reciting Lucy’s lines. I recognized the voice. It was Gabi’s. This was really bad. Gabi had turned into something like a firefly. A super-sized firefly type thing.
I sucked in my breath. How did this happen? Did I say something? Did I do something? How could I have been so stupid to think I’d be able to handle my powers right off the bat? This was a catastrophe.
I closed my eyes in the hopes that everything would be fixed once I opened them again. Needless to say, that wasn’t the case. In fact, no one was moving, no one was talking, no one was breathing. Everyone was frozen in place.
I poked Cole with my finger. He didn’t budge. He didn’t even blink. What had I done to him?!
“Don’t panic,” Lou said, popping up from a seat four rows in front of me. I couldn’t believe he dared show his face after what happened with the hPhone. “They’re fine. I just thought you could use a time out and some guidance.”
“I don’t need anything from you. Just unfreeze everyone and leave.”
“I think you may be underestimating your problems,” he said, looking up at Gabi onstage.
“If my life needs any more ruining, I’ll give you a call,” I told him. “Otherwise, I’ve got things under control, thanks.” No help was better than the devil’s help.
“Really?” he asked, trying to mask a grin. He gestured to my best friend, who was still glowing brightly. “Do you even know how you made that happen?”
Duh. “My powers.”
“Yes. But they didn’t work as you planned, now did they?” he asked.
I didn’t have time for this. “Lou, just go. I’ll figure it out. I don’t need you.”
He kept talking anyway. “Your powers are responding not just to your words, but to your thoughts as well. And they’re interpreting both too literally. You have to—”
“Got it. Thanks. Now please unfreeze everyone.”
He shook his head. “Knowing why your powers are going awry is not enough. You’re going to need my help until you master them.”
“I said I got it covered, thanks. Now please undo what you’ve done and leave.”
“Okay,” he said, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Not even a second later, everyone came back to life.
I really had to think fast before a riot broke out. If Lou was right, I just had to retrace my thoughts. I racked my brain for what had been on my mind before Cole kissed me.
Oh, right.
I had wanted Gabi to shine.
Only one way to fix that, I figured. “Bring the stage lights back on and take away Gabi’s glow,” I mouthed over and over again.
The lights came back on, and Gabi started to return to her natural rosy complexion. Finally, something was going right.
Or not.
I quickly realized that the de-glowing process wouldn’t stop. All Gabi’s color started draining away. Everything—her skin, her hair, her eyes, her clothes, her watch—turned black and white. I hoped people would just think it was a cool special effect.
Cole turned to me. “Do you see that? It’s—”
“Just part of the show,” I finished for him. This was horrible. I hoped my nerves weren’t making my hand all sweaty. On top of everything, I didn’t need Cole to be grossed out by me.
I could hear the couple behind me talking. “What’s going on? Is she sick? Should we call a doctor?” someone asked. “How in the world did they do that? It’s not possible,” another commented. And so on.
They weren’t buying it as part of the play. This was awful. All the voices started to jumble together. I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying anymore. It was like they were talking French or something.
I had to be smart about my next move. I couldn’t let my thoughts get the better of me. I had to be careful how I worded my commands.
Porter walked up to the front of the stage and cleared his throat—loudly. “Mmm, hmm,” he repeated, trying to get the audience’s attention.
I was glad he was taking over. It would give me time to think.
“Vous êtes un homme bon, Charlie Brown,” Porter said.
Excusez-moi?! Was he speaking French?
“Oui.” Bronwyn moved next to Porter and sang, “Vous êtes un homme bon, Charlie Brown.”
I hadn’t meant to make them speak French! I was just making an observation that the room felt like everyone was speaking a different language! This was nuts. A mere thought could set off my powers? If that was the case, I was going to be in a lot of trouble. How was I supposed to control every thing that crossed my mind?
For the time being, I concentrated on having only one thought. I want everyone on stage to stop speaking French!
“Oofway, oofway,” Randy said.
He was playing Snoopy. Maybe that was his interpretation of dog speak?
Then the cast began to sing.
“Eres un buen hombre . . .” Bronwyn began.
She was overpowered by Porter. “你是一個好人 . . .”
But you could still make out Matt. “Du bist ein guter mann . . .”
Holy mackerel.
There was chaos on stage. I had made a sampling plate of languages. You had Spanish, Chinese, German . . .
“Oofway,” Randy barked.
And Pig Latin?
Even Courtney got in on the act. Somehow she picked up sign language—or at least it looked like it.
No one in the audience said a word. They were all staring at the stage in utter astonishment, watching my whacked-out magic at work. At least no one could pin it on me.
Focus. Focus. I needed to be specific. I want the cast to speak English, like me.
>
I think I accidentally squeezed Cole’s hand. “This is crazy,” he whispered.
“I know,” I whispered back.
“I know,” the entire cast said in a hushed voice.
Uh . . .
That was just a coincidence.
Please.
I let out a small cough.
All seven people on stage, including Courtney, coughed.
Cole shot me a look. “What’s going on?”
My life was over. I couldn’t answer him. Not without having an echo. Or one of those choruses they had in Greek tragedies.
Back to normal. Put everyone back to normal. Everyone’s back to normal, I thought.
Okay, that had to work.
Cole was still staring at me. “How . . . Did they just mimic you?”
I shook my head no.
“Say something again,” Cole prodded me.
I was afraid to. What if I hadn’t put everything back to normal? But he was waiting . . .
“Cole,” I whispered.
“Cole,” the cast repeated.
No!! Why didn’t it work?
This was way worse than any Greek tragedy. It was a Cole-is-looking-at-you-like-you’re-a-freak-of-nature-and-he’s-right tragedy.
He pulled his hand away from mine. “There’s no way they could have heard you. How’d you do that?”
“I didn’t,” I said.
“I didn’t.”
Make them stop, I thought.
“It’s part of the show. It’s rehearsed,” I tried to explain.
“It’s part of the show. It’s rehearsed,” seven voices echoed back.
The people sitting around me were whispering and pointing at me. I needed to stop talking. But I had to make it better. I had to offer Cole some explanation that he’d buy.
“It’s a new thing they’re working on . . .”
“It’s a new thing they’re working on . . .”
“It’s interactive theater. They want everyone to take part.”
“It’s interactive theater. They want everyone to take part.”
This time, it wasn’t just the actors repeating me. It was the entire audience including Cole.
“Oh my God.”
“Oh my God,” everyone in the auditorium chanted.
“Stop.”
“Stop.”
I let out a gasp.
A collective gasp went out among the group.
Everyone stop repeating after me, I thought to myself thirty times, really fast. “Testing,” I tried.
“Testing.”
“No,” I yelled.
“No,” more than a hundred voices shouted back.
This was madness. I needed to concentrate so my powers would work right. How can I think in a zoo?
“Will you just leave me alone?” I cried out.
And just like that, the noise stopped.
Because they were gone.
I was the only one left in the room.
I had made every single person, even Cole . . . vanish into thin air.
chapter 41
What had I done? I ran up to the stage and looked out at the empty auditorium. Where was everyone?
Think, think, think, think, think.
I remember wishing everyone would leave me alone. But what else had gone through my mind? I remember thinking about madness . . . that I needed to concentrate . . . that this place was a zoo.
A zoo! That was it. In my head, I had called the auditorium a zoo. That had to be where I sent them all.
I needed to do something. Fast. For all I knew, everyone could have ended up in cages with the tigers or other wild animals.
“Can I be of some assistance now?”
I turned around. Right behind me, standing center stage was Lou. I had just told him to leave me alone. But at that exact moment in time, I really needed help. Then again, how could I trust him?
“No. I’ll figure it out. You’ve done enough assisting, thank you very much. If it wasn’t for you I’d never be in this position.”
“Me?” He tried to look all incredulous.
“Yes, you.” I ticked off the reasons on my fingers. “If you weren’t in my life I wouldn’t have had powers to try out, Gabi wouldn’t be mad at me because Courtney never would have been friends with me in the first place, and I wouldn’t be stressed out about what Cole thinks of me because he wouldn’t even know I exist.”
“Well, like I explained, I had very little to do with Courtney befriending you or Cole—”
“Stop. I don’t have time for your excuses. I have people to save.”
Lou jumped off the stage. “I can fix everything. Bring everyone back.” He pulled out his hPhone, punched a few buttons, and let out a low whistle. “Oh, and preferably before that panda wakes up.” He held out the device for me to see the entire cast of Charlie Brown and their families crammed together in the animal’s cage.
My whole body tensed up. “Lou, get out of here so I can work on saving them.”
“Okay, but you’re going to need to start by relaxing yourself and concentrating. Powers are hard to control. It takes a lot of hard work and practice to learn how. You can’t just jump in with something advanced.”
I needed to fix the situation before Gabi or someone got mauled.
Bring everyone back to the auditorium, I thought, but nothing happened. I said it, too, but still nothing happened. I screamed it.
But nothing happened.
I was a failure. I prayed there were no casualties. I could just see it on the local news. Lions, tigers, and the people of Goode? Hundreds of area residents trapped inside the zoo. Film at eleven.
Then, suddenly, I felt something. A wind gust, which kept getting stronger and stronger, like a tornado circling the auditorium. When it cleared away, everyone was back. Thank goodness! I was so relieved. Complete and utter ruination averted. Now I just had to see if I still had a chorus of mimics.
“Hello,” I whispered.
This time no one repeated what I said. But they did stare at me with crazed looks in their eyes. They were freaked out by recent events, and they knew I had something to do with it.
“It had to be her,” an old guy said.
“That’s the girl we were all mimicking,” a woman cried, pointing at me.
“I always knew she was a witch,” Lana called out.
Uh-oh. They were totally on to me.
“Calm down everyone,” Mr. Stanton yelled. “I’m going to call the police. We’ll figure this out.”
This punishment was going to be a lot worse than a detention. I’d be lucky if I wasn’t burned at the stakes or probed by some secret FBI unit for the supernatural beat.
“We should tie her up, just in case,” Courtney shouted from onstage. I kind of wished her voice was still gone. “She did this. She’s some sort of psycho.”
“Yeah,” Lana echoed. “She’s just going to do it again.”
Some man came up to me and grabbed my arm. He was surrounded by a mob of others. “We’re just going to lock you in a dressing room until the authorities get here,” he said, as if he were speaking to a rabid dog. Then another man picked me up and started to carry me away. I tried to escape, but I couldn’t. I looked down at all the faces. Cole was staring at me with a look of terror. A couple of people from my science class were running for the exit. Max was there, too, and even he looked creeped out. I felt the tears streaming down my face. I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid to use my powers again. But if I didn’t, my life was going to be over. I hated to do it, but I only had one choice.
“Lou,” I cried out. “Please help m—”
Before I finished my sentence, I found myself face-to-face with Lou inside Courtney’s dressing room.
“You have to do something,” I pleaded. “Just this once.”
He nodded and waved his hand.
“Wait,” I shouted. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to give you a do-over. Bring you back in time, before any
of this craziness started.”
“No. I don’t want to do everything over.” I didn’t want to get into a conversation with Lou about it, but Cole kissed me during all of that madness. I didn’t want that taken away. “Can’t you just erase a few things from everyone’s memories?”
“I can, but it’s extremely difficult. On a large scale like this, a lot of wires can get crossed. People can end up forgetting things beyond the incident in question—like if they took their medicine for the day, or picked up their kids from the babysitter. It’s very complicated. Whenever I’ve done it in the past I’ve prepared with yoga and meditation to clear out the mental cobwebs. The do-over is really your safest bet.”
There had to be another solution. But when I heard a man call out, “I’ll check the dressing rooms,” I gave in. “Fine,” I said to Lou. “Just do it.”
The next thing I knew, I was outside the pizza shop walking with Cole, Reid, and Lana.
chapter 42
“Nice outfit,” Lana said, and then looked straight ahead. Everything was happening just like before. We couldn’t all find seats together so Cole and I sat two rows in front of Lana and Reid. Only this time, I didn’t get up to go backstage. This time I didn’t think thoughts or click my heels or whisper anything. I just sat there. Waiting.
When Courtney came out onstage, I let out a gasp. The last time I did that, Cole took my hand. This time, he didn’t even ask if I was okay.
The truth was out. Courtney was right. He didn’t like me after all. He just kissed me out of fear. I had read in some magazine that experiencing scary things together like roller coasters and horror movies can trick couples into thinking they’re falling in love. I think it had something to do with getting the heart rate faster, but I can’t really remember. I wondered if introducing him to the devil would scare him into loving me.
After my gasp, I let out a big sigh. Not on purpose this time. Just because everything I was thinking was bumming me out. Cole finally spoke. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yep,” I lied. The real answer was, “No, I saw the way you looked at me when the masses were trying to carry me away. You thought I was a freak show then. But this is even worse. Now I’m back to just being some girl you feel sorry for and are out on a mercy date with, just like Courtney said.”
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