Megan, Annabeth, and I walk up and down the crowded mall, peeking into store windows and shoving past hawkers in the temporary kiosks. I’m having a hard time trying to decide what to buy for my mother. The choices may be unlimited, but my budget isn’t.
“Any suggestions?” I ask them.
“Moms always like perfume and stuff like that,” Megan says. “Or we could go into the bath store and look at some of those scented soaps.”
“Okay. Which way?” It’s my first time in this mall and I’m turned around.
“I think we passed it.” Annabeth looks up at the sign on the sporting goods store behind us.
“Ohmigod, do you two see what I see?” Megan exclaims, pointing across the mall.
“What?” All I can see are hordes of busy shoppers.
“It’s Kensington Marlow!”
“So?” I ask, annoyed at the thought that my rival— even though she might not realize she’s my rival— is breathing the same airspace as I am. “I imagine she practically lives at the mall.”
Still, my curiosity gets the better of me and I look in the direction Megan is pointing. Sure enough, there’s Kensi, but she isn’t alone. She’s walking arm-in-arm with a very attractive guy, occasionally leaning her head on his shoulder, laughing as he whispers in her ear. He even leans over and kisses her on the cheek as they stroll along.
“Who’s Kensington Marlow and why do we care?” Annabeth asks.
“She’s Quince Adams’ girlfriend, and that is NOT Quince!” Megan says.
“He’s a college student,” I say, too dazed by Kensi’s betrayal to think what I’m saying.
“He is? How do you know?” Megan asks me. I see Annabeth give me a knowing look.
“Um, he just looks older than high school,” I hedge. Still, we all realize that Kensi is cheating on Quince, big time.
Then a weird sensation comes over me. It’s like everyone in the mall is playing a game of freeze-tag and instantly all movement, voices, noise, and music seem to stop while a thought swirls in my head. In my gut I feel a gnawing sensation and I blurt out, “Quince is here— in the mall!” So much for keeping my psychic premonitions to myself.
“Where?” Megan searches the crowd. “I don’t see him.”
Neither do I at the moment, but my radar tells me he’s definitely here. “Quince is going to see Kensi with that college guy!”
“So let him. Seriously, I’d think you’d be happy if Quince found out his girlfriend is cheating on him,” Annabeth says.
I wonder if she’s right. “I don’t know… ”
“Well, I say we find him and tell him,” Annabeth finally says, narrowing her eyes at me.
I have to stop and think a minute. True, if Quince sees Kensi with the other guy, they might break up, but I refuse to be the reason he finds out. I just got back in his good graces and I want to keep it that way.
“I kinda feel bad for the guy, though,” Annabeth goes on. “I know what it’s like to have a cheating Significant Other and I’d sure want to know if I were him.”
“This mall is way crowded today,” Megan says. “We’ll never find him anyway.”
“He’s at the food court,” I say.
“Huh? How can you possibly know that?”
Maybe I misread my gut reaction? “Well, I’m hungry, so if I’m wrong, we can just get something to eat. Come on.”
“Maybe Kensi is with a— friend or something,” Megan says charitably as we push our way through the crowd toward the food court.
“They looked pretty friendly all right,” Annabeth says.
I scan the seating area, and sure enough, there’s Quince over by the pizza place, shoving a piece of pepperoni in his face and laughing at something Kevin Marshall is saying. The three of us walk over, standing in just the right spot to block Quince’s view of the mall corridor.
“Hi guys,” I say cheerfully. “What are you doing here?”
It seems like a harmless opening. Kevin gives me his usual look that says Duh! and answers by pointing to the pizza. He probably thinks I’m the most clueless girl on the planet.
“No, I mean are you here shopping or what?” I ask, hoping to seem a little less foolish.
“I’ve gotta buy something for my mom,” Quince says, and I bite my tongue when an image of her at the doctor’s office pops into my head. I push it away, though, and make myself focus on the here and now. “And Kevin’s meeting Emma in a little while.”
“Do you guys remember Annabeth Walton?” Megan asks. “From Peterson’s last month? I used to go to school with her when I lived in Belford.”
“Cool,” says Quince, taking another bite of pizza.
“Hey, Quince! Guess who else is here at the mall today,” Annabeth teases.
I freeze. Brace yourself.
So imagine my surprise when Kensi herself shows up at that very minute— alone— and plants a big kiss on Quince’s forehead. He blushes, grins, and then takes a large swig of soda to cover his embarrassment.
Why that little sneak! I look around for the guy she was so cozy with, but he’s nowhere in sight. She must have seen Quince and temporarily ditched the new squeeze. I guess my dad’s favorite cliche applies after all— the best defense is a good offense.
“Hey, Quince!” Kensi is gushing a little too much if you ask me. “Buying me something pretty for Christmas?”
I want to smack her. She turns to Megan and me, gives us her usual high-and-mighty once-over, and then does the same to Annabeth, whose preppy appearance must seem like a real threat to Kensi.
“Who’s this?”
“No one you know, from Willowby Prep,” says Annabeth, giving Kensi the exact same snarky head-to-toe inspection. “I’m an old friend of Megan’s and a new friend of Caryn’s.”
The two of them glare at each other, both refusing to be the first to back down. I stifle a giggle. It’s pretty funny realizing Kensi has met her match in Annabeth.
“How sweet,” Kensi finally says. “Well, you kids have fun. I’ve got to go meet somebody and finish shopping.”
Somebody indeed.
“Meet who?” Quince asks, but it’s too late, because Kensington has already walked away.
Annabeth clears her throat loudly and turns to face me, all but daring me to speak up. I wouldn’t be able to get the words out about Kensi, even if I wanted to, because I always find myself tongue-tied whenever Quince is around. Fortunately, Emma Cartwright appears and saves me from being put in that awkward position.
“Hey, you two”— she greets me and Megan— “and girl-I-don’t-know”— to Annabeth. “Looks like the party started without me.”
You can always count on Emma to lighten the mood.
Kevin pulls up another chair, while Megan introduces Annabeth to Emma.
“Aw, come on, sit down,” Kevin coaxes us. “We don’t bite.”
The rest of the afternoon is lots of fun. Quince is laughing and joking with all of us, but I feel like he’s warming up to me in particular. Maybe he’s truly moved past the carnival incident, or maybe he’s just like every other guy with a short memory. Whichever is the case, I’m happy.
The mall Christmas music is playing loudly in our ears, but the sound of Quince’s easy laughter is all the music I want to hear.
Mom and I are invited to a Christmas Eve candlelight service at Annabeth’s church. She promised us it would be nontraditional, and she’s true to her word. We sing lots of the usual Christmas carols—”It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “Silent Night,” “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”— but instead of the regular religious readings, we light candles in the name of ending hunger, achieving world peace, and providing homes for all the people living on the streets. Pretty lofty goals really, but I feel completely in tune with them.
I’m also feeling a kinship with others attending the service, especially when I look around the sanctuary and see people I know. Annabeth is with her parents and a guy I assume is her older brother, and they’re sitting next to two othe
r families that include Mel and Syd. Annabeth smiles at me, and Mel and Syd wave as well. I feel all warm and fuzzy as I sing “Silent Night” (okay, a little off-key). At the end of the service, I eagerly hold my lit candle along with everyone else as we walk out one at a time, doing what the minister says is “carrying the light of peace into the world.”
Christmas Day dawns clear and very cold, with the sun causing the snow on the ground to glisten like brightly colored gems. I saw storybooks when I was a little kid that looked like what’s outside my bedroom window, but instead of just a pretty drawing, the snow is very real and it’s seriously frigid out there.
I close the curtains and wrap a blanket around myself, shivering with cold. I walk into the living room, where it’s usually a little warmer, and huddle on the sofa as Mom comes out of the kitchen. The coffee and blueberry muffins create a delicious aroma, but even though my stomach is growling, I’m too cold to get up off the sofa and go sit at the breakfast table.
“Come on, Caryn, if you eat something you’ll warm up,” Mom urges.
“Can you bring it to me in here? I’m so cold.”
I don’t think I’ll ever get warm again, and I worry since it’s only December that the weather will get colder before it gets warmer. I pull the blanket tighter around me and feel sorry for myself. I don’t want to ruin Christmas for Mom, but I’m cold and miserable.
We have a small fir tree sitting on a table in the corner of the living room. We found it at a Christmas tree lot’s going-out-of-business sale and saved it from becoming kindling just two days ago. We decorated it with some old ornaments Mom has been saving since my childhood and some from hers, including one Uncle Omar made by hand, and then we added a few crystals from the store— the flawed ones that didn’t sell. I found an old string of tree lights in the backroom at the store, so I strung those on it as well. All in all, the little tree looks pretty festive.
“A Charlie Brown tree,” Mom dubbed it.
Under the table where the tree sits are several gifts. I selected some scented soaps for Mom from the bath store in the mall and carefully wrapped the box in tissue paper and tied it with leftover red knitting yarn and a “To Mom from Caryn” tag.
A large box is addressed to me from Mom, and she insists I open it first. I disentangle myself from the blanket and carefully remove the ribbon and bow. Then the excitement gets to me and I rip the wrapping paper off like a little kid. The box is from Lacy’s Department Store. I give my mother a surprised look.
“Open it,” she urges me.
I pull out a gorgeous, knee-length winter coat. It’s grey wool with black buttons, a hood, and has a pair of matching gloves stuffed in its pockets. Tears come to my eyes as I stand up and try it on. It’s so warm!
“Mom… ” I sputter.
“It was on sale so I splurged. Just like you said, our store made money during the Christmas rush,” she says, beaming.
I walk over and give her a big hug.
“Now open the present from your dad.”
Dad sent me a knitted cap with a matching scarf, plus a pair of winter snow boots. Michael also sent a gift— a gorgeous pink cashmere sweater with a new pair of jeans. And Sybil’s gift tops it all off— the coolest pair of earrings I’ve ever seen, with an attached IOU to take me to get my ears pierced.
“This is the best Christmas ever!” I gush.
Mom snaps a picture of me displaying my new finery.
“Answer the phone, Mom. I’m too overwhelmed to talk,” I say, admiring myself in the living room mirror.
Mom rolls her eyes, walks over to the phone and holds her hand over it until it rings, then picks it up.
“Merry Christmas!” she exclaims into the receiver. “Yes, she’s here. Nice job, Guy. Here, I’ll let you talk to her yourself.” She hands me the phone.
“Hi, Dad! It’s so good to hear your voice.”
Chapter 7
A New Year
New Year’s Eve is usually a grownups’ holiday. I didn’t expect to do anything except stay home with Mom and watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV, but Megan called me a few days after Christmas and said she was having a sleepover that night and invited me to come.
Megan lives with her mother and older sister Allie in a small, three-bedroom house about two miles from school (and a mile or so from our apartment) in a nice, quaint area of Rosslyn Village. Caroline, the older sister I met back in November, lives in an apartment somewhere nearby.
I ring the doorbell, eagerly anticipating the fun this evening, pillow and sleeping bag in hand. I’m greeted by a cute little yellow dog jumping up and down as Megan lets me into the house.
“Honey, get down,” Megan scolds. “Sorry. I hope you like dogs, ‘cause Honey won’t leave us alone.”
“Sure I like dogs, and I’ve heard you talk about her,” I say, bending down to scratch Honey’s ears.
I’ve never owned a dog, but I’ve always wished for one, and this one is really cute. She’s wagging her tail contentedly while I stroke her back and pat her head. “How are you, girl?”
I can hear Emma, Ashleigh, and Annabeth in the kitchen as Megan takes my stuff to her bedroom. I’m excited as I join the other girls making microwave popcorn and opening cans of soda. It’s been a long time since I’ve been invited to a sleepover, especially after my disastrous freshman year. I feel so lucky to have made new friends in Indianapolis, friends who keep overlooking my many social gaffes.
“Can you believe we’re gonna be all alone till after midnight?” Emma exclaims. “Ms. Benedict has a DATE, if you can believe, and Megan’s sister is out too.”
An image of Allie standing next to an attractive young man at a wedding pops into my head. “With that college professor?” I ask without thinking.
“Huh?” Ashleigh asks.
“I mean, cool, that we’re on our own tonight,” I quickly say.
“So girls,” Emma says. “We’ve got movies, junk food, CDs, lots to keep us busy. And then we’ll turn on TV about eleven thirty to watch Times Square in New York.”
“Maybe we could do more than just veg and pig out,” Ashleigh says with a frown. She pulls open a soda tab and the liquid spurts out and bubbles over the can.
“But it’s tradition to watch the ball drop!” Emma exclaims, handing Ashleigh a towel.
“It’s New Year’s Eve. We should do something different besides watch TV. We always watch movies. Why don’t we play a game?” Ashleigh dries off the soda can, mops a spot off the floor, and tosses the towel on the counter.
“Like one of your math games? No, thanks,” Emma says.
“Hey I know!” Annabeth, who is carefully opening a hot bag of microwave popcorn, casts a sly look in my direction. “How ‘bout we get out the Ouija board?”
Uh-oh. What’s she up to?
“Or what about Monopoly? Hey, Megan,” Ashleigh calls into the bedroom. “You got a Monopoly game? I’ll be the banker!”
“I think some of the pieces went missing, or else Honey chewed them up,” Megan calls back.
Annabeth, once focused on something, isn’t about to let the other girls change the subject. “I still like the Ouija board idea. What about you, Caryn?” She faces me directly, her eyes widening at me.
Emma and Ashleigh watch silently as I fidget. I glare at Annabeth but say as calmly as I can through clenched teeth, “My mom doesn’t let me play with those.”
“Your mom isn’t here,” Annabeth shoots back.
My palms start to sweat. Emma and Ashleigh are looking at us wide-eyed, like we have a big secret, which of course we do. Instead of explaining, I grab Annabeth’s arm and pull her into the living room.
“What are you trying to do to me?” I ask her when we’re out of earshot.
“What do you think? Let the truth out.” She pulls her arm away from my grasp.
“With a Ouija board? Those things are dangerous— dark spirits and all. You know I can’t— ” I shake my head in disbelief that Annabeth would betray my confid
ence like this.
“Can’t what? Be honest about yourself?” Annabeth asks, folding her arms.
“No. Well, yeah, but the truth will lose me all my friends,” I say, fear edging my voice.
“If they don’t accept you then you need new friends,” Annabeth says. “I accepted you, didn’t I?”
I groan. She has a point, but if you ask me, her timing is all off. We’re supposed to just be having fun on New Year’s Eve, and here’s Annabeth trying to ruin it for me.
“Then if you won’t do the Ouija board, we should think of something else. Some other way to let them in on your secret,” Annabeth says, tapping one finger against her lips thoughtfully.
We? Something else? I don’t like the sound of that either.
“Come on, Annabeth, you’re freaking everyone out and I don’t want to tell anyone else about my secret.” I head back to the kitchen hoping for once Annabeth will let something go.
“Hey, what’s up with you two?” Ashleigh sounds exasperated with us. “What’s the big secret?”
“Nothing.” I shoot Annabeth a warning look. “What movies have you got?” I pretend to be absorbed in the selection of DVDs Emma brought as she flicks through the cases.
“The usual. 27 Dresses, The Devil Wears Prada, Bewitched, Pride and Prejudice.”
“Boring chick flicks,” Annabeth says with a fake yawn.
“So you got any better ideas?” Emma challenges her.
“I do,” Megan says as she returns to the kitchen, Honey playfully jumping on her legs. “Come on, you guys, it’s too cramped in this kitchen. Let’s go to the living room. We can play cards if you don’t want to watch movies.”
“Hearts?” Emma asks. “I’m good at that game.”
That sounds innocent enough to me. Maybe Annabeth will let the whole psychic thing drop.
“Hey! I know a game called Ninety-nine. How ‘bout it?” Ashleigh suggests.
Confessions of a Teenage Psychic Page 9
