Kelly sighed. “This is a shock, I know. I had…difficulty…accepting it at first and I’d grown up knowing about connections. Mum and dad were always open with us about it.”
“How…” Libby’s voice sounded rusty. She cleared her throat. “Why does it happen?”
“There are a couple of theories, mostly running along the same theme of evolution.” Kelly nudged her gently. “You’d know more about this than me. That we’re hardwired to pass on and refine our talents, you know?”
“Right.” She pushed to her feet, but then stood motionless as if not knowing what she was standing for. “Right.”
They were both silent for a while. Libby closed her eyes tightly. “I guess I can see why Jackson didn’t want to tell me this.”
“Are you freaking out?”
Libby laughed at that, albeit humourlessly. “Yes, I’m freaking out. I think I’m relieved too. It’s good to know I’m not about to become a psycho stalker. He’s all I think about and I need him to be around. I never want to be that girl, Kelly. It's not the way I want my life to be. No offense. Christ. I thought I was going insane.”
“At least you know the feeling is mutual.”
It didn't take a genius to understand that Kelly was cautioning her. This wouldn’t be much easier for Jackson, even with his understanding of how it worked. He had been so patient, so careful with her. He had been sincere when he’d said that the physical side of their relationship wasn’t important. Now she knew where he was coming from; there was no choice. She was it for him, whether he liked it or not.
“It makes sense. A frightening sense,” she murmured, a sinking feeling washing over her.
Kelly nodded. “Pretty much. You hear about it, but til you feel it…there’s no preparation. You just have to work through it. But it’s best if you do that together.” Her lips twisted slightly. “Trust me on that.”
Libby turned to regard her friend curiously. “You know, you’re going to have to explain that.”
“I know. But get yourself sorted first.” Kelly got to her feet, drew Libby into a hug. “And you will, you know. It becomes quite normal.”
“What if it's not a normal I want?”
Kelly's arms tightened briefly. She didn't respond, because Libby already knew. Libby held on for a minute, needing the anchor. The twist of emotions was confusing and she didn’t even know how to start untangling them all.
“It'll be fine.” Kelly stepped back, smiled.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
She felt Kelly’s surge of joy even as she heard the car pulling up at the front of the house.
“Danny.”
“Danny.” Kelly grinned suddenly. “You know, once you stop freaking, it is completely great.”
“Again, I’ll take your word for it.” She smiled as reassuringly as she could manage. “See you tomorrow.”
“Call me if you need me.”
She watched her friend dart around the side of the house, her hair flying out behind her like a ribbon of fire in the fading light.
Kelly and Danny would always be together.
She and Jackson…she shook her head. How was it possible to feel so much joy and so much terror all at the same time?
She pulled a sickie for the next three days. It wasn’t in her to skip school completely, so Libby worked on her History essay in between fielding texts from Tom and Kelly. Tom was easy to convince of course; he wouldn’t expect her to lie about the flu. He was emailing through class notes every day, bless him.
Kelly however…she sprawled out across her bed, staring at the latest text.
Day 3??? Coming over.
She sighed and let the phone drop to the mattress. It had been shocking how awful it was to be apart from Jackson. She thought of him constantly and, when she managed to sleep, her dreams were a confusing tangle of images but always, always with Jackson at the centre.
It just seemed too hard. Too hard to get on with it, too hard to have that first conversation with him knowing what she now knew. Her mum would know how to handle it.
She’d emailed again yesterday, updating Francis with the new twist her now crazy life had taken. Although a small part of her still wondered if her mother would think her certifiable, in her heart she knew that she shared the talent. She knew. And her mother would know what Libby should do now.
Not that she was around to give advice.
The doorbell rang, a distant chime that had her groaning. She heard her dad’s voice, Kelly’s answering laughter. Footsteps on the stairs.
“Knock, knock.”
Libby pulled a pillow over her head. “Go away, crazy mind-reading lady.”
“I brought chocolate.”
“I’ve been eating chocolate for three days.” Libby winced as the pillow was whipped off her head to reveal Kelly’s disapproving gaze.
“PJs?” She shook her head. “Honestly, Libby, you’re not Brigit Jones.”
Pulling a face, Libby sat up and took one of the Mars bars Kelly proffered. “Maybe I should start a diary. It’d be a damn sight more entertaining than most.”
“Only everyone would think you were insane,” Kelly pointed out, biting into her own Mars bar as she settled onto Libby’s desk chair. “You’d be locked up. I’d visit, though.”
“Good to know.” They ate in silence for a few minutes before she caved. “How’s Jackson?”
“Irritable.” Kelly shot the wrapper into the wastepaper basket. “But evidently more patient than I am.”
Libby smiled at that. “Thanks for coming over.”
“I figured you’d moped enough. Stop worrying, start working it out.” She winced. “Danny told me to be sympathetic, but to be honest I don’t think it would help. It would only feed your self-pity.”
Laughing now, Libby threw her chocolate wrapper at her friend and followed that with the pillow. She had come to the same conclusion herself. After all, how long could she avoid Jackson? She'd missed enough school for starters, never mind that she'd been keeping up at home.
“Thanks for caring. Okay, okay, I’ll be at school tomorrow.”
Kelly looked at her for a moment, probably reading for a lie. Evidently she was satisfied as she nodded, smiled. “Good. We can pick you up if you like.”
“I’ve said I’ll be there,” she replied mildly. “Besides, my History essay is due in on Monday, and I need to check a few things with the teacher before the weekend.”
“God, you’re a nerd,” Kelly shook her head in mock despair. “I bought you this.”
She dug into her school bag, pulling out three or four tattered folders before finding the paper she was after. “Mr Gilbert handed out the coursework guidelines today. I figured you’d want a look.”
Libby grabbed it eagerly. “You star. Did you start yet?”
“No, we lost yesterday’s class to a fire drill. You haven’t missed much.” Kelly got to her feet. “I’d better go - it’s my turn to cook dinner.”
“Kelly.” She paused, waiting for her friend to meet her gaze. “Is there any way of doing this without losing yourself?”
A shadow passed over Kelly's face, a flicker of something that she couldn't define. That her friend shielded at that moment made her wonder.
“That depends on you and Jackson.” She sent Libby a reassuring smile. “You can work it out. If anyone can handle my brother, it's you.”
“Thanks.” Libby gave her a quick hug. “Really.”
“No problem.”
They made their way downstairs to the door.
Kelly glanced towards the kitchen. “Well, thank goodness you shook off the flu in time. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, Eric.”
“See you soon, Kelly.” Eric came up to stand beside Libby. “It was nice of you to come over.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Kelly sang out, sending Libby a quick wink.
They watched her set off down the road, neither of them surprised when Danny’s car turned into the street and pulled over to pick her up.
> “They seem to be joined at the hip,” her dad commented.
“Something like that.” Libby smiled at him. “I think I could eat some dinner, if you’re making something.”
He smiled. “I'm glad to see your appetite’s back. Pasta okay?”
“Perfect.”
She waited at the edge of the school field, away from the students that gathered in groups before the first bell. She didn’t have to wait long.
As she watched Jackson approach, she felt her tension ease a little. It was just so good to see him. There was nothing in his guarded expression that indicated he felt the same, but logically she knew he did. The connection demanded it, she thought wryly.
They stood a safe distance from each other, both wary. She hadn’t realized how hard this would be. Searching for something to say, she stood simply staring, her mind running in useless circles. She needed him to start this.
“So,” his voice sounded a little rusty, even as his lips tugged into a half smile. “Want to get married and have kids?”
Whatever she’d expected, it wasn’t that. She laughed, humour and relief melting the icy fear that had gripped her since her alarm had gone off two hours ago.
“No.” Her reply was emphatic. “No. But thanks for the offer.”
Stepping closer, she reached out to lay a hand on his chest, needing the contact, the comfort of it. There was no guideline for this, no experience to draw from and it was as terrifying as it was exhilarating.
He pulled her into a hug and she breathed deeply.
Did she feel this way, this whole, because of the connection? How did she even know it was real?
“You’ll drive yourself crazy, thinking that way.”
Libby took a deep breath, eased away from him. He released her immediately and she felt guilty for the way he always worked so hard not to make her feel trapped.
“Probably. I can’t help it. This…thing. It’s too intense. Don’t you think?” She looked at him, pleading for understanding. “It feels as though it would kill me to be apart from you. The last three days have been miserable.”
He didn’t respond, his expression remaining perfectly blank. Libby turned away in frustration, her hands fisted at her temples. “Just listen to me for God’s sake. I’m seventeen years old and talking like a bad understudy in an amateur production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. It’s humiliating. And completely insane. What happened to dating? What happened to being young and free and having a laugh?”
“You want to date other guys?” His voice was shocked now, and more than a little hurt.
Incredulous, impatient, Libby whirled back to face him. “If you’re going to read my mind, do it properly. I was thinking about what normal people do, Jack. For God’s sake! I’ve only just found the courage to kiss you, let alone anyone else.”
She shook her head in resignation. “Normal! If only. First I find out I'm an empath, as if that isn't enough on top of mum walking out, and now this…this crazy connection - a ready-made relationship that I never asked for! And you!” She met his gaze head on. “This is easy for you, you’ve lived with this your entire life. You knew what this connection meant, you knew it would happen one day. And here I am, suddenly in the middle of some highly unlikely alternate universe with a troubled, mind-reading soulmate, and some insane talent making people act crazy. Not to mention the potentially empath mother who may or may not be having a breakdown somewhere out there. And in spite of all of this, all I can think about is you.”
Suddenly weary, Libby rubbed her hands over her face. Now that the words were out, she was tired, her body weary and her soul heavy. “I’m going insane.”
“Slowly but surely.” His voice was teasing and she almost smiled. Almost. “This isn’t easy for me either, you know. I was supposed to be playing the field until my mid-thirties at least.”
She laughed at the utter desolation in his voice. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. I’m glad it’s you.” He paused. “And not just because you’re a beautiful blonde with a body to die for.”
“Shut up.” She smiled in spite of herself, knowing that had been his intention.
“Libby.” He shifted so they were face to face. She felt herself warm as he looked at her. “Linked or not, I wanted you. I want you to believe me.”
“I do.”
“Well, that was easy,” he grinned then, easing her heart. “I missed you.”
“I missed you.” She stepped into his arms, felt her body relax. “I’m sorry I’m freaking out.”
“I’d be worried if you weren’t.”
“Everything I’ve been feeling, worrying about? It doesn’t feel so scary with you here. I wish you’d told me.”
She felt his discomfort and hid a smile. “Yeah, perhaps I should’ve. Kelly is better at that stuff though.”
“Coward.” She teased, pulling away from him. “We need to sit down and talk about this. But not now – the bell's about to go.”
“Seriously?” He asked in disbelief. “I thought we were having a moment here.”
“We were.” She smiled. “But now it’s time to go.”
“Jeez.” He followed her towards the school buildings, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “I can’t believe I linked with such a nerd.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kelly had been giving her funny looks all day. In spite of her fatigue, she’d seen the gleam of calculation in the redhead’s eyes that made Libby very, very nervous.
Her suspicions were proven right about ten minutes into lab.
Kelly glanced at her, kept her voice low. “I need you to shield Jack.”
Libby looked at her doubtfully. Although she and Jackson had made up, things were still a bit shaky and she had no desire to upset the delicate balance between them. “He’ll be annoyed. What about Danny?”
“They’re both in the workshop, what can they do?”
“Okay,” she shielded, sending a silent apology. “What is it?”
What came was unexpected, to say the least.
“I thought we’d go to the pub, see if we can pick up some clues.”
“What? Are you mad?” Libby remembered the argument after their last experience at the Beauton Arms, and had no desire to repeat it. “Your parents and Paul would go mental. As for Danny…are you looking for trouble?”
Kelly grinned. “I thought you had more guts than that. Come on, it’ll be fine. Danny always comes around and Jack, well, whatever you’ve done, well done. He won’t refuse you anything.”
It seemed to Libby that every fibre of her being screamed out a warning, but she could see where Kelly was going with this. Even so…
“Kelly, they will go mad. All of them. Why do you want to do this?”
Her friend huffed out an impatient breath. “There’s a huge group of students heading there after school – one of the best school bands is playing. All the olds are at work and I believe we should be there. What better opportunity for this talent to try another experiment? Who might be next?”
It was Kelly’s genuine concern that had her softening. She had a point and Libby knew they could keep a low profile if they chose to.
“We need a plan. If something happens and we intervene again, it will draw attention to us.”
“I’ve thought of that.”
Libby turned her attention to her work as she thought it over. After a few minutes, she caved. After all, Kelly was right, anyone could be next. When she thought of what this talent had done to Mark her stomach heaved. They could prevent someone getting hurt and, at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.
“Okay, I’m in.”
Kelly grinned. “I knew I could count on you. Dan and Jack will know where we’ve gone and they’ll join us straight after their detention, so if anything is going on we’ll have reinforcements.”
“Wait, what detention?” Libby sat up, confused.
“They were just mucking about in the workshop. The teacher only gave them a half hour tid
y up job, so they'll be right behind us.”
That part of Kelly’s plan made her uneasy, but she let it go. There were more important things going on here after all.
Lifting the shield, Libby was careful to keep her thoughts on her work. Even so, she felt Jackson’s wariness. He knew they were up to something. When they'd cleaned up their experiment, she sent him another quick apology and high-tailed it out to the car with Kelly hot on her heels.
The Beauton Arms was busy. Students sat around tables, sharing baskets of chips and talking nine to the dozen. Mondays and Fridays seemed to be the days that everyone went to socialize, and Libby realized with a sudden sense of dread that Kelly was right; what better time to continue experimenting? Especially this afternoon, with more people than usual beginning to crowd in ready for the rare event of live music, even if it was a student band.
Kelly bought a couple of cokes and a bag of crisps and they found a table in the corner of the room.
“So,” she began lightly. “How’s it going with you and Jackson?”
“Good.” She smiled. “Well, so far. We haven't really hammered out the details. You were right, by the way.”
“Of course I was.” Kelly tilted her head to one side. “About what?”
Libby raised her eyes heavenwards. “Just about talking things through and not freaking out.”
“Communication is key.” She replied in mock seriousness, her hands folding neatly in front of her on the table. “But be true to yourself, Libby.”
“Thanks Counselor Kelly, I think I can come up with my own platitudes.”
“Oh yes?”
“Don’t let your fears rule your life.” She replied in a bored tone. “Time will heal the wounds.”
Kelly grimaced. “Does it?”
“I don't know,” Libby admitted. “Maybe eventually.”
She looked up as Tom approached their table. “Hey, long time no see.”
He smiled. “Yeah, I've been a bit caught up. I was hoping to see you guys here.”
She shifted along the bench seat, and he slid in beside her, placing his drink on the table in front of him.
“How are you?” She had been so involved with everything in her own life that she hadn't taken much time to speak with him in over a week. Ashamed, she scanned her mind back and gave him a teasing nudge. “President of the chess club yet?”
Talent Page 13
