Sound

by Juliet Madison

  “Yeah? Do you think I’d look good in a white coat?” He chuckled.

  Oh, yes. A white coat to me was like a tailored suit on a guy to Sasha and sports or workout gear to Savannah. “Um, I’m sure it would suit you.” I scratched my cheek, and then I thought of something. I wondered if he was simply interested in the field (and of course he was smart enough), or if he had extra motivation for wanting to become a doctor.

  “So um, any particular field in medicine you’re keen on?”

  He scratched his cheek too. My nerves must be contagious.

  “Neurology.”

  Of course. Yes.

  “Although I know by then it’ll be too late to…” He sucked in a deep breath.

  To find a cure for his mother.

  “Anyway. Maybe I can play some sort of role in researching cures for incurable diseases, like Huntington’s.”

  I glanced at him as his focus stayed on the road ahead, his eyes small. “That would be good. Science is moving ahead fast these days—who knows? By then there might be more hope.”

  “Yep. That would be good for Lara, at least.”

  Lara?

  “Do you mean…”

  He looked at me. “Lara has it too. I’m the lucky one, but she’s going to end up just like Mom.”

  I gulped. Relief for Damon and dread for Lara filled my veins. “Oh, man, I’m so sorry.” No wonder she wasn’t the most approachable person. How could she bear to live her life knowing she would suffer a terrible fate? I decided then to be as nice to her as I could, to let her run the show and do whatever she wanted for the science project, give her something to keep herself satisfied and busy. She deserved to be as happy as possible while she was still young and healthy.

  • • •

  Lucky Savannah wasn’t here, or I was sure her eyes would be aching from the rainbow of colors on our mind map and project charts. Purple for gamma, green for beta, pink for alpha, yellow for theta, and blue for delta brain waves.

  For some strange reason, when I looked at each color, I swear I could hear a slight sound, as though each one had its own sound effect. Blue sounded twinkly, with a sort of crumply undertone, like tissue paper, and tiny beads being sprinkled onto a hard surface. Red, that color sounded, well…

  “Not her again.”

  Huh? I looked up, my thoughts that had been weaving together unraveling into microscopic threads.

  Uh-oh. Not them again.

  I discreetly watched Damon and Lara as they tapped away on their laptops. Once again, the ability to hear voices from invisible people was reserved for little old me. I needed to get Savannah here somehow; maybe she’d be able to see them.

  Lara said something about something and I replied with a mumbled something. I wasn’t sure what—half my brain was on autopilot and the other was focused on the otherworldly visitors.

  “She should go. They all should,” said a different voice, the other female one.

  I tapped my pen as though in thought.

  “You’re right. We have to do something.” A man. A man with a gravelly voice, English accent.

  There was a clatter of cups and saucers, then a thump, like someone had banged on the wall. I flinched. To cover my flinch I pretended to cough. I was getting good at pretending. Damon and Lara seemed none the wiser. A few minutes went by without another sound, and then—thump! Like before, but louder. I jumped, then fake coughed, but before that I thought I saw Damon flinch too. A subtle, sudden shifting in his chair. I glanced toward the sitting room, and Damon followed my gaze. Was it possible he heard something too? Lara didn’t seem affected, but her forehead was furrowed in deep concentration, so she probably wouldn’t notice if a wild storm came through and broke all the windows, or if I stood and broke into a tap dance for that matter. How was I supposed to concentrate with all this weird stuff going on? Maybe I should suggest we move the study sessions somewhere else. Our place? I was about to suggest it when Lara began explaining in great detail some fascinating thing to do with sleep and I had to pretend I was listening. Serena, the great pretender.

  Somehow we got through our study session and made progress. We put away our equipment, and I looked at Lara’s nails, which were now varying shades of red and orange. “How do you do that?” I asked, though I wasn’t totally interested; I was just trying to be friendly.

  “I’ll show you.” She gestured to a room down the hall. “I’ll do yours.”

  Oh. Um. I was about to say, “It’s okay, don’t worry,” when she grasped my arm and led me there. I turned briefly to look at Damon and he shrugged and smiled. I was happy to let Lara do her thing—whatever made her happy with the challenges she had to face. And not just with her disease. Mandy too. If only she knew.

  Half an hour later I had multicolored fingernails of varying blues (delta nails?). They looked quite amazing, but I felt kind of self-conscious. Maybe I really was turning into Sasha. Flirty text messages and now painted fingernails. As long as I didn’t start smelling weird things I’d be all right. One psychic sense was enough for me, thank you very much.

  Chapter 8

  The crowd of chattering people drowned out the whoosh of the ocean waves as I walked along the boardwalk with Sasha and Tamara, passing a variety of colorful stalls that formed the monthly beachside markets. I wrapped my scarf around my neck a second time as cool, crisp, winter air tickled my skin. Despite the season, some people (locals) still walked around in T-shirts. In our coastal town, our winters were more like some people’s summers. But me—I felt the cold more than others. My feet and hands were like ice sometimes.

  Mom waved from one of the food stalls as she sipped coffee with Mr. Jenkins, and Savannah skipped toward us, hand in hand with Riley (not skipping, but chuckling at his girlfriend’s exuberance). Oh, and she was one of those T-shirt people.

  “Did you win?” Sasha asked.

  “Of course,” Savannah said.

  “I let her win,” said Riley. “Didn’t I, Volleyball Girl?” He kissed her cheek. She hugged his side. “I won, as I always do, with the skill of my own awesomeness.”

  I glanced away. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take. But just when I had relegated Savannah to Least Favorite Sister status on account of her blissful happiness, she grasped my hand.

  “Got a present for you,” she said, placing something in my palm.

  I looked at the gift, and as its smoothness cooled my hand, a faint, metallic twinkle sounded in my ears. Like one of those triangle percussion instruments they made you tap on with a little rod in kindergarten. “Nice. Thanks. What is it?” It was a necklace, but I didn’t know what type of stone formed the pendant.

  “It’s an aquamarine. I got something for each of you,” she said. “Different gemstones. Here.” She handed a light pink bracelet to Sasha and a silver anklet with earthy red gemstone beads to Tamara. A green ring remained in her hand. “Where’s Talia?”

  “She didn’t feel like coming,” I said. “Said she wanted to chill out and read or something.”

  “What is with her lately?” Savannah asked. “She’s suddenly become boring.”

  “Reading’s not boring,” I defended. But she was right in a way. Talia had been acting a little different lately. She seemed tired all the time. Probably just school stress. Only one and a half years left and she still didn’t know what she wanted to do after graduation.

  “Anyway, wear the gemstone jewelry often; apparently the stones can help protect you against negative stuff. Like my onyx earrings do.” She curved a hand around her dangly black teardrop earrings that matched her black T-shirt, then looked at me. “Aquamarine can supposedly help with calming the nerves and giving you courage, among other things.”

  “Thanks.” She knew me too well.

  She explained the purpose of the other gemstones to Sasha and Tamara, as I gripped the pendant in my hand. I wasn’t sure if it was all a load of crap or not, but then again, six months ago I probably wouldn’t have believed we could ever do what
we could do. And now that I knew Mom had a past as a psychic, and probably knew about crystals and gemstones and stuff, I knew there was probably something to it. I trusted Mom. I just didn’t know if I trusted my own instincts yet.

  We continued walking along the boardwalk, until we came across a stall with a blue draped curtain hooked at the side. The blue caught my eye and reminded me of delta waves. It must have caught Savannah’s eye too, because she stopped near the stall.

  “Oh, guys, we should go in.” She gestured to the sign: YOUR FUTURE IS IN THE CARDS…

  A nervous feeling rose in my gut.

  “Psychic readings? Tarot cards? Hmm, could be interesting,” Tamara said, eyeing the sign.

  “Um, guys, in case you’ve forgotten, we are kinda sorta psychics ourselves.” Sasha flicked her hair to one side.

  “Shh!” I said, glancing around.

  Riley cleared his throat. “Maybe you should do it. Could give a different perspective.”

  Savannah nodded, and I remembered how upset she’d been when she’d first told Riley about our gift and he’d thought she was a freak. Until Savannah had been able to communicate with his dad’s ghost and reassure him that his father didn’t take his own life. Now he was a convert. He was practically a Delta Guy. God knows what we’d do if he suddenly developed psychic powers. That would totally stuff up our name—we’d have to be The Delta Girls and Guy, and that just wouldn’t sound the same, and then we’d have to have him over every night to connect, and that could be awkward if some upsetting sound made me make a fool of myself, and anyway, what sense would he have? There were only five and they were all taken. Or maybe he’d have all five senses at once, like Mom used to have. He’d be like The Delta King, and we’d just be…

  “Serena!” Savannah raised her voice. “Are you in or not?”

  “Oh, all right.” I sighed. Maybe this could help us in some way. Either that, or make things more confusing.

  “No more than three at once,” said the woman in the stall. She took money from Savannah and Riley and they went in first. Great, now I had to wait out here in suspense, wondering what the woman was saying. I looked at my gemstone and it glistened in the sunlight. Protect me, aquamarine, I said silently. Don’t let more bad things happen to anyone. Whatever that scream is, don’t let it happen…

  I thought I could hear the twinkling again, then I added: And while you’re at it, any idea what Damon thinks of me?

  My face flushed at my own silliness. Here I was, talking to a stone. Asking for advice about guys. Did I expect smoke to start wafting up from its glossy surface and a wise old voice to say, “My dear Serena, it is I, Aquamarine, let me answer your questions…”? The next logical step was an intervention by people who only wanted “what was best for me,” followed by a long hospital stay in one of those places with padded walls.

  A few moments later, Riley emerged from behind the curtain. “She wants you all in there.”

  “What? What happened to only three at once?” My heart rate rose.

  “She said I can come back later for my own reading, but felt that you all needed to be in there.” He held his arm out and waved it toward the stall, ushering us in. We shuffled into the small space, and I flinched as I brushed past a wind chime that—surprise, surprise—twinkled like a triangle. The tingly feeling of déjà vu overcame me. Did I just predict that? It was only something small, but still. I much preferred my abilities to work only in the safety of the presence of my sisters, in the privacy of our bedroom.

  “You are sisters, yes?” she asked, and we nodded. “But someone is missing.”

  Wow.

  “Yes, my twin,” said Tamara.

  “Okay. We will have to make do with the four of you.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them and shuffled the cards. “Okay, before I lay down a spread, I want to tell you something.” She looked up into my eyes. Why mine? “You look so much like my niece, sweetie,” she said. “She wears her hair like yours, with the ponytail on the side.” She smiled.

  Oh. Was that all? So much for her telling us some amazing revelation.

  “And her hearing is acute, like yours. She plays the piano.”

  Whoa. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. My scientific mind kicked in and I wondered if maybe she had seen me get a little jumpy when I brushed past the wind chime and that’s how she assumed I was sensitive to sound. Maybe she was one of those fake psychics who were good at picking up on subtle cues and guessing things based on people’s responses and behaviors. Mom had said there were a few out there who gave the real ones a bad name. Skeptics assumed that if one was bad then they all were. But I—we—knew different.

  “Anyway, what I want to say is this: I get a lot of energy around you all. And when you were in here without your sisters”—she gestured at Savannah—“I felt a pull outside, like I couldn’t concentrate unless the energy was more focused among you all. I still feel a split of energy—that’s why I got the sense someone was missing—but I think I can be of help even without your other sister.” She cleared her throat. “Obviously you’re all very close, connected, but I also feel that it goes beyond that. You share a special bond, more than other sisters.”

  Okay, she was onto something, but still not specific enough.

  “Wow,” she whispered, shaking her head as she lowered it. “I’ve never felt so much energy in one go. You are all…” She looked up, catching each of our eyes. “You’re like me, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

  My mouth must have gaped, because I couldn’t swallow. I was probably drooling a little.

  Savannah cleared her throat. “Um, do you mean psychic?”

  “Of course, sweetie,” the woman said with a soft, knowing smile.

  My sisters and I exchanged uncertain glances, no doubt all wondering whether we should confirm her statement, and who should speak up. Normally Talia took on the leadership role. Only two others knew about our gift—Mom and Riley. Was it safe to share it with someone else? She was one of us, and surely she wouldn’t go announcing it to the whole town. I heard the jumpy, urgent-sounding theme music for the evening news in my mind, and imagined the newsreader telling viewers that five sisters from Iris Harbor could sense the future. We’d get hounded by paparazzi and would require dark sunglasses and bodyguards. I mentally switched off the TV channel broadcasting to the nonexistent audience in my head and returned my focus to the psychic.

  “Your secret is safe with me. What happens in here stays in here.”

  I’m guessing she wasn’t one of those fake psychics.

  “It’s true,” I blurted. Wow, maybe that aquamarine gemstone was already having some effect on me, giving me courage. “Ever since a few months ago, when my sister…well, it kind of happened suddenly, and then nothing for a while, and then we were able to predict something and…” Savannah nudged me. Don’t give too much away, I knew she was thinking.

  “It’s okay, sweetie, you don’t need to go into details. I just wanted to let you know that I knew. Now,” she said, shuffling the cards. “Let’s see…”

  We all watched and waited.

  “You must trust your intuition, even when you’re alone. Together your energy is very powerful, but even alone, you are strong. You must listen to your instincts.” She touched another card. “Responsibility. You have a lot weighing on you for such young women. But you can handle it. Be confident in your abilities, and learn to listen acutely.” She eyed me when she said that. “I feel you are building up momentum, finding your stride, and each experience you have will strengthen you for the next, so don’t think anything is petty or inconsequential.”

  I mentally copied and pasted her words into an imaginary file in my mind. I labeled it “Delta Girls,” then returned my focus to what she said next.

  “You must have awareness in order to understand the truth. Always be aware, and always look for reasons behind things. Nothing is random, no one is truly bad, there is always a reason behind someone’s actions.�
�

  Was she talking about Dad or someone else? Was there another reason behind Dad’s letter? What was the reason behind his death? Every answer she gave us, however vague, only delivered more questions along with it. Still, it was reassuring to know someone else got us.

  “You have this gift for a very important reason. More than one reason. But I’m afraid it won’t always be easy. You won’t always discover what you want to discover, but what you need to discover. You have to trust the universal timing. There are challenges ahead of you too, especially in the next few months. You must be prepared.” She looked up at us with her ice-blue eyes. “And stick together. Trust yourselves, and each other.”

  She handed us each a business card, though added that we must learn to rely on ourselves and our own intuition.

  “Can I ask something before we go?” I said, and she nodded. “When spirits make their presence known in some way, is it always for a reason?”

  A soft smile formed. “Remember what I said: there is always a reason.”

  We exited the stall and I blinked, adjusting to the brightness. The sounds of chatter and ocean waves formed the background music to the words that floated around like song lyrics in my mind: There is always a reason.

  A reason why I was put into a study group with Damon and Lara.

  A reason why our sessions had to be at their house.

  A reason why I was hearing those voices.

  And a reason why they didn’t sound like they belonged to the nicest people—I mean, ghosts—on earth.

  Now, somehow, I had to figure out what those reasons were.

  Chapter 9

  When we stepped back onto the path, Mandy happened to be walking by with Samantha. “Did you guys seriously just go in there?” One corner of her mouth lifted up into a sharp, arrogant spike.

  “Yeah, so what?” Savannah said. “Just a bit of fun.”

  “Did they tell you how we can get our stupid science project completed with the least amount of work as possible?” She chuckled. “Or where my dad’s hidden his stash of cigarettes?”