Confessions of a Teenage Psychic (12 page)

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.”

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 confidence 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.

“NO numbers games!” Emma stomps her foot. “It’s easy for you but not for the rest of us.”

“Well, at least it’s something different,” Ashleigh mutters. “We always play Hearts.”

“Hey, what do you guys want on your pizza?” Megan retrieves her cell phone from the coffee table. “Pepperoni, veggies, what?”

“Both,” Ashleigh says. “Symmetrically divided in half.”

Megan has the pizza place on speed dial, so she punches in the number and places our order. “They said they’re running behind tonight because of the holiday, so it’ll be awhile. Can we make do with popcorn?”

We all nod. There’s limited sofa space in the small living room, so I sit down on the floor and begin playing with the dog who, just like Megan said, wants to be in the middle of the action. Pretty soon, all the other girls are sitting on the floor too, laughing and playing keep-away with Honey as she wrestles for her favorite stuffed toy.

“So what are we doing? Movie, cards, what?” Megan strokes Honey’s head after her dog is finally tired of the game and plops down on the floor.

“Let’s play Hearts!” Emma insists. “Everyone knows that game.”

“We should. We play it enough,” Megan says.

“You are SO terrible at that game anyway. Go Fish is about your speed,” Ashleigh snipes.

“It is NOT!” Emma pouts.

“Maybe playing cards isn’t such a good idea,” Megan says, frowning.

Megan is right, because Emma and Ashleigh are still glaring at each other, and if we want to have any fun at all tonight we have to keep those two from arguing.

“I still say we get out the Ouija board!” Annabeth smiles conspiratorially.

Suddenly the focus is off Emma and Ashleigh and centered on me and Annabeth. There’s a long, uncomfortable silence with everyone hoping the tension between me and Annabeth eases. It doesn’t. I must have a panic-stricken look on my face, since I’m sure my social life is about to go up in flames and I’m on the verge of being friendless again. Suddenly all four of them are looking at me like I’ve seen a ghost. And this time I haven’t.

“Caryn, what’s wrong?” Megan looks intently into my face. “You’re pale. Do you feel okay?”

I can’t say a word, so I grab my can of soda and swallow a big, long gulp. No one speaks. Even Honey senses something is wrong and climbs onto my lap in sympathy. I stroke her fur and try to regain my composure.

Megan looks from me to Annabeth, then to Emma and Ashleigh who are clueless. “Will one of you guys PLEASE tell me what’s going on?” Megan says, scowling.

Annabeth waits for me to speak up, but of course I don’t, or can’t. “Yeah, okay,” she says with a shrug. “There’s something about Caryn you don’t know, and if she doesn’t tell you, I will. Seriously, Caryn, it’s time they knew.”

“What’s the big secret, Caryn? Are you some kind of ax murderer?” Ashleigh giggles at her own joke, but no one else is laughing. “Well, it can’t be that bad, whatever it is.”

I scan their faces and feel tears stinging my eyes. Can I trust these girls with the truth? Will they laugh at me, or worse— quit being my friends? Or maybe, just maybe, will they accept me for who I am? Annabeth did, so maybe they will too. But I still can’t get the words out, and we all sit there in an uncomfortable silence.

“See, Caryn here, she’s psychic,” Annabeth finally says.

“What?” Megan exclaims. “No way!”

Ashleigh tilts her head. “Like Psychic Hotline fake-psychic or really psychic?” she asks. At least she knows there’s a difference.

“Ohmigod, it’s all starting to make sense!” Megan slaps her forehead. “When you knew Kensi was going to have that car accident, the school carnival, knowing Quince was in the mall in December. Wow! Now I get it! But, hey, why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because I don’t want to end up with friends who think I’m a weirdo, or no friends at all, like in Houston.”

“You didn’t trust us?” Megan sounds incredulous.

“Well, I… ” I stammer, surprised. I’d spent so much time fearing their rejection, I hadn’t considered they might be annoyed with me.

“And how come Annabeth knew and we didn’t?” Ashleigh looks indignant.

I shrug, embarrassed. “Last November I blurted out the truth to Annabeth because I didn’t know her and never thought I’d see her again.”

“So, can you, like, really predict the future?” Emma asks, wide-eyed.

I look from Emma to Ashleigh to Megan who are all staring at me. Emma looks stunned, Ashleigh disbelieving, and Megan excited. But not one of them looks like she hates me. “Uh-huh.”

“Cool! You really
are
Madame Wilhelmina! Does Janae Thomas know? She’ll freak!” Really, Megan is getting a little carried away.

“If you tell Janae, it’ll be all over school in a nanosecond,” Ashleigh says matter-of-factly.

“So tell us our futures!” Megan squeals, thrusting her palm out in front of me.

“The part I said at the carnival about reading palms? I really can’t. But… ”

They’re all looking at me expectantly. I know I’ve been blurting out stuff accidentally all semester, but here they are, actually asking me to do it and I don’t know what to say. And I don’t know if it’s such a great idea anyway, since I never know exactly what’s going to pop into my head and come out of my mouth. Sometimes it’s like I’m floating up on the ceiling watching myself babble about someone’s life, and from up there I can’t make myself shut up.

I sigh. “Are you sure you really wanna know? ‘Cause I’m almost always right, and sometimes people don’t want to hear all that stuff.”

Ashleigh is the only one who looks hesitant, but the other girls nod enthusiastically.

“Go on, Caryn. Show ‘em your stuff.” Annabeth has a huge grin on her face, as if she’s my psychic agent or something.

I have to laugh in spite of myself. “Well, okay, but just remember you asked. Who’s first?”

“Me!” Emma waves her hand in the air.

“Well, you probably won’t like this, but you’re going to be elected president of the student council.”

To say Emma is very startled is a huge understatement. “No way! I HATE politics, and I’d never run. You’re
so
wrong.”

I just shrug my shoulders and don’t say anything else, but my instincts tell me I’m dead-on.

“Do Megan next,” Emma says. “Let’s see if you say anything about her that makes sense.”

Megan nods, so I take a deep breath. “Okay, Megan, first of all, your sister’s getting married in the new year.”

“Allie? Not a chance!”

“Not her, the other one.”

“Caroline? I doubt it. Her boyfriend got dumped by his fiancee on their wedding day last summer, so I’m pretty sure he’s not ready.” Megan shakes her head.

“Well, she is, and you’re going to be in the wedding. But there’s more.” I pause, because the rest of Megan’s prediction gives me serious qualms and I don’t even know why or where it’s coming from. “I really don’t understand this part, but I just know you’re going to be in the middle of something huge at school, and it’s going to affect lots of lives.”