he really loves and he's still all hung up on her. He broke it off with me because he says I'm not so special now that Courtney's psychic too. He wants her back." I add a little breakage in my voice at the end, for effect.
"Oh, Kendall, that's awful," Celia says and then rolls her eyes at me. "It'll be okay."
"No, it won't. How will I hold my head up? You can't tell anyone that I told you. Swear?"
"Sure, whatever." I knock her with my elbow. She's not doing a good enough acting job. "Oh, right. No, I won't tell anyone. I swear on my dog Seamus's life."
I lower my voice to a whisper. "Now you're just overdoing it."
We leave the bathroom and head around the corner to hide behind Mr. Lowry's door and see if Mina got the message. Sure enough, a moment later, Mina emerges from the bathroom with her cell phone to her ear, relaying my convo with Celia.
"Excellent," Celia says and drills her fingertips together. "Now we just have to wait and see what happens."
The lunchroom is all abuzz today. Gossip and rumors are flying this way and that. Man, you gotta love high school and how news gets around. People look at me with gloom in their faces. Yeah, they know. Mina's game of pass-it-on has been, well, passed on. I don't care so much about what random sophomores think; I want to see what Courtney's going to do with this info.
As usual, I grab a tray and slowly move through the lunch line. Mmm ... roast turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce. It's only October, but I'm game for a Thanksgiving preview. I pay the cashier and then turn to catch Taylor's eye. She's so good at getting a table for us and spreading out so no one invades our turf.
The music today is a particularly Trance-y groove, with delayed synthesizers and an upbeat, positive, energetic composition. Becca's taught me a bunch about this stuff since I've been here. Songs carry their own energy, I've found, and I'm sure that it's Becca's talent with her DJ equipment that makes her such a great EVP specialist. I really hope I didn't offend her yesterday at her house. Sometimes I just can't control myself. I need to learn how to keep my psychic abilities in check. I don't have to respond to every spirit or sensation calling out to me.
"Awesome mix today, Becca."
She slips the headphones off one ear and smiles at me.
"I'm really sorry about yesterday."
Waving me off, she clicks another iPod to her mixing board. "I'm on a music high right now."
"I can tell."
"There's nothing like this. A new DJ I discovered, DJ Adian from South Africa. This shit's layered with three-oh-three bass pulses, Doppler effects, sequencer riffs, and stacks of percussion, and builds up to a climactic tension."
I'm relieved to see she's not harboring any ill will toward me. She's really into this; it's almost like talking to Celia. Not knowing what to say, I smile. "Cool. You should charge for this, you know? You're really good."
Becca lifts her hands in a who-knows gesture. "One day I want to go spin in Europe. We'll see what happens."
"You can do whatever you put your mind to, Becca." As I say this, I realize that she already knows she can do anything. Her racks of trophies, crowns, and awards are a testament to that. But I promised not to go there again.
A knowing silence passes between us, and then Becca returns to her mixing board. "I heard this morning's docudrama was a success."
"Very much."
"I'll come join y'all if any firecrackers start going off," Becca says with a smirk.
With that, I walk through the crowded caf—people's eyes are all over me—and I plop down next to Taylor, who's halfway through a raspberry yogurt.
Celia sits opposite me and dives into her turkey and dressing. We eat in silence. Waiting. Watching. Taylor frantically dashes her gaze around the room until I gently kick her under the table. We have to pretend this is just like any other day. Not draw any more attention to ourselves than necessary.
Right on schedule, Courtney enters the caf with Farah and Mina walking behind her, like birds flying in formation. Stephanie Crawford follows along a few paces back, as if she doesn't want to be with them. When she reaches our table, Courtney doubles over and grabs her heart.
"What is it?" Farah asks in a breathy voice.
"Oh, I'm sensing such heartache," Courtney says. "Like