Gifted Connections 1

She really was having a great day, and maybe I should stop fighting Jemmy and just go with the flow.

“Okay, we can stop there first,” I told her as I headed towards the sushi bar.

“Wait,” Jemmy called. I turned as she rushed over to me with forty dollars. “I forgot that Jace gave us lunch money.”

I knew resistance was futile, so I just took the money with a muttered, “thanks.” It was obvious that they had money, and they didn’t think anything of it when it was spent, but I still struggled with comparing my old life to my new one. Old habits die hard.

Ella chose some General Tso’s chicken, sautéed broccoli (I insisted that she ate a vegetable), and lo Mein noodles. Then we headed over to the sushi place. I ordered miso soup, a spicy tuna roll, a California roll, and a volcano roll. I didn’t think I would be able to eat it all, but I was going to try.

Jemmy waved at me from across the food court, and I zig-zagged my way through the endless tables and people. I was surprised to see it was so busy on a weekday. As I sat down, I spotted the Bubble Gum Squad. I forgot it was a half day. I groaned.

“What’s up?” Jemmy asked as she dipped her chicken tenders into some BBQ sauce.

“It’s the Bubble Gum Squad,” I mumbled. I was hoping that they didn’t see me as I ducked my head to dig into my miso soup.

Jemmy turned to look over her shoulder. “They look like they belong on the set of Mean Girls.”

I giggled. Little did Jemmy realize, she would fit perfectly in with them looks wise. “They are the epitome of Mean Girls.”

“Fu-,” Jemmy looked at Ella and caught herself, “forget them.” She smiled at herself proudly. “Okay, time for a selfie to show the boys how much fun we’re having.”

She plopped herself down bes

ide me and pulled out her phone. “Tell me when that starts,” I said jokingly and sarcastically.

“Smile, Silvermist,” she smiled widely, showing her perfect, straight white teeth. I attempted my best smile, but it looked fake.

It seemed to work for her as she typed furiously into her phone, and went back to her side of the table.

“Silvermist?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She giggled at her phone and looked up at me with a shrug. “You have a little sister and you have never watched any of the Tinkerbell movies,” she said with fake horror. “Silvermist is one of Tinkerbell’s friends. She has dark hair like you, and, of course, she’s pretty and tiny, but your eyes are so much prettier. And….” She tapped her fingers on the table, imitating a drumroll, “You have your own Lost Boys!”

She roared with laughter at her own joke. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and dug into my sushi rolls. I moaned, it had been too long since I treated myself to sushi. My dad and I loved getting sushi together every Friday night after school. When Heidi came along, our tradition stopped. Heidi hated sushi, so we went when she was busy, which was rare.

Jemmy stopped and looked at me. “You really need to stop doing that, especially around the guys. It sounds incredibly sexual. No, wait,” she grinned impishly, “you do you, sister. Keep it up.”

I smiled ruefully. “I can’t help it. I’m such a foodie. I love food!”

“You and Drake have that in common, why do you think he taught himself how to cook? My mother sucked at cooking. He got tired of living off ramen noodles and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” She stuffed more French fries into her mouth.

The way she ate was fascinating. She ate like an adolescent boy, stuffing food in her mouth with zero food etiquette. “What happened to your mom?” I asked curiously.

She paused for a second before swallowing her food. “Umm…she got really freaked out when Drake started to produce his gift. She admitted him to a hospital and that’s where Pops found us. Pops realized Drake was gifted, and I was already exhibiting signs of my gift early because of the stress I was going through. I didn’t want to lose my brother. I razz him constantly, and I love picking on him and making him feel uncomfortable, but he’s the greatest big brother in the world.” She pointed a fry at me, “If you ever tell him I said that I will kill you. Anyways, Mom seemed really freaked out and with Pops’ reassurance, she signed over her rights to us. To this day, she thinks we have some incurable phycological/physical/paranormal disorders.”

I instantly felt bad for her. “I’m sorry to hear that. What about your dad?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, although I saw the flash of pain in her eyes. “He died right after I was born. It’s my mom’s loss. I could care less. I was nine, and we already started having a rocky relationship. She worked all the time and didn’t have time for us. Drake took care of me. I think it bothers him the most; he still calls her on occasion. Anyways, give me your phone, you need a Snapchat.” She held out her hand as I handed her my phone.

I didn’t live in the dark ages; I know about all the social media sites, but my previous phone didn’t have those capabilities, and I truly felt like I wasn’t missing much. Once again, I didn’t think I had a choice.

Reluctantly, I handed her my phone and she began furiously tapping away on it. She handed me back my phone after a few moments.

“There, you now have me, Troy, Drake, Noah, and Jax on your Snapchat.” Before I could ask about the other two guys, she smiled. “Jace and Remy are too cool for school, they don’t have a Snapchat account. They don’t even have Facebook or Instagram. Now hurry up and eat, we have so much to do and so little time.”

I groaned, but Ella was excited about the prospect of getting more new clothes.

Chapter 10