Ominous (Private 13)

Kiki, who had stopped pacing as soon as I’d uttered the words “book of spells” and had been engrossed ever since, looked at me with an expression that was somehow both wary and intrigued. “About what?” she asked. “Was it about Astrid?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I dreamed that she was kidnapped.”

“You did?” Ivy blurted, standing. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I thought it was just a dream,” I said.

“Well, who kidnapped her?” Kiki asked. “I mean, in the dream?”

I bit my lip, knowing this was not going to go over well, and fiddled with the locket. “Cheyenne.”

There was a long, loaded silence as everyone in the room locked eyes with one another. And then they all burst out laughing. Everyone but Kiki and Ivy, who just looked sick to their stomachs, and Noelle, who shook her head, like, What am I going to do with you?

“Thanks for that, Reed,” Tiffany said, getting up and patting my shoulder. “We all needed a good laugh.”

“You guys, I know this sounds crazy!” I said as they all began to rouse themselves from their seats. “But first the locket is right where my dream led me and then Astrid goes missing right after I dreamed she was kidnapped? Isn’t that a little—”

“Coincidental?” Rose said gently.

My mouth snapped shut as I realized I’d been arguing in favor of me being psychic. Or at the very least superintuitive. Which was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to be. I’d been hoping they’d tell me it was just a fluke, but now that they were, I felt somehow … betrayed. What was wrong with me?

“She’s right, Reed. Please,” Amberly said, shoving her arms into her coat. “This is a little self-important, even for you.”

I felt that one like a shot to the heart. “What? I’m not trying to be self-important. I know it sounds crazy, but I need your help. I’m afraid to go to sleep. What if I have another dream? What if we’re all in danger or what if—”

“Reed, come on,” Noelle said. “I know we’ve had a lot of drama around here in the past, but this is Astrid. Personally, I think everyone’s overreacting.”

“What?” Kiki blurted, her eyes on fire.

Noelle shrugged. “Doesn’t she have a history of doing stuff like this? Bailing from schools, freaking out her parents, trying to get attention?”

“It’s true. She actually once called herself the Rebel Without a Clue,” Lorna said with a laugh. There were a few amused twitters throughout the room, and I felt my shoulders slump.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she showed up here tomorrow morning with some souvenirs from Dollywood or something,” Noelle con

tinued.

“No. She would have told me if she was going anywhere,” Kiki said, shaking her head as she clutched her arms at her sides. “Or she would have left a note for Rose.”

“So because she didn’t inform you guys, that means Reed’s seeing the future in her dreams?” Tiffany said incredulously.

“And besides, weren’t Astrid and Cheyenne, like, BFFs?” Portia said, pulling her hair out of the collar of her coat.

“Yeah, I mean, if Cheyenne was going to come back from the grave to kidnap anyone, it definitely wouldn’t be Astrid,” Vienna joked.

This time the laughter was louder and everyone started for the door.

“Unless Cheyenne missed her and just wanted to hang,” Amberly added, preening as she earned an even bigger laugh.

I felt desperate as they started to file out into the hallway past me. I didn’t know what I was hoping for anymore, but I loathed feeling like I was the butt of some joke when I was just trying to help.

“Hey guys, I almost forgot to tell you—I volunteered with the headmaster to head up a group of students to put up flyers in town,” Tiffany said, lifting her camera bag from the floor and settling the wide strap on her shoulder. “If you want to come with, we’re meeting on the chapel steps tomorrow after fifth, and we’ll get excused for the rest of the day.”

“I’m in,” Portia said.

“Me too,” Rose added.

“You’ll be there, right, Reed?”