Ominous (Private 13)

“Your parents and guardians have all been informed of the situation,” he said, looking across the large, airy room. “Several students already have cars waiting for them on the circle, but please, before you leave campus, sign out with a member of the security personnel. There will be a guard stationed at the door of each dorm. I understand that the instinct is to flee, but we want to make sure each and every one of you is accounted for.”

The students around me nodded, clutching hands, hanging on his words as if he could somehow save them from whatever fate had befallen my friends.

“Before I let you go, I just want to say … we’re going to do everything we can to locate your classmates and to ensure that Easton Academy’s campus is secure going forward,” he said. “In the meantime … please be safe.” There was a long, suspended silence. The headmaster’s eyes shone. “You are dismissed.”

What followed was like a video I’d once seen of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The guards at the doors barely had time to get them open before a burst of humanity spewed forth. Everyone was on his or her cell phone, frantically making travel arrangements or calling parents to see if arrangements had already been made. The sophomore guy who’d been sitting next to Josh vaulted over the back of the pew when he realized that Noelle, Josh, and I weren’t moving.

“Reed. What happened?” Noelle asked slowly. “How did you know it was Lorna?”

“She had another dream,” Josh answered.

“Lorna was … she was murdered,” I said slowly. I looked up into Noelle’s eyes. “By Sabine.”

Noelle pressed her lips together and stared straight ahead. Sawyer walked by with his brother, Graham. He shot me a sympathetic look but didn’t stop. Behind him were Rose and Kiki. They paused at the end of our pew, letting the other students filter out around them. Then Ivy was there. And Tiffany. Vienna and London appeared, clutching each other, which was interesting considering I was pretty sure they hadn’t spoken in weeks. Portia and Amberly arrived together. Everyone looked grim as they gathered.

“Where’s Constance?” I said.

“I saw the police bringing her into Hull Hall on my way over here,” Ivy replied. “She was a wreck, but physically she looked okay.”

“What the hell is going on?” Tiffany said, hugging herself as some of the faculty skirted by us. “First Astrid and now Lorna. This has something to do with us, doesn’t it?”

I couldn’t answer. How was I supposed to tell them about my dream? They’d all laughed at me just yesterday. And besides, even with all the evidence, I was having a hard time believing any of it myself. Because how could I suddenly be psychic? I wasn’t even sure I believed in psychics. I touched the locket with the tips of my fingers and avoided eye contact.

“It looks that way,” Noelle said. Her phone beeped and she took it out to check the screen.

“Reed, did you have another dream?” Kiki asked.

Noelle stood up and the other girls took a step back, as if she was radiating fire. “Let’s not even go there,” she said. “Right now we just need to concentrate on getting out of here and making sure everyone’s safe.”

Kiki glanced at me past Noelle’s shoulder. “But what if—?”

“Reed,” Noelle said, staring Kiki down. “Daddy’s got a car waiting for us. Let’s go.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that. I wanted out of there more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. I looked shakily at Josh and he lifted a hand to my face. “Don’t go home,” he whispered. “If you can, go to New York with Noelle. I’ll go crash at Lynn’s apartment there. I’ll be five blocks away.”

I nodded wordlessly, tears slipping from my eyes. Then he kissed me and I got up and took Noelle’s hand.

“We’ll call you guys later,” Noelle said, her voice slightly less forbidding than it had been a moment ago. “All of you just … go straight home.”

The other Billings Girls parted to let us through, unwilling to mess with Noelle, and she hustled me toward the door like a girl dragging her little sister clear of danger.

“I know, Mom. I know. But I’ll still see you on Friday for the party,” I said as I threw my favorite sweaters and jeans into my duffel bag. If there was a party, of course. I held the phone between my ear and my shoulder, my neck straining as I flitted around my room, grabbing a lip gloss here, a notebook there, trying to figure out whether I’d really need my history text and how long we’d be gone. “It would be stupid for me to fly out there and then turn around and fly right back. Hopefully by then Astrid and Lorna will be found and everything will be okay.”

“I just … I would feel a lot more comfortable if you were here,” my mother said. “With us.”

I paused, a T-shirt balled up in my hand.

“I know,” I said softly. “But being in New York …”

I’ll be with Noelle. And, more important, with Josh, I thought.

“I’ll be closer to school if it reopens and we have to come right back,” I said. “And Mr. Lange …” I paused, swallowing hard as I recalled how intimately my mother once knew Mr. Lange—how intimately we were all connected. “I’m sure he’ll have some serious security set up for us.”

I shoved the T-shirt into my bag, then quickly added the framed photograph of me and my father—my real father—that sat atop my desk. Then I zipped up the duffel and tossed it toward the door.

“Okay. If that’s what you really want to do,” my mother said sadly. “Just call me when you get there. In fact, call me every hour.”

I exhaled a laugh, my heart squeezing into a tight ball inside my chest. “All right. I will.”