Gifted Touch (21 page)

But Yana was turning into a real friend. A Lea kind of friend, before Lea got all weirded out by Rae.

So get over yourself, Rae thought. She had friends. Maybe not a lot of them—but enough.

“Um, I’m taking chemistry this year, and forget about it. Just the work from that class is killer,” Lea said. She took a bite of her yogurt.

Rae took a spoonful of her own. When Lea snuck another glance at her usual table, Rae pretended not to notice. What was the point of making a big deal about it? She and Lea wouldn’t be doing this again.

Where the hell is she? Anthony Fascinelli checked his watch. It was still ten minutes before their group therapy session started up. But Rae should be here.

What if whoever had hired David Wyngard to set that pipe bomb and off Rae had already tried again? Or hired someone else to do it? What if she was lying dead somewhere? His stomach did a slow roll. What if—

And then he saw her. Walking across the parking lot like one of those girls in a shampoo commercial, her curly reddish brown hair all bouncy, looking like she owned the world and everyone should just fall at her feet if she smiled at them.

She wasn’t being careful. She couldn’t look like that—all shampoo commercial girl—and be observ-ing everything that was going on around her. What was wrong with her?

“You’re late,” Anthony snapped as she approached him. “And you’re stupid.”

She glanced at her slim silver watch. “I’m early,” she corrected him. She didn’t bother responding to the stupid part.

“What’s been going on the last few days? Have you noticed anything unusual? Have you noticed anything? ” He wanted to reach out, grab her by the shoulders, and shake her. Instead he jammed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Has there been a strange car in your neighborhood? Someone you don’t really know trying to get all friendly at school? Someone—”

“A stranger in a van offering me candy if I get inside?” Rae interrupted.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Anthony demanded.

He took a step closer and lowered his voice.

“Someone is trying to kill you, remember? I can’t believe you’re acting like it’s all a big joke.”

“What do you want me to do? I have no idea who hired David to kill me. Not a clue. Am I supposed to walk around being afraid of everybody? Is that what you want?”

Her voice had this tremor running through it, and Anthony realized she wasn’t all shampoo girl casual.

Pretty much the opposite. “I just want you to be safe,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well, I want that, too. But it’s not like I can be suspicious of the whole world. I’d end up back in the nuthouse,” Rae answered.

“We’ll figure something out,” Anthony said.

Although he had no idea how. He shifted from foot to foot, not knowing what to say next. “I guess we should go in,” he finally added.

“We’re not waiting for Jesse?” Rae asked.

“If we do, we’ll all be late, and Abramson will be three times as pissed,” Anthony said. He led the way inside and down to the group therapy room. Most of the metal chairs were already filled, but there were two together by the door. He sat down in one, and Rae slipped into the one next to him. He’d feel a lot better if he could keep her this close all the time. Not that he’d be able to do any good if someone came at her with a gun or something.

Ms. Abramson hurried into the room, pulling Anthony away from his thoughts. She shut the door behind her and strode to the center of the circle. She was wearing one of those sleeveless dresses again.

Anthony figured she had to lift weights because her dark arms were all muscle, none of that jelly at the tops like a lot of women her age had.

“I have a couple of announcements before we start,” Abramson said. She flipped one of her many braids back over her shoulder. “First, Anthony Fascinelli was not responsible for the pipe bomb. I’m sure you all heard that Mr. Rocha found materials for a bomb in Anthony’s backpack, but they were put there by David Wyngard. Obviously David will no longer be a member of our group.” She turned her gaze to Anthony, her eyes bright with emotion. “On behalf of Mr. Rocha and myself, I want to apologize for making a judgment too quickly and to welcome Anthony back.”

Yeah, right, Anthony thought. He could believe Abramson felt bad and wanted him back in group. But there was no way the director of the institute was all happy Anthony was back at Oakvale. Rocha’d been totally psyched to have a reason to give Anthony the boot.

Abramson began to pace back and forth across the center of the circle. “My other announcement is a dis-turbing one. I got a call from Jesse Beven’s mother.” Anthony sat up straight, the bones of his spine suddenly feeling sharp against his flesh.

“Mrs. Beven told me that Jesse has run away,” Abramson continued. “I’m sure this news will bring up all kinds of feelings, and I wanted to take the first part of our session to talk about them.” No way. No freakin’ way.

He leaned toward Rae, the bones of his back bit-ing into his muscles. “This is crap,” he whispered.

“Jesse wouldn’t bolt. Not without saying something to me.”

“So what do you think happened?” Rae whispered back.

“I don’t know. But I’m going to find out,” Anthony promised.

Gifted Touch Trivia-O-Rama Okay, you’ve spent some time in Rae Voight’s world.

But how well do you know it? Take the Fingerprints twenty-questions challenge and find out.

1. Rae wears perfume that smells like: A. kiwi

B. lemon

C. grapefruit

D. orange

2. On the wall of the hallway leading to her room, Rae painted:

A. clouds

B. clowns

C. cantaloupes

D. Chihuahuas

3. Anthony’s friends Gregg and Mike wonder what the world would be like if it were made of: A. beef jerky

B. cheese

C. chocolate

D. burritos

4. Rae’s dad won’t allow this in their house: A. meat

B. Stephen King novels

C. Anthony

D. TV

5. Anthony’s little sister gave him a shirt featur-ing:

A. ‘N Sync

B. The Backstreet Boys

C. 98∞

D. Metallica

6. Anthony thinks of himself as a: A. bluebird

B. parrot

C. cardinal

D. crow

7: Jesse is into:

A. surfing

B. aromatherapy

C. soccer

D. skateboarding

8. Rae’s nickname for the mental institution is: A. the peanut gallery

B. the walnut farm

C. the nut house

D. the pistachio palace

9. Around her belly button, Yana has a tattoo of: A. barbed wire

B. a daisy chain

C. Christmas tree lights

D. a DNA strand

10. Rae’s dad teaches:

A. Medieval literature

B. music appreciation

C. art history

D. philosophy

11. The new teacher at Rae’s school is named: A. Ms. Abramson

B. Ms. O’Banyon

C. Mr. Jesperson

D. Mr. Fascinelli

12. Rae’s first stuffed animal was: A. A bunny named Rufus

B. A kangaroo named Reggie

C. A kitty named Rollo

D. A mouse named Reba

13. Yana drives:

A. a Plymouth Barracuda

B. Her dad’s Chevelle

C. her mom’s Hyundai

D. a yellow VW Bug

14. On Rae’s first day back at school Yana brought her:

A. a necklace

B. a Powerpuff girl notebook

C. Krispy Kreme donuts

D. New Sketchers

15. While Rae was in the hospital, her so-called boyfriend Marcus hooked up with:

A. Tori

B. Dori

C. Lori

D. Cori

16. When Anthony needs to distract himself in class, he tunes into mental:

A. cartoons

B. video games

C. nature specials

D. porn

17. Back when she was a dorky elementary school kid, Rae used to draw these creatures on top of every assignment:

A. unicorns

B. centaurs

C. griffins

D. dragons

18. Rae’s mother’s name is:

A. Melinda

B. Melanie

C. Melissa

D. Gertrude

19. Anthony figured out Rae’s power by having her touch:

A. knives

B. forks

C. spatulas

D. spoons

20. In his family, Anthony is:

A. the oldest

B. the youngest

C. the middle child

D. an only child

1)C 2)A 3)B 4)D 5)B 6)A 7)D 8)B 9)D 10)A 11)C 12)A 13)D 14)C 15)B 16)D 17)A 18)C

19)D 20)A

Score your score — give yourself 1 point for every right answer.

19-20: Who needs to be a fingerprint reader? You already know all!

15-18: You know Rae and company almost as well as you know your own friends.

10-16: You know your own friends a lot better than you know Rae and company. And, really, is that so bad?

0-9:

Maybe watching TV, playing a video

game, talking on the phone, listening to a CD, and reading all at the same time is a little too much even for you to handle.

Q & A with Melinda Metz

Q:
Was it difficult to find subplots in addition to the basic plot of someone watching and trying to kill Rae?

A:
Sometimes it was hard. But my editor and I planned out the whole series before I started to write, and we tried hard to make sure there were revelations and twists for every book. Also, when I write, I’m as interested in what’s going on between the characters as I am with the sus-pense parts of the stories, and I found lots of things I wanted to write about when I thought about the characters — like the relationship between Anthony and his father.

Q:
What is it like to see how much teens enjoy your books, and how does it feel to know that you might have changed the way that they look at things or the way they feel about things?

A:
Reading has always been a big part of my life. I have strong memories of many, many books that I read as a teen. As an adult I’ve often spotted one of my faves in a used book-store, snatched it up, and reread it, feeling like I’d found an old friend. It’s the best feeling to know that somewhere out there people I’ve never met are reading something I’ve written and maybe feeling some of what I felt when I’d get caught up in a book as a kid.

Q:
Did you get your ideas for the series from things that happened to you and your friends in real life?

A:
Not really. My life and the lives of the people I know aren’t as exciting as Rae’s! But there are always a few things in every book that are based on reality. For example, in the first book, the conversation about what the world would be life if it were made of cheese was a lot like a conversation I had with friends once. And although I didn’t draw unicorns when I was in elementary school, I did pretend to ride one sometimes, so that dorky part of Rae is something that came from my actual experience.

Q:
From what I have read I can relate to most of the things that have happened to Rea: being the outcast and having those painful moments when you get dumped and when you think that a guy wants you when he really doesn’t. What do you do to stay current with what is going on in a teen’s life today? Do you talk with any kids that tell you some of the things that are happening in their life?

A:
I read teen magazines, and go to teen movies, and I talk to the kids who live in my neighborhood.

But mostly I just remember. For some reason, I have strong memories of how I felt about things when I was the age of the characters I write about.

Also, a lot of feelings are the same no matter what age you are. There are definitely still times I feel shy and awkward or wonder what somebody really thinks of me, and I use those emotions when I write, even though the characters are younger than I am and are in very different situations.

Q:
What do you hope teens will walk away with after reading your books?

A:
One thing I hope teens will come away with is the feeling that they aren’t alone, that the thoughts and feelings they have are more universal than they might imagine. There have been times I’ve felt kind of like a freak inside.