Strange Magic (3 page)

          In English class, I started to get an inkling of why Mandy had broken up with Brad.  It was obvious that she had set her sights on Duncan. It was also obvious that he was not opposed to her attention.

          I sat numbly and watched her toss her blond hair back and smile coyly at him. She asked to borrow a pen from him. Then she pulled at her skirt and drew his eyes to her shapely legs.

          Duncan ignored me almost the entire class, which left me free to observe his reaction to Mandy. This helped to distract me from what had happened between us that morning.

          “She’s the kind of girl I need,” Duncan said.  “Someone who is normal and uncomplicated.  I don’t need anymore complications in my life.”

          It was happening again!  I knew that he wasn’t talking to me.  I knew that it was some kind of auditory hallucination.  Instead of hearing voices, I was hearing only one voice.  I knew it wasn’t real.  I still wanted to clap my hands over my ears, even though I knew it wouldn’t help.  I tried to keep my focus on Mr. Gates, but my eyes were drawn to Duncan.

          I turned to see him glaring at me.  “Stay out of my head, Susannah.”

          My eyes widened.  He hadn’t spoken aloud.  Yet I had heard him, and he knew it.  “Am I really hearing your thoughts?”  I spoke the words in my mind.

          “I told you to drop the innocent act,” Duncan shot back at me.  “I see right through you.”

          Anger sparked within me.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I haven’t done anything to you.”

          Duncan smiled thinly.  “And I’m going to keep it that way.”

          “Duncan!  This is incredible.  We can talk to each other through our thoughts.  How is this possible?  I thought I was going crazy.”

          “That was impressive,” Duncan said.  “I almost believed that you were really falling apart.  I would have taken the bait if I hadn’t dealt with your kind before.”

          I stared at him.  “My kind?”

          Duncan must have realized that we’d held eye contact too long.  Other people would think it was weird.  He moved his gaze back to Mandy, but his words continued in my mind.  “This time I’m going for normal.”

          Then I was left alone with my own thoughts.  My mind was reeling from this new discovery.  At least now I was fairly certain that I was still sane.  Other than that, my world had been turned upside down.

          I was startled by the sound of the bell.  Duncan and Mandy walked out together as I slowly gathered my books.  I was now on autopilot.  It was the only way I could make it through the rest of the day.

          Caitlin watched me with a worried expression on her face as I tried to make small talk.  “You should eat something.”

         I managed a smile.  “Since when did you turn into my mother?”

         “I’m serious,” Caitlin said.  “When was the last time you ate?”

          I thought about it.  “Yesterday morning.  I had cereal.”

          Caitlin looked at me incredulously.  “You should be starving by now.”

          I shrugged.  “I’m just not hungry.  Anyway, I’ve got the scoop.  Mandy is totally after Duncan.”

          Caitlin pursed her lips.

          I ignored her disapproval.  “I saw it with my own eyes.  It was seduction 101.  She’s got some killer moves.”

          Caitlin sighed.  “Oh, Suzy.  That should be you.  Don’t give up.”

          “There are other fish in the sea.  Maybe I’ll go comfort Brad.”  My attempt at being flip fell flat.  I had to change the subject.  I began to engage Caitlin in conversation about her date with Alex.  She realized that this was a good distraction for me.  They were going to a movie, and we debated which outfit she should wear.

          Normally, Caitlin drove me home from school.  It turned out that she had forgotten about a dentist appointment that afternoon.  Her mom was coming to sign her out early.  Then Caitlin was driving herself to the dentist.

          “At least my mouth will be extra clean.  If Alex doesn’t kiss me, I’m going to kiss him.”

          This got a genuine laugh out of me. “Caitlin!”

          “What?  It’s our second date, and I’m a modern woman.”

          “That you are.”  I smiled at her affectionately.

          As the bell rang, she grabbed my arm.  “We’ll talk tomorrow.”  She gave me a meaningful look.

          “Yes,” I said.  “I promise.”

          As the afternoon wore on, I began to feel seriously light-headed.  The day was almost over, and I had no intention of going to the nurse again.  Even taking the bus home was a better option than calling my mom to pick me up sick two days in a row.  The last thing I needed was for her to fuss over me all weekend.  Caitlin and I would require privacy for what was going to be the biggest talk we’d ever had.  It would probably test even Caitlin’s open mind.

          When the last bell rang, I left all my books in my locker.  Hopefully, Mr. Gates wouldn’t have a pop quiz on Monday.  There was no way I was going to be doing any studying this weekend.  I followed the throng of students toward the exit doors.  I felt like I was walking on the moon.  The wall was too far away, and there was nothing to hold onto.  My head was spinning as I began to sway on my feet.  No, I thought as I lost my balance.  Someone steadied me.  He felt solid and strong.  I leaned against him.

          “Can you make it?”  I heard his voice.  I thought maybe he had spoken aloud this time.

         “Yes,” I said weakly.  “I have to get to bus C.”

         He helped me outside and lowered me onto a bench.  “Wait here.”

         I tried to get up after he left, but I sank back down.  He pulled up in a gray car.  I leaned on him as he led me to the passenger seat.  By this time, I was starting to feel a little stronger.

          I caught my breath as Duncan leaned over me to fasten my seatbelt.  He stilled, and his gaze captured mine.  An expression I couldn’t name flitted across his face.  Then he pulled away and closed the door.  He got into the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition.

          “Chestnut Avenue, you said.  You’ll have to tell me where to turn.”

           “Oh,” I said.  “You don’t have to drive me.  I’ll take the bus.”

          “The bus is gone,” Duncan said as he put the car in drive.  “I’ll take you home.”

          “Thanks.  I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”

          Duncan’s jaw clenched.  He stared straight ahead at the road.  “Is that why you’ve gone to such great lengths to play the damsel in distress?”

          “What do you mean?  I got dizzy.  I didn’t even know you were there.”

          “You called me.”  Duncan’s voice cut like a knife.

          “I did not,” I said indignantly.  “I don’t even have your number.”

          “Damn it, Susannah!” Duncan exploded.  “You know what I mean.”

          I gaped at him with my mouth open.  Called him?

          His pale blue eyes slid toward me.  He laughed derisively.  “Another Academy Award worthy performance.  You called me to make sure I would be there to rescue you.  That was no pretend fainting spell, though.  What’d you do?  Not eat for awhile?”

          “I was sick!  I couldn’t eat anything.”  I watched his hands gripping the steering wheel.  “I don’t know why you think I’m lying to you.  And I don’t know why you’re saying those things, but I never called you.  I would have remembered that.”

          “It was your voice,” Duncan said.  “I’d know it anywhere.”

          He drove in silence then as I gave him the directions to my house.  I felt much better, but he insisted on walking me to my door.  I thanked him for the ride.

          “Don’t do this again, Susannah.  I mean it.”  He strode to his car and drove off.

          I went to my room and got into bed.  Weariness overtook me, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

          I woke up early on Saturday, having slept straight through after school the day before.  I was finally hungry, so I decided to make pancakes.  My stomach rumbled while I cooked them.  I was finishing a second helping when Mom and Dad walked into the kitchen.

          “Hey, sleepyhead,” Dad said.  “Those three days of school really wore you out, huh?”

          Mom beamed at me.  “I’m so glad that you’re feeling better.  I tried to wake you for dinner, but you were dead to the world.  I was planning to take you to the doctor today.”

          This was what I had been afraid of yesterday.  I smiled back at them.  “I guess I just needed some extra sleep.  Better help yourselves to some pancakes before I eat them all.”

          After breakfast, the three of us did housework.  Caitlin called after lunch.  She came over just as my parents were getting ready to go to a movie.  It was perfect timing, since we would now be able to talk in private.

          “Alone at last,” Caitlin joked.

          We both laughed.  “Do you want something to drink?”

          “No,” Caitlin said.  “I want to hear about these secrets you’ve been keeping from me.”

          I hesitated.  “First, how was your date with Alex?”

          “He enjoyed my clean mouth,” Caitlin said without missing a beat.  “We’ll get back to that later.  Quit stalling.  I can’t wait another minute to hear about you and Duncan.”

         “Okay,” I said.  “Okay, you already know about the dream.  It gets more bizarre from there.”

          I told her about what had happened the day I went home sick.  Once I began talking, the words just poured out of me.  Caitlin listened in rapt attention.  When I got to the part about Duncan and I being able to communicate with our thoughts, she couldn’t contain herself any longer.

          “Oh.  My.  God!  What did I tell you?  What more proof do you need that you guys are soulmates?”

          I was amazed.  “You’re taking this a lot better than I did, and way better than Duncan did.”

          I filled her in on the rest of the story.  Duncan was less than thrilled about our special connection.  In fact, he was downright hostile about it.

          “This can only mean one thing,” Caitlin said.  “He’s been hurt by another girl who has this ability.  That boy is seriously bitter.  That’s why he’s trying to push you away.”

          I was surprised by how jealous I was at the thought of another girl sharing this bond with Duncan.  “Do you really think that’s possible?”

          Caitlin gave me a funny look.  “Anything is possible.  You should know that better than anyone.”

          That would explain his attitude.  “She must have broken his heart.”

          “You’ve got to win his trust,” Caitlin said.

          “Yeah, right.  That’s not going to happen.  His mind is made up.”

          “We’ll convince him.”

          “What do you mean we?  Caitlin,” I said sternly.  “Stay out of it.”

          “Okay,” Caitlin said.  “We’ll see.”

          She had been so great about believing my crazy story that I didn’t want to argue with her.  I changed the subject to her date with Alex, and this time she let me.  The movie had been okay.  The kissing afterwards had been great, and they were going out to dinner this evening.  Caitlin left shortly after my parents arrived home.  She and Alex seemed to have really hit it off, and I was happy for her.

          After dinner, I decided to go for a walk.  Since I had been sick, I had missed being outside.  It felt good to be out in the fresh air again.  A gentle breeze made the weather perfect.  Many people were enjoying the park.

          I felt much better now that I had told Caitlin everything.  I wasn’t alone in this anymore.  Caitlin’s idea about the other girl made sense.  It wasn’t fair that Duncan was taking it out on me, but there was nothing I could do about it.  The best thing for me would be to try to avoid him as much as possible and move on with my life.

          Caitlin was wrong.  We weren’t soulmates.  If she was right about the other girl, even our connection wasn’t unique.  He had already experienced it with someone else.  On top of that, even without his irrational hostility toward me, there was no way I could compete against Mandy.  I resolved to have a brand new attitude on Monday.  Duncan wasn’t even going to be on my radar.

          A little girl approached me and asked me to play tag with her.

          “Lily!”  Her mother admonished her from a nearby bench where she was feeding a baby.  “Leave that girl alone.”

         “I don’t mind.”  I winked at the mother.  “I was just hoping that somebody would play tag with me.”

          We ran around and giggled.  I pretended that I couldn’t run fast enough to get away from her.

          Her delight was infectious.  “You’re it!”

          We zigzagged as I kept just barely missing her.

          “You can’t catch me,” she taunted with little kid glee.

          “You’re too fast,” I said as I made a show of stopping to catch my breath.  As I looked up, I noticed Duncan in the background.  He was watching me.  I just barely caught the smile on his face before it quickly disappeared.

          “C’mon, let’s play.”  The little girl was tugging on my arm.

          “It’s time to go home now, Lily,” her mother called as she was putting the baby into the stroller.

          “No!”  Lily wailed.  “I wanna play more tag.”

          “Next time,” I soothed.  “Whew!  You wore me out.”

          Lily’s mother had to come and take her by the hand.  “Let’s go.  You can help me push the stroller.”  She smiled at me.  “Thanks.  Hopefully, she’ll be too tired to put up a fuss at bedtime tonight.”

          Duncan wandered over as they left.  “You’ve made a quick recovery.”

          “I went to sleep as soon as you left, and I didn’t get up until this morning.  Then I ate two breakfasts.”

          The smile I had glimpsed earlier ghosted over Duncan’s lips again.  “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

         “Thanks,” I said.  “And thanks again for helping me yesterday.  May I ask you a question?”

          Duncan was immediately wary.  “What is it?”

          I hated to broach the subject, but it was gnawing at me.  “You said that I called you.”

         “You did,” Duncan said.  “And that’s not a question.”

          “Where were you when it happened?  Don’t we have to be close by to hear each other?”

          “As if you didn’t know,” Duncan said.  “Okay, I’ll humor you.  Our ears have nothing to do with it.  We connect telepathically.  Hypothetically, we could be anywhere.”

          This was a lot to take in.  “You mean we could even hear each other if we were in different cities?”

         Duncan got a far away look on his face.  “Hypothetically.”

          “Wow,” I said.  “Then why don’t we hear each other all the time?”

          Duncan rolled his eyes.  “As you well know, there are mental barriers.  When both people are open to it, the barriers are withdrawn.  In times of heightened emotions, some thoughts seep out, so to speak.  Also, if one is very powerful, the barriers are more easily breached.  Even then, reading someone’s thoughts all the time would be exhausting.”

          “Don’t look at me like that,” I said.  “I wasn’t tired from reading your thoughts.  I can’t even control when it happens.  I never knew that such a thing was possible until I met you.”

          “Oh, please,” he said.  “Do you really expect me to believe that you just spontaneously manifested an ability that takes years to hone?  That you got past the barriers in my mind without even trying?”

         “Whether you believe it or not, it’s true.  You apparently got past the barriers in my mind, too,” I challenged.

          “No,” he said.  “I didn’t.  Yours are airtight.  You must be very powerful.  I can’t even get a glimpse of your real thoughts.”

           “These are my real thoughts,” I said in exasperation.  “My life was completely ordinary until I had that dream about you.”

          “What dream?”

         “Never mind,” I said.  “I have to get home.”  I tried not to think about it, but it came unbidden into my mind in vivid detail.  That wild kiss with the dream Duncan.

          I began to walk quickly away.  I wasn’t sure how this worked.  Could he only hear my thoughts, or might he also be able to see the images in my mind?  He’d pretty much said that he’d had years of practice at this.

          Duncan followed me.  He grabbed me and spun me around, his eyes searching mine.  “Are these your real thoughts,” he asked softly.  “Are they, Susannah?”

          My breathing became labored.  His lips hovered just above mine, tantalizingly close.  His pale eyes had darkened slightly.  He was going to kiss me, and an almost unbearable excitement coursed through me.

          “I won’t be fooled again,” Duncan said.  Then he walked away.