Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Amanda nodded. 'Yeah, that's kind of weird, huh? I guess my gift is getting stronger. Or maybe it's just easier for me to feel sorry for anyone who's not me.'

Tracey and Emily exchanged looks again. 'Amanda, this is not good news,' Tracey said sternly.

'We were counting on Sarah's gifts to get us out of here.'

'She never uses them anyway,' Amanda pointed out.

'Yeah, but we figured if we got into a bad situation, she'd give in and help us out,' Emily told her. She looked at Amanda thoughtfully. 'You don't have Sarah's gifts by any chance, do you?'

Amanda shook her head. 'I tested myself at breakfast. I tried to make you spill your juice.'

'Thanks a lot,' Emily muttered.

'Well, like I said, it's your fault I'm here. And it's not like I can just snap my fingers and get back into myself-you know it's not that easy. It's harder getting out than getting in.' She looked at Tracey accusingly. 'Do you think I would have stayed in your body for so long if I could have gotten out faster?' She got up and began to pace. 'You know what really bugs me? That I believed you! Everyone knows your predictions are off the wall most of the time. If I'd just stayed myself, I would have been fine.'

Emily wasn't even aware she was smiling until Amanda asked, 'What's so funny?'

'It was Sarah I saw disappearing. I only said it was you because you were getting on my nerves and I wanted to scare you.'

Amanda scowled. 'So it's even more your fault than I thought. And when the kidnappers find out I don't have any talent, they'll get rid of me just like they got rid of Carter.'

Emily had a feeling an apology would be appropriate at that moment, but she didn't think it would make Amanda feel any better. And Amanda was being so-so Amanda-ish that she didn't feel very sorry.

Tracey spoke. 'Amanda, when you took over my body, after a while we started to bond or something.' Amanda-Sarah looked horrified, so Tracey quickly amended that. 'Okay, not like friends, but you picked up on what I could do. And you were able to disappear, remember? So maybe the same thing will happen to you now, and you'll get Sarah's powers.' She turned to Emily. 'Can you see if that's going to happen?'

'I'll try,' Emily said. She backed away from the two girls, half-closed her eyes and let everything go blurry. Then she concentrated on a mental picture of Amanda. Slowly, the picture took on a life of its own, and she saw Amanda-Sarah in a big space where there were desks, a counter, people waiting in a line-could it be a bank? Yes, and Emily herself was there, and Tracey, too, and other people she couldn't see very well. The person who looked like Sarah was flapping her hands worriedly and looking totally useless. Frightened, too.

Then, it was like a curtain dropped briefly over the vision. When it went back up and she could see the vision again, the Sarah figure was in a completely different role. She was in control, making people move, taking charge. She looked confident, like someone with power. .

The picture faded, and she opened her eyes. Amanda-Sarah and Tracey looked at her expectantly. 'Well?' Amanda asked. 'Do I get Sarah's gift?'

'I don't know,' Emily said helplessly. 'I had two completely different visions. In one of them you had power, and in the other one you didn't.'

Tracey's eyes widened. 'You saw two different futures?'

'I guess,' Emily said. 'And I don't know which one is right. That's never happened to me before.'

'You really are worthless,' Amanda declared in disgust.

'Amanda, that's not true,' Tracey snapped. 'Emily just happens to have a gift that's more complicated than ours.'

Amanda's eyes narrowed. 'I hope it's not too complicated for our kidnappers. Or she'll end up just like Carter.' She gulped. 'And me.' Her eyes filled with fear again.

'Calm down,' Tracey ordered. 'We're all in this together, and we're all gifted, and we'll work together to figure this out.' But this time, she didn't sound very sure of herself. Amanda certainly didn't look convinced.

'You disappeared yesterday and it didn't help us out,' she said. 'Martin can't turn his strength on by himself-something has to happen to him. I can't do anything as Sarah. And Emily. . well, we just saw how useful she's going to be.'

Tracey didn't have a comeback for her, and Emily didn't either. At that moment, she was experiencing something she could never have predicted.

She was in complete agreement with Amanda.

Chapter Eight

Jenna sat alone in the cafeteria. It was strange, in a way. Before she got to know Emily and Tracey, she'd always sat alone in the cafeteria, and it never bothered her. But maybe she wasn't as much of a loner as she thought she was. Now, she missed her friends.

She looked around for Ken, but she didn't see him. She did see Charles, and she was surprised to notice where he was sitting. His wheelchair was parked by one of the tables where the jocks sat. Among them were the basketball players Ken had been talking to that morning on the steps.

Poor Charles, Jenna thought. Did he really think he could break into that exclusive clique? But she didn't give this too much thought. She had more important things on her mind.

It wasn't time for class yet, but she decided that being alone in an empty classroom was better than being alone in a crowded cafeteria, so she sneaked out of lunch early. She could think better without all the noise. And she needed to think, hard.

She wanted to make another attempt to contact Emily. Once before, when Emily had been trapped in a storage room, Jenna had been able to read her mind from a distance and come to her rescue. Of course, Emily hadn't been very far away that time- the room was in the basement of the school. But maybe she wasn't far away now. Or maybe Jenna's gift could extend to longer distances. In any case, it was worth the effort.

She concentrated with determination in the silence of room 209. But the effort was wasted. As hard as she tried, she couldn't hear Emily. Or Sarah, Tracey, Martin, or Carter. She slumped back in her seat and wished someone else would arrive in the classroom to distract her from her own thoughts.

Someone did-but it was only Amanda-the-robot, or whatever that thing was who looked like Amanda. The pretty duplicate went to her seat and pulled out her cosmetics case. Without much hope, Jenna tried to communicate. 'Hey, Amanda.'

'Amanda' tore her eyes away from her own reflection. 'What?'

'You wouldn't happen to know where the real Amanda is, would you?'

The blank expression on fake Amanda's face gave Jenna her answer.

Ken came in next, followed by Charles. Ken looked glum. Charles was beaming.

Jenna started with Ken. 'What's up?'

Ken scowled and rubbed his forehead. 'Someone's been bugging me.'

Jenna knew what he meant. Every now and then, dead people tried to send him on a mission. Ken's problem was that he was essentially a nice guy, and he hated to say no. So he kept putting them off, telling them 'not now' or 'maybe later,' and they kept on nagging him.

'Just put your foot down and make it clear that you're not going to run their afterlife errands for them,' Jenna advised. 'They'll have to give up sooner or later.'

Ken shook his head. 'This one's a mother. I don't think she's ever going to give up.' He blinked. 'What's that noise? I don't think it's coming from inside my head.'

'It's Charles,' Jenna told him. 'He's whistling.'

Charles had never whistled in class before, and they both turned to stare at him.

'That tune sounds kind of familiar,' Jenna said.

'No kidding,' Ken replied. 'It's the school fight song. Don't you ever go to any games?'

'No.'

'Hey, Charles, what's going on?' Ken asked. 'Are you getting school spirit or something?'

'Just trying to remember the tune,' Charles said cheerfully. 'I'm going to the basketball game this afternoon.'