Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Ken could be tormented by the voices of the deceased, and he didn't seem to have much control over them. Emily often wondered how Ken had developed such a weird gift. He never really said much about it except to complain when dead people kept trying to talk to him. He certainly wasn't happy about it, ever, and Madame always seemed to have a special sympathy for him.

Charles, like Martin, had a gift which could create big problems that demanded Madame's immediate attention. He couldn't make his legs move-he'd been paralyzed since birth-and somehow he'd developed telekinesis, being able to make things move with his mind. And if he was in a bad mood, which was pretty often, he used his gift in very destructive ways.

Amanda could take over other people's bodies. If she felt very sorry for a person, she could end up being that person. Tracey, who'd been occupied by Amanda for a couple of weeks, said this was why Amanda was so nasty to some people-she couldn't risk caring about them.

On the other hand, Sarah didn't demand much attention from Madame, which was interesting, since she had the greatest power of all-she could make people do whatever she wanted them to do. At least, that's what they'd all been told. It was hard to believe, since Sarah was usually so nice and easygoing. And they'd never seen any evidence of her gift, since Sarah refused to use it. That was why Madame didn't have to watch her so closely. Still, the power was there, so Madame had to find Sarah pretty intriguing.

And what could Emily do? Offer predictions that might or might not come true. Not exactly something that would make Madame jump out of her seat.

There was still some time before the bell, and Emily could have gone back to the cafeteria and rejoined her friends, but she had nothing to tell them, so what was the point? She went to her seat, sat down, and half-closed her eyes.

Show me something, she told her mind. She waited for a vision. It took a while, but finally an image began to form. To her disappointment, the image turned out to be Amanda's friend Nina. She was jumping around in front of some uniformed cheerleaders. Then she performed a cartwheel, a split, and a back handspring. Something went wrong with the last move, and she ended up flat on her butt.

So Nina wouldn't make the cheerleading squad. That was comforting but not very important. And nobody would care except Nina.

Jenna sauntered into the room and sat next to Emily. 'What did Madame say?'

'Not much,' Emily told her. 'She got called out on a Martin emergency.'

'Oh, too bad. Maybe you can talk to her after class.'

And tell her what? Emily wondered dismally. That Amanda's friend Nina wouldn't make the cheerleading squad? Madame would care about that just about as much as Emily cared.

'Where's Tracey?' she asked, just to change the subject.

'She had to stop at her locker. Look, here comes Madame with Martin.'

The teacher walked into the room with a hand firmly attached to Martin's shoulder. He was pouting, like a five-year-old who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and he took his seat without a word. One by one the other students came in, and the bell rang.

Madame surveyed the room. 'I see Carter's still absent. Has anyone seen him?' No one had, and Madame frowned as she made a note on a paper. Then she looked up and asked the same question Emily had asked Jenna.

'Where's Tracey?'

'She went to her locker,' Jenna offered, and Madame frowned again. She hated for students to be late.

But Tracey wasn't late for class. She didn't show up at all. And by the end of the hour, Emily could only think of one reason why.

Tracey meant well. She wanted Emily to cheer up, to feel confident about herself and her gift. She'd managed to make herself go invisible so Emily would believe that this particular prediction had come true. Maybe right this minute Tracey was sitting in that empty seat and hoping Emily was happy.

She looked at Tracey's usual desk, and for a second, she actually thought she could see her friend. It was all in her imagination, of course. But just in case Tracey was there, Emily offered a weak smile at the empty seat.

The bell rang. Jenna came to her side and looked at the empty seat. 'She's getting pretty good at disappearing,' she commented.

Before Emily could respond, Amanda paused on her way out and spoke to her. 'Why are you staring at Tracey's desk with that goofy smile?'

Jenna answered for her. 'Emily predicted that Tracey wouldn't be in class today.'

Amanda shrugged. 'Nah, she's just being invisible.'

'How can you be so sure about that?' Emily asked.

'Because it's more likely than one of your visions coming true.'

Jenna, who would do or say anything to contradict Amanda, responded. 'It's not just Tracey. Emily predicted that Carter wouldn't be in class yesterday.'

'Big deal. So she actually got two predictions right.' Amanda turned to Emily. 'So tell me, Miss Know-It-All, who else is going to disappear tomorrow? Me, I hope. I hate this class.'

Emily knew she was being mocked, but even so, she let her eyes glaze over to see if anything would be revealed. And she had a vision.

'Martin.'

'Yeah, whatever,' Amanda said airily and left the room.

Jenna didn't say anything, but her skeptical expression told Emily she didn't have a whole lot more faith in Emily's prediction than Amanda had. So the next day, at least two people were pretty surprised when Martin didn't appear in class.

Chapter Three

AS MADAME CLOSED THE door and Martin still hadn't appeared, Jenna turned around and gave Emily an appreciative

nod. Emily didn't seem to notice-she had a dazed expression on her face. Which wasn't that unusual- she always looked a little dreamy and out of it.

Jenna hadn't meant to hurt Emily's feelings about her gift. She liked Emily. She might be a space cadet who cried a little too easily, but she was a good person, and she was a friend. And Jenna didn't have all that many friends.

That was pretty much her own fault-she knew that. She'd come to Meadowbrook Middle School after a brief stay in a program for troublemakers, and she hadn't kept that a secret. In fact, she'd acted like she was proud of her bad reputation and kept up a veneer of toughness that scared most of her classmates away. Only Tracey and Emily hadn't been put off by her attitude. They got to know the real Jenna, and they accepted her.

So Jenna really hoped she hadn't hurt Emily's feelings, and just to find out, she searched Emily's thoughts. It was never easy reading Emily's mind- with all those premonitions and visions, it was kind of cluttered. It was easier to figure out what Emily was feeling-Jenna could almost always get a sense of that.

Actually, Jenna sometimes found it difficult reading the minds of everyone in this class, especially Madame. Probably because none of them was completely normal.

But she got enough from Emily to reassure herself that Emily wasn't brooding on Jenna's teasing. Emily-like Jenna-was wondering where all the missing students were.

So was Madame, apparently. The teacher looked seriously disturbed as she surveyed the room.

'I'm going to the principal's office,' she announced. 'I want you all to spend the time writing down your own personal goals for your gifts.'

This wasn't an unusual assignment. Madame frequently ordered them to ponder their gifts and note their thoughts. But this time, she looked like her own thoughts were elsewhere.

She left the room, and Jenna turned to Ken sitting next to her. The dark-haired, broad-shouldered former athlete seemed lost in his own thoughts, which wasn't unusual either. He was a friendly guy, but he always looked like something was bothering him.