Speak No Evil

‘Something like what?’

‘It doesn’t matter! Just make sure you make eye contact, and when you walk away, look back and give him a little smile. Not too big. Like this.’ Amanda demonstrated her well-practised ‘I’m just a little bit into you’ smile.

‘And then what?’ Britney wanted to know.

‘Then it’s his turn. Make sure you run into him after the last bell, and I bet he’ll ask you if you want to hang out.’

‘You really think that will work?’ Nina asked sceptically.

‘Of course it will,’ Amanda snapped. But even as she spoke, she wasn’t really all that sure. Britney had never been able to flirt easily. If she went over to speak to Tommy now, she’d probably start giggling and fumbling with her words. And if Amanda wanted her crew to respect her, she had to show that her advice would result in success for Britney.

There was only one way to guarantee this. As Sophie, Katie and Nina debated Amanda’s proposal, Amanda kept her eyes fixed on Britney. Poor Britney, so shy, she can be really pathetic when it comes to boys. .

That was all it took. In less than a second, Amanda was looking across the table at robot-Amanda. She had taken over Britney’s body.

She rose from the table, turned and searched the canteen for Tommy Clerk. She spotted him at a table with some other guys, and sauntered over.

She acted as if she was just walking past the table, and then stopped, as if an idea had struck her. ‘Tommy. .’

The boy looked up. ‘Yeah?’

‘Do you understand that stuff about plants? What’s it called — photo, photo something.’

‘Photosynthesis?’ Tommy asked.

‘Yeah, that. Do you know what it is?’

‘It’s the process when plants turn carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen.’

Amanda-Britney had no idea what he was talking about, but this sounded good. ‘Oh, OK. Thanks!’ She turned as if to walk away, and then looked back, aiming her special smile at Tommy. She hoped the smile looked as flirtatious on Britney’s face as it did on her own. From the way Tommy’s eyes widened, she had a feeling it did.

She sashayed back to her own table, sat down, and fixed her gaze on robot-Amanda. Almost instantly, she found herself back in her own body.

‘That was good, Britney!’ she exclaimed.

Britney seemed dazed. ‘Huh?’

‘What you just did!’

Britney looked at her blankly. ‘What did I do?’

‘Britney!’ Katie exclaimed. ‘You talked to Tommy!’

‘I did?’

Amanda turned to the others and rolled her eyes. ‘Can you believe her? She must have been so nervous, she blanked out!’

The girls grinned knowingly, and Amanda wasn’t surprised when even Britney bought this.

Britney had never been the sharpest crayon in the box.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

‘YOU TURNED INTO A wolf outside just now, didn’t you, Paul?’

Paul nodded.

‘Why?’

Paul looked at him helplessly. He wanted to tell Dr Paley but the words just wouldn’t come.

‘Were there other people out in the garden?’

Paul nodded.

‘Did they frighten you? Is that why you shape-shifted?’ Dr Paley smiled. ‘This makes perfect sense, Paul. Many of your fellow students developed their gifts as a response to something uncomfortable.’

Paul had mixed feelings about this. He wasn’t proud of the fact that he’d been afraid. But he liked being compared with his classmates, knowing he had this in common with them.

‘Let’s watch some more of your hypnosis video,’ Dr Paley said, and he turned on the TV. Paul looked at himself and listened to the off-screen doctor’s voice.

‘Let’s talk about Serena, Paul.’

Paul watched his own face contort on the screen. He looked like he was in pain.

‘I don’t want to talk about her.’

Dr Paley’s voice was gentle but firm. ‘You must, Paul. You betrayed your classmates. It wasn’t your fault — she put you under some kind of spell. But you need to face up to what you did. How did you first meet Serena?’

‘Mr Jackson brought me to see her.’

‘Mr Jackson. . Ah yes, the former principal of your school. Serena hypnotized you and asked you questions. Do you remember this?’

‘Yes.’

‘What did she ask you?’

‘She asked me about the gifted class. She asked questions about the students. She asked me what kind of gifts they have.’

‘And you told her?’

‘Yes.’

‘But Madame had warned the class never to reveal their gifts, isn’t that right?’

‘Yes.’ Paul was clearly in great distress. ‘I didn’t want to tell her. I wanted to keep our secret.’

‘It’s all right, Paul,’ Dr Paley said. ‘She probably gave you some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion. You couldn’t stop yourself. And you were probably afraid of those people. For good reason, too. They were dangerous people. You have nothing to be ashamed about, Paul. Your classmates will forgive you.’

The boy on the screen seemed to relax a little.

Dr Paley hit the pause button, and turned to Paul. ‘There’s one thing that puzzles me though, Paul. We were talking about your shape-shifting ability as a response to fear. If you were afraid of Serena, Mr Jackson and the other people in that group, why didn’t you shift? You could have become some kind of large animal. You could have attacked them. Or you could have become a small animal and escaped. Why didn’t that happen, Paul? Why didn’t you shift?’

Again, Paul could only look at him helplessly. This time, the doctor had no speculations to offer. ‘You’re not sure, you probably don’t even remember. Well, let’s get back to the video.’

But Paul knew perfectly well why he hadn’t shifted when he was with those bad people. He didn’t know then that he could. It was true that he’d shifted before, at home, when the bad guys shot his parents. But back when he was turned off, he didn’t know he could do it on purpose — he didn’t know that he had some control over this strange and mysterious gift.

But he knew now.

CHAPTER TWELVE