Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Amanda saw her opportunity. 'I'll babysit.'

Mrs. Devon continued with her tirade. 'I can't find a babysitter at the last minute!'

'Yes, you can!' Amanda said more loudly. 'Didn't you hear me? I said I'll babysit.'

She must have spoken even louder than she thought, because she actually got both the parents' attention. But neither of them seemed to have understood.

'What did you say?' Tracey's father asked.

Amanda was getting impatient. 'I said, I'll babysit for the girls.'

Tracey's mother stared at her. 'You?'

'Yes, me. I'm thirteen years old, remember? I can watch them. I'm not saying I'll entertain them, but I can make sure they don't play with matches or sharp knives. I can keep them alive till you get back.'

Mr. Devon looked at Mrs. Devon. 'Why not? We're not going that far. I'll leave my cell-phone number; she can call if there are any problems.'

Mrs. Devon still looked uncertain. 'Well… I suppose that would be all right.'

'Absolutely,' Mr. Devon assured her. 'Thank you for offering, Tracey.'

'Oh, I'm not doing this as a favor,' Amanda corrected him. 'I expect to be paid. How much do you pay Lizzie for babysitting?'

Mr. Devon was startled. 'I don't know.' He turned to his wife. 'What do we pay the babysitter?'

'Five dollars an hour,' Mrs. Devon said faintly.

'That will be just fine,' Amanda said. 'Five dollars an hour. If I'm not up when you get home, please leave the money on the kitchen table.'

Still looking a little dazed, Mrs. Devon nodded.

'Good,' Amanda said. 'I'll be in my room. Let me know when you're ready to leave and I'll get to work.' She couldn't see them as she turned to go back up the stairs, but she could conjure up the pleasant vision of two stunned parents, and it made her smile.

Chapter Twelve

WHEN AMANDA-TRACEY walked into class on Monday, Jenna blinked twice. One of those two girls had been very busy that weekend. Not only was Amanda-Tracey visible, but she'd also been through some kind of transformation.

The outer person was still Tracey, but Amanda's influence was showing. The blond hair was no longer flat and stringy-it had been cut short, to her chin, and it was shining. She was wearing makeup-not a lot, but something made her eyes look bigger, and there was a slick of pink on her lips. And her clothes- they weren't Jenna's kind of clothes, but she knew that other kids at school would consider them cool. This new Tracey wore a long red tunic over cropped jeans, with a short black sweater and red ballerina shoes. She carried her books in a black canvas tote bag over her shoulder.

She was different in other ways, too. She held her head up and took long, confident strides into the room. Even Madame looked intrigued.

But before anyone could comment, student teacher Serena came into the room. 'I'd like to see Jenna today,' she announced.

She was addressing Madame, but Jenna responded. 'Maybe I don't want to see you!'

'Jenna, that's rude,' Madame murmured.

Emily leaned over toward Jenna. 'It doesn't hurt or anything, Jenna. In fact, it's kind of fun.'

'That's right!' Serena said brightly. She turned to Madame. 'And don't forget-I do have Principal Jackson's authorization to meet with each student independently.'

'I haven't forgotten,' Madame said quietly. 'Jenna, would you please go with Ms. Hancock?' And at that moment, for the first time ever, Jenna thought she read a little something in Madame's mind.

And find out what this woman is really up to.

Had Jenna imagined that? Or had Madame actually allowed Jenna inside her head? Jenna decided that maybe a session with the student teacher would be more interesting than the usual boring 50 minutes in class.

'Okay.' She followed Serena into the room next door. It was just another classroom, nothing special. Serena directed Jenna to sit down. She did, and then Jenna began to concentrate.

But before she could even begin to penetrate the student teacher's mind, Serena suddenly produced a circular object the size of a dinner plate. 'I want you to look at the red dot in the center, Jenna.' She pressed something on the plate, and it began to rotate.

Jenna tried to look away, but for some strange reason she couldn't. She couldn't close her eyes either. And any possibility of reading Serena's mind evaporated as her own mind went blank.

No, not blank exactly. She was conscious-she was aware of sitting in the room and looking at Serena's plate thing-but there was something happening in her mind. It was being drained…

Time passed, but she had no idea how much. She couldn't take her eyes off the dot. She could hear just fine, though.

'I know all about your special gift, Jenna. But you will not be able to read my mind. If you try to read my mind, you will suffer a severe headache. The pain will become unbearable. This is a posthypnotic suggestion, Jenna. You will never be able to read my mind. Do you understand?'

Jenna didn't think she could speak or even nod her head. She was completely paralyzed. But somehow she must have communicated something, because Serena said, 'Good. Now, please follow me.'

Then Jenna wasn't paralyzed at all. She rose and followed Serena out of the room. That was when she realized what had been drained from her mind-her will. She would do whatever this woman said. And she didn't even have enough freedom of thought to feel afraid.

They went down some stairs, walked to the end of a corridor, and turned right. Dimly, Jenna knew they were walking into the school cafeteria.

The last lunch session was still in progress, and she was aware of the noise and the people and the general chaos, but it was as if she wasn't a part of it- more like she was watching the scene on TV. Serena led her across the room to an alcove where the teachers ate their lunch. They both stood just behind a column, so Jenna could see the teachers but they couldn't see her.

Now Serena was whispering in her ear. 'There is a man at the table. He has light brown hair and he's wearing glasses. Do you see him?'

Jenna saw him, and even in her strange state she recognized him-Mr. Jones, a history teacher.

'During the next few minutes I want you to read his mind,' Serena said. She left Jenna standing there and went over to the table.

With all the noise in the cafeteria, Jenna couldn't hear anything that Serena said to the other teachers. But the student teacher's lips were moving and she was smiling as she sat down next to Mr. Jones. And Jenna had no problem at all tuning in to the man; in fact, it was the easiest mind reading she'd ever done.

Wow, she's hot! Is she coming on to me? I hope so. I wonder if she's got a boyfriend. If I can get her alone later, I'm going to ask her out.

Serena returned to Jenna. 'We can leave now,' she said, and Jenna followed her back to the room they had been in before.

'Now,' Serena said as they returned to their seats, 'I want you to tell me what Mr. Jones was thinking when I spoke to him.'

Jenna had no choice. Like a parrot, she repeated the thoughts she'd read. ''Wow, she's hot! Is she coming on to me? I hope so. I wonder if she's got a boyfriend. If I can get her alone later, I'm going to ask her out.''

Serena smiled. 'Excellent! Now, Jenna, I'm going to take you out of your hypnotic state. Watch the red dot again.'