Out of Sight, Out of Mind

'I think I'm going to volunteer to be Serena's subject today,' she confided in Jenna.

'You're kidding! I told you, she doesn't give a hoot about us-she just wants to use us.'

'I know,' Amanda said. 'She's definitely creepy. But I'm wondering if maybe hypnosis could be the answer. Like, if she went deep enough inside my unconscious, she'd have to find Tracey, right?'

'I don't know,' Jenna said. 'I guess it's worth a try.' But she had serious doubts that the student teacher would be able to do anything meaningful. Ken came in and took the seat next to her. Jenna turned to him.

'What happened when you had your meeting with Serena?' she asked.

Amanda turned to listen, too.

He grinned. 'It was total bull. She was trying to get me to contact her great-grandmother to find out where she hid her jewelry before she died.'

Jenna gave Amanda a triumphant look. 'See? She's only looking out for herself. She's not going to help you.'

'Help you with what?' Ken asked Amanda.

'Nothing-nothing at all. Forget it and mind your own business,' Amanda snapped while shooting a fierce look at Jenna. Jenna was more interested in watching Ken's reaction to Amanda's response. He was obviously startled, and Jenna couldn't blame him. That outburst was not a typical Tracey reaction.

As it turned out, Amanda didn't have the opportunity to volunteer anyway The student teacher didn't come to class that day.

'Where's Serena?' Jenna asked Madame.

'I believe she called in sick,' Madame said. She actually seemed a little concerned, which Jenna thought was odd. She tried to figure out what Madame was really thinking, but as usual, she couldn't get inside her head.

'Is she seriously sick?' Jenna asked.

'No, just a cold. At least, that's what Principal Jackson told me.' The bell rang, and now Madame looked even more worried. 'Where is Emily?'

Nobody knew. Madame frowned.

'She's probably dawdling in the restroom,' Amanda said. 'You know how she daydreams. Do you want me to go get her?'

'No, that's all right,' Madame said. 'I'm sure she'll be along in a minute. Now, I would like us to spend our time today sharing some personal experiences. Usually we talk about how we've tried to suppress our gifts. I know this isn't always possible, and there may be times when it's appropriate to use them. So this time, let's talk about the positive ways in which you've used your gifts this week. Who'd like to go first?'

As usual, no hands shot up. Madame sighed.

'All right, I'll decide who goes first. Martin?'

Martin looked frightened. 'I didn't do anything!'

'I don't intend to punish you, Martin. I just want to know if you did anything with your gift this week that you feel good about.'

Martin scrunched his little rat face as if he was thinking very hard. 'Oh, yeah… I was in the supermarket with my mother on Monday And I saw this woman with a little kid-I guess he was about five-and he knocked something off a shelf. And his mother slapped him!'

'Oh dear,' Madame murmured. 'I don't approve of punishing children physically either. But what could you do about this, Martin? Did you say something to the woman?'

'Nah. I kicked her.'

'Martin!'

'Well, the little kid was too small to kick her himself. So I got even for him.'

Madame shook her head. 'Martin, how can you think that was a positive action?'

'Because I did it for the kid, not for myself! The woman wasn't hurt too badly-she just slid all the way down the aisle and looked really embarrassed. You should've seen the kid's face. He was really happy, so I felt good about myself.'

'How did you get away with it?' Charles wanted to know.

Martin beamed. 'I moved really fast, when no one was looking. And who's going to think someone like me could kick a person that far?'

Madame shook her head. 'I'm sorry, Martin, but I don't think this is a very good example of a positive action. Who can offer a better example?'

Sarah raised her hand, and Madame nodded in her direction.

'I saw a woman about to cross a street. Then a car came from around the corner, going way too fast, and the driver was talking on his cell phone and not paying attention. He would have hit her if I hadn't made him step on the brakes.' She looked at the teacher pleadingly. 'I know I'm not supposed to interfere, Madame, but I couldn't let that poor woman get injured-maybe even killed!'

'That's cool,' Ken said. 'You saved her life.'

Jenna saw it another way. 'But maybe that woman was on her way to kill her husband. You would have saved his life if you'd let the car hit her.'

Sarah sighed and sank back in her chair.

Madame looked at Jenna reprovingly. 'Do you have an interesting story, Jenna?'

She didn't, but she managed to conjure up something. 'Um, the other day I was at the mall, and I knew some kids were planning to go in a store and steal stuff. They had it all worked out-they even had a gadget to take the security thingy off the items they swiped. So I told a security guard, and they were arrested.'

It was only a little white lie, and she thought it would please Madame. Amanda turned around and raised her eyebrows, but Jenna ignored her.

'But how did you get the security guard to believe you?' Ken asked.

'That's a good question, Ken,' Madame said. 'We've talked about this before, Jenna. You all have to be very careful about revealing your abilities. What did you actually say to the guard?'

Jenna thought rapidly. 'I… I didn't say anything about mind reading. I told him I'd overheard the kids talking.'

Did Madame buy her story? Before she could respond, the classroom door opened, and the principal stuck in his head.

'Excuse me, Madame. Sorry to disturb your class,' he droned. 'Just a message to relay. Emily Sanders is sick today.'

'Really?' Madame glanced at a sheet on her desk. 'She's not on the absentee list.'

'Secretary's error,' he said quickly and retreated, closing the door.

Madame stared after him. Then she shook her head as if to shake out some disturbing thoughts. 'Let's see, where were we? Who would like to share next? Charles?'

Jenna was relieved that Madame seemed to have forgotten her story. When Amanda-Tracey turned around, Jenna thought she wanted to congratulate her on getting away with that rewritten tale. But the girl seemed to have something else on her mind.

'Emily's not sick. I saw her in the cafeteria earlier.'

'Maybe she got sick just before class,' Jenna suggested.

'Then why would the principal say it was a mistake that she wasn't on the absentee list?'

''Tracey? ''

She had to turn back to face the teacher. 'Did you have a positive experience with your gift this week?'

'No.'

The teacher moved on to Ken, but Jenna had tuned out. Emily was still on her mind, and she couldn't shake her. It was as if she was stuck in Jenna's head, and Jenna didn't know why. So, Emily was sick-so what? It was probably nothing serious, just a cold or something. Maybe she had thrown up that day's disgusting lunch.

Then why was she still in her head?

Jenna jerked as the answer came to her in a flash. She was thinking about Emily because Emily was trying to contact her.